Should Alamy make contributors wait indefinitely for payments?

[Betty LaRue]

You have some very nice nature images.  That is where my interest lay when I began uploading stock. Birds, butterflies.  While I have sold some of those, for the most part my sales have come from other types of images. Nature doesn't sell as well as lifestyle and other kinds.

 

I would advise you to diversify.  Get out and take images of home construction, families picnicking, people shopping, weather (like storm clouds, blizzards, wind destruction).  About your own home, if you have that environment, pictures of people doing yard work.  Mowing grass, planting flowers. Take pictures of storefronts, or charities.  Rummage sales.

 

While these kinds of images won't thrill you so much in the taking, like doing the nature ones, they will make you some money.  And no, you don't necessarily need releases for the people in the types of images above.  They will sell as editorial.

 

I knew so little about stock when I began that I thought every picture that had a person in it needed a release.  Not so.  Although if you do take some nice ones that could be used for advertising, and can get a release, do it.

 

Betty

[Linda]

I just received a cheque today from Photoedit (another stock agency based in the US) for $67.50.  My Sydney bank will deduct $30.00 from this princely sum and return the cheque (via airmail) to the States for clearing and I will receive the balance in about seven weeks!  I emailed Photoedit (who appear to be in the last century in relation to uploading and payment systems) requesting they cancel the cheque and arrange either a direct debit or PayPal, both of which they advise they cannot do.  They advised that it would cost them $45.00 to arrange a direct debit with their bank.  I pay all my accounts and bank transfers via my home PC and rarely ever step inside a bank these days.  Rarely are cheques used in business in Australia and Europe these days.  

 

So if Alamy and other stock libraries don't have a problem using direct debit and/or PayPal, why is Photoedit still in the dark ages

I've gone thru this so many times with certain clients,publications and agencies.

Pitiful isn't it? I recently made sales to a HUGE German publisher and it took 6 months to get a check. They screwed up the bank wire numbers and CHARGED ME to redo. It was  not worth it with all the emails back and forth. PAYPAL or another similar system.I also use Flint which is the same concept as Paypal These companies need to step out of the 80s!

 

L

[Jill Morgan]

 

I just received a cheque today from Photoedit (another stock agency based in the US) for $67.50.  My Sydney bank will deduct $30.00 from this princely sum and return the cheque (via airmail) to the States for clearing and I will receive the balance in about seven weeks!  I emailed Photoedit (who appear to be in the last century in relation to uploading and payment systems) requesting they cancel the cheque and arrange either a direct debit or PayPal, both of which they advise they cannot do.  They advised that it would cost them $45.00 to arrange a direct debit with their bank.  I pay all my accounts and bank transfers via my home PC and rarely ever step inside a bank these days.  Rarely are cheques used in business in Australia and Europe these days.  

 

So if Alamy and other stock libraries don't have a problem using direct debit and/or PayPal, why is Photoedit still in the dark ages

Cheques/checks still seem to be the preferred method of payment for publishers in the USA. The situation must be better here in Canada, though. I have a USD account, and cheques in US funds do not go into collection -- i.e. my Canadian bank honours them straightaway with no fees. This probably has something to do with the fact we are joined at the hip economically with the US.

 

 

Back in the days when I sold tons on ebay, I received cheques from all over the world. Never charged a single fee from the Royal Bank to convert and deposit. I never understood when my fellow sellers would complain about foreign cheques. And all monies were immediately available to me.

 

Jill

[spacecadet]

 

 

Back in the days when I sold tons on ebay, I received cheques from all over the world. Never charged a single fee from the Royal Bank to convert and deposit. I never understood when my fellow sellers would complain about foreign cheques. And all monies were immediately available to me.

 

Jill

 

I wonder if your bank was being kind to you to keep a big customer.

My bank (actually building society) would charge me £20 to make a foreign transfer even now so Paypal it is, then.

[Barking]

Would be interesting to see Alamy's end of financial year balance sheet to see what accruals they have?

 

Why can't we just extract (withdraw) the money when it's in our account? - as you can with online betting etc.....if Alamy allow sufficient time for potential refunds (say 60 days), then there shouldn't be any risk of them having to come back to the subscriber.

[Linda]

I have a small bank that  has to go thru a big bank like Wells Fargo for their overseas check processing. $100 now if I were to receive a bank draft from another country!  Before it was $25.... That is why I love Paypal. :-)

 

L

[Niels Quist]

My bank charges nothing for a Paypal transfer - but just around a Pound for bank transfers in foreign currencies (like the Alamy transfer - the account is in Danish Kroner). Never discussed this with the bank as my specific business account hasn't that much credit balance and not many transactions and they still send free snail mail messages (as far as I can see) which are useful for bookkeeping and the amount is deductible. I still use the Alamy bank transfer.