Phil Robinson Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 On my dashboard page, my Current Cleared Balance has suddenly gone from a half-decent figure to $-3,804. Is it just me? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Nodvandigtid Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, spacecadet said: It's clearly an error, but I wonder if they have let the cat out of the bag and are testing something. Yes Spacecadet that would be my worry - though having said that it would be a pr disaster for Ms Shelley and her team to even contemplate/announce any such scheme within days of the new contract. I would guess some form of testing/measurement may have got out of the bag - just how much more can we squeeze out of loyal contributors? Let's run a programme in the background - or some data system rehash in the background has gone wrong, Alamy has a bad track record I feel in introducing features and software changes. Perhaps Ms Shelley could state that we (PA/Alamy) have no plans to charge you (us) for storage space - ever! Edited August 1, 2021 by Nodvandigtid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 John Mitchell Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 (edited) Just checked and my cleared balance (such as it is) hasn't changed -- i.e. no withdrawals. I joined in 2003 but didn't start submitting images until 2007 if that means anything. Hopefully, this is just another accounting boo-boo, but it's definitely disturbing as collecting retroactive/historical "storage fees" would be a huge cash cow. Edited August 1, 2021 by John Mitchell Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 geogphotos Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, Nodvandigtid said: Perhaps Ms Shelley could state that we (PA/Alamy) have no plans to charge you (us) for storage space - ever! But would you believe whatever they said? We were told in December 2020 that there was no plan to change commission, and that it wasn't necessary because increasing sales would be funding development. Cock-up or conspiracy? Neither inspires confidence in a company that has lost its core values. Edited August 1, 2021 by geogphotos 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Michael Ventura Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 (edited) My cleared balance hasn't changed but this is scary as it may portend future plans. Someone had to be thinking this even if it was a mistake to have it happen now. Now if they wanted to offer a cloud service to contributors as purely an option, that I can better understand. But not as a standard fee. That would be a real deal breaker for me. Edited August 1, 2021 by Michael Ventura 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 John Mitchell Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 34 minutes ago, Michael Ventura said: My cleared balance hasn't changed but this is scary as it may portend future plans. Someone had to be thinking this even if it was a mistake to have it happen now. Now if they wanted to offer a cloud service to contributors as purely an option, that I can better understand. But not as a standard fee. That would be a real deal breaker for me. Nothing would surprise me at this point. The stock photo world has become so crazy and competitive that anything is possible. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 DJ Myford Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 Alamy announced that they were introducing storage fees about a year after I started contributing. I told them to delete all my images, as I did not agree to the new terms. They had few contributors back then, and I suspect that 99% of them sent the same email, as Alamy backed down and offered the choice of Red, Green, or Blue commission scheme. Now Alamy holds all the cards, and they can do what they want. I predicted that this would happen (and it will at some point, even if they deny it now). It's the plan they had all along, and now they can finally get away with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 NYCat Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 4 minutes ago, DJ Myford said: Alamy announced that they were introducing storage fees about a year after I started contributing. I told them to delete all my images, as I did not agree to the new terms. They had few contributors back then, and I suspect that 99% of them sent the same email, as Alamy backed down and offered the choice of Red, Green, or Blue commission scheme. Now Alamy holds all the cards, and they can do what they want. I predicted that this would happen (and it will at some point, even if they deny it now). It's the plan they had all along, and now they can finally get away with it. Thank you for this bit of Alamy history. I only semi-remembered hearing that this happened early on and they abandoned the idea. I am certainly not going to pay to be here. Paulette 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 John Mitchell Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 9 minutes ago, NYCat said: Thank you for this bit of Alamy history. I only semi-remembered hearing that this happened early on and they abandoned the idea. I am certainly not going to pay to be here. Paulette I'm with you. We already pay to be here. Let's assume it's just a false alarm... 😬 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 zxzoomy Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 My balance hasn't changed. I wonder why it has appeared on some contributors but not all? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 meanderingemu Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 18 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: I'm with you. We already pay to be here. Let's assume it's just a false alarm... 😬 if the last 18 months have thought me something, is there is no "false alarms". we might not see flames now, but this is still an alarm. considering the would be the second "glitch" in about a week, many of us some cleared balanced suddenly "un-cleared", Alamy is obviously doing something in the back office. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Avpics Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 13 minutes ago, zxzoomy said: My balance hasn't changed. I wonder why it has appeared on some contributors but not all? Mine neither, which may imply it's linked to the older accounts as suggested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 meanderingemu Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 6 minutes ago, Avpics said: Mine neither, which may imply it's linked to the older accounts as suggested. someone with a 2017 start date also posted a negative balance, so it looks like it may be deeper. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 John Mitchell Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 10 minutes ago, meanderingemu said: if the last 18 months have thought me something, is there is no "false alarms". we might not see flames now, but this is still an alarm. considering the would be the second "glitch" in about a week, many of us some cleared balanced suddenly "un-cleared", Alamy is obviously doing something in the back office. Yes, this seems more serious than the last one -- but I'm starting to sound like Chicken Little again. Time will tell... Can't remember, did the uncleared balance glitch show up on a weekend as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 meanderingemu Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 37 minutes ago, John Mitchell said: Yes, this seems more serious than the last one -- but I'm starting to sound like Chicken Little again. Time will tell... Can't remember, did the uncleared balance glitch show up on a weekend as well? no, week day based on when i started the post 😉 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Cal Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, NYCat said: Thank you for this bit of Alamy history. I only semi-remembered hearing that this happened early on and they abandoned the idea. I am certainly not going to pay to be here. Paulette No errors in my account balance here but I don't think anyone in their right mind would pay per image to be here, and I sincerely hope what's happened is just another gremlin in the system. Stock is now a low price high volume industry pretty much across the board. Making a measly amount of earnings is one thing but being permanently in debt to the agency because you have to pay them per image is another. People would leave in droves, it would literally make no sense to host your images to lose money every month. Right?! Edited August 1, 2021 by Cal 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Sally Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 2 minutes ago, Cal said: No errors in my account balance here but I don't think anyone in their right mind would pay per image to be here, and I sincerely hope what's happened is just another gremlin in the system. Stock is now a low price high volume industry pretty much across the board. Making a measly amount of earnings is one thing but being permanently in debt to the agency because you have to pay them per image is another. People would leave in droves, it would literally make no sense to host your images to lose money every month. Right?! The trouble is that folk lose faith in how Alamy operates and leave anyway. 1 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 DJ Myford Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 36 minutes ago, Cal said: No errors in my account balance here but I don't think anyone in their right mind would pay per image to be here, and I sincerely hope what's happened is just another gremlin in the system. Stock is now a low price high volume industry pretty much across the board. Making a measly amount of earnings is one thing but being permanently in debt to the agency because you have to pay them per image is another. People would leave in droves, it would literally make no sense to host your images to lose money every month. Right?! Some people did opt for the Red and Green plans that included storage fees. And now Alamy have the large collections from agencies (which would no doubt be exempt from storage fees), so even if every solo contributor left they would still have a product to licence. QC costs would be reduced due to images coming from a (supposedly) reliable source, and there would be no more uploads of holiday snaps (although, thinking about it, that is the type of contributor who would accept a contract with storage fees...) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Nodvandigtid Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 4 hours ago, geogphotos said: But would you believe whatever they said? We were told in December 2020 that there was no plan to change commission, and that it wasn't necessary because increasing sales would be funding development. Cock-up or conspiracy? Neither inspires confidence in a company that has lost its core values. Of course not - it was a sarcastic comment following on from the 2020 Christmas message (for want of a term) which as you rightly pointed out was incorrect. I think you have hit the nail on the head in terms of the company having lost its core values - PA didn't buy Alamy for £46 m to simply carry on as before. They want, demand and will get a return on their investment at our expense. You only have to look at the share holders (and one director in particular on the board of PA Media Group Ltd ) to know suppliers like us are on a hiding to nothing over the next few years. James West was gone in February after serving as a director for one year. Someone appears to have let a cat out of the bag here and I have no doubt at some stage in the future there will be another money-grab from a business that is becoming less transparent in its dealings, unclear in its DACS handling fees, unclear in the fees that will come in from chasing infringements and has already cut commission for most of us by 20%. Amen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Chuck Nacke Posted August 1, 2021 Share Posted August 1, 2021 9 hours ago, Vincent Lowe said: Strange - according to my Balance of Account the submission fees ($2.00 per image) were in effect when I joined Alamy in November 2001. The account was reset to zero and moved to 'alamy blue' on June 16 2002. My cleared balance hasn't changed - I expect it's just another temporary glitch like we had the other day Edit - just realised that 'Submission fees' and 'Storage fees' might be something different so ignore above. You all should remember that when Alamy was charging contributors a fee the commissions to photographers was much higher. This really concerns me. Chuck 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 lisah2006 Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 3 hours ago, meanderingemu said: someone with a 2017 start date also posted a negative balance, so it looks like it may be deeper. I'm one that only started in 2017 and I have $-207 in my account his morning. I thought maybe I have two few photos with the new distribution changes, which I just realized today. I have had a lot going on and hadn't been submitting as much so I missed the contract update. I'm not a big time contributor like many of you getting hit, so I am confused as well. If I was some of you who started in 2002 or 2006 or whenever and have over 70.000 images, I would definitely be freaking out. I am angry for you! I hope there is a good answer, especially for you who make a good living at stock photography. I have young kids so this has always been a side thing for me. If I have to pay to put my photos up, I'm out. It's just not worth it to me. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Allan Bell Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 (edited) 15 hours ago, Nodvandigtid said: Yes Spacecadet that would be my worry - though having said that it would be a pr disaster for Ms Shelley and her team to even contemplate/announce any such scheme within days of the new contract. I would guess some form of testing/measurement may have got out of the bag - just how much more can we squeeze out of loyal contributors? Let's run a programme in the background - or some data system rehash in the background has gone wrong, Alamy has a bad track record I feel in introducing features and software changes. Perhaps Ms Shelley could state that we (PA/Alamy) have no plans to charge you (us) for storage space - ever! If they do I am definitely OUT as I have always said I would NEVER load images to a site which charges a fee for hosting particularly when they are already making income out of my images by charging a %age on any sale or licence of my images. Allan Maybe this was a planned slip up to test the waters? ITMA Edited August 2, 2021 by Allan Bell 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 spacecadet Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 15 hours ago, Nodvandigtid said: Perhaps Ms Shelley could state that we (PA/Alamy) have no plans to charge you (us) for storage space - ever! As I said somewhere else (I can't quote where- Alamy seems to have been deleting posts) I don't think that's good enough. After all in December they had "no plans" to cut our commission. Those non-existent plans were executed (I choose the word advisedly) last week, of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0 Alamy Posted August 2, 2021 Share Posted August 2, 2021 Hi All, Apologies for the inconvenience that this has caused. We are working on this and can assure you that this will be fixed as soon as possible. Thanks, Alamy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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Phil Robinson
On my dashboard page, my Current Cleared Balance has suddenly gone from a half-decent figure to $-3,804.
Is it just me?
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