Author Topic: iStock | 15 Year Anniversary (Read 42799 times)

iFlop · « **Reply #25 on:** April 22, 2015, 13:24 »

Quote

We are proud to represent your content, and defy the race-to-the-bottom trend in pricing...

So if they aren't part of the race to the bottom then why am I earning $2 or less on a XXXL download when I used to earn as much as $30 for the same download? I don't know where his maths are coming from but my math explains why I am now earning less than 20% of what I was earning as an exclusive in 2011 and yet with double the portfolio size now.

dpimborough · « **Reply #26 on:** April 22, 2015, 14:25 »

Aye and they don't even have a sliding scale of sub commissions like the others, you just get 28 cents whether you sell one or a frakking million subs

Frak you !

Where's my angry stick!?

Ariene · « **Reply #27 on:** April 22, 2015, 14:42 »

Quote from: Teddy the Cat on April 22, 2015, 14:25

Frak you !

Love it!

Quote from: Teddy the Cat

Where's my angry stick!?

Looking for this one?

dpimborough · « **Reply #28 on:** April 22, 2015, 14:58 »

Quote from: Ariene on April 22, 2015, 14:42

Quote from: Teddy the Cat on April 22, 2015, 14:25
Frak you !

Love it!

Quote from: Teddy the Cat
Where's my angry stick!?

Looking for this one?

Dayum right gimme that angry stick someones gonna get a whuppin

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #29 on:** April 22, 2015, 15:01 »

dpimborough · « **Reply #30 on:** April 22, 2015, 15:08 »

Quote from: Semmick Photo on April 22, 2015, 15:01

More like "more stock images slaves"

hehehehe

Ariene · « **Reply #31 on:** April 22, 2015, 15:30 »

"more stock images slaves"

That was my first thought when I saw this thread... and this is NOT funny $:-\$

dpimborough · « **Reply #32 on:** April 22, 2015, 16:06 »

Quote from: Ariene on April 22, 2015, 15:30

"more stock images slaves"

That was my first thought when I saw this thread... and this is NOT funny $:-\$

Well you have to laugh otherwise you'd cry

Tryingmybest · « **Reply #33 on:** April 22, 2015, 16:36 »

I have to say the their payout scheme really has me p#@#$!ed off. They get to owe us money and we won't have any clue unless we harass them about it.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #34 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:01 »

It looks like something written for the CEO to read and be happy about. It's hardly likely to fool the suppliers.

Stockmaan · « **Reply #35 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:04 »

Istock shame on you!

EmberMike · « **Reply #36 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:15 »

I couldn't even finish reading it. What a bunch of outright lies and bull...

Unreal. Is this what it's come to for them now? Just flat-out lying about how great they are and how they're so much better than the competition? And people actually believe this stuff? It doesn't take much of a Google search to find out what iStock pays and what other companies pay. Who buys into this insanity?

tickstock · « **Reply #37 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:24 »

Quote from: EmberMike on April 22, 2015, 17:15

I couldn't even finish reading it. What a bunch of outright lies and bull...

Unreal. Is this what it's come to for them now? Just flat-out lying about how great they are and how they're so much better than the competition? And people actually believe this stuff? It doesn't take much of a Google search to find out what iStock pays and what other companies pay. Who buys into this insanity?

It was written for exclusives. Most of us get a higher royalty rate than we would at the other guys. Nothing about this email and video was meant to be for or about nonexclusive contributors, in case that wasn't clear.

EmberMike · « **Reply #38 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:26 »

Quote from: tickstock on April 22, 2015, 17:24

Quote from: EmberMike on April 22, 2015, 17:15
I couldn't even finish reading it. What a bunch of outright lies and bull...

Unreal. Is this what it's come to for them now? Just flat-out lying about how great they are and how they're so much better than the competition? And people actually believe this stuff? It doesn't take much of a Google search to find out what iStock pays and what other companies pay. Who buys into this insanity?
It was written for exclusives. Most of us get a higher royalty rate than we would at the other guys. Nothing about this email and video was meant to be for or about nonexclusive contributors, in case that wasn't clear.

It was clear, and it's still a bunch of lies. Unless iStock recently changed exclusive rates to 50%+ and I didn't hear about it.

ShadySue · « **Reply #39 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:27 »

Quote from: tickstock on April 22, 2015, 17:24

Quote from: EmberMike on April 22, 2015, 17:15
I couldn't even finish reading it. What a bunch of outright lies and bull...

Unreal. Is this what it's come to for them now? Just flat-out lying about how great they are and how they're so much better than the competition? And people actually believe this stuff? It doesn't take much of a Google search to find out what iStock pays and what other companies pay. Who buys into this insanity?
It was written for exclusives. Most of us get a higher royalty rate than we would at the other guys. Nothing about this email and video was meant to be for or about nonexclusive contributors, in case that wasn't clear.

A select group of exclusives, presumably.
I wouldn't have known about the email if it hadn't been for the OP here.

tickstock · « **Reply #40 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:30 »

Quote from: EmberMike on April 22, 2015, 17:26

Quote from: tickstock on April 22, 2015, 17:24
Quote from: EmberMike on April 22, 2015, 17:15
I couldn't even finish reading it. What a bunch of outright lies and bull...

Unreal. Is this what it's come to for them now? Just flat-out lying about how great they are and how they're so much better than the competition? And people actually believe this stuff? It doesn't take much of a Google search to find out what iStock pays and what other companies pay. Who buys into this insanity?
It was written for exclusives. Most of us get a higher royalty rate than we would at the other guys. Nothing about this email and video was meant to be for or about nonexclusive contributors, in case that wasn't clear.

It was clear, and it's still a bunch of lies. Unless iStock recently changed exclusive rates to 50%+ and I didn't hear about it.

Which sites are paying 50% or more? Fotolia, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, 123rf?

EmberMike · « **Reply #41 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:44 »

Quote from: tickstock on April 22, 2015, 17:30

Which sites are paying 50% or more? Fotolia, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, 123rf?

Stockfresh, Creative Market, Pond5, GL, Alamy, couple of others I'd rather not mention yet but showing potential.

Does it matter who pays more than 50%? They're competitors, and they pay better. A lot better in some cases, and not just by percentages. iStock lags behind a few of these companies in earnings for me lately. Way behind CM.

The point is, it's a total lie to say that they pay better than the competition and treat contributors better. It's just pure B.S.

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #42 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:46 »

Some sites pay more than 50% for exclusive contributors. Fotolia 64%

tickstock · « **Reply #43 on:** April 22, 2015, 17:48 »

Quote from: EmberMike on April 22, 2015, 17:44

Quote from: tickstock on April 22, 2015, 17:30
Which sites are paying 50% or more? Fotolia, Shutterstock, Dreamstime, 123rf?

Stockfresh, Creative Market, Pond5, GL, Alamy, couple of others I'd rather not mention yet but showing potential.

Does it matter who pays more than 50%? They're competitors, and they pay better. A lot better in some cases, and not just by percentages. iStock lags behind a few of these companies in earnings for me lately. Way behind CM.

The point is, it's a total lie to say that they pay better than the competition and treat contributors better. It's just pure B.S.

I think any exclusive would have a hard time replacing their income by just submitting to those sites. I'm sure you realize who they are talking about when they say competitors, none of those sites are on the list. Besides I don't think they said they pay higher than all the other sites all I see about pay is this quote "defy the race-to-the-bottom trend in pricing by rewarding talent, investing in our artists and paying higher rates for our Signature tier product." To me it could easily just mean they pay higher rates for Signature content than nonexclusive content and aren't lowering the prices for that to the levels of say SS.

StanRohrer · « **Reply #44 on:** April 22, 2015, 18:06 »

So the video talks about (among other things): new subs program introduced, simplified the site, better customer pricing, pricing lowered to directly compete with Shutterstock, lowered price points. Later in the video (at -1:53) is presented text "We have the content you can get anywhere else, for less money". Next (at -1:45) is the text "iStock is the only place where you can get our exclusive, Signature content". Which is directly followed by the voice (at -1:36) "put simply, this is not a race to the bottom".

So this is a WooYay buzz word sales pitch to the exclusive contributors that also contains contradictions within. It's very heartening to note that iStock seems very concerned and is working on the site operation to make it more competitive. I may or may not agree with their methods and changes but at least they are trying. That is the good news to me.

The bad news is that the WooYay and efforts do not seem to be hitting my monthly payout bottom line at this point. The increasing subs are not making up for the decreasing regular sales. Contributors have complained for years about the non-working connector that is supposed to move files to Getty and other sites to provide more exposure and hence more income. The forums are long dead and contributors cannot help each other promote iStock. The RC system killed morale and doesn't work. We all know the many more issues where we think iS has gone way off the path.

In the end it boils down to my monthly payout. It's a very long way back to my monthly payout levels of 2010 and iS enthusiasm (sales pitch) has not yet translated to a turn-around in my account charts. Show me the money. My account is becoming unsustainable!

Shelma1 · « **Reply #45 on:** April 22, 2015, 18:24 »

iStock is leading the race to the bottom between top competitors. For indies they have lower prices than SS and lower royalties.

tickstock · « **Reply #46 on:** April 22, 2015, 18:27 »

Quote from: Shelma1 on April 22, 2015, 18:24

iStock is leading the race to the bottom between top competitors. For indies they have lower prices than SS and lower royalties.

They're just winning for today (well Fotolia's DPC is probably winning), tomorrow it will be someone else, that's what makes it a race. I've been saying it for a long time, expect it to continue as long as you support sites that are caught up in the race.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #47 on:** April 22, 2015, 18:36 »

So you think I should stop supporting iStock?

EmberMike · « **Reply #48 on:** April 22, 2015, 18:44 »

Quote from: tickstock on April 22, 2015, 17:48

I think any exclusive would have a hard time replacing their income by just submitting to those sites. I'm sure you realize who they are talking about when they say competitors, none of those sites are on the list. Besides I don't think they said they pay higher than all the other sites all I see about pay is this quote "defy the race-to-the-bottom trend in pricing by rewarding talent, investing in our artists and paying higher rates for our Signature tier product." To me it could easily just mean they pay higher rates for Signature content than nonexclusive content and aren't lowering the prices for that to the levels of say SS.

In the rest of that paragraph you quoted from they go on to say, "It is these shared ideologies that separates us from the competitors." They're talking about them vs. competitors, not Signature vs. non-exclusive content. And they're not doing better than the competition in the rates that they pay, exclusive and non-exclusive rates alike.

Just because you don't see the companies I mentioned as real competition doesn't mean that they're not. Like I said, Creative Market is my #2 earner, way out ahead of iStock the last several months. That's very real competition if you ask me. Talk around it any way you like, the fact is that it's still an absolute lie to say in any way relating to royalties that iStock does better by their contributors than the competition. It's just simply not true.

tickstock · « **Reply #49 on:** April 22, 2015, 18:54 »

Quote from: Shelma1 on April 22, 2015, 18:36

So you think I should stop supporting iStock?

That's your decision. I'm just saying what is going to happen when people continue the way they have been.

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Author Topic: iStock | 15 Year Anniversary (Read 42799 times)

iFlop

dpimborough

Ariene

dpimborough

Semmick Photo

dpimborough

Ariene

dpimborough

Tryingmybest

BaldricksTrousers

Stockmaan

EmberMike

tickstock

EmberMike

ShadySue

tickstock

EmberMike

Semmick Photo

tickstock

StanRohrer

Shelma1

tickstock

Shelma1

EmberMike

tickstock

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