Author Topic: Anyone Selling on Colourbox? (Read 28744 times)

leaf · « **on:** September 18, 2012, 05:25 »

There was a thread about Colourbox a few years ago, but it's time for an update. Is anyone selling image here? How are sales? Payment is only .20euro so rather poor - do they only have sub sales?

leaf · « **Reply #1 on:** September 18, 2012, 05:32 »

Some more info from the contributer agreement

Quote

Colourbox shall pay to the Supplier a royalty of €0.20 per download of photos, €0.35 per download of illustrations and €0.70 per download of videos. Under the Educational License, Colourbox allows the Licensees downloads of Material for non-commercial purposes only; in this case, Colourbox does not receive payment and Suppliers receive no royalty. If Licensees use Materials for commercial purposes, the Supplier will receive full royalty. Royalty is paid to the Supplier on a weekly basis and is done no later than one month after the Supplier's earnings have reached €100. The Supplier is solely responsible for updating his/her payment information on the Colourbox Supplier site so that Colourbox can process the payments.

I don't like the sounds of the area I bolded.

JPSDK · « **Reply #2 on:** September 18, 2012, 06:06 »

I have been on colourbox for 3-4 years and kept it secret, to not have too much competition.
But now the competition is there and it doesnt matter anymore.

And yes I have sold a lot of pictures there, like 10- 12 thousands in total.

But that was last year or the year before. Now sales have declined to 1/10 of what they used to be: down to 5 a day from 50 a day.
Also I have withdrawn my best images from the site, as the licence is "very open to intrepretation" and I simply dont want to undermine my sales.
Anyway, they have a careless policy about MR and other legal issues, and it is an agency that takes almost everything, plus actually has many sales.
Most of their images are used in Danish and Scandinavian newspapers, and was the cheap choice of pictures for any journalist if he wanted to illustrate something generic.
I have seen my pictures online in every big media in Scandinavia, many times. Frontpages and all, television, online newspapers and government homepages.
And all that for 20 cents.
Thats not good enough, and I dont upload much to them anymore.
My record there was 82 pictures sold at one day. It was mostly pictures of Danish money and flowers.
Today I sold one picture, a pile of firewood in the forest.
Yesterday I sold 5, rubberboots and Danish currency.

This picture is in the "most downloaded" lightbox on CB, it probably had 200 sales:

JPSDK · « **Reply #3 on:** September 18, 2012, 06:25 »

ok so i have to put it here:

leaf · « **Reply #4 on:** September 18, 2012, 06:29 »

Thanks. I often see them in aftenposten newspaper as well which is why I keep thinking of them. A shame they have such broad licensing terms

JPSDK · « **Reply #5 on:** September 18, 2012, 06:33 »

They are undermining themselves and the contributors.
I was in dialouge with them once about that, but they didnt care.
The staff is young yuppies, "urban professionals", and cannot imagine the impact the world can have on the naive ethos they live after.
Worst problem they have is their search engine.
I cannot find my own pictures.
They get burried in masses of generic stuff.
Like my latin named swallowtail is burried under masses of purple monarchs.
That makes it meaningless to upload.

Starzipan · « **Reply #6 on:** September 18, 2012, 15:14 »

Coming from a just out of college experience (in America), students are told they are allowed to use any image they like in a school project so long as it is kept in the school setting and isn't published for sale anywhere. My professors claimed it was alright to use images directly off of Google searches that since the use of the images fell under Educational use. I always felt uneasy about it and tried to use my own images whenever possible. I understand the need for images to learn how to use the design programs, but I felt it also encouraged using any image at all with or without permission even after the education was over.

They didn't exactly explain it very well until I asked in one of my classes about how we as professional designers should find images in the real world and suggested that they explain what microstock was to the rest of the students. Many of them had never heard of it and probably would not have until they started working at a company somewhere. After that I noticed that one of my professors started mentioning what stock and microstock is and how to use it once we (students) have graduated.

I hope this is different at other, larger schools.

I do understand where Colourbox is coming from in offering these types of downloads. I'm not sure how I feel about trying to upload my illustrations to a company that advertises free educational/non-commercial use because I'm sure there are people who would dishonestly take advantage of those downloads. There are dishonest people everywhere and this is just another easy outlet for them to use. At least when I was a student most images I used still had watermarks on them and I knew I couldn't use them for real world applications unless I bought them or got written permission for its use.

stockastic · « **Reply #7 on:** September 18, 2012, 15:25 »

So images should be free for "educational" use, but last time I walked through a university book store I noticed they definitely aren't giving away the textbooks.

Morphart · « **Reply #8 on:** September 21, 2012, 20:50 »

I registered... then checked their site. They seem to offer a 9.5 EUR pay per download (for Photo ,Illustration or Video). However they state clearly that they will only pay you .20 or .35EUR per download... Sounds like a ripoff for Pay per Download.

I sent them the following message, let's see what they answer...:

Hi!

I have a question. I just joined as a contributor and I would have around 5k illustrations (EPS) to submit.

However after reading the terms, I saw that I cannot earn more than .35 EUR per download?

Is that correct? So if my file is downloaded as a subscription, I can udnerstnand, but if the users pay per download, at 9.50EUR I only receive 0.35 EUR ?? This is a 4% payment which is real low.

Same thing with videos, I have around 300 videos to submit but your terms does not seem really interesting for contributors?

Thanks for clearing things up for me.
.

Ed · « **Reply #9 on:** September 21, 2012, 21:59 »

I don't mean to open a can of worms...or start a debate. I have an honest question....

If it's an issue that Colourbox only licenses images at .20 or .35 Euro, then why isn't it an issue that Shutterstock or iStock or Dreamstime does the same?

Is it the volume of images licensed? I'm just trying to (politely) understand...and my question is not related to EL sales at Shutterstock. It's just something I couldn't get my head around when I pulled out of the micros altogether.

Szakaly · « **Reply #10 on:** September 22, 2012, 02:11 »

The same for me - last year some days between 40 and 70 and this year, some days just 10 or so. The must have lost a lot of customers.

JPSDK · « **Reply #11 on:** September 22, 2012, 02:21 »

I think its more that we are getting burried. And also that popularity does not seem to affect searches, so the pictures just age and disappear.

And I tend to be very forgivefull, when the agency produces sales for me, when it doesnt, I get more and more annoyed with details and finally pull my port.,

Morphart · « **Reply #12 on:** September 22, 2012, 11:50 »

Quote from: Ed on September 21, 2012, 21:59

I don't mean to open a can of worms...or start a debate. I have an honest question....

If it's an issue that Colourbox only licenses images at .20 or .35 Euro, then why isn't it an issue that Shutterstock or iStock or Dreamstime does the same?

Is it the volume of images licensed? I'm just trying to (politely) understand...and my question is not related to EL sales at Shutterstock. It's just something I couldn't get my head around when I pulled out of the micros altogether.

The issue for me is not the license price (yest it's one of the lowest in the industry, and for Videos it's just ridiculous (.70EUR for a video sale), but considering the subscription model if they have enough customer, fine by me.

My issue is that they seem to offer also Pay per file, at 10 Eur or 9 EUR per file, but it seems our comission remains at .20 and .30, which makes no sense to give a 4% of the share. Shutterstock will give us way more per single download (ex: 2.85$, 5.70$, ++)

Morphart · « **Reply #13 on:** September 25, 2012, 07:06 »

And here is the answer from the Colourbox team:

Quote

Yes, it is correct that currently you receive EUR 0.35 per downloaded vector or EUR 0.70 per video, regardless of whether a client purchases it as a single download or though a subscription. By far most of our images are downloaded as part of subscriptions where they pay less than 1 Euro per image - see more details here

Here is my answer:
Wow, just saying for us contributors, it is really the lowest payout seen in the industry for single image download. You make 10 EUR and we make .20 or .35 EUR... This is putting me off. 0.70 EUR for Video subscription when other sites who has more traffic (Shutterstock) gives an average of 18.00$ per video download, no thanks again.

I will send them a thread to this page. They seem like a good agency but a 4% payout on single download and 0.70eur per video is a ripoff.

ginasanders · « **Reply #14 on:** September 25, 2012, 09:13 »

Sales are down more than 60% in the last 15 month!

I think many buyers have changed to other micros. Why should they pay for 3 million images when they could have 18-20 million images for the same money...

leaf · « **Reply #15 on:** September 25, 2012, 12:31 »

Quote from: Morphart on September 25, 2012, 07:06

And here is the answer from the Colourbox team:

Quote
Yes, it is correct that currently you receive EUR 0.35 per downloaded vector or EUR 0.70 per video, regardless of whether a client purchases it as a single download or though a subscription. By far most of our images are downloaded as part of subscriptions where they pay less than 1 Euro per image - see more details here

Here is my answer:
Wow, just saying for us contributors, it is really the lowest payout seen in the industry for single image download. You make 10 EUR and we make .20 or .35 EUR... This is putting me off. 0.70 EUR for Video subscription when other sites who has more traffic (Shutterstock) gives an average of 18.00$ per video download, no thanks again.

I will send them a thread to this page. They seem like a good agency but a 4% payout on single download and 0.70eur per video is a ripoff.

Thanks for digging that up. Add to that giving away images for educational use, I think I'll pass on this site. I can't say I'm sorry if I see their customers moving to other sites.

Morphart · « **Reply #16 on:** March 26, 2013, 06:58 »

To add to this thread... I gave the site a try uploading 1/3 of my portfolio. Just made a payout after 4 months or so... I had 108 EUR in balance...

Surprise, I receive a Paypal payment, BUT:
Amount received:      780.08 DKK
Fee amount:      -33.02 DKK
Net amount:      747.06 DKK

SURPRISE!
1- Not paid in EUR, but in DKK... My balance showed 108 EUR, not 780 DKK! I lose on conversion Fee.
2- THEY CHARGE us the PAYPAL FEE for sending us money!!! Our freaking low subscription sale money gets even lower. Didn't know they could do that and steal away our money on fees which they NEVER STATE anywhere in the terms (should they be sued??)

Bad business!

Paulfleet · « **Reply #17 on:** March 26, 2013, 07:14 »

Stunned...wow.. I am so glad I never uploaded there.

Morphart · « **Reply #18 on:** March 26, 2013, 08:02 »

And they answered my query with:
''Many thanks for your email.
We do not deduct anything from your payment. It costs us money to send you the payment and it costs you money to receive it - that is the way Paypal works unfortunately; they charge a percentage of the money involved in the transaction. It's the same with bank transfers. Moneybookers/Skrill may offer a slightly better deal and you are welcome to change your preferred payment method to Moneybookers.''

Bunch of lies, all agencies cover the Paypal fees for us. I listed them all agencies (From Shutterstock to Deposit, Canstock, Istock, Alamy etc.) stating that no one steals 30 downloads from us to make us cover the fees. Surprising what they want to make us believe!

kuriouskat · « **Reply #19 on:** March 26, 2013, 09:07 »

I first came across them when I found an almost exact copy of one of my vectors displayed both on Colourbox and Shutterstock. I emailed both companies, showing my original and the copy, (including an exact list of my keywords). Shutterstock acted promptly and removed the image in question but Colourbox said that, although the image resembled mine, it was not identical and they wouldn't take any action. Needless to say, it put me off them completely.

Noedelhap · « **Reply #20 on:** March 26, 2013, 17:27 »

Quote from: Morphart on March 26, 2013, 08:02

And they answered my query with:
''Many thanks for your email.
We do not deduct anything from your payment. It costs us money to send you the payment and it costs you money to receive it - that is the way Paypal works unfortunately; they charge a percentage of the money involved in the transaction. It's the same with bank transfers. Moneybookers/Skrill may offer a slightly better deal and you are welcome to change your preferred payment method to Moneybookers.''

Bunch of lies, all agencies cover the Paypal fees for us. I listed them all agencies (From Shutterstock to Deposit, Canstock, Istock, Alamy etc.) stating that no one steals 30 downloads from us to make us cover the fees. Surprising what they want to make us believe!

What a big lies indeed.

Morphart · « **Reply #21 on:** March 29, 2013, 09:15 »

Quote from: Noedelhap on March 26, 2013, 17:27

Quote from: Morphart on March 26, 2013, 08:02
And they answered my query with:
''Many thanks for your email.
We do not deduct anything from your payment. It costs us money to send you the payment and it costs you money to receive it - that is the way Paypal works unfortunately; they charge a percentage of the money involved in the transaction. It's the same with bank transfers. Moneybookers/Skrill may offer a slightly better deal and you are welcome to change your preferred payment method to Moneybookers.''

Bunch of lies, all agencies cover the Paypal fees for us. I listed them all agencies (From Shutterstock to Deposit, Canstock, Istock, Alamy etc.) stating that no one steals 30 downloads from us to make us cover the fees. Surprising what they want to make us believe!

What a big lies indeed.

After facing them with this and making them understand that they are stealing money away from us compared to ALL other agencies who pays by paypal, they said they will look into it and maybe make some changes. We'll see

Mediathek · « **Reply #22 on:** June 15, 2014, 06:34 »

Sorry for bumping this old thread.

I found this through Google, trying to find out if it's worth to upload to Colourbox.

Morphart mentioned that Colourbox was looking into making some changes and on their site it now says they pay 20% of the sales price (unless the person has a subscription).

Can anyone share some more recent experiences with CB?

Thanks!

weltreisendertj · « **Reply #23 on:** June 15, 2014, 06:45 »

For me make photos is a hobby and that´s the reason why I sell here also. I get 0.20€ for each picture sold. But the upload process is so easy and I haven´t anything to do when I use tools like mymicrostockupload.com so it´s just one click for me to get some extra money.

In case of a pro photograph I don´t like to use so cheap agencies!

Maximilian · « **Reply #24 on:** July 02, 2014, 02:48 »

5% of my files i uploaded there. For no reason.

20cent is horrible
educational license horrible too

Uploading stopped.

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Author Topic: Anyone Selling on Colourbox? (Read 28744 times)

leaf

leaf

JPSDK

JPSDK

leaf

JPSDK

Starzipan

stockastic

Morphart

Ed

Szakaly

JPSDK

Morphart

Morphart

ginasanders

leaf

Morphart

Paulfleet

Morphart

kuriouskat

Noedelhap

Morphart

Mediathek

weltreisendertj

Maximilian

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