Alan Beastall 41 Posted January 20 Just had this sale, 'Serbia Flat rate per image. Bulk discount'. I have several of these sales just recently either from Serbia or Slovenia and at a very low price, between $3 and $6. I suppose you can't complain, a sale is a sale but what is a Bulk discount sale? Normally a lience is given to use an image in a news paper article, web site, magazine etc. but why would a large number of liences be sold like this. Are they setting up their own image library? Before emailing Alamy have you had any experence or answers on this subject. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radim 28 Posted January 20 Unfortunately, most of these sales go through a distributor from the Czech Republic - Profimedia, Their prices are really depressing, mostly. I have read several times that some people have already canceled distribution to the Czech Republic Radim Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
losdemas 1,543 Posted January 20 20 minutes ago, Radim said: Unfortunately, most of these sales go through a distributor from the Czech Republic - Profimedia, Their prices are really depressing, mostly. I have read several times that some people have already canceled distribution to the Czech Republic Radim Yup, I cancelled Czech distribution a while back precisely because of the very poor value licenses. Other contributors have noted that they have had decent sales via Czech distribution, though, so I may be cutting off my nose to spite my face. It was always a big nose, though! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rob C 52 Posted January 20 Had a Czech distributor sale pop in this morning for $3.41. So my cut gives me just about enough for half a Bathams. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Radim 28 Posted January 20 I had ten sales today, each for $ 3.41, sometimes better, not this month Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Normspics 15 Posted January 20 I have just had some bulk discount distributor sales for use in Turkey, the way I reconcile it is more money into my Alamy earnings pot and it all averages out to be worthwhile in the long run. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Reimar 257 Posted January 20 Ditto here. Four distributor sales with flat rate bulk discount. One to Slovenia for the $3.41 and three to Turkey for $6-8. If only volume would make up for the low prices for us. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dave Nelson 24 Posted January 20 I also had one from Turkey on Tuesday. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 2,250 Posted January 20 I've had four " Bulk discount, flag rate per image" distributor sales this month -- Worlwide, Germany, and Lithuania. Could be a new trend... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Betty LaRue 1,418 Posted January 21 (edited) Nearly every image of mine sold in Dec-Jan have been distributor/bulk discount. Back to OP’s question, I don’t understand it either. What is bulk? 25 images bought? 100 images? 1000 images? And if one entity is buying those, are the above numbers used in one month? Or are they collecting images for resale, which would be illegal? Lots of unanswered questions. The main question for me is “what constitutes Bulk numbers-wise? Betty Edited January 21 by Betty LaRue Typo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 2,250 Posted January 21 On 1/20/2018 at 07:42, Reimar said: Ditto here. Four distributor sales with flat rate bulk discount. One to Slovenia for the $3.41 and three to Turkey for $6-8. If only volume would make up for the low prices for us. Yes, without volume, these types of sales aren't going to contribute much to our income, especially if they start becoming the cake itself rather than just the icing on the cake. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Robert M Estall 163 Posted January 22 Back well before Alamy I used to act as a stock supplier mostly to book publishers and part-works. I used to get asked for bulk discount anything over 1. On the rare occasions the total came to over 10 the rate card would be shredded. But the rates started at more like $100. Lots more for world rights Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogphotos 978 Posted January 22 (edited) I suspect that the bulk rate applies as soon as the client suggests that they might go elsewhere where they know that the standard fees are already set so low. ie) they set Alamy off against the competition. I think we just have to take the rough with the smooth, highs with the lows, etc and leave Alamy to get on and do the sales. Edited January 22 by geogphotos 2 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
andremichel 93 Posted January 22 7 hours ago, geogphotos said: I think we just have to take the rough with the smooth, highs with the lows, etc and leave Alamy to get on and do the sales. Though it appears that the lows are getting more frequent and the $100 plus sales more and more rare. If they were to disappear altogether, then Alamy risks becoming a library with barely above microstock prices but with a small fraction of microstock library volume. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 2,250 Posted January 22 1 hour ago, andremichel said: Though it appears that the lows are getting more frequent and the $100 plus sales more and more rare. If they were to disappear altogether, then Alamy risks becoming a library with barely above microstock prices but with a small fraction of microstock library volume. That would indeed be the worst-case scenario, and the risk is definitely there. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
geogphotos 978 Posted January 22 2 hours ago, andremichel said: Though it appears that the lows are getting more frequent and the $100 plus sales more and more rare. If they were to disappear altogether, then Alamy risks becoming a library with barely above microstock prices but with a small fraction of microstock library volume. Perhaps a small volume for the contributor? It may not be small volume for Alamy. Or at least it really will be smaller volume if they let sales go because they don't compete on price. Alamy is not an island. The market for stock images is global. We all know that images are available at other sites for these low prices. Why pretend otherwise? It's easy. If you don't want these tiddler distribution sales and don't want Personal Use sales then Alamy provides an opt out. Personally I won't be doing that. I have to trust Alamy to do what is best for its business. No other agency/portal that I know of provides these opt outs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 2,250 Posted January 22 3 hours ago, geogphotos said: Perhaps a small volume for the contributor? It may not be small volume for Alamy. Or at least it really will be smaller volume if they let sales go because they don't compete on price. Alamy is not an island. The market for stock images is global. We all know that images are available at other sites for these low prices. Why pretend otherwise? It's easy. If you don't want these tiddler distribution sales and don't want Personal Use sales then Alamy provides an opt out. Personally I won't be doing that. I have to trust Alamy to do what is best for its business. No other agency/portal that I know of provides these opt outs. Right. My highest sale (such as it is) so far this month is thru a distributor. I would feel as if I were shooting myself in the foot if I opted out. Even PU sales can look good sometimes. IMO the decline in higher priced licenses is more concerning than the tiddlers. Que sera, sera, though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rick Lewis 91 Posted January 23 On 1/20/2018 at 23:27, Betty LaRue said: Nearly every image of mine sold in Dec-Jan have been distributor/bulk discount. Back to OP’s question, I don’t understand it either. What is bulk? 25 images bought? 100 images? 1000 images? And if one entity is buying those, are the above numbers used in one month? Or are they collecting images for resale, which would be illegal? Lots of unanswered questions. The main question for me is “what constitutes Bulk numbers-wise? Betty I would hope it is a "bulk rate" they are talking about where Alamy gives a discount for so many images purchased in a given time frame; a set fee per image purchased. An example would be newspaper xyz can purchase 100 images per quarter for "x" amount of money. My fear is, like Betty's, that these images are purchased and then added to a library to be used later or possibly re-licensed, illegally, to someone else. Not to cast aspersions here but I read a year or two ago on another Website some commercial photographers complaining about IP rights being violated, openly, in some, not all, eastern European countries. Alamy is pretty careful, I'm sure, about who they do business with but I think it would be helpful if this type of sale could be addressed / explained to the contributors. I am very interested in what Kodak may have up its sleeve with the new "block chain" technology. Will it help photographers track down violations? "For its part, Kodak acknowledged in its press release that blockchain, like cryptocurrency, is a “hot buzzword” right now, but CEO Jeff Clarke said that the technology will actually prove useful in the company’s case. “For photographers who’ve long struggled to assert control over their work and how it’s used, these buzzwords are the keys to solving what felt like an unsolvable problem,” he said in the release." 01-10-2018 Marketwatch.com Rick Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
funkyworm 918 Posted January 23 Wasn;t the conclusion of a similar thread that sub-distributor sales all get the text "bulk discount" added regardless? The Kodak initiative could be interesting... it could be another knock out blow. I think its something Bill Brooks has alluded to in the past, reading between the lines a sort of Spotify for images. Spotify being lauded by many. However many of that many not being the many who create the work. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fotoDogue 564 Posted January 23 (edited) 16 hours ago, Rick Lewis said: On 1/21/2018 at 00:27, Betty LaRue said: 1000 images? And if one entity is buying those, are the above numbers used in one month? Or are they collecting images for resale, which would be illegal? Lots of unanswered questions. The main question for me is “what constitutes Bulk numbers-wise? Betty I would hope it is a "bulk rate" they are talking about where Alamy gives a discount for so many images purchased in a given time frame; a set fee per image purchased. An example would be newspaper xyz can purchase 100 images per quarter for "x" amount of money. My fear is, like Betty's, that these images are purchased and then added to a library to be used later or possibly re-licensed, illegally, to someone else. Profimedia is a distributor. Isn't this what distributors do - access Alamy images for resale at some point? I don't understand why people think this is somehow "illegal." If you don't like the idea of distributors then why not opt out? If you don't like the prices one distributor in particular charges then you can opt out of that distributor. I opted out of Profimedia a couple of years ago and my overall number of sales, and gross income have continued to grow. fD Edited January 23 by fotoDogue Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spacecadet 1,947 Posted January 23 16 hours ago, Rick Lewis said: My fear is, like Betty's, that these images are purchased and then added to a library to be used later or possibly re-licensed, illegally, to someone else. As Fd says that's not what distributors do. They represent the images and license them in the same way as Alamy would. You can't legitimately license an image in the way you suggest- sub-licensing is specifically excluded from the EULA. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fotoDogue 564 Posted January 23 1 minute ago, spacecadet said: As Fd says that's not what distributors do. They represent the images and license them in the same way as Alamy would. You can't legitimately license an image in the way you suggest- sub-licensing is specifically excluded from the EULA. Are you suggesting Profimedia is licensing images to yet another agency? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
spacecadet 1,947 Posted January 23 No, I'm not. It can't. The OP suspects it. I was explaining why it can't. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John Mitchell 2,250 Posted January 24 Fifth "Bulk Discount, Flat Rate" sale this month showed up today (distributor, Belgium). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
