formerly snappyoncalifornia Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 Just got one of those awful sales that would make a microstock shooter spew coffee. I would love it if we could set a minimum price for our work, and if a sale comes in below that, we get 75%. Of course, that not going to happen, but it would be fair, IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autumn Sky Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 I would have to agree. Recently I had one of these "micro subs" on Alamy -- net 0.49 to me. I always saw Alamy as sort of beacon in stock photography swamp where nowdays thousands of similar cell phone snapshots are accepted no problem and then images downloaded for fraction of a penny. Alamy is still place for serious photographers, where you can admire others work and learn something. By accepting these kind of micro sub sales it is effectively falling into bottomless pit. Just my honest opinion, please don't spam me for saying this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starsphinx Posted June 16, 2019 Share Posted June 16, 2019 I first submitted to Alamy last year after a pro who knows my work said it was good enough and that Alamy had better prices than ms. It was my intention to focus purely on Alamy. In the first 6 months I saw 2 sales which netted me 99c each. When Alamy changed their commission I decided to test the waters with a couple of big ms places. In less than 6 months I have seen considerably more sales - 2 of which have netted me more than 99c each. OK we are not talking bank breaking but when an inexperienced newbie is seeing more sales and occasional higher prices in ms compared to Alamy it raises questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MizBrown Posted June 17, 2019 Share Posted June 17, 2019 (edited) One YouTuber didn't recommend Alamy for stock, but her high price from the stock agency she did recommend was lower than my last year's high sale. And in this year, I haven't sold much, but the prices have been in the low hundreds for fish that I photographed. I suspect the key is things that you can get access to that most people can't (one photographer that I've admired here does amazing underwater saltwater photography in Australia). I've yet to sell people doing things. One sale was of a landscape (low $$, taken around nine years ago in Virginia) and another was of pavement, curb, runoff water, and street blocks (also low $$). Go figure. My guess is that shooting what you have unique access to, shooting a range of thing, being aware of accidental good composition (why I submitted the street shot), and keep on keeping on is all anyone can do. I found that printing was useful in showing where I could brighten photos or bring up shadows. I think people who want cheaper will buy cheaper, and it's also true that for the web or for a newspaper, a 42 MP raw file even converted to jpeg is way overkill. Alamy will do best if we take compelling and unique images that aren't available on cheaper sites. My fish photos aren't technically great, but they apparently were unique enough. My cat photos might be better, but Alamy has lots of cats. The troubles here probably killed Nicaraguan tourism photography for at least the next year or possibly two, but the fish are selling. Edited June 17, 2019 by MizBrown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formerly snappyoncalifornia Posted June 17, 2019 Author Share Posted June 17, 2019 25 minutes ago, MizBrown said: One YouTuber didn't recommend Alamy for stock, but her high price from the stock agency she did recommend was lower than my last year's high sale. And in this year, I haven't sold much, but the prices have been in the low hundreds for fish that I photographed. I suspect the key is things that you can get access to that most people can't (one photographer that I've admired here does amazing underwater saltwater photography in Australia). I've yet to sell people doing things. One sale was of a landscape (low $$, taken around nine years ago in Virginia) and another was of pavement, curb, runoff water, and street blocks (also low $$). Go figure. My guess is that shooting what you have unique access to, shooting a range of thing, being aware of accidental good composition (why I submitted the street shot), and keep on keeping on is all anyone can do. I found that printing was useful in showing where I could brighten photos or bring up shadows. I think people who want cheaper will buy cheaper, and it's also true that for the web or for a newspaper, a 42 MP raw file even converted to jpeg is way overkill. Alamy will do best if we take compelling and unique images that aren't available on cheaper sites. My fish photos aren't technically great, but they apparently were unique enough. My cat photos might be better, but Alamy has lots of cats. The troubles here probably killed Nicaraguan tourism photography for at least the next year or possibly two, but the fish are selling. I wish the concept of "unique access" applied in this particular sale. I did a search on the main keywords guess how many images came up...17. Of which 9 were mije! So much for exclusitivty. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MizBrown Posted June 18, 2019 Share Posted June 18, 2019 (edited) 22 hours ago, formerly snappyoncalifornia said: I wish the concept of "unique access" applied in this particular sale. I did a search on the main keywords guess how many images came up...17. Of which 9 were mije! So much for exclusitivty. . I've had long answers and short answers to this. But I think most of our problems as creators of content is not being realistic about who wants what and why. Edited June 18, 2019 by MizBrown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickboden Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 How about size limits for minimum pricing? I just had a sale for "Presentation Use" (newsletters, Powerpoint, etc.) but they are selling the full 8000 pixel wide image for that use as far as I can see...unless that is just how they describe the image. If it is the full image, it must be simple to scam the system unless Alamy keeps a close watch on usage. Has anyone asked Alamy about this? And sorry if you feel this is changing the topic...let me know and I will start a new one. But I think having a size limit makes it much easier to live with a minimum price. Rick Boden Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starsphinx Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 15 hours ago, rickboden said: How about size limits for minimum pricing? I just had a sale for "Presentation Use" (newsletters, Powerpoint, etc.) but they are selling the full 8000 pixel wide image for that use as far as I can see...unless that is just how they describe the image. If it is the full image, it must be simple to scam the system unless Alamy keeps a close watch on usage. Has anyone asked Alamy about this? And sorry if you feel this is changing the topic...let me know and I will start a new one. But I think having a size limit makes it much easier to live with a minimum price. Rick Boden No, I think you are probably onto something. If pricing could be linked to sizing it would probably make the tiny prices for some sales hurt less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted June 24, 2019 Share Posted June 24, 2019 I'm not sure. Some small size sales could be for websites, which can be seen all over the world, and the file can be there for ever. It's a question I've mulled over many times, and not reached a conclusion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Vila Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Hello everyone, I have a little question. I have been at Alamy for several years and from the beginning I refuse to work at less than 50% of the resale price. I do not pass either by partners who in any case will not bring me anything. Recently, I found that Alamy took 60% to pay back 40%. I did not sign anything, did anything, and everything was changed overnight, as if by magic! Is not it all nice? So, I wanted to know if you had an explanation on your side? If I have to change something on the nterface of my account to go back to 50/50? Or is that it, Alamy yielded to the sirens of profitability to go dig into the pockets of photographers? For my part, I believe that if Alamy does more than 40% of the profits from a sale to exclusive photographers and RM, it's over for me. Already the photo illustration does not yield anything ... You can go fishing or hiking! Thank you for your answers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 Yes, this is a change and there was a great deal of discussion on the Forum at the time. Any images of yours that is not for sale elsewhere can be marked "Exclusive to Alamy" in your image manager. If all your images are only available here you can ask Alamy to do it for you. You can also set it as a default for future uploads. That will give you 50%. Otherwise, it is, alas, the 40%. Paulette 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotbrightsky Posted June 26, 2019 Share Posted June 26, 2019 (edited) A new low for me this week... Country: United KingdomUsage: EditorialMedia: Magazine - print, digital and electronicPrint run: up to 500,000Placement: InsideImage Size: 1 pageDuration: 3 months. Any placement: Inside or cover.$6.48 I received more for a "newsletter" sale! How is this possible? Edited June 26, 2019 by hotbrightsky Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now