4K clips shouldn't cost buyers double that of HD....I would suggest only a 20% premium max.

One idea:  How about being honest and cutting the startup speak?. 

If the economy is in recession and sales are down and Pond5 has limited funds or is perhaps losing money like other stellar startups like WeWork and Movie Pass then simply state that give the current economic situation and our limited resources there are some things we can no longer do.

And if they are going in a different direction which it's looking like they are with all these deals with companies like Reuters and others then simply say it.

Reuters is allowed to sell for $1100 per item, I am not allowed to price over $79 and I can only upload one shot at a time with no audio.

They actually are trying to tell us we need to lower our prices and go exclusive all while everyone who's done both has reported over 75% drop in sales and income and btw once you pull thousands of clips from other sites it takes time to re-upload them and years to get your ranking back.

I think the best thing for the upcoming town hall is to demand answers to why they have been avoiding answering questions from contributors and also what's up with them telling us one thing and the exact opposite happening.

It's gotten so bad now that I think that as soon as the town hall is over someone(s) gonna be leaking the entire debacle to the tech press and social media and bringing it all out in public like has happened with startups like WeWork and Movie pass and others.

Really not interested in hearing how their conversions are up and sales are up all while revenue is down 85% and the usual nonsense of "we believe than over the long terms this will be beneficial.......". 

They need to cut the startup speak and cut the dishonesty.

I feel bad for those who bought in to the exclusive program and basically lost their businesses, I came very close to being one of them but then I saw some reg flags and held off and kept holding off but stopped uploading to SS, now I am uploading 24/7 to SS and trying to catch up.

I can't honestly figure out if they are dishonest or simply beyond clueless like many other startup people, I'm thinking they are clueless as I am seeing this trend with other startups who are losing millions and billions, Uber, WeWork, Movie Pass and others, they really think that below cost selling will make more money and I think that's what's happening at pond5 and perhaps other sites as well.

This town hall I want answers and I'd be willing to bet we will get more startup speak and falsehoods like the last time.

I am amazed at how those three where able to sit through the last town hall and pitch the exclusive program and keep from cracking up laughing themselves.

It would be good to get some opinions from those that went exclusive.

4K clips shouldn't cost buyers double that of HD....I would suggest only a 20% premium max.

actually 4k is 4 times larger than hd ,then storage processing exporting takes much longer than hd,so double price is ok i think...
what's the point of asking to earn less?? i really don't get it...

Personally, I'm just moving into 4k footage, requiring not only new camera gear but also a much more powerful computer. Why on earth would one go through all the extra expense and learning curve if there's no reasonable payoff for it?

I don't get it either.
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So hard to even think about upgrading equipment and computers when 2019 has been one of the worst years ever for sales for many producers, that and with so much of the end product being viewed on cell phones it doesn't help the decision making process.

I am 4K now but not that many 4K sales yet but I do mostly editorial, 5G is coming so maybe that will boost the demand for 4K but it all depends on the cost of the data plans for consumers.

With consumer demands changing so far I am nervous about making any more upgrades, kind of in a holding pattern for now.

They don't need to sell anything any cheaper or give discounts and promotions, because they can say with all honesty that they are the cheapest on the market, that's all they need to promote.

They should put on fixed prices at normal value and bring buyers back and give us 50% revenue back 

Yep, they should. But they won't. Sad.

I noticed there are a couple of good and detailed posts in the pond5 forums this morning on the matter as well but I have a feeling they are not listening, it's their way, they do the talking, they know best, they declared themselves stewards of the marketplace, they are leading us in the race to the bottom one way of another and when we offer suggestions they ignore them or deflect them.

I think the reason they have stopped responding in the forums is they got caught with the hidden search price cap, the exclusive program scheme, and all these discounts and forcing our prices lower and lower all while allowing Reuters and other clients to sell for $300 to $1100 per clip.

They are out of lies and they know it.


I think we need to find another agency to sell our commercial and editorial content on. It's just not working, we lost the summer and now here we are in the fall selling season and once again the higher I price the higher they discount so my cut is almost the same now whether I price near the bottom, mid range or sky high.    Last week was a really good week for sales at pond5 but everything discounted so my cut was same or less than what I get at SS.    Good week at SS too but not what it should be for this time of year.

Perhaps you want to correct your signature link, not working.

Actually I read your thread at P5 forum and loved the "enough misery" part, so I copied it here.
I am the guy that need a dumb-bell for pricing low and advertising it
(Offtopic, @cathyslife if you read it, people calling names exist everywhere, I don't care if they do not pay my meal)

Perhaps this is different, it is i think the first time that they asked for help,
if we are willing to help promote in Youtube etc. in the questionary.
Perhaps it is a dead end and it is to everyone's interest to help before hitting the wall.
Yes they made errors. Yes they can do better. But still sales do happen.

Hoping for the best.

Edit, being completely honest, since going exclusive this is my only agency of interest, so I have to care or act on what will happen next...

I would upload every frame of video you have and tag it on pond5 now, literally go 24/7,

Funny to mention that, today it was one of the rare times that current ftp succesful uploads were in "processing" stage for more that one hour maybe two. Guess everyone uploads like crazy?

Give us your social handlers and we might shout you out!
And only Youtube option included?
Thanks a lot! I am banned for life from YT! Hahahah!

Jokes aside, no Vimeo? It is the Mecca of showreels i think.

4K clips shouldn't cost buyers double that of HD....I would suggest only a 20% premium max.

No way, and that shouldn't be up to Pond5 to decide.

Ontopic: It's futile to suggest ideas. Their ""townhall meeting"" is not a town hall meeting where people can shout suggestions. It's just a livestream with announcements, nothing more.