Merry Holidays

Wishing Merry Holidays to all Microstockers. Best wishes for the New Year.

iStock Comission Adjustments

iStockPhoto announced a commision adjustment starting January, 8th, 2008.

The new price structure is as follows:

Photo Credit Pricing:

XSmall : 1 Credit (was 1 Credit)
Small : 3 Credits (was 2 Credits)
Medium : 5 Credits (was 4 Credits)
Large : 10 Credits (was 6 Credits)
XLarge : 15 Credits (was 10 Credits)
XX Large : 20 Credits (was 15 Credits)

Vector Pricing

Simple : 1 Credit (was 1 Credit)
Moderate : 5 Credits (was 3 Credits)
Detailed : 10 Credits (was 7 Credits)
Complex : 15 Credits (was 12 Credits)
Elaborate : 25 Credits (was 25 Credits)

Extended License Options for Images & Illustrations
Multi-Seat (unlimited) : 50 credits
Unlimited Reproduction / Print Runs : 100 credits
Items for Resale (limited run) : 100 credits
Electronic Items for Resale (unlimited run) : 100 credits

123RF : New Site Design

123RF has shown today a revamped website look. They had done it earlier this year too and have now taken it further.

Basically, submitters have all the features they had in the old design, but now we have direct links instead of drop down menus. Quicker navigation is always good.

I only wish they would create a better sales report.

StockXpert Security Breach

A worrying security breach has been discovered on StockXpert.

If anyone knows your e-mail address and asks for a forgotten password, the new temporary password is shown on the site. Then, that person can access your account and take any actions (including requesting payments) within your account.

• Beware if someone asks you anything requesting an e-mail reply
  
• If the e-mail account registered on the site is widely known (in forums or other sites), change it as soon as possible
  

StockXpert said the problem is being solved (and there are some contradictory reports on wether it's solved or not) but, in the meanwhile, take these precautions.

iStockphoto announces Payoneer partnership

iStockphoto just announced a partnership with Payoneer for providing contributor's a new payment service.

With this new service, your funds will be added to a prepaid iStockphoto branded Master Card and you can use that card to shop anywhere Mastercard is accepted.

It's not clear yet who will pay the fees involved in the transaction (IS or the contributor).

It's now clear it will still be possible to receive funds by the usual methods (paypal, moneybookers or cheque).

The new service is expected to be lauched before the end of the year.

Dreamstime royalties update

Good news! Starting November, 1st 2007, Dreamstime will update royalties. The changes are:
Image Levels

• Level 1 - 0-9 downloads (was 0-24)
  
• Level 2 - 10-24 downloads (was 25-49)
  
• Level 3 - 25-49 downloads (was 50-99)
  
• Level 4 - 50-99 downloads (was 100-199)
  
• Level 5 - More than 100 downloads (was More than 200 downloads)
  

For better understanding what the image levels are, here's a brief explanation:

When you upload a new image to Dreamstime it has 0 (zero) downloads and it's level 1. Whenever somebody buys that image, the number of downloads increases and the price level changes according to it. Higher the level, higher the number of credits you get for a sale.

A complete table of royalties by image level:


Subscription royalties will also be updated to US$0.30 per download (a 20% increase). This seems to be the industry standard, as it's the value praticed by SS, SXP and DT. 123RF pays US$0.36 per subscription download.

StockXpert Subscription Model

StockXpert initiated the much discussed subscription program.

As a contributor (photographer or illustrator) you'll get US$0.30 for each download.

As opposed to the credit model, where you sell each image for a certain ammount of credits, depending on image size, with subscriptions, buyers get a large ammount of images at max size for a fixed price for a certain period of time.

• The good: In the subscription model, buyers have to use their credits or they loose them. On the other hand, they get a ridiculously low price per image. That usually means a larger number of downloads to the contributors. A designer will likely buy several possible images for a project just because he/she can.
• The bad: Shutterstock is undoubtly the #1 on subscription sales. Mixed model sites usually don't get great results. Dreamstime introduced subscription sales earlier this year, but for what I read in every forum (and from my personal experience), those sales represent a very small percentage of all sales.
  StockXpert has a great price plan for contributors with the credits model. We're hoping the subscription program won't hurt the credit sales. Time will tell.

The subscription program is optional. You can opt in/out at any time, by editing your profile on the site. Kudos to that.

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