Fine Art America - cancel premium membership

[Ukko]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

[alexandersr]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

[Ukko]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

Hi Alexander,

I just opened my account today, so I can't say whether it's worth it to pay for a membership. But at least I can upload more than 25 photos to my portfolio. 

[ShadySue]

Ha, it's not one of the 67 FAQs!

I did find, "You may close Your account at any time by logging in and clicking on the icon that says "Close Account" . After clicking that link, Fine Art America will immediately close Your account and remove Your profile page and uploaded images from the Website.", so you'd need to check the renewal date and set a reminder for yourself. Or contact your bank directly?
I also hate these things.
I had that sort of deal with a non-stock-related company, but to be fair with them it was very clear what I had to do, and my sub will run til renewal date then be cancelled. FAA is deliberately making it difficult for people to leave Premium.

Hope you find it's worth it, then you won't want to cancel.

[alexandersr]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

Hi Alexander,

I just opened my account today, so I can't say whether it's worth it to pay for a membership. But at least I can upload more than 25 photos to my portfolio. 

Ok, thanks! I have an account there, but not premium, i have had two sell, i'm registered in Fine Art America on November 2020. Some people here suggest to me that website, i appreciate that.

[Bauman]

See these profiles 

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/rose-bergquist

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/emily-ensley

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eliza-nicholas


And the same photo:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-emily-ensley.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-rose-bergquist.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-eliza-nicholas.html

...

But the original photography was this one by Dominic Kamp: https://www.dominickamp.de/?portfolio=manarola-night

It seems to me that there is no copyright control of the images ...

> 5000 images and tons of copyright infringement ... 

[fotoroad]

I just close my account here tjis week, did not work for me

[alexandersr]

See these profiles 

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/rose-bergquist

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/emily-ensley

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eliza-nicholas


And the same photo:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-emily-ensley.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-rose-bergquist.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-eliza-nicholas.html

...

But the original photography was this one by Dominic Kamp: https://www.dominickamp.de/?portfolio=manarola-night

It seems to me that there is no copyright control of the images ...

> 5000 images and tons of copyright infringement ... 

The photos were stealed from www.dominickamp.de  ?

[kall3bu]

See these profiles 

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/rose-bergquist

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/emily-ensley

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eliza-nicholas


And the same photo:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-emily-ensley.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-rose-bergquist.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-eliza-nicholas.html

...

But the original photography was this one by Dominic Kamp: https://www.dominickamp.de/?portfolio=manarola-night

It seems to me that there is no copyright control of the images ...

> 5000 images and tons of copyright infringement ... 

Did you report it to FAA? And more important to Domenic Kamp?

[Ukko]

See these profiles 

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/rose-bergquist

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/emily-ensley

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eliza-nicholas


And the same photo:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-emily-ensley.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-rose-bergquist.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-eliza-nicholas.html

...

But the original photography was this one by Dominic Kamp: https://www.dominickamp.de/?portfolio=manarola-night

It seems to me that there is no copyright control of the images ...

> 5000 images and tons of copyright infringement ... 

This doesn't give a good impression about FAA. D*mn I hate those thieves, they're on every stock/image website. Although some sites do things better and more efficiently than others.

[Bauman]

Did you report it to FAA? And more important to Domenic Kamp?

No. I've done it other times for my photos (I found one even today). I'm a bit tired ... Thieves are everywhere but the stock website don't care ...

If you look at those profiles you will find manga illustrations, cars disney images, movie scenes, football team brands ...

[Uncle Pete]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

https://fineartamerica.com/controlpanel/premiumfeatures.html

Remove your CC number, they won't renew.

Ha Ha, reply from FAA support? It's like spotting Bigfoot. People have reported that, but mostly unconfirmed.

[Uncle Pete]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

Honest answer, it depends. I was free account for years, and had two sales. November of 2020 I went pay and the account paid for itself in a month or two.

No way for me to know what's going to sell or not. I'm surprised at what does, just as much as what doesn't. I have someone who wanted to buy some prints. I uploaded the photos to FAA, they can pick the prints, size, style and anything. I do nothing but collect the percentage. (or in truth, FAA doesn't do much except have one of their vendors, fill and ship the order?)

Basic advantages. Personal website, that links to Pixels marketplace.  https://pete-klinger.pixels.com/  they make all kinds of products, this isn't just prints.

Shopping cart widget for your own website if you have one. ** The other advantage is, you aren't limited to the free 25 images. **

Not sure if there are any other real benefits, just those three. People claim that paid accounts get better search placement?

So if you want to upload 200 images, or if you want to promote your own free personalized link, or if you have a website and want to feature your own images. That's nice. $30 a year. Some people like it, some people have found they don't.

My answer is, spend the $30 and see. Just remember (like the person who started this) you need to remove your CC data or it will auto renew. Maybe if anyone tries the site, you might want to sign up and then immediately remove the CC data. I wonder if FAA will write you at renewal time?

Anyway, when your paid premium account goes free again, you'll have 25 images again.

NOT FOR MICROSTOCK STYLE IMAGES.

[alexandersr]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

Honest answer, it depends. I was free account for years, and had two sales. November of 2020 I went pay and the account paid for itself in a month or two.

No way for me to know what's going to sell or not. I'm surprised at what does, just as much as what doesn't. I have someone who wanted to buy some prints. I uploaded the photos to FAA, they can pick the prints, size, style and anything. I do nothing but collect the percentage. (or in truth, FAA doesn't do much except have one of their vendors, fill and ship the order?)

Basic advantages. Personal website, that links to Pixels marketplace.  https://pete-klinger.pixels.com/  they make all kinds of products, this isn't just prints.

Shopping cart widget for your own website if you have one. ** The other advantage is, you aren't limited to the free 25 images. **

Not sure if there are any other real benefits, just those three. People claim that paid accounts get better search placement?

So if you want to upload 200 images, or if you want to promote your own free personalized link, or if you have a website and want to feature your own images. That's nice. $30 a year. Some people like it, some people have found they don't.

My answer is, spend the $30 and see. Just remember (like the person who started this) you need to remove your CC data or it will auto renew. Maybe if anyone tries the site, you might want to sign up and then immediately remove the CC data. I wonder if FAA will write you at renewal time?

Anyway, when your paid premium account goes free again, you'll have 25 images again.

NOT FOR MICROSTOCK STYLE IMAGES.

Thanks!

[Ukko]

Thank you for a very informative post, Pete!

[Microstockphoto]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

yes it is easily worth the 25 dollar or whatever it is, even if you sell one print per year, it is worth it. i sell one print a month or so, but each sale earns me between $50-200

[Microstockphoto]

See these profiles 

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/rose-bergquist

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/emily-ensley

https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/eliza-nicholas


And the same photo:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-emily-ensley.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-rose-bergquist.html

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/manarola-eliza-nicholas.html

...

But the original photography was this one by Dominic Kamp: https://www.dominickamp.de/?portfolio=manarola-night

It seems to me that there is no copyright control of the images ...

> 5000 images and tons of copyright infringement ... 

yes this is commonplace for faa to allow for copyright infringment, and thousands of contribs make their money on faa that way, reporting it to faa does nothing, they dont give a feck, report it to the original artist, they will issue a dmca and then faa has to take it down.

[Uncle Pete]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

What do you get when you are premium membership? I ask you, because i don't have it. It is worth?

yes it is easily worth the 25 dollar or whatever it is, even if you sell one print per year, it is worth it. i sell one print a month or so, but each sale earns me between $50-200

Yet another testimonial  Some people make more on FAA with their quality work and art than they do on all of their Microstock sites combined. I don't, but I haven't really uploaded a bunch. It depends on individual works and the effort that someone puts into it. If that's not clear... I'm pretty lazy and upload now and then, when I feel like it. People who try and work and upload images - NOT Microstock - should be able to make the annual fee easily.

It is $30  https://fineartamerica.com/membershipplans.html

yes this is commonplace for faa to allow for copyright infringment, and thousands of contribs make their money on faa that way, reporting it to faa does nothing, they dont give a feck, report it to the original artist, they will issue a dmca and then faa has to take it down.

Simple truths are best. (yours I mean) Seems they hide behind DMCA and don't care. This is not new. There are other places that also claim they just run the site and can't do anything until the artist or owner notifies them. I wrote personally to an estate of a famous artist, who has been copied and is for sale on FAA. They wrote back that it's just too much trouble, too difficult, and complicated.

We don't know that these thieves are actually selling, but if anyone looks at the recent sales, which FAA is very proud to feature as you try to login, it's easy to spot infringing images at any moment one looks. Rather negative to me, as that is the competition sometimes?

[wordplanet]

The past two years I've made more on FAA than on any one stock agency. For $30 I find it's more than worth it.

Some of what sells is similar to stock - travel tends to do well as framed prints. Illustrations work for products such as masks, pillows, etc. but also sell as prints fairly well.

I also sell a lot of images that I would not upload as stock.

And, as you can set your own prices, you can feel good about being paid fairly for your work.

Although I sell my images directly to local clients, depending on what someone is looking for and where they live, I sometimes send them there instead, since Fine Art America does a good job with printing, framing, etc.

I've been with them since 2010, so have had a chance to order various prints and products to check the quality and have used them at times for gallery printing since I am pleased with the quality, as all my clients have been. I suggested aluminum prints to a friend from Georgia recently. She ordered two and liked them so much, she ordered another the following month. In fact, right now, I have a large aluminum panoramic print I ordered from them in a gallery show here in NY.

I sent my daughter a puzzle, their latest product, for Christmas and she said the pieces were very nice. I also find the masks easier to breath through and more comfortable on my small face than cloth ones I've ordered from various other vendors this past year. Their greeting cards are good for marketing, nicely printed and they give the title of the image and your name on the back.

Most sales I've had are to strangers all over the US and less frequently, Europe. Most sales are framed prints or on aluminum. Most repeat sellers are prints, though I had one illustration that was a repeat seller on masks. I sell a few cards and pillows, occasionally other items, though I find I make more product sales via redbubble where I have a much smaller portfolio. 

With 784 images, I've been averaging a few sales a month despite these uncertain times, usually netting between $50-250 per print this past year. I found that in 2020 my number of sales increased over 2019, but prints tended to be smaller than before, reflecting the state of the economy I assume. 2021 has been pretty good so far.

In all, I've had about 120 sales, very few my first couple of years, but they became more regular once I had about 400-500 images. Early on I found sales dropped when I dropped my prices, the opposite of stock.

Here's a link to my images sold collection: https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/marianne-campolongo?tab=artworkgalleries&artworkgalleryid=495197 It gives you a sense of the wide variety of what sells. I have only included images sold to others on the site, and not those I've sold in galleries, etc.

Most sales are from people who find the work online via the site. I don't send out a newsletter, but for some years I posted regularly on twitter, facebook, pinterest, (and G+ when it existed), though I'm not sure what effect it had; occasionally I'd find a link between a sale and my efforts. I came to instagram late and without being able to post a working link am not convinced of its efficacy.

Compared to stock I think a couple thousand USD a year for less than 800 images is pretty good and sales have been increasing. I've also been approached by outside clients who found my work there, so even as a place to host your work, $30 is a bargain. I pay many times that for my Photoshelter website, which of course allows for many more options.

Anyway, that's my two cents. Hope it's helpful.

[Mantis]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

https://fineartamerica.com/controlpanel/premiumfeatures.html

Remove your CC number, they won't renew.

Ha Ha, reply from FAA support? It's like spotting Bigfoot. People have reported that, but mostly unconfirmed.

Once you have a valid credit card in FAA you cannot remove it. You are handcuffed. Since emailing support is useless, you need to call your credit card company to stop the charges.  They really are a scumbag company to set up their payment that way.  Why not just have a toggle to turn on and off your renewal? They do not give you that choice, rather they force you to jump through hoops to avoid or reverse a payment if you choose to skip the Premium membership.  By the way, Premium membership does not get you any kind of placement consideration. It merely lets you upload as many pics as you want, along with some other useless features they Market as "PREMIUM".

[alexandersr]

Could i pay with my balance on PayPal ? I don't have credit card on my PayPal account associated.

[Bauman]

I've been with them since 2010, so have had a chance to order various prints and products to check the quality and have used them at times for gallery printing since I am pleased with the quality, as all my clients have been. I suggested aluminum prints to a friend from Georgia recently. She ordered two and liked them so much, she ordered another the following month. In fact, right now, I have a large aluminum panoramic print I ordered from them in a gallery show here in NY.

If you signed up in 2010 or 2011 then you can sell well on Fine Art America, otherwise it's next to impossible due to their search engine.

If you look at the "recent sold" page, 90% of the photos sold are from old users.

If you take travel photos. Try typing Paris. 108,000 images ... but only the first 2520 are displayed in the first 35 pages ... the remaining 105,000 images are invisible.

The only hope of selling something if you are a new user is to do a lot of marketing outside the FAA or find a niche. But it is very difficult.

[stockastic]

I've been there since 2012 and while I still sell a few, it's never turned into much.  The site is now  flooded with images from big sellers like Getty and Conde Nast and the search is a hopeless mess.  They've also earned an F rating from the BBB.

[dbvirago]

How can I cancel my subscription so it doesn't renew after a year? When I paid my first annual subscription it said in the terms and conditions that you can cancel your yearly membership fee at any time, but now I can't find where to do that. Do I have to close my credit card because of this? I hate these kinds of fees, which are secretly renewed after a year.

https://fineartamerica.com/controlpanel/premiumfeatures.html

Remove your CC number, they won't renew.

There's a link on the main menu to close the account. Looks like two clicks. Why not just do that, the reopen a free account. Seems simple.

Ha Ha, reply from FAA support? It's like spotting Bigfoot. People have reported that, but mostly unconfirmed.

Once you have a valid credit card in FAA you cannot remove it. You are handcuffed. Since emailing support is useless, you need to call your credit card company to stop the charges.  They really are a scumbag company to set up their payment that way.  Why not just have a toggle to turn on and off your renewal? They do not give you that choice, rather they force you to jump through hoops to avoid or reverse a payment if you choose to skip the Premium membership.  By the way, Premium membership does not get you any kind of placement consideration. It merely lets you upload as many pics as you want, along with some other useless features they Market as "PREMIUM".

[noelbennett235]

I notice that the visitors I get on FAA seem to come from a small number of cities in the US and China.