Push for Gold

Charlie, next time you get an EL you are going to have to pay them.

Honestly I am surprised that has not happened already  

It is just hard to swallow a $16.44 EL, when I had 2 PP ELs for almost twice that and other regular ELs this month over $125 each


 

(Edited on 2013-03-01 16:10:42 by cmannphoto)

Ouch, that hurts, Charlie!


Ok, you guys made me look.  Feb. '13 is down 50% for dls and 23% for $.  Ah, the good old days of 2012!

and we all thought 2012 was crap

This morning I received an e-mail from a friend in Germany who also received a very low EL and got the exact same answer from CR. So it would seem IS is handing out BIG DISCOUNTS to some contributors

I guess they'll do anything to keep the three customers they still have.

Not funny, Dave, at least to me. You can't criticise istock for losing customers and for trying to keep them; for charging too much and for giving discounts. You know how competitive the stock world is.

Steep discounts for certain buyers to keep them indicates to me the buyer thinks prices are too high. If that is the case iStock should be listening to buyers and lowering prices generally not just for huge customers. Huge customers were little customers once upon a time, iStock has burnt off the little customers with prices. Look at how software companies do it, they charge lower prices for academic buyers so when they get jobs they are familiar with the product and able to buy the full priced product. iStock does the oppposite. It shuns the little buyers and makes large discounts for the ones most likely to be able to pay.


However, there are discounts and there are discounts. 37c credits represents around a 75% discount on the cheapest available price. Even if the person is buying 100,000 credits it doesn't seem good business sense to me - it is on par with selling Vetta ELs to Google for $30 - $60 each

Today has been the best day for me for $$ this week!

Yay - got me another Designer Spotlight and 5 free credits, for the Bladesong jacket  http://www.istockphoto.com/design_spotlight_details.php?ID=34486

Congratulations!

I am hoping there is some pick up going on.  I had my best week for DLs since last september. The first time I have been over 100 dls since then (I do not include the week where all the missing subscription downloads were added onto the stats).  I am trying to work out if it is because there is a general up turn or because I am working harder.  I guess we will have to wait and see...

Great news Jo. I hope it continues to pick up for you!

I also had the best week last week in 17 weeks!  I hope I haven't jinxed it now and that things will pick up.  Having said that, I've blanked so far this weekend.


I had something of a stressy week last week, so when I woke up yesterday and saw the sun was shining I took off for a weekend's walking with my camera.  Yesterday was glorious and I climbed a hill I've had on my "to climb" list for a long while.  It isn't exactly Kilimanjaro, but I intend it to be the first of many this year and it was a good start.


This is it, Roseberry Topping in North Yorkshire (also known as Odin's Hill).  Although I came down the gentler path to the right of the photo, I climbed up the rock face on the left which was slippery and a bit of a challenge.  Someone had just fallen off and as we arrived an air ambulance helicopter was circling.  I was hoping for some editorials, but don't think any I've got are good enough (helicopter just looks like a big fly!).  Today wasn't as sunny but perfect for a 10 mile hike over the moors.  Trouble with that is, even though the light wasn't good enough for pics, I still had to lug the camera along!


 


Felt really good to get the camera out of the house

(Edited on 2013-03-03 14:01:41 by PaulaConnelly)

^ I'm very envious of your weekend Paula, it sounds perfect. Roseberry Topping looks beautiful.


Congratulations on your great week Jo. 

Paula, congratulations on climbin your private Kilimanjaro, you really needed a break.


Jo, hope your luck continues. looks as if the new images are getting a chance these days. Unfortunately I have uploaded almost only Editorials laterly and they are not big sellers.


Funny weather here, after a very hot and humid period it has now turned windy and cooler and yesterday it rained the whole afternoon - evening. Probably my fault as I had started the day by giving the flowers on the terrace a good watering and then ran the washmashine and put everything out to dry.


Invited to friends for bridge and dinner in the evening and had to bring an umbrella going to the next house. Had a very pleasant evening with good cards, and good food.


 

Hey, you guys ever had kale chips?  I made a bunch to shoot, and I can't stop eating them, they're so good.

I've had potato chips, sweet potato chips and even beetroot chips, but never kale chips.

Has anyone else noted a BM shift?  My more recent stuff is much nearer the top this morning.

Just noticed that myself Paula, my solitary recent upload is on the top line of my portfolio sorted by BM.