Author Topic: The Latest from Chad regarding Purchase incentives and commission structure (Read 33954 times)

cybernesco · « **on:** February 19, 2010, 14:25 »

The following is the latest from Chad regarding Purchase incentives and commission structure:

Hi everyone,

We have been carefully monitoring sales since the new bundle pricing was implemented earlier this month. We're very pleased with the results and would like to provide you with the following update.

As a backgrounder, all of you know that Fotolia's previous credit pricing ranged from $0.75 to $1, depending on the amount of credits purchased. On average, customers purchased credits at a rate of $0.94 each. Fotolia paid contributors as if those credits were purchased at $1, regardless.

In February, the new credit bundles were created to incentivize customers towards buying larger bundles. If we succeeded, that would mean a larger number of credits in the system, benefiting contributors by way of increased downloads.

Even though we're only several weeks into the change, we're proud to report some initial success. On average, we're awarding 20% in bonus credits. Thus, we will continue to pay contributors commissions based on $1 credits.

We also saw a dramatic increase in the number of credits awarded. In fact, it jumped from 6% in January to 20% in February to date. Without calculating the effects of Fotolia's natural growth rate, that means we introduced an additional 14% in credits into Fotolia's ecosystem.

This additional growth in the system, along with our natural viral growth and our aggressive sales and marketing program will translate into continued success for all contributors in Fotolia's family.

We thank you for your continued support. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and report back to you with any changes.

Fotolia management

http://www.fotolia.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=25258&p=5

Denis

sc · « **Reply #1 on:** February 19, 2010, 14:32 »

WHAT???

cthoman · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2010, 14:54 »

Thanks for starting a new thread on this, since the old one kind of got cluttered up.

I wonder what the new average credit price is? It looks like the credit prices vary from $.75 to $1.14. I think these posts create more questions than they answer.

LSD72 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2010, 14:56 »

It sounds more like circle talk with the underlying being they get more success while contributors get continued success. I dunno.

cybernesco · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2010, 14:59 »

I responded the following on their forum

Quote

Hi everyone,

As a backgrounder, all of you know that Fotolia's previous credit pricing ranged from $0.75 to $1, depending on the amount of credits purchased. On average, customers purchased credits at a rate of $0.94 each. Fotolia paid contributors as if those credits were purchased at $1, regardless.

Fotolia management

With all due respect, thank you for responding.

However most buyer buys from Europe in euro or in pound sterling. I don't know why you say credit pricing are between $0.75 and $1 when in fact it is more like between $0.75 and $1.57. As an example from a France site a package of 20 credits will average 1.14 euro which is equal to about $1.57 US at today's rate. And if a buyer buy an image of mine from this package then I get 31/157 and not 31/100. But I am sure that you can explain this.

Thank you for your support

Denis

RacePhoto · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2010, 15:01 »

Quote from: sc on February 19, 2010, 14:32

WHAT???

incentivize customers
natural growth rate
ecosystem
natural viral growth

Sounds Green?

What it really says? "Wha wha wa wa wahh wa waa......" (Teacher from Peanuts) and, blah blah blah until you stop listening and forget what the question was all about.

I cut and pasted it into babelfish and got this:

We'll get back to you.

cthoman · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2010, 15:17 »

Quote from: cybernesco on February 19, 2010, 14:59

As an example from a France site a package of 20 credits will average 1.14 euro which is equal to about $1.57 US at today's rate. And if a buyer buy an image of mine from this package then I get 31/157 and not 31/100. But I am sure that you can explain this.

Out of curiosity, what do the credit packages cost on the non US sites? I can only see the credit prices when I log in and when I log in, it gives me the prices in dollars.

cybernesco · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2010, 15:20 »

Quote from: cthoman on February 19, 2010, 15:17

Quote from: cybernesco on February 19, 2010, 14:59
As an example from a France site a package of 20 credits will average 1.14 euro which is equal to about $1.57 US at today's rate. And if a buyer buy an image of mine from this package then I get 31/157 and not 31/100. But I am sure that you can explain this.

Out of curiosity, what do the credit packages cost on the non US sites? I can only see the credit prices when I log in and when I log in, it gives me the prices in dollars.

Look at the bottom right,

http://fr.fotolia.com/Member/BuyCreditsChooseAmount

Denis

sc · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2010, 15:31 »

What I posted on the FT Forum:

All I know is my downloads are down and the average amount I make per download is decreasing.
In 2008 my average DL netted me .96
In 2009 it dropped to .90
in 2010 so far it's .83
So for me this new pricing isn't working.
The commission cut last year was supposed to even out with the higher payout to us on the larger sizes - that isn't happening for me.
I get fewer DL's with more smaller size sales and more Sub Sales.
This is the only site where I see my numbers going backwards.
So how is this working for anyone else other than Fotolia??

madelaide · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2010, 16:17 »

Do you understand this part?

Quote

We also saw a dramatic increase in the number of credits awarded. In fact, it jumped from 6% in January to 20% in February to date. Without calculating the effects of Fotolia's natural growth rate, that means we introduced an additional 14% in credits into Fotolia's ecosystem.

What are "credits awarded"?

FD · « **Reply #10 on:** February 19, 2010, 16:35 »

Quote from: madelaide on February 19, 2010, 16:17

What are "credits awarded"?

Sounds like they are giving it away as a promo tool. Something like printing money.

cybernesco · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2010, 17:01 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on February 19, 2010, 16:35

Quote from: madelaide on February 19, 2010, 16:17
What are "credits awarded"?
Sounds like they are giving it away as a promo tool. Something like printing money.

I think what he means by " awarding 20% in bonus credits" is that at the moment the average size of credit bundles being bought by buyers has given them an average of 20% discount or therefore 20% more credits then if it was bought in smaller bundles. However, in his calculation, he conveniently omitted all credits bough at over $1.00 as well, most importantly, all credits bought in other currencies which goes as high as $1.55-$1.60 per credit.

Denis

stockastic · « **Reply #12 on:** February 19, 2010, 17:24 »

Wow. 100% pure marketing and accounting fog-speak. Fotolia has become the Enron of microstock. (I hope you've all seen "The Smartest Guys In The Room".)

The people running these agencies now live in their own world of marketing and accounting schemes. Trying to explain this system to that mob of shabbily dressed weirdos at the back door (us) is no longer necessary.

OM · « **Reply #13 on:** February 19, 2010, 17:42 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on February 19, 2010, 16:35

Quote from: madelaide on February 19, 2010, 16:17
What are "credits awarded"?
Sounds like they are giving it away as a promo tool. Something like printing money.

Similar but subtly different. "We have been able to 'award' extra credits because our contributors are generously paying for them. It's like the UK team once stated, We are the deciders and we decided that they would."

Red Dove · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2010, 17:50 »

Crikey, George Orwell was right. But I hear this sort of claptrap every day from the founder/owner of the number two computer company... or is it number three, so I'm a little jaded. Anyway, I'm none the bloody wiser, but to you use an expression from my US colleagues "don't piss down my neck and tell me it's raining".

FD · « **Reply #15 on:** February 19, 2010, 17:59 »

Quote from: Red Dove on February 19, 2010, 17:50

Anyway, I'm none the bloody wiser, but to you use an expression from my US colleagues "don't piss down my neck and tell me it's raining".

I'm learning a lot of great English expressions here all the time.

In Dutch we say to grease somebody up with his own fat.

OM · « **Reply #16 on:** February 19, 2010, 17:59 »

As Gostwyck suggested a couple of weeks ago, they could be preparing to get 'absorbed' by aliens. Boosting the bottom line and (maybe it's just me) acceptance rate has been remarkably high since Oct/Nov 2009. "All the better to be eaten with, grandmama."

Beam me up, Scotty.

FD · « **Reply #17 on:** February 19, 2010, 18:04 »

Quote from: OM on February 19, 2010, 17:59

As Gostwyck suggested a couple of weeks ago, they could be preparing to get 'absorbed' by aliens.

This would be the second law of thermodynamics applied to µstock. Ultimately, we will all end up as subs on thinkstock.

OM · « **Reply #18 on:** February 19, 2010, 18:08 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on February 19, 2010, 17:59

Quote from: Red Dove on February 19, 2010, 17:50
Anyway, I'm none the bloody wiser, but to you use an expression from my US colleagues "don't piss down my neck and tell me it's raining".
I'm learning a lot of great English expressions here all the time. In Dutch we say to grease somebody up with his own fat.

Sometimes Dutch is far more expressive though. Take for example, "Teflon Don". "Zo glad als een aal in een emmer snot."

OM · « **Reply #19 on:** February 19, 2010, 18:12 »

Quote from: FD-amateur on February 19, 2010, 18:04

Quote from: OM on February 19, 2010, 17:59
As Gostwyck suggested a couple of weeks ago, they could be preparing to get 'absorbed' by aliens.
This would be the second law of thermodynamics applied to µstock. Ultimately, we will all end up as subs on thinkstock.

Excellent!

It would be funny if it weren't true.

warren0909 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 19, 2010, 20:09 »

I think its totaly sad that people think they can blind other people with pure spin and think us plebs will take it as if we have no brains at all.

What kind of people do they think we are ? Kids going out spending our pocket money on disposable cameras then submiting our "snaps" to stock sites hoping they will sell "our" images for £1 giving us coppers ?

They value our contribution ....... yeah bet they do !!

click_click · « **Reply #21 on:** February 19, 2010, 21:43 »

I had a bunch of nasty image refunds lately. Despite a very good day in sales, I ended up in the minus one day.

I'd love to see FT pumping some $$$ into preventing fraud!!!

No other agency is making their contributors eat the fraud like FT does...

sc · « **Reply #22 on:** February 19, 2010, 23:25 »

Quote from: click_click on February 19, 2010, 21:43

I had a bunch of nasty image refunds lately. Despite a very good day in sales, I ended up in the minus one day.

I'd love to see FT pumping some $$$ into preventing fraud!!!

No other agency is making their contributors eat the fraud like FT does...

I've had a few of these not a lot but it really ticks me off that they can do this and get away with it. There is no other seller of goods that does this. Every business knows there will be a percentage of credit card fraud, theft, bad checks ... and whatever else. These costs are figured into the selling price and passed to the customers, not the suppliers. By this point they should have some handle on these costs and should be able to come up with a formula to recoup these losses in their selling price, not in charge backs to the supplier. If this isn't illegal it should be, after all they have given our image to the fraudulent purchaser with no way of getting it back. It is wrong and all the agencies that charge back need to stop this now.

madelaide · « **Reply #23 on:** February 20, 2010, 10:49 »

Quote from: click_click on February 19, 2010, 21:43

I'd love to see FT pumping some $$$ into preventing fraud!!!

I said this on a recent email to them, when I informed about a refund that was actually added, not deducted, from my account.

Quote

(...) Also, I really wished FT would be more carfeul with these transactions. Over and over we've been seeing these returns, so people with frauded cards are downloading our images and we lose the images and the money. Given the frequency it happens here and seldom elsewhere, it seems FT has some weakness in the transactions verification. We would appreaciate if FT would do something about it.

madelaide · « **Reply #24 on:** February 20, 2010, 10:54 »

Quote from: sc on February 19, 2010, 23:25

I've had a few of these not a lot but it really ticks me off that they can do this and get away with it. There is no other seller of goods that does this.

Given the frequency we see this in FT - more than in any other site, as far as I know - I suppose they have something weak in their verification procedures.

I have purchased a lot of things online, including software, which we download almost immeadiately after a purchase. Don't they check with the credit card company before letting us download it? Do they also suffer from this intensive frauds?

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Author Topic: The Latest from Chad regarding Purchase incentives and commission structure (Read 33954 times)

cybernesco

sc

cthoman

LSD72

cybernesco

RacePhoto

cthoman

cybernesco

sc

madelaide

FD

cybernesco

stockastic

OM

Red Dove

FD

OM

FD

OM

OM

warren0909

click_click

sc

madelaide

madelaide

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