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Author Topic: How long does it take to get paid at Fotolia?  (Read 16168 times)

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« on: August 08, 2006, 09:57 »
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I finally reached $100 at Fotolia so I decided to request a Paypal payout.  I put my request through on 8-3-06 and it has been showing a status of "Transformation Pending" ever since.  I sent an email to support asking how long it would take to go through but I figured I'd post here too to see what you seasoned veterans thought.  Has anyone received a Paypal payout from Fotolia?  How long did it take to go through?  Thanks in advance.
Pixelbrat
« Last Edit: August 08, 2006, 10:07 by pixelbrat »


« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2006, 10:05 »
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The last time I requested a payment wason Friday 16th June and I had the e-mail from paypal on 18th of June so only 2 days

whereas I requested payment on the 4th of August and still no cash from FT  :'(

DT state 1-5 days

« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2006, 10:35 »
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last month i my payment took 8 days... so you still have 3 days to go :)

« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2006, 10:51 »
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It took me atleast a week.

Note that at FT, you can cash out at any time and provided the amount is above $50, there is no charge to do so (less than $50 it costs $1).

« Reply #4 on: August 08, 2006, 14:45 »
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Well, I got a reply from support but it was absolutely no help.  Here's their response:

"Dont worry about this status. You can download images immediately after purchase."

I think they missed the point that I wanted to get paid by Paypal, not download images with those credits.  I replied thusly.  We'll see what they say.

Oh, and CJ, yes I know I can cash out at anytime but I was saving up to $100 intentionally.  I needed it for a new windshield for my motorcycle.  Kind of a self imposed savings plan.   :D

« Reply #5 on: August 08, 2006, 16:34 »
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"Dont worry about this status. You can download images immediately after purchase."

I like Fotolia for their growth and primarily for their forum bouncing admin, Chad. But honestly their customer service is THE WORST of all the microstocks. I'm in the same boat. I submitted for payment a week ago, still not gone through. Customer service doesn't answer. Last time it took 8 days and an e-mail.

« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2006, 16:40 »
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Well, believe it or not they replied back to me with the following after I set them straight on what I was actually asking about:

"Sorry we did not read this correctly. Paypal payments should be made this week."

I guess we'll finally see our payments "sometime this week".  Hmm, that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.  I wonder if they're stuggling to fill their bank account enough to make payments to their photographers...   ???

« Reply #7 on: August 08, 2006, 16:51 »
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Thanks for the info. Now I can sit back and wait for my beer money to come in. :)

"Sorry we did not read this correctly. Paypal payments should be made this week."
I guess we'll finally see our payments "sometime this week".  Hmm, that doesn't exactly fill me with confidence.  I wonder if they're stuggling to fill their bank account enough to make payments to their photographers...   ???

« Reply #8 on: August 09, 2006, 02:19 »
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So far regarding payments I have been most impressed with SS for paying promptly when they say they will.

Not really a fair comparison as with the subscription only system they have all the cash up front from the designers.

For the rest I guess its like any business cash flow problems, I suspect Paypal and the credit card companies don't send the agency lots of small amounts but BIG transfers. Though most sites have a few day wait for pending credits. FT allow you to cash out at any time so if everyone decided to cash out on the same day there would be problems. I supose its like any business you leave your suppliers waiting for your cash.

Well let us just hope the wait for payment doesn't increase to the wait to get the images reviewed. Supposedly 17 days at CanStockPhoto compared to 6 hours for their express uploads are they all on holiday?
« Last Edit: August 09, 2006, 02:28 by fintastique »

« Reply #9 on: August 09, 2006, 03:00 »
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Shutterstock also has it easy as it only does one payment run a month.  It doesn't have to worry about it the rest of the month.  It just runs one report, uploads that into its payment system and it is done.  All the rest that payout when requested have to do that dayly.  I am supprised they dont work on a weekly system.  ie al those requested by Friday, we will do a payment run on monday so it will go out on tuesday etc.

« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2006, 04:11 »
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I agree SS have it very easy but it works, though Moneybooker payments initially were a bit late, not sure now.

Yeah a weekly system or something would be better make the system more efficient.

I think FP check the totals twice a month and make payments accordingly.

« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2006, 04:18 »
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123RF also does monthly payments.

Perhaps fotolia also does scheduled payments however.. if you are lucky to request payout right before a scheduled payment, you get paid quick, if you request payment just after a scheduled payment, you'll have to wait a few days until the next one comes around.

« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2006, 04:21 »
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DT Rocks.

payment requested yesterday

payment received today  ;D

I suspect FT may have secret payment dates that would explain the the variation in waiting times.


« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2006, 04:39 »
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My payment just arrived from Fotolia so hopefully today is payday  ;D - 5 days

« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2006, 04:40 »
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payment requested from fotolia 3 or so days go... stil waiting.  Maybe i'll get it today.

« Reply #15 on: August 09, 2006, 04:42 »
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I've been waiting for a Fotolia payment forever now. Problem with Fotolia is they're putting all of their resources into expanding their db (first to a million race), at the expense of 1) customer service, 2) quality of photos accepted and most importantly 3) marketing.

I've done some statistics as a job and would like to bring up a concept/equation:

Variables:

PortfolioShare = Your portfolio as a share of the total number of photos in the agency
AgencyGrowth = How quickly agency is adding photos
PortfolioGrowth = How quickly you are adding photos
AgencySales = Total photos sold by agency
YourSales = Total photos sold by you

Assuming:
1) proportionality (that all photos sell equally well, which is NOT true on a case by case basis, but probably true within 2 standard deviations for a large portfolio: say 500+ photos) then

If PortfolioGrowth = AgencyGrowth then you keep the same PortfolioShare.

Fotolia's been growing very fast 5-10% a month for the last 3 months. So has my portfolio. My share has kept constant (as does my ranking: currently in the top 400). My sales in the 3 months increased by lousy 5%! Because my ranking did not drop (neither total, nor weekly, although weekly varies wildly from top 100 to top 1000 depending on sales), it is clear that despite huge growth in number of photos offered, Fotolia is just not selling more. The only reason why my sales are keeping up is because I upload a lot and keep my portfolio share up.

This points to only one thing: lack of good marketing. All the resources are being diverted elsewhere, approvals and God knows what else, but not marketing. In the same span my portfolio grew by the same 50% on Dreamstime: sales doubled.

Moral of this mathematical diatribe: Fotolia better get into shape or it will fall into oblivion along with GimmeStock, Crestock and recently BigStock

« Reply #16 on: August 09, 2006, 08:03 »
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just got the fotolia payment.

« Reply #17 on: August 09, 2006, 08:51 »
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I seriously doubt Fotolia will go into oblivion.  It doesn't cost them hardly anything at all to store their large cache of photos.  Just a single large raid array and extra backup time.  Their income is dependent upon their total sales and not the individual sales of their photographers.  Meaning if they add a lot of images without increasing their sales Fotolia's total income stays the same.  Photographers aren't happy because their $/image drops.  I seriously doubt they are hurting and believe that as a company they are probably doing quite well.

Mark

« Reply #18 on: August 09, 2006, 09:01 »
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It doesn't cost them hardly anything at all to store their large cache of photos. Just a single large raid array and extra backup time.

Their cost will all depend on the hardware and software.  If they are running Oracle on Solaris, then there are very large costs.  If they are running MySQL on Linux, then there are substantially reduced costs.

« Reply #19 on: August 09, 2006, 09:07 »
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I just received my payment.  Maybe they are running on a bit of a schedule, based on the fact that others seem to have gotten paid as well.  If so I wish they would make that public so we aren't waiting around wondering what's up.  If I knew I had to wait for a certain date I could certainly be patient but just leaving me dangling doesn't sit well with me.  Oh well, I got paid so I'm happy none the less.

« Reply #20 on: August 09, 2006, 15:04 »
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Definitely schedule. I got paid today as well


 

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