Author Topic: Fotolia - Unsold contents (ANNOUNCEMENT) (Read 56022 times)

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #200 on:** July 27, 2013, 05:08 »

Quote from: U11 on July 25, 2013, 10:04

will delete - reupload work?

I have tried to do this one hour ago.

I have deleted the photo that is my best seller on SS, but with 0 sales and 2 views on FT [!!!!]……
And then I have reuploaded it…
Let's see if they will accept it…

gillian vann · « **Reply #201 on:** July 27, 2013, 17:02 »

that could be the only solution for xmas images, if you could be bothered.

alberto · « **Reply #202 on:** July 27, 2013, 18:43 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 27, 2013, 05:08

Quote from: U11 on July 25, 2013, 10:04
will delete - reupload work?

I have tried to do this one hour ago.

I have deleted the photo that is my best seller on SS, but with 0 sales and 2 views on FT [!!!!]……
And then I have reuploaded it…
Let's see if they will accept it…

Yes you can try this, but now the images have to be accepted again.
I dropped fotolia long time ago, but I remember how silly the process is. And most important to me, is the fact that if you have a small portfolio you can perform this task but when you reach maybe 700/800 files, is time consuming, is a huge waste of time.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #203 on:** July 28, 2013, 01:10 »

Quote from: alberto on July 27, 2013, 18:43

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 27, 2013, 05:08
Quote from: U11 on July 25, 2013, 10:04
will delete - reupload work?

I have tried to do this one hour ago.

I have deleted the photo that is my best seller on SS, but with 0 sales and 2 views on FT [!!!!]……
And then I have reuploaded it…
Let's see if they will accept it…
Yes you can try this, but now the images have to be accepted again.
I dropped fotolia long time ago, but I remember how silly the process is. And most important to me, is the fact that if you have a small portfolio you can perform this task but when you reach maybe 700/800 files, is time consuming, is a huge waste of time.

«C'ho fatto una proposta che [questi picciotti] non possono rifiutare»

(I made them an offer that they cannot refuse)

Baciamo le mani…

(Thank you for the minus and my congratulation for the acute sense of humor )

gostwyck · « **Reply #204 on:** July 28, 2013, 16:05 »

Warning for Emerald and above contributors.

Just noticed that when uploading new images the price now automatically defaults to the minimum 1 credit for XS. You can still set it higher (as you have to do with EL's) but you have to remember to do it manually for each image uploaded.

It's funny how FT, having incentivised contributors with a ranking system and escalating prices based on those rankings, they now do everything they can to minimise how we may benefit from it.

It seems that FT, like Istock, have become acutely aware that customers are indeed far more price-sensitive that they used to assume. There's no doubt that my downloads at Istock, if not my revenue, have significantly increased since the prices were cut.

lisafx · « **Reply #205 on:** July 28, 2013, 18:00 »

Quote from: gostwyck on July 28, 2013, 16:05

Warning for Emerald and above contributors.

Just noticed that when uploading new images the price now automatically defaults to the minimum 1 credit for XS. You can still set it higher (as you have to do with EL's) but you have to remember to do it manually for each image uploaded.

I noticed the same. However in my case, after I set the first image I submitted to 2 credits, the others had 2 credits as a default. Still have to bump up my EL prices to 100 on each image individually, though.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #206 on:** July 29, 2013, 00:32 »

Quote from: gostwyck on July 28, 2013, 16:05

Warning for Emerald and above contributors.

Just noticed that when uploading new images the price now automatically defaults to the minimum 1 credit for XS.

After you set it one time it should stay like this as it is recorded by the cookie.
It is possible that you have a problem with the Fotolia cookie.
Try to delete it (and clean your browser's cache too). After you will have set the price one time again it should turn normal.

topol · « **Reply #207 on:** July 29, 2013, 02:53 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 27, 2013, 03:19

I fully understand if agencies want to clear out old content that hasn't sold for years. Or hasn't had a sale in 18 months.

But 3 times every 6 months?

Doesn't this hurt their own revenue, especially on the seasonal images?

Anyway, I am on the lowest rank and not yet affected. I will continue to upload to Fotolia, but this means that I have to think much more carefully about the timing of files.

I guess the pressure from istock and the new half price policy is having a very drastic effect although it has only been marketed for 2 weeks.

Images idling there is not a price issue. They simply suck at selling images, the site has way too low traffic for it's volume of stock.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #208 on:** July 29, 2013, 09:56 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 27, 2013, 05:08

Quote from: U11 on July 25, 2013, 10:04
will delete - reupload work?

I have tried to do this one hour ago.

I have deleted the photo that is my best seller on SS, but with 0 sales and 2 views on FT [!!!!]……
And then I have reuploaded it…
Let's see if they will accept it…

Well, they have approved the re-uploaded photo 10 minutes ago…

sharpshot · « **Reply #209 on:** July 29, 2013, 11:14 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 29, 2013, 09:56

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 27, 2013, 05:08
Quote from: U11 on July 25, 2013, 10:04
will delete - reupload work?

I have tried to do this one hour ago.

I have deleted the photo that is my best seller on SS, but with 0 sales and 2 views on FT [!!!!]……
And then I have reuploaded it…
Let's see if they will accept it…

Well, they have approved the re-uploaded photo 10 minutes ago…

So now you just have to wait for them not to sell for 6 months and you can do it all again

asmai · « **Reply #210 on:** July 29, 2013, 13:22 »

Deleted all the pics that i care about and that had less than 5 sales (just to be on the safe side), they can have all the old generic junk though. I can see more of this kind of things coming. At some point in near future my port with them would just contain pure junk that dont sell anywhere else, well, that exactly what they want, they got it.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #211 on:** July 29, 2013, 13:52 »

Quote from: sharpshot on July 29, 2013, 11:14

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 29, 2013, 09:56
Quote from: Beppe Grillo on July 27, 2013, 05:08
Quote from: U11 on July 25, 2013, 10:04
will delete - reupload work?

I have tried to do this one hour ago.

I have deleted the photo that is my best seller on SS, but with 0 sales and 2 views on FT [!!!!]……
And then I have reuploaded it…
Let's see if they will accept it…

Well, they have approved the re-uploaded photo 10 minutes ago…
So now you just have to wait for them not to sell for 6 months and you can do it all again

Ah ah! +1
You want to bet?

If now I will begin to sale this image on FT too I will surely delete and re-upload most of my photos at them

Ron · « **Reply #212 on:** July 29, 2013, 14:03 »

I told Fotolia I would stop uploading, the reply was that I would be pushed back in the search results now. Cutting my sales even further. And this is going to make me submit more and better images how? I was happy with sales there, but now they've become insignificant.

picture5469 · « **Reply #213 on:** July 29, 2013, 14:04 »

Already deleted 300 from my port there

luissantos84 · « **Reply #214 on:** July 29, 2013, 14:12 »

Quote from: Ron on July 29, 2013, 14:03

I told Fotolia I would stop uploading, the reply was that I would be pushed back in the search results now. Cutting my sales even further. And this is going to make me submit more and better images how? I was happy with sales there, but now they've become insignificant.

that is interesting, I wonder how many files we need to upload weekly/monthly to continue "high" on searches, I am having lower sales with less uploading, let's say half of 2012 numbers

picture5469 · « **Reply #215 on:** July 29, 2013, 14:14 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on July 29, 2013, 14:12

Quote from: Ron on July 29, 2013, 14:03
I told Fotolia I would stop uploading, the reply was that I would be pushed back in the search results now. Cutting my sales even further. And this is going to make me submit more and better images how? I was happy with sales there, but now they've become insignificant.

that is interesting, I wonder how many files we need to upload weekly/monthly to continue "high" on searches, I am having lower sales with less uploading, let's say half of 2012 numbers

Whatever the value it wont work in our favour

xst · « **Reply #216 on:** July 29, 2013, 14:59 »

even more arguments for me to delayed uploading.

Currently I delay fro them 6-9 months

cobalt · « **Reply #217 on:** July 29, 2013, 15:16 »

Fotolia is the biggest agency here in Europe and especially in Germany. I also like that they offer exclusive images, so if you feel you have a niche that sells better with them than elsewhere you can push that niche higher with a certain percentage of exclusive images.

It is a smart concept that works especially well for localized images. Europe is a small region with many languages and loads of local quirks and cultural nuances.
Exclusive images give you better trade off than trying to upload them everywhere and hope you can get your investment back while they compete with all the generic stuff.

So yes, I will keep uploading.

But these unscheduled, abrupt dramatic kind of changes are scary and disturbing. It reminds me of istock and I really would prefer a smoother and balanced way to do business.

Anyway, I am new to how they work, but here in Germany many artists are doing well with them.

Ron · « **Reply #218 on:** July 29, 2013, 15:31 »

They wont take any of my Irish landscape photos, too many on site. They dont care about the location at all. The Antrim region of Northern Ireland is not really covered in the data base but they dont take my images. They have accepted a few floodplain images from The Netherlands, but they dont sell.

I am seeing none of what you describe, but that might be entirely up to the quality of my images as well.

Mellimage · « **Reply #219 on:** July 29, 2013, 15:37 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 29, 2013, 15:16

Fotolia is the biggest agency here in Europe and especially in Germany. I also like that they offer exclusive images, so if you feel you have a niche that sells better with them than elsewhere you can push that niche higher with a certain percentage of exclusive images.

It is a smart concept that works especially well for localized images. Europe is a small region with many languages and loads of local quirks and cultural nuances.
Exclusive images give you better trade off than trying to upload them everywhere and hope you can get your investment back while they compete with all the generic stuff.

So yes, I will keep uploading.

But these unscheduled, abrupt dramatic kind of changes are scary and disturbing. It reminds me of istock and I really would prefer a smoother and balanced way to do business.

Anyway, I am new to how they work, but here in Germany many artists are doing well with them.

This only works in theory this well - the thoughts you present are definitely correct, but the reality is a different matter. I tried to bank on this, providing localized content. I used to have a share of images that were exclusive to FT of above 10% and wanted to increase this. But my exclusive files, designed specifically for the German market have usually been pushed to the back of the search, while the generic ones tend to take off (if at all). With FTs new price strategy going for cheap prices I doubt that exclusive images at a higher price will continue to sell well. Interestingly, if I set some of these as non-exclusive and send them to other agencies later on, they sell better there than at FT.

cobalt · « **Reply #220 on:** July 29, 2013, 18:05 »

That is sad to hear, I've heard other things from several people. And Fotolia has a lot of very typical German content that is hard to find at the other agencies.

I'll have to try it myself, but I agree that the policy of expecting files to sell at least 3 times in 6 months sounds like they are now focussing on the ultrageneric stuff that has a superfast turnover.

Anyway, I still just have 350 files with them, so le'l's see how things go in a few months.

But there is a market for niche images that can justify prices above subscription and are not available everywhere. Otherwise all agencies are the same and they really can only fight on price.

Otherwise, I've been reading on the forums, that people are not happy with the quality of the search results. Some say, the contributors are to blame, too many spammy keywords. But the contributors upload the same keywords everywhere, don't they?

I do keyword manually in German for Fotolia, but I am not usng other keywords than I would in English.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #221 on:** July 29, 2013, 23:25 »

Quote from: Ron on July 29, 2013, 15:31

They wont take any of my Irish landscape photos, too many on site. They dont care about the location at all. The Antrim region of Northern Ireland is not really covered in the data base but they dont take my images. They have accepted a few floodplain images from The Netherlands, but they dont sell.

I am seeing none of what you describe, but that might be entirely up to the quality of my images as well.

Last year, in France, was a little scandal about an advertising for the beaches of Brittany. The advertising was targeted to the UK market.
They used the photo of a beach with the sea and typical rocks.
The photo was the one of a well known beach…… from South Africa (Llandudno beach)!

http://www.macandphoto.com/2012/03/photo-dafrique-du-sud-pour-les-plages-de-bretagne-.html
(Sorry I have only one link in French)

sharpshot · « **Reply #222 on:** July 30, 2013, 02:50 »

I might of considered uploading some exclusive images to FT at one point but they changed the search and my earnings crashed. With that, the commission cuts and moving the credit targets to get a commission raise, my earnings there are appalling now. I refuse to reward a site that has crippled my portfolio with exclusive images.

I think they made a huge mistake following the bad moves istock made. They would of made much more from me by giving me an incentive. I would be making more and they would be making more from me if it was possible to increase my earnings. Instead, I make a fraction of what I used to and I have absolutely no incentive to build my portfolio with them.

Ron · « **Reply #223 on:** July 30, 2013, 04:23 »

Thats what I told them as well.

When they told me they would push me down the search if I didnt upload regularly I asked how they can think that by punishing me twice, slashing my earnings, I would reward them by uploading more and better content?

Thats completely backwards. So I told them to consider; a happy worker produces more and better work then an unhappy worker.

I am afraid its to deaf ears.

Mellimage · « **Reply #224 on:** July 30, 2013, 15:24 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 29, 2013, 18:05

That is sad to hear, I've heard other things from several people. And Fotolia has a lot of very typical German content that is hard to find at the other agencies.

I'll have to try it myself, but I agree that the policy of expecting files to sell at least 3 times in 6 months sounds like they are now focussing on the ultrageneric stuff that has a superfast turnover.

Anyway, I still just have 350 files with them, so le'l's see how things go in a few months.

But there is a market for niche images that can justify prices above subscription and are not available everywhere. Otherwise all agencies are the same and they really can only fight on price.

Otherwise, I've been reading on the forums, that people are not happy with the quality of the search results. Some say, the contributors are to blame, too many spammy keywords. But the contributors upload the same keywords everywhere, don't they?

I do keyword manually in German for Fotolia, but I am not usng other keywords than I would in English.

At the moment, i think you'd have a good (better) chance at selling such images - first you are lower ranked (which means FT gets more from sales you make), secondly, as a newbie with a backlog catalogue you can also upload higher volumes (I have a tough time to get to 20 a month). So maybe your experience will be better.

Best of luck and may it be worth the extra effort.

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Author Topic: Fotolia - Unsold contents (ANNOUNCEMENT) (Read 56022 times)

Beppe Grillo

gillian vann

alberto

Beppe Grillo

gostwyck

lisafx

Beppe Grillo

topol

Beppe Grillo

sharpshot

asmai

Beppe Grillo

Ron

picture5469

luissantos84

picture5469

xst

cobalt

Ron

Mellimage

cobalt

Beppe Grillo

sharpshot

Ron

Mellimage

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