Author Topic: Did It - Dumped Fotolia (Read 10470 times)

stormchaser · « **on:** February 06, 2010, 05:41 »

Fotolia now gone from my list. Many reasons. I actually made the decision to dump them back in December but just didn't get around to it.

I never did get along with their keywording//category system, and after they changed the vector rules it seemed that just about everything I sent got rejected. FO started off like gangbusters for me, and dwindled to a trickle of XS sales. I never did quite get the hand of what sold there. Surprisingly, a of my best sellers on DT, iSTock, SS were rejected by FO. Go figure. It is actually a relief to be out of there.

So with all that's going on there, let's hope the final check clears ;-)

donding · « **Reply #1 on:** February 06, 2010, 10:43 »

I still have a few on there waiting to see what their next move is. I deleted all of the "back of the closet" ones, but I'm like you...the ones they rejected were accepted at all the other agencies and are best sellers. They are just "jerks" plan and simple.

RT · « **Reply #2 on:** February 06, 2010, 14:33 »

Out of interest did you explain to them your reason for leaving and if so did you get any response.

stormchaser · « **Reply #3 on:** February 06, 2010, 16:39 »

Quote from: RT on February 06, 2010, 14:33

Out of interest did you explain to them your reason for leaving and if so did you get any response.

I put in the payout request first, so waiting for that to fianalize. Yesterday I had my niece go thorough the tedious task of deleting all the files. After payment comes through, I'll send them a civil letter about the decision to leave.

Like I said, FO was never any fun for me. I found reviews inconsistent, the forum hostile, the revenues dwindling to a mere trickle, and like many here, am acquainted with one party who received one of the poison pen threats. I no longer wish to be associated with a business that uses strongarm tactics. I think even the DT people would frown on these things;-)

For those people that have found success at FO and are happy, congrats. It's just not a service I enjoy. And micro should be a little bit of fun at lest. FO was not. Just always a headache for me.

Norebbo · « **Reply #4 on:** February 06, 2010, 23:02 »

Congrats. I never got along with the crew at Fotolia - their management style is very abrasive, and I'm surprised they have lasted this long running their business the way they do.

JohnShelley · « **Reply #5 on:** February 07, 2010, 16:17 »

i dislike FT myself for all the above reasons too, esp the fact that the forums are so strict. i wasn't even allowed to mention yuri arcurs site!

i have never had a sale there, but with success elsewhere. i only stick with it since it was the first i started uploading to. maybe i should change that.....

stormchaser · « **Reply #6 on:** February 07, 2010, 23:29 »

Quote from: JohnShelley on February 07, 2010, 16:17

i dislike FT myself for all the above reasons too, esp the fact that the forums are so strict. i wasn't even allowed to mention yuri arcurs site!

i have never had a sale there, but with success elsewhere. i only stick with it since it was the first i started uploading to. maybe i should change that.....

While I understand a site not wanting you to mention other micros or macrostocks, a Yuri restriction is insane! In microland, people eventually wind up discussing Yuri. And although I haven't visited Yuri's site lately, to my knowledge, he has always been gracious and helpful. An agency could only benefit by having their contributors learn from him.

Regarding never having a sale, yes, do some thinking there. Good luck to you.

lagereek · « **Reply #7 on:** February 28, 2010, 01:33 »

Fotolia is a good agency and theres nothing wrong with their keywording policy, same as others they reject files not up to scratch. Understandable.

Some people have problems with rejections, then they dont fit in the micro industry, simple as that.

Today, the Micro agencies is no dumping ground for second rate material, them days are gone.

best.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 28, 2010, 01:54 »

Lowering payouts, changing the amounts required to reach the next level, and then allowing new contributors to skip ahead (with the same stats I could be three levels higher if I never contributed there). Needless to say I'm glad I dumped them. Also happy to be done with DT!

MikLav · « **Reply #9 on:** February 28, 2010, 14:05 »

I don't like their attitude to contributors; yet still Fotolia is a good and successful agency. Consistently good earner.

gvictoria · « **Reply #10 on:** February 28, 2010, 14:48 »

Quote from: MikLav on February 28, 2010, 14:05

I don't like their attitude to contributors; yet still Fotolia is a good and successful agency. Consistently good earner.

Agreeed 100%

lagereek · « **Reply #11 on:** March 01, 2010, 09:20 »

Quote from: MikLav on February 28, 2010, 14:05

I don't like their attitude to contributors; yet still Fotolia is a good and successful agency. Consistently good earner.

Agree!! a good earner! in the end of day, thats what counts, isnt it? Ive never understood this business about why people get so irritated with rejects.
Its looked upon as a good thing, a professional approach, not to accept loads of irrelevant material, lots of duplicates, etc. Its really also for the benefit of other contributors. Mainly its done for the buyers! to save them having to wade through tons of rubbish really.

gilmourbto2001 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 01, 2010, 11:24 »

I still have my account active at Fotolia, but I just never go there anymore. I don't even remember the last time I uploaded an image there - why bother? They just reject everything.

I made a bit of money when I started, but never reached a payout. It used to be a really nice, consistent site, but now it's just a joke.

It wouldn't surprise me to log on some day in the near future and see that it closed up shop. Wouldn't sadden me either.

donding · « **Reply #13 on:** March 01, 2010, 12:25 »

I really doubt they will close up shop. They have some big contributors and some, even many on this forum make good money off Fotolia. I'm just not one of them. I have never been able to figure out what style sells there and obviously I don't photograph in the type of popular style that sells there. I don't upload any more and rarely check my stats. Maybe 10 years from now I'll reach payout.

MikLav · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2010, 13:39 »

FL acceptance ratio hugely depends on the subject. They accept wast majority of my studio people shots, and they reject most architecture and many of nature pictures.

elvinstar · « **Reply #15 on:** March 01, 2010, 15:15 »

I have an 82% acceptance ratio on Fotolia and they are one of my top earners. I guess my style fits with their site. I see other members like on this thread that earn a vast majority of their income on iStock, but that's not the case for me.

madelaide · « **Reply #16 on:** March 01, 2010, 17:15 »

I had a 50% increase in earnings in FT in Feb, but then Dec and Jan were slow for me.

OM · « **Reply #17 on:** March 01, 2010, 18:57 »

Had a good Feb too. Despite having stopped subs for about 2 weeks..........restarted because I thought ppd's were going down too. Uploaded no more than 8 images since start of 2010/no rejections but also not a single sale on any image uploaded since beginning of January (mostly food but perhaps a little too specific).

The FT case for subs.............from their Newsletter this month........can also be read on their blog:

"Visibility
By following the rules above, you will achieve a better visibility. But there are further tips to increase your visibility:

1. By allowing the sales in subscription you will improve the ratio sold/views for each one of your contents. When a subscription customer wants to buy your image and you don’t allow the sale in subscription, your content will be marked at 0 sold for 1 view. The ratio sold/view is an important criteria within our search engine. Images that are sold each time they are viewed receive a better visibility in the results page."

So, subs can be regarded as a bit of personal promotion. The price may be low but you're lucky we don't charge you for it.

iariturk · « **Reply #18 on:** March 06, 2010, 09:39 »

i dislike FT myself for all the above reasons too

stormchaser · « **Reply #19 on:** March 07, 2010, 05:17 »

Quote from: elvinstar on March 01, 2010, 15:15

I have an 82% acceptance ratio on Fotolia and they are one of my top earners. I guess my style fits with their site. I see other members like on this thread that earn a vast majority of their income on iStock, but that's not the case for me.

That's great for you. And it also goes to show how agencies differ for different people. Happy now that I'm FF - Fotolia Free - but you keep going!

OxfordSquare · « **Reply #20 on:** April 07, 2010, 06:30 »

Congratulations. They have the worst support from all agencies. Fotolia is history for me

cascoly · « **Reply #21 on:** April 07, 2010, 13:32 »

Quote from: lagereek on March 01, 2010, 09:20

Quote from: MikLav on February 28, 2010, 14:05
I don't like their attitude to contributors; yet still Fotolia is a good and successful agency. Consistently good earner.

Agree!! a good earner! in the end of day, thats what counts, isnt it? Ive never understood this business about why people get so irritated with rejects.
Its looked upon as a good thing, a professional approach, not to accept loads of irrelevant material, lots of duplicates, etc. Its really also for the benefit of other contributors. Mainly its done for the buyers! to save them having to wade through tons of rubbish really.

it's frustrating to see good sellers at other sites rejected, but agreed, if the comment makes no sense just move on. having to click on keyword button for each submission is silly but it's still better than many
my standard is ratio between sales results and submission hassles - i continue w sites like 3d and yay because submission is very easy, even tho sales are slim; i'll put up with more hassles with dt, ss and ft becase they produce; but i usually ignore is because they sell so few

s

volk65 · « **Reply #22 on:** April 29, 2010, 22:50 »

I dumped FT 8-9 months ago. They deleted some of the pics in my portfolio (I don't discuss whether they had right in doing so) but they also cut all my past earnings from those pics. They were claiming that it was because of credit card frauds but the math didn't add up to justify such a big cut-back at a single time. When I calculated the total income I have earned through the years from the deleted files, this time the math worked. And of course FT had cashed its commision from those sales. crapty Help Desk didn't want to listen my explanation about deleted files. Then I understood that they can steal all your earnings, blame it on something irrelevant, and act like further inquiries are non-existent. There are too many fishes in the sea, why should they care?

Since then, I've been reading forum messages to learn about many examples of FT's abusiveness. There are always some contributors who defend FT on the grounds that it's a good earner - if you ask me, it is just not their turn to draw the short straw.

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Author Topic: Did It - Dumped Fotolia (Read 10470 times)

stormchaser

donding

RT

stormchaser

Norebbo

JohnShelley

stormchaser

lagereek

traveler1116

MikLav

gvictoria

lagereek

gilmourbto2001

donding

MikLav

elvinstar

madelaide

OM

iariturk

stormchaser

OxfordSquare

cascoly

volk65

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