Sales to China

[BobD]

There is something fishy to me in these sales (not by Alamy).

 

I know China is a big country but for an organisation to buy so many images, even at such low prices, seems odd. They must have bought hundreds of thousands if not millions judging by the sales of contributors here, which is a small representation of the total.

 

I would not be at all surprised if these images are being re-sold within China.

[DirkR]

1 hour ago, Alamy said:

Hi All,

 

We're very sorry that due to a technical error on our part some of you who have opted-out of distribution are seeing image sales on your account via distribution sales.

 

We are aware of the issue that these sales shouldn't have happened for those opted-out of distribution, and we're investigating to establish what happened so we can resolve this as soon as possible. We'll be paying all contributors 100% of the commission from these sales. If you think you shouldn't have seen these distribution sales on your account, you can email contributors@alamy.com however we will be getting in touch with everyone affected once we have a clearer picture on the matter.

 

Thanks,

 

Alamy

Dear @Alamy,

 

could you please also adress the issue of "sales" leading to zero payments (after deduction of Alamy's and distributor's commission)?

This was talked about in a different thread that now mysteriously has disappeared...

Edited September 22, 2022 by DirkR

[vova alex]

1 hour ago, BobD said:

There is something fishy to me in these sales (not by Alamy).

 

I know China is a big country but for an organisation to buy so many images, even at such low prices, seems odd. They must have bought hundreds of thousands if not millions judging by the sales of contributors here, which is a small representation of the total.

 

I would not be at all surprised if these images are being re-sold within China.

I also think so

[Ognyan Yosifov]

1 hour ago, BobD said:

There is something fishy to me in these sales (not by Alamy).

 

I know China is a big country but for an organisation to buy so many images, even at such low prices, seems odd. They must have bought hundreds of thousands if not millions judging by the sales of contributors here, which is a small representation of the total.

 

I would not be at all surprised if these images are being re-sold within China.

I guess these recent "sales" are connected to a similar China "deal" in December last year ...

Edited September 22, 2022 by Ognyan Yosifov

[Duncan_Andison]

2 hours ago, BobD said:

There is something fishy to me in these sales (not by Alamy).

 

I know China is a big country but for an organisation to buy so many images, even at such low prices, seems odd. They must have bought hundreds of thousands if not millions judging by the sales of contributors here, which is a small representation of the total.

 

I would not be at all surprised if these images are being re-sold within China.

 

Exactly. When I've seen these sales in the past from China, they just download on mass and often one particular concept. The problem is not just about being resold though but also being given away for free in order to generate high click rates for websites and thereby boosting advertising revenue.

[MDM]

4 hours ago, Alamy said:

Hi All,

 

We're very sorry that due to a technical error on our part some of you who have opted-out of distribution are seeing image sales on your account via distribution sales.

 

We are aware of the issue that these sales shouldn't have happened for those opted-out of distribution, and we're investigating to establish what happened so we can resolve this as soon as possible. We'll be paying all contributors 100% of the commission from these sales. If you think you shouldn't have seen these distribution sales on your account, you can email contributors@alamy.com however we will be getting in touch with everyone affected once we have a clearer picture on the matter.

 

Thanks,

 

Alamy

 

I am opted out of distribution and thankfully I have not had any distributor sales to China or anywhere else to my knowledge since I opted out. For me , It was not about low prices  (that is all about it seems) but the fact that we have no contol at all over what distributors do with our images and are relying entirely on Alamy to act on our behalf in dealing with distributors. I do hope Alamy gets this right on behalf of contributors who have opted out. I have to say I would be very unhappy if any of my images was sold through distribution when I have opted out.

 

Maybe I shold be biting my tongue here but I can't help it. I have to say that the offer of 100% of the commission being paid here  is an insult to intelligence. You don't need a degree in maths to know that 100% of almost nothing is almost nothing. How many 2 cent images would one have to sell before this became even vaguely meaningful at say $20 (and that is arguable). Well the answer is one would need to sell 1,000 images at 2 cents each to make $20. Has anyone sold 1,000 images in this sale? 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by MDM

[Jill Morgan]

Wow.  You mean I'll get the whole .07 instead of just the penny.  Time to book that cruise! 

 

Jill

[VbFolly]

2 hours ago, MDM said:

Maybe I shold be biting my tongue here but I can't help it. I have to say that the offer of 100% of the commission being paid here  is an insult to intelligence. You don't need a degree in maths to know that 100% of almost nothing is almost nothing. How many 2 cent images would one have to sell before this became even vaguely meaningful at say $20 (and that is arguable). Well the answer is one would need to sell 1,000 images at 2 cents each to make $20. Has anyone sold 1,000 images in this sale? 

 

I agree totally. They are offering 1 cent compensation for each 2 cent "sale"- a pitiful amount.

I just wish they would stop dealing with this distributor.

[meanderingemu]

6 hours ago, Alamy said:

Hi All,

 

We're very sorry that due to a technical error on our part some of you who have opted-out of distribution are seeing image sales on your account via distribution sales.

 

We are aware of the issue that these sales shouldn't have happened for those opted-out of distribution, and we're investigating to establish what happened so we can resolve this as soon as possible. We'll be paying all contributors 100% of the commission from these sales. If you think you shouldn't have seen these distribution sales on your account, you can email contributors@alamy.com however we will be getting in touch with everyone affected once we have a clearer picture on the matter.

 

Thanks,

 

Alamy

 

since these images should not have been licenced, i think they should be put through based on the Average Alamy licence fee, not at a low price that would not have happened.  And i say this impartially as i was not affected by the error. 

[Rebecca Ore]

6 hours ago, BobD said:

There is something fishy to me in these sales (not by Alamy).

 

I know China is a big country but for an organisation to buy so many images, even at such low prices, seems odd. They must have bought hundreds of thousands if not millions judging by the sales of contributors here, which is a small representation of the total.

 

I would not be at all surprised if these images are being re-sold within China.

 

I would not be surprised if these images were being resold, period. 

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, Rebecca Ore said:

 

I would not be surprised if these images were being resold, period. 

 

It would be a miracle if they weren't being resold.

[John Mitchell]

Luckily, I have zero of these ludicrous China sales so far. 🤞

 

Just wondering, are they all of RF images, or do they include RM images as well?

[Jill Morgan]

1 minute ago, John Mitchell said:

Luckily, I have zero of these ludicrous China sales so far. 🤞

 

Just wondering, are they all of RF images, or do they include RM images as well?

Mine was RF

 

Jill

[Abiyoyo]

9 minutes ago, Jill Morgan said:

Mine was RF

 

Jill

I did not have any of those sales. After very low sales some months ago from RF images, I decide to change all to RM, just in case.

[Michael Ventura]

My two were RF

[Cecile Marion]

Mine were RF and RF editorial.

I don’t have many RF, just what’s left over from a brief experiment a couple years ago when I tried seeing if they’d sell better than RM. Clearly results of the experiment show I need to switch everything back to RM. 

[John Mitchell]

I've currently got about 400 RF images in one of my pseudos. They are mostly "design" images (backgrounds, flowers, patterns in nature, etc.) which I enjoy taking. Some have licensed but usually for very low fees. If these crazy giveaways disguised as "sales" continue, I may change them all back to RM.

 

 

Edited September 22, 2022 by John Mitchell

[VbFolly]

33 minutes ago, John Mitchell said:

I've currently got about 400 RF images in one of my pseudos. They are mostly "design" images (backgrounds, flowers, patterns in nature, etc.) which I enjoy taking. Some have licensed but usually for very low fees. If these crazy giveaways disguised as "sales" continue, I may change them all back to RM.

 

Mine were both RM, so that won't necessarily work.

[SShep]

I also had a couple of these sales to China - both RF from a small selection I put up to see if they paid more (Oh the irony!)
Anybody else know if its possible to just change back to RM - I had a feeling this was a no-go contract-wise?
Steve

[M.Chapman]

21 minutes ago, SShep said:

Anybody else know if its possible to just change back to RM - I had a feeling this was a no-go contract-wise?

 

The new AIM makes it easy to swap back and forth (whereas the old one didn't allow it) and Alamy sometimes sell RM with pretty much "RF" terms anyway.

I don't think there's anything in  the contract other than clause 2.2

 

You cannot submit identical or similar items of Content to Alamy as both Royalty Free and Rights Managed. The Licence type you select for an item of Content must be the same as the licence type for that Content and similar Content which you have made available on other agency websites.

 

Mark

Edited September 22, 2022 by M.Chapman

[SShep]

Thanks Mark - and I certainly take your point about Alamy selling RM on RF terms!
Steve

[John Mitchell]

53 minutes ago, VbFolly said:

Mine were both RM, so that won't necessarily work.

 

Perhaps these were sold through a different Chinese distributor. Who knows...

[John Mitchell]

28 minutes ago, M.Chapman said:

 

The new AIM makes it easy to swap back and forth (whereas the old one didn't allow it)

 

 

Mark

 

But do the images remain RF on the distributors' websites even if they've been changed to RM here?

 

That's $0.00 question. 🤔

[Betty LaRue]

2 hours ago, Cecile Marion said:

Mine were RF and RF editorial.

I don’t have many RF, just what’s left over from a brief experiment a couple years ago when I tried seeing if they’d sell better than RM. Clearly results of the experiment show I need to switch everything back to RM. 

Yes, several years ago there were discussions about RF vs RF because Alamy stated RF is what the clients want. I had quite a few RF as a trial, but have changed all but a handful back to RM when the new contract came out.

[Tim Slater]

I’ve finished with new uploads to Alamy.

I’ve had several of these 1 & 2 cent sales, despite opting out.

The whole thing smacks of incompetence, & so I’m now going elsewhere - I’d rather get $1 than ¢1.