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Alamy Paying Contributors


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Accusations that Alamy is somehow "bad at paying photographers" are really uncalled for on a public forum.

This could have been straightened out by either reading the contributor contract or by contacting Member Services.

 

 

fD

What? Why? This public forum is specifically for members to share and discuss issues having to do with Alamy. Why should discussions about getting paid be muzzled? Seems a perfectly acceptable topic to me. Also, from reading the OP's comments it looks to me as though he has been in contact with MemSer. 

 

I get that it would be a MAJOR bummer if these forum pages degraded into gripe sessions which drag on and on, and just become in nature full of nothing but negative posts. But come on, most of us are here on a business basis. Getting paid is a critical part of any business venture. If a member is having issues getting paid they need to be able to talk to other members about it and see if someone out there has useful experience to share.

 

And now I am going to grab my camera and go have some fun on a photo safari out side my village.  :  )

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Accusations that Alamy is somehow "bad at paying photographers" are really uncalled for on a public forum.

This could have been straightened out by either reading the contributor contract or by contacting Member Services.

 

 

fD

What? Why? This public forum is specifically for members to share and discuss issues having to do with Alamy. Why should discussions about getting paid be muzzled? Seems a perfectly acceptable topic to me. Also, from reading the OP's comments it looks to me as though he has been in contact with MemSer. 

 

I get that it would be a MAJOR bummer if these forum pages degraded into gripe sessions which drag on and on, and just become in nature full of nothing but negative posts. But come on, most of us are here on a business basis. Getting paid is a critical part of any business venture. If a member is having issues getting paid they need to be able to talk to other members about it and see if someone out there has useful experience to share.

 

And now I am going to grab my camera and go have some fun on a photo safari out side my village.  :  )

 

Another function of the forum is to put people right when they are wrong. The OP was wrong.

If a member is having issues getting paid he should contact MS. The OP didn't, in fact, say he had done that.

Turns out it this case he wasn't having issues. He was mistaken about the process. He also came close to implying that Alamy were being dishonest by not releasing cleared payments.

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  • 1 month later...

 

 

Accusations that Alamy is somehow "bad at paying photographers" are really uncalled for on a public forum.

This could have been straightened out by either reading the contributor contract or by contacting Member Services.

 

 

fD

What? Why? This public forum is specifically for members to share and discuss issues having to do with Alamy. Why should discussions about getting paid be muzzled? Seems a perfectly acceptable topic to me. Also, from reading the OP's comments it looks to me as though he has been in contact with MemSer. 

 

I get that it would be a MAJOR bummer if these forum pages degraded into gripe sessions which drag on and on, and just become in nature full of nothing but negative posts. But come on, most of us are here on a business basis. Getting paid is a critical part of any business venture. If a member is having issues getting paid they need to be able to talk to other members about it and see if someone out there has useful experience to share.

 

And now I am going to grab my camera and go have some fun on a photo safari out side my village.  :  )

 

Another function of the forum is to put people right when they are wrong. The OP was wrong.

If a member is having issues getting paid he should contact MS. The OP didn't, in fact, say he had done that.

Turns out it this case he wasn't having issues. He was mistaken about the process. He also came close to implying that Alamy were being dishonest by not releasing cleared payments.

 

 

I am an Alamy Contributor since 03 Feb 14. I did not have much luck here with Alamy. Let's just say my portfolio is not good enough because the topic is not about that.

 

My first sale was on 12 January 16 ($48 net) and it was cleared exactly 45 days later. Nothing to complain, 5/5!

 

My second sale arrived on 23 May 16 ($141 net). It was refunded exactly 1 month later but immediately re-sold at higher price  ($150 net).

 

I waited 3 months but the sale was not cleared yet. I wrote to CR (previously MS) an this is the answer I got:

"...

Thanks for your email.

 

I have passed this on to the relevant team to chase, and we will be in touch when we have an update.

..."

 

It's been a week now and I did not hear back from them yet. I have a doubt I will hear back from them again!

 

So I am sorry to disagree but so far, I am still waiting. Is Alamy the best when it comes to chasing you unpaid sale? PROBABLY NOT.

 

It is easy to blame the OP unless you experienced the same thing as the OP experienced!

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I had a sale in January to a magazine in Australia. It just cleared a few days ago. I had contacted Alamy about it a couple of times in the eight months that it took to clear. Don't give up hope.

 

Paulette

 

PS. Hajakely, you have some wonderful wildlife images. I really enjoyed looking at them.

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Accusations that Alamy is somehow "bad at paying photographers" are really uncalled for on a public forum.

This could have been straightened out by either reading the contributor contract or by contacting Member Services.

 

 

fD

What? Why? This public forum is specifically for members to share and discuss issues having to do with Alamy. Why should discussions about getting paid be muzzled? Seems a perfectly acceptable topic to me. Also, from reading the OP's comments it looks to me as though he has been in contact with MemSer. 

 

I get that it would be a MAJOR bummer if these forum pages degraded into gripe sessions which drag on and on, and just become in nature full of nothing but negative posts. But come on, most of us are here on a business basis. Getting paid is a critical part of any business venture. If a member is having issues getting paid they need to be able to talk to other members about it and see if someone out there has useful experience to share.

 

And now I am going to grab my camera and go have some fun on a photo safari out side my village.  :  )

 

Another function of the forum is to put people right when they are wrong. The OP was wrong.

If a member is having issues getting paid he should contact MS. The OP didn't, in fact, say he had done that.

Turns out it this case he wasn't having issues. He was mistaken about the process. He also came close to implying that Alamy were being dishonest by not releasing cleared payments.

 

 

I am an Alamy Contributor since 03 Feb 14. I did not have much luck here with Alamy. Let's just say my portfolio is not good enough because the topic is not about that.

 

My first sale was on 12 January 16 ($48 net) and it was cleared exactly 45 days later. Nothing to complain, 5/5!

 

My second sale arrived on 23 May 16 ($141 net). It was refunded exactly 1 month later but immediately re-sold at higher price  ($150 net).

 

I waited 3 months but the sale was not cleared yet. I wrote to CR (previously MS) an this is the answer I got:

"...

Thanks for your email.

 

I have passed this on to the relevant team to chase, and we will be in touch when we have an update.

..."

 

It's been a week now and I did not hear back from them yet. I have a doubt I will hear back from them again!

 

So I am sorry to disagree but so far, I am still waiting. Is Alamy the best when it comes to chasing you unpaid sale? PROBABLY NOT.

 

It is easy to blame the OP unless you experienced the same thing as the OP experienced!

 

You're not telling us anything we don't already know- that some editorial sales take more than 3 months to clear (the clock resets on the date of the resale, by the way).

I have always had an update when promised one. You have no grounds for your assertion that MS may not be telling the truth. They are.

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T

 

I had a sale in January to a magazine in Australia. It just cleared a few days ago. I had contacted Alamy about it a couple of times in the eight months that it took to clear. Don't give up hope.

Paulette

PS. Hajakely, you have some wonderful wildlife images. I really enjoyed looking at them.

Thanks, I hope my sale will clear soon (or later). Cross fingers!

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You're not telling us anything we don't already know- that some editorial sales take more than 3 months to clear (the clock resets on the date of the resale, by the way).

I have always had an update when promised one. You have no grounds for your assertion that MS may not be telling the truth. They are.

As I said, I did not hear back front them yet but I will post here if they get back to me ;) .

however, until I hear back from them and until the sale clear, I will not have a peace of mind! I think I read to much about "refund" topics in this forum so I just got paranoid.

I hope my sale will clear soon (or later). As long as it arrives I do not mind!

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I am sorry but It is not a microstock paranoia. Refunds after a very long waiting period (for some contributor after 4 YEARS) are facts here. For that reason, some contributors (like me) start to worry after certain period of time waiting for the sale to clear.

 

I want to be clear though: 

  • I am not saying that refund happens often (eventhough some contributors think that it is increasing).
  • I am not saying that sale should be cleared right away.

 

If people complain, please, do not exacerbate the situation with answer like "... have difficulties in grasping the completely different business model" or even worse "If your not happy then leave"! Instead, give some useful and comforting response.

 

Just to give everybody some ideas (and also in order to avoid minus reputation), here are some threads about contributors complaining about refunds at Alamy:

 

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/6355-increasing-refunds (someone worried about increasing refund at alamy)

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/6171-refunds

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/5891-reasons-for-refunds

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/5833-personal-use-license-refunds-shouldnt-be-allowed

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/4712-refunds (post #2: "My second refund was the worst - 10 months after it had been sold and paid for (and the money spent   :)) which, at the time a few years ago, was a large sale for me.") 

http://discussion.alamy.com/index.php?/topic/5385-whats-the-longest-time-youve-waited-for-funds-to-clear (post #5: "I had one, for a very modest amount, which cleared  last month after a four month wait. A few days later, it promptly uncleared. Presumably the cheque bounced. I suspect I may not see the fruits of that sale for a long time, if ever.  :(" ; post #6: "Four years. Then it got refunded")

 

 

Is there a way of justifying alamy with 4 years of uncleared balanced then refunded. I do not think so. Is that the contributor's fault, certainly not.

 

There should be a rule here, be it 3 months or  6 months or I do not know how long but at certain point, refund should not be acceptable.

 

So again, is Alamy the best when it comes to chasing your unpaid sale? PROBABLY NOT.

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Please, for people who vote minus reputation for my post, can you, please, explain why? am I laying here or is it forbiden to talk about certain topic?

 

I tried hard to not be judgemental but come on!

 

There you go more minus reputation to come, I hope refund will never reach your account balance. Shame on those unlucky contributors like me who dare to speak the truth!

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Please don't confuse refunds with cancellations for uncleared invoices.

 

If a bill has been issued and not paid by the client, our credit control team vigorously chase the debt in order to secure payment. In rare cases where payment cannot be secured, for example when a client may have filed for bankruptcy, the debt may have to be written off and the sale cancelled. This will show as a "refund" in the contributor account even though essentially it is a cancellation.

 

Also, rarely, a sale will be cancelled if the client did not use the image they purchased a licence for in the final design. We will honour this outside of the usual payment terms in order to maintain a client relationship if a genuine error in billing has been made. Again, this is rare and will usually happen before we received payment. It's very rare that this would happen after payment has been received. Again, this would be shown as a "refund" in the contributor account even though it's essentially a cancellation.

 

We've let this thread run up to this point but feel it is now starting to paint a distorted picture of our payment system so it will be locked.

 

We pay millions of dollars out to our photographers each year and process hundreds and hundreds of sales each and every day. A very small % of those sales can be problematic but this would be the situation with any business. Our credit control and billing teams have a great record of securing payments and making payments to our photographers on time and regularly. Unlike other agencies, we report in real time so you can see when a bill has been issued - this also means you will see the rare occasions when the bill has to be cancelled. On other sites this would all happen behind the scenes without the photographer knowing. Our system is designed to be transparent and you should not be concerned about the volume of refunds/cancellations as we have an excellent track record in this area.

 

If you have any concerns then please email our contributor relations team who will be happy to help. You can reach them on contributors@alamy.com and if you email us on a weekday during normal office hours, you'll very likely get a reply on the day, probably within an hour.

 

Alamy

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