Eliminating $1 sales?!

[KateR]

I'm not doing much stock work these days so i've not been keeping up with the latest batch of clever contract changes. But i did decide some time ago that I wasn't selling images for silly money, because it helps nobody. 

All of my images are excluded from PU and I thought I opted out of that really cheap media scheme which was invented a few years back and resulted in a lot of miniscule price sales. However this week i've had a bunch go through at around a dollar. I can't remember what the bulk purchase scheme thing was called now, if i remember rightly you could only opt out once a year or something, and i can't find anything in settings that mentions it.

Does anyone know what i'm rambling about, does it still exist and do i need to do something to opt out of it again?! Or are there any other settings I can change to prevent my images being basically given away?!

thanks

[Steve F]

I don't believe you can opt out of bulk purchases. I think the term you're searching for is Novel Use - which you can opt out of every April.

[Gorilla Dave]

Have you had a look at ‘Additional Revenue Options” on your dashboard.

This tells you if and when you opted out of Novel Use.

 

Bulk purchases resulting in very low prices still continue and there isn’t an option to opt out of that idea. 
But that’s why I’ve withdrawn most of my small portfolio and don’t submit any new stock.

[KateR]

Thankyou, Novel Use was the thing. I thought i had opted out but apparently not. It seems a little...ethically questionable....to give us one chance a year to change that!!

 

It's in my diary for next April 🙄

[sb photos]

3 hours ago, KateR said:

Thankyou, Novel Use was the thing. I thought i had opted out but apparently not. It seems a little...ethically questionable....to give us one chance a year to change that!!

 

It's in my diary for next April 🙄

 

I opted out of Novel use long ago. Unfortunately even then there are possibilities of sub $2 sales, can't avoid them.

[Robert M Estall]

it's a disgrace and unless Alamy can be persuaded that these tiny sales are counterproductive, they will continue to find contributors reluctant to upload. They are not "being competitive" they are shooting themselves in both feet. Sadly, there are some who can't see it that way

[Allan Bell]

1 hour ago, Robert M Estall said:

it's a disgrace and unless Alamy can be persuaded that these tiny sales are counterproductive, they will continue to find contributors reluctant to upload. They are not "being competitive" they are shooting themselves in both feet. Sadly, there are some who can't see it that way

 

Unfortunately PA is in charge at the top now and what do the News media want?

 

Cheap images.

 

Allan

 

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

On 27/09/2023 at 07:05, KateR said:

I'm not doing much stock work these days...i did decide some time ago that I wasn't selling images for silly money

KateKate

 

Here's another point of view, if you would consider it...

Say you had a $60US gross sale & two $1US gross every day,

could you live with the $2US extra...?

IMO, if your 441 images became 50K varied images of similar

quality, the amounts I mentioned is what I believe you'd see.

Having only peeked at your pg 1 images, I noticed a lot

of door-entrance images.  That's good. Now if you also got

someone entering that would be salable, too.  Too long to

wait for someone entering?  What about a lightweight tripod

& yourself as entering subject?

[Mr Standfast]

My opinion,

 

I really don't like $1 sales but as I've said before it's the value of the portfolio over a year that matters to me not individual image fees. Yes for every scheme opted out you place a higher value on your work,  but you get less money.

 

However the potential of invoicing 24 images in a month and still not clearing $120gross $50 net is however very real and really irritating!!

 

In our situation PA media are the sellers and they will try to get their long  fingers as far into the buyers pocket as possible, trouble is the UK market is poor at present. and the buyers are having none of it.

 

Good luck all.

 

PS Not too fond of $2 sales either...

 

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Mr Standfast
logic and grammar

[Brian Yarvin]

2 hours ago, Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg said:

KateKate

 

Here's another point of view, if you would consider it...

Say you had a $60US gross sale & two $1US gross every day,

could you live with the $2US extra...?

IMO, if your 441 images became 50K varied images of similar

quality, the amounts I mentioned is what I believe you'd see.

Having only peeked at your pg 1 images, I noticed a lot

of door-entrance images.  That's good. Now if you also got

someone entering that would be salable, too.  Too long to

wait for someone entering?  What about a lightweight tripod

& yourself as entering subject?

 

Jeff, this sort of advice is borderline dangerous. If Kate started including herself in her work, she could then model release them which would substantially increase their value. If she became a bit more creative in how she styled herself, she could almost certainly become a sought-after commercial photographer with a distinct style. Back in the early nineties, I knew a guy who did just this; he was so fed up with trying to get images of guys in suits that he bought himself a great suit, a few white shirts, and learned how rich guys tied their ties. His selfies were amazing and made several European catalogs.

 

I was incredulous. Today, I can't believe that I didn't do the same thing.

[Phil Robinson]

To get any sales at all - never mind a whole bunch in one week - from only 441 images is quite an achievement. 
I'd start contributing more if I were you.

 

Even when opted out of what you can, you can still get very small sales. Towards the end of every month is LBC Day - when sales for radio station websites appear. They do use hundreds of images, but you need to sell hundreds to make any money from them. 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by Phil Robinson

[Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg]

2 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said:

If Kate started including herself in her work, she could then model release them which would substantially increase their value. If she became a bit more creative in how she styled herself, she could almost certainly become a sought-after commercial photographer with a distinct style.

BrianY

all this is too exciting

we are moving uptown baby

daddy's comin' home with a hand-motion faucet

🤑___ 🤑___ 🤑

[John Mitchell]

2 hours ago, Brian Yarvin said:

 

Jeff, this sort of advice is borderline dangerous. If Kate started including herself in her work, she could then model release them which would substantially increase their value. If she became a bit more creative in how she styled herself, she could almost certainly become a sought-after commercial photographer with a distinct style. Back in the early nineties, I knew a guy who did just this; he was so fed up with trying to get images of guys in suits that he bought himself a great suit, a few white shirts, and learned how rich guys tied their ties. His selfies were amazing and made several European catalogs.

 

I was incredulous. Today, I can't believe that I didn't do the same thing.

 

I have a nice suit bought in the late 90's that I never wear. You can have it if you like. Shipping not included, though. ☺️

[Inchiquin]

13 hours ago, John Mitchell said:

 

I have a nice suit bought in the late 90's that I never wear. You can have it if you like. Shipping not included, though. ☺️

 

I've only worn a suit once in my life, to my wedding. 30 years later it went to a charity shop.

 

I also get too many $ sales. But I balance these against the $$$ and high $$ sales I get. It seems to go in phases - I get a spate of low sales which demoralises me followed by a spate of higher sales which makes me realise that on balance it's worth it.

 

Alan

 

 

[John Mitchell]

8 hours ago, Inchiquin said:

 

I've only worn a suit once in my life, to my wedding. 30 years later it went to a charity shop.

 

I also get too many $ sales. But I balance these against the $$$ and high $$ sales I get. It seems to go in phases - I get a spate of low sales which demoralises me followed by a spate of higher sales which makes me realise that on balance it's worth it.

 

Alan

 

 

 

Fortunately, I seldom see $1 sales. It seems that UK-based contributors get many more. However, it all comes out in the wash, so to speak -- i.e. the better sales help to compensate for the tiddlers. Perhaps I'll hang on to that suit 90's suit after all. Wide lapels and pleats are bound to come back in style at some point.