did you try with their live support? There is a "live chat" link in the upper right corner.

Hi Anglee,

My email addy is [email protected], username there the same as here, real name Ben Heys.

Cheers,
- Ben

Yep, still non-existent.

It's not a big issue so I can't be assed with live chat or twittering or whatever other alternative nonsense ways they can come up with...my first mail should have been replied to, simple as that.

I'm with you, Ben.  Even if I knew what a "DM" was I would not do it.  I didn't sign up at 123rf to become a TWIT!!!  I would like to see all the agencies take responsibility for their own communication and stop twittin around with a bunch of social game playing.  And, BUY your ads.  Twitting is making you all look like a bunch of TWITS.  You're taking the bulk of the sales money;  use it for what you claim it is ... advertising and marketing. 

I'm seeing more "purchased" advertising from Thinkstock than from 123rf, BigStock, or Dreamstime.  You get what you pay for.  Please stop trying to get by on the CHEAP!!! You're about to be surpassed by Thinkstock!!!

Hi, Ben. We're unable to locate the email. Did you send it to [email protected] [nofollow]? [email protected] [nofollow] is generally meant for our customers so if your emails are mixed in there, it will be  sent to our submissions email. There may be complications while resending the email, which is  why it is recommended if contributors send their queries directly to [email protected] [nofollow].

Anyway, please send the questions to me directly and I'll personally answer them for you. Sorry for keeping you waiting.

@WarrenPrice. Thanks for your view. But please think of our Twitter account as another way to reach to contributors on a personal level. These days social media are seen far beyond a tool for entertainment; many big corporate entities are using it as well as an alternate means of connecting with their customers one-to-one. We're just keeping up with the times.

@WarrenPrice. Thanks for your view. But please think of our Twitter account as another way to reach to contributors on a personal level. These days social media are seen far beyond a tool for entertainment; many big corporate entities are using it as well as an alternate means of connecting with their customers one-to-one. We're just keeping up with the times.

You're welcome.  What is wrong with a forum and your blog for "reaching contributors on a personal level?"

Quote from: neotakezo on August 05, 2010, 20:41

Yep, still non-existent.

It's not a big issue so I can't be assed with live chat or twittering or whatever other alternative nonsense ways they can come up with...my first mail should have been replied to, simple as that.

I'm with you, Ben.  Even if I knew what a "DM" was I would not do it.  I didn't sign up at 123rf to become a TWIT!!!  I would like to see all the agencies take responsibility for their own communication and stop twittin around with a bunch of social game playing.  And, BUY your ads.  Twitting is making you all look like a bunch of TWITS.  You're taking the bulk of the sales money;  use it for what you claim it is ... advertising and marketing. 

I'm seeing more "purchased" advertising from Thinkstock than from 123rf, BigStock, or Dreamstime.  You get what you pay for.  Please stop trying to get by on the CHEAP!!! You're about to be surpassed by Thinkstock!!!

Anyone else notice the Thinkstock credits on the opening images of their Yahoo page.  Looks like they are getting a bit of that Getty/AP action.  Probably being pushed by Getty/iStock?
Also, seeing a lot of Thinkstock advertising on Yahoo and Google email pages.

I think somebody better wake up.  

Quote from: Komar on August 06, 2010, 00:45

Quote from: WarrenPrice on August 05, 2010, 20:53

You're taking the bulk of the sales money;

Doesn't 123rf still give 50%?

You've added a little "spin" there, Komar.  That out-of-context quote is not unlike Tabloid reporting.  Hope that isn't an example of your blog reporting. 

How does any site that offers subscriptions give 50%? 

I wasn't trying to be smart Warren. I actually genuinely wanted to know if they are still giving 50%, at least for credits anyway and if they are, they are the last agency we can complain about what amount of the sales money they take. I agree with your other points in this thread though, apart from my spin factor.

Quote from: donding on August 06, 2010, 11:34

What I do not understand is why a company would require their users to open up an account with another company just to correspond. It just doesn't make sense. I don't twitter and never will. I choose not to open an account and for those who don't want to shouldn't have to do so just because they have concerns or want to correspond. If you want to play with the big boys then I think you need a forum on your site. To me that is more professional.

It's easier to connect to us. Most people already have social media app in their phones. How often would you access microstockgroup forums on your phone? My guess would be close to none, but a lot of people would access twitter and facebook multiple times a day. So if we were to give our customers an update or if our customers have an issue that needs highlighted on the go, it would be more convenient and efficient to send us a tweet or comment on our Facebook wall than to wait to get home and log on to a forum. You may beg to differ but some people prefer it that way.

Besides we find it in no way professional, when there are plenty of high profile companies using Twitter to reach out. Just do a google search. Social media is changing how businesses interact. We're just following suit. Also, why view a free resource negatively?

Also if people view this as a negative thing we wouldn't have almost 7000 followers. And there's always some activity in there. Come check our twitter account, if you want. http://twitter.com/123rf

Yes, I am sure to may people think social networking such as Twitter and Facebook are the be all and the end all.  Until the next fad comes along.  But it may surprise you to know that a lot of people don't have time (or interest) to waste on social networking nonsense.  

You are crowing about having 7,000 twitter followers.  Yay!!  But seriously, is that anywhere near the total number of members your site has?  (Although it would certainly explain the dismal sales) I suspect you are leaving many thousands of interested site members and potential customers out in the cold by not making more of an effort to communicate through traditional means, including forums and notices on your own website, buying advertising space, directly e-mailing customers or contributors about issues that affect them, and a responsive customer service dept.  

Personally, I spend most of my working day online as it is.  The last thing I want to do with my free time is have to keep up with time consuming applications like facebook and twitter.  

It's perfectly fine for businesses to use those applications in addition to more traditional means of communicating with customers, but not as a replacement for them. 

Point taken, Lisa.

We used to have a 123RF site forum but forum activity didn't pick up like we wanted to, that's why we decided to put it away and concentrated our attention here. I don't mean to blow our own horn by seemingly overpromoting our social media outlets, but we just want to let you know that if you need another outlet to voice your problem, it's there.

If not, you can still do so here. Me and Angelina check this forum often and we'll do our best to solve your problems and receive your feedback.

The only thing I check is my email. Frankly, I almost never check Facebook or Twitter. But I know some people who use only FB and Twitter as a way of communication with their employees..

Quote from: fai123rf on August 06, 2010, 14:43

Point taken, Lisa.

We used to have a 123RF site forum but forum activity didn't pick up like we wanted to, that's why we decided to put it away and concentrated our attention here. I don't mean to blow our own horn by seemingly overpromoting our social media outlets, but we just want to let you know that if you need another outlet to voice your problem, it's there.

If not, you can still do so here. Me and Angelina check this forum often and we'll do our best to solve your problems and receive your feedback.

Thanks for responding.  I am glad you will continue to check in here. 

I'm not even on facebook or twitter and with the privacy concerns that keep cropping up there I'm disinclined to join.   

Privacy concerns is exactly why I won't sign up.

I'm not any more concerned about privacy and  security than with any other internet sites.  There's problems with any of them ... even the sites where you use a credit card to buy cameras or PayPal where you receive payments.  We're vulnerable.  My ire comes more from the way 123rf just "kicked me off" their forum; where I was active and was learning from other contributors.  I don't understand how Angelee can say there was no activity.  I thought there was considerable interaction.

I do not like the one-way, "we are the greatest" communication of their Twitter link.  That's not interaction.  Maybe that's what they are avoiding ... public criticism.  Heck, just do like Fotolia and Dreamstime ... Censorship.