Starting with stock illustration in 2010, I have a lot of experience in the unilateral amendment of contracts by different agencies. I really wonder why stock corporations change their conditions to the disadvantage of their providers, especially in times of crisis.

Because they can.
There's an oversupply for the vast amount of subjects and most contributors will keep on uploading regardless the conditions.

Too bad.

Adobe felt like the only safe haven lately. But I smell a beginning of major "optimization" process. Currency change can probably be just a first one from the upcoming "good news" series. 
 

I did not receive any email regarding this. Can anyone show me a source for this news?

I did. It said:

"Dear X,

The purpose of the email is to inform you about an important change to your contributor account regarding the currency of royalty payouts.

March 3rd, 2023 we will consolidate the different currencies in which royalties are paid and switch to US Dollars. You will receive any future payouts in USD. If you wish to request a payout in your current currency, please log into the contributor portal by February 28, 2023 end of day and submit the request by clicking on the arrow next to Available Earnings in the dashboard. Note, the payout button is only active if at least 25 Euros or other currency equivalent are available in your account.

Regarding the conversion rate, Adobe uses credits to calculate the royalties with 1 credit = 1 USD = 1 Euro = 0.75 GPB = 7.10 SEK = 4 PLN = 150 Yen, per our Getting Paid document.  If your current currency is the Euro, any available earnings will convert to the same amount in USD.

After the currency change to USD, Payoneer will be available as a payment provider in addition to Paypal and Skrill. If you wish to switch to a different payment provider, you may do so the next time you are requesting a payout.

Note, USD payments may be converted to the local currency of your payment provider account and are subject to exchange rates and fees.

If you have questions, you can use the Contact Us link in the footer of the contributor portal.

Regards,

The Adobe Stock Contributor Relations team"

Quote from: Noedelhap on February 22, 2023, 07:58

I did not receive any email regarding this. Can anyone show me a source for this news?

I did. It said:

"Dear X,

The purpose of the email is to inform you about an important change to your contributor account regarding the currency of royalty payouts.

March 3rd, 2023 we will consolidate the different currencies in which royalties are paid and switch to US Dollars. You will receive any future payouts in USD. If you wish to request a payout in your current currency, please log into the contributor portal by February 28, 2023 end of day and submit the request by clicking on the arrow next to Available Earnings in the dashboard. Note, the payout button is only active if at least 25 Euros or other currency equivalent are available in your account.

Regarding the conversion rate, Adobe uses credits to calculate the royalties with 1 credit = 1 USD = 1 Euro = 0.75 GPB = 7.10 SEK = 4 PLN = 150 Yen, per our Getting Paid document.  If your current currency is the Euro, any available earnings will convert to the same amount in USD.

After the currency change to USD, Payoneer will be available as a payment provider in addition to Paypal and Skrill. If you wish to switch to a different payment provider, you may do so the next time you are requesting a payout.

Note, USD payments may be converted to the local currency of your payment provider account and are subject to exchange rates and fees.

If you have questions, you can use the Contact Us link in the footer of the contributor portal.

Regards,

The Adobe Stock Contributor Relations team"

Thank you.

Sad news. Another kick in the groin from what was once a decent agency.

I really feel we're living in the Stone Age when it comes to payment options in microstock,. It's already ridiculous that agencies only pay out in USD even though microstock is by definition a worldwide business where clients from various countries pay in their own currency for the items, so why are contributors left with the bare minimum of payment options? Not even a direct bank transfer is possible.

And now the only agency that was somewhat modern in this regards decides to scrap multi-currency payouts, and we're left with the conversion fees. Corporate bs at its finest.

@Noedelhap, I like your work very much and I can see why are you upset. I mean we all should be upset, but often I see that people with lower quality work are more forgiving to agencies BS.

It is now a continuous theft with all the agencies.

I've been doing stock full-time for 12 years, but in the last few years, I've been trying to do marketing to work more with commissioned jobs and selling prints.

I've shut down Canva, Envato Elements, and Istock for a few years for low fees.

In January, I earned $2400, but I did the math, and the agencies earned about $6500 from my photographs.

For almost $9,000 a month, I make less than 30%...it's not a fair job. Better do something else.

I am very curious how is it going for you, selling directly? I am thinking about that for some time, but I'm not sure is it worth to do it plus I'm so frustrated with MS algorithms, earnings etc. that I am not sure if anybody needs anything I can produce. It is oversupply of everything on Internet and it is only getting worse in my opinion.

For me I think this is good news.  For some reason my currency is in pounds sterling even though I signed up on the US site from the US - no idea why.  I have not claimed my earnings for several years because it's too much trouble to convert them from pounds back to dollars.  Right now the exchange rate is .83 to the dollar so at .75 it will be a bonus.  If I'm understanding it correctly - for some reason these currency conversions are always confusing to me.

Quote from: Lina on February 22, 2023, 09:36

I am very curious how is it going for you, selling directly?

No, I do not sell stock photography directly. Too much competition.

I started working with companies and professionals (wineries, architects, hotels ...) in my area.

And then, I sell prints directly through my website and art galleries. But you must work with marketing - blog (the most important for building a personal brand), SEO, Social media ... -.

And you must have very high-quality work. But that's not enough, you have to be well-known.

It's a very long journey; improvements are very slow to have some personal brand awareness.

Sometimes it's daunting, a lot of work for nothing.

So my instinct not to do it was correct, thank you!
Yeah, I believe it is very hard to create well-known personal brand, even if you have great work. Good luck!

another 10% cut for non us contributors...meanwhile we have to buy content in euro in europe....thanks adobe,we'll remember "without you there is no us" when it comes to pay for your softwares...

I wonder if it would be possible for Adobe to offer a conversion service to Euros or other currencies. Adobe is a huge company, I am sure they would get much, much better conversion rates than if we as artists all do it ourselves as individuals.

Why leave any bonus from conversion to paypal? Adobe could even take a small cut for themselves if they offer us a better rate. It could be a win win for all involved�just not for paypal.

And it would be a service other agencies don�t bother to offer.

I know that Fotolia use to sell to European customers in euros.
Is it still the case for AS?

Quote from: Zero Talent on February 22, 2023, 19:23

I know that Fotolia use to sell to European customers in euros.
Is it still the case for AS?

Of course it is. For example 40 credits pack costs 337,49� including VAT (which can be  different depending on country). Right now I can't see from phone how much it is in USA and in $ but it was cheaper as far as I know.

If so, for their eurozone sales, eurozone contributors will be underpaid the same way non-eurozone contributors were underpaid since the early Fotolia days.

Welcome to the club!