First Sale at Alamy - Page 2

Batman2000 · #11 (**permalink**) 02-25-2008, 07:43 PM

Good news... And don´t expect them to send you a message after a sale, I'ts never happened to me, I just found out my sales when visiting MyAlamy and checking sales out.

thesupe87 · #12 (**permalink**) 02-27-2008, 12:53 PM

Congratulations on the sale, Karin! That's not bad for having a few hundred images up, out of 11 million!!! :P Our portfolios on Alamy only make up a minute fraction of a thousandth of a percent of the total # of images on there.

Batman2000 · #13 (**permalink**) 02-27-2008, 08:57 PM

Just sold a another image yesterday! That brings my total to two this month alone... great!

Karimala · #14 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 01:13 AM

Woohoo! Review times have also increased greatly...looks like the beta period is over.

helix7 · #15 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sharpshot

...I was doing a search today and found that Yuri Arcus has his portfolio on alamy. It seems to be the same images as the micros. I just don't see how having the same images on both will work in the long run. I am sticking to keeping the two separate.

I don't see the problem. He's offering his stuff to two separate types of buyers.

I saw a recent poll in a graphic design magazine that said that 50% of designers have made purchases on microstock sites. That leads me to believe that the other 50% refuse to buy micro, for whatever reason. There are a lot of people who have no interest in microstock, even if it would save them money. Given the option to buy a $300 image or a $3 image of equal quality, they'll buy the $300 image. Who are we to say that they shouldn't?

sharpshot · #16 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 06:48 AM

I have read on another forum that he doesn't do well on Alamy. I think there are lots of buyers there who also look at some of the micro sites and will recognize the photos. Some might buy for $300 when it is available for $3 but how many? And how many will see it available for $3, bookmark that portfolio and never buy from the one on Alamy again?

There is a link to the Alamy forum on the front page and it is full of threads about microstock sites and about people selling the same images on Alamy. I think it is likely that more buyers will look for photos on the microstock sites if they see that as money is becoming more tight in the current econmic climate.

I can understand why people put their micrtostock images on Alamy but for now I will upload different photos and see how it goes. If that doesn't work, I will think again.

Karimala · #17 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 08:41 AM

A lot of buyers also purchase from both micro and macro, and don't stick with just one or the other. Some go to the micros first, some go to the macros first. I see it happening all the time.

I decided to sell my best micro images at Alamy, because their RF licensing is more expansive than the micros. Whereas the micros require payment for each usage, at Alamy it is a one-time fee for unlimited use. In between regular micro RF licensing and Alamy's macro licensing, there are also the various types of ELs ranging in cost from $50-100 for each use, none of which is fully unlimited, like Alamy's RF license. At LO, ELs in the Sideshow sell even higher than that. If I set the base price of a Sideshow image at $5, the EL is $250...which is only $80 less than Alamy's largest size for RF.

It's not about selling my pictures at different prices. It's about making the widest variety of licenses available for the buyers of my pictures. If they don't want a completely unlimited RF license, they can find my work on the micros available for sale with regular and extended license restrictions. If they do want a truly unlimited RF license so they don't have to bother buying it again every time they need to use it, they can find my work at Alamy.

Batman2000 · #18 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 01:57 PM

Yuri's case illustrates the issue. Buyers are becoming more and more aware of the fact that the same images could be available at micros and macros. Some even are talking about designer/buyer groups having compilations of "blacklisted" photographers that do this. I don't know if it is true, but seems reasonable, since even being RF you don´t want to have an image that has sold hundreds (or thousand) of times as the image for your big campaign. Yuri's case is particularly interesting since his images have the so called "micro look" (happy business people all dressed up shaking hands) and that usually has not sold well at Alamy and even tells the buyer to look at the micros for the same image.

There is no justification to have the same image at such different prices. The argument made by Karimala would seem to be valid, but still it is very unlikely that it is a usual or widespread situation to justify it. I just don´t see it being "the reason" to shell out 200 times more money for an image that can be shoped around from 10 micros with wide licences available at very low prices. And once they see that the image has been sold around at many places at micros (since many allow us to see how many dl's an image has), do you still think they will pay big bucks for it, or just go for a similar that hasn´t been downloaded a lot. Big bucks are expected to buy you two things, usage and a certain degree of knowledge that the image is not going to pop all around (even with your competition). The fact is that buyers are aware and those who are not are disappearing really fast.

I understand that it is easier to upload micro images to Alamy rather than taking new ones. For me a separate portfolio has worked and it has shown me that it is worth the effort.

e-person · #19 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Batman2000

Yuri's case illustrates the issue..

I understand that it is easier to upload micro images to Alamy rather than taking new ones. For me a separate portfolio has worked and it has shown me that it is worth the effort.

I totally agree.

One should decide in advance what goes to RM and what to micros. I am doing my best to do that.

thesupe87 · #20 (**permalink**) 02-28-2008, 03:47 PM

I'm kind of glad my Alamy name is different than my micropayment username. Still, that doesn't stop anyone from finding the same images on both sites.