Advanced SearchPosted Tue Dec 9, 2008 12:00PM
2008 really has been an interesting, trying, and amazingly successful year. iStock had a tough summer as we migrated to a new, larger data center, upgraded to PHP5, and installed a brand-new high performance search engine. We managed to pull it off with limited interruptions, and we thank our development and IT teams for working hard on it. For those of you who did experience hiccups, we appreciate your patience. The site is performing better than it ever has with far more traffic than we could ever have supported only a short year ago.
New Pricing
In the past, our pricing has been the same, across the board, on every file. The exception was the Dollar Bin, which we introduced a few years ago as a kind of last chance station before a file left the collection altogether.
Our collection has really come into its own, and this one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. More importantly, our community has strong needs from several directions: Artists need more for the jaw-dropping work they do, and buyers need better deals during this vicious economic uncertainty. So we're making changes at both ends of the scale.
The 'Dollar Bin' is getting remodeled (and probably a new name). First of all, there are going to be a lot more files in there: we're envisioning 200,000 to start (up from about 5,000 right now). The images in this new value collection will now be priced by size, like everything else, but at much lower rates: 1 credit for an extra-small and topping out at 7 credits for a XXXL. These files will no longer be automatically deactivated after 30 days. The new Dollar Bin should be ready in early spring.
Now let's look at the top end. iStock's collection is not only the best microstock collection on the planet, but it's on par with most traditional agencies at this point -- that's why our top photographers contribute to the elite Getty Images collection. Customers tell us that they're willing to pay more for top-quality images, especially those where much effort has obviously gone into the production of the shoot. So we want to reward the photographers who are really pushing the envelope. In May we will release a premiere collection of our best, exclusive content. The prices will be:
We'll start tagging content in January for inclusion into this collection. Exclusives will have the ability to nominate their files they'd like to see included. And again, we'll be looking to put about 200,000 images in the collection by the end of the second quarter.
More details on our two new collections for both customers and contributors will come in the next months.
The standard collection will undergo a price change on Wednesday, January 7th:
New Size!
You probably noticed that the new prices include XXXL files. This is a brand new category for files bigger than 5600 x 3700. All files uploaded after after mid-January will automatically be generated at the new sizes. Files from the back catalogue that fit the new size will be regenerated as time permits.
Vectors & Flash
Vectors are staying at the same price. We are, however, reevaluating certain files, which may move up or down in the structure. We are also (finally!) introducing a Flash landing page in the New Year. Flash files will have two new price points, to match the Vector pricing.
Video
Video continues to grow at a terrific rate. We are now up over 140,000 clips, selling at a mind-bending rate. We are adjusting the credit levels for the two HD formats that we offer. Smaller sizes will remain the same.
Audio
Audio is coming soon! Based on feedback from our contributors, we're making some adjustments to the lowest price level. We'll also soon announce a little surprise for certain potential contributors who weren't eligible due to being members of PRO organizations.
Pay-as-you-go credit packages
Credit packs will receive a change in pricing, as will the way we price foreign currencies. Right now foreign currencies are dynamically priced every day. While this provides some stability for photographers and iStock, it makes our customers crazy. With the volatility of currencies, prices were changing day by day, even when rounded to the nearest whole, making it difficult for our foreign friends to know how much a package was going to cost from one day to the next. We will now set currency prices on the 1st of each month. We will reserve the right to update the prices mid-month on extreme fluctuations.
You can see the complete 2009 pricing schedule here.
Site Changes -- File Close-up page
A few months ago you may remember we posted some mock-ups of coming changes to the file close-up page. We've been hard at work on that project ever since. Now, after a lot of focus group and beta testing, we're just about ready to launch this new streamlined page. You will see it live in the next 5 days.
We'd like to announce one more thing we're incredibly proud of. Like everyone else these days, we've had to tighten our belts around here. No cent is spent without good reason and no expenditure approved without a thorough analysis. But one thing that has continued to rise is the amount we pay our photographers. iStock now pays its contributors -- are you sitting down for this? -- almost $1.1 million dollars per WEEK in royalties. That amount only continues to grow -- something we're thrilled with in these rough economic times. We hope that all of our contributors continue to see more in the new year.
Now go have a happy holidays.
The iStock team
(Edited on 2009-01-06 15:53:19 by alibrace)
New Pricing
In the past, our pricing has been the same, across the board, on every file. The exception was the Dollar Bin, which we introduced a few years ago as a kind of last chance station before a file left the collection altogether.
Our collection has really come into its own, and this one-size-fits-all approach no longer works. More importantly, our community has strong needs from several directions: Artists need more for the jaw-dropping work they do, and buyers need better deals during this vicious economic uncertainty. So we're making changes at both ends of the scale.
The 'Dollar Bin' is getting remodeled (and probably a new name). First of all, there are going to be a lot more files in there: we're envisioning 200,000 to start (up from about 5,000 right now). The images in this new value collection will now be priced by size, like everything else, but at much lower rates: 1 credit for an extra-small and topping out at 7 credits for a XXXL. These files will no longer be automatically deactivated after 30 days. The new Dollar Bin should be ready in early spring.
Now let's look at the top end. iStock's collection is not only the best microstock collection on the planet, but it's on par with most traditional agencies at this point -- that's why our top photographers contribute to the elite Getty Images collection. Customers tell us that they're willing to pay more for top-quality images, especially those where much effort has obviously gone into the production of the shoot. So we want to reward the photographers who are really pushing the envelope. In May we will release a premiere collection of our best, exclusive content. The prices will be:
We'll start tagging content in January for inclusion into this collection. Exclusives will have the ability to nominate their files they'd like to see included. And again, we'll be looking to put about 200,000 images in the collection by the end of the second quarter.
More details on our two new collections for both customers and contributors will come in the next months.
The standard collection will undergo a price change on Wednesday, January 7th:
New Size!
You probably noticed that the new prices include XXXL files. This is a brand new category for files bigger than 5600 x 3700. All files uploaded after after mid-January will automatically be generated at the new sizes. Files from the back catalogue that fit the new size will be regenerated as time permits.
Vectors & Flash
Vectors are staying at the same price. We are, however, reevaluating certain files, which may move up or down in the structure. We are also (finally!) introducing a Flash landing page in the New Year. Flash files will have two new price points, to match the Vector pricing.
Video
Video continues to grow at a terrific rate. We are now up over 140,000 clips, selling at a mind-bending rate. We are adjusting the credit levels for the two HD formats that we offer. Smaller sizes will remain the same.
Audio
Audio is coming soon! Based on feedback from our contributors, we're making some adjustments to the lowest price level. We'll also soon announce a little surprise for certain potential contributors who weren't eligible due to being members of PRO organizations.
Pay-as-you-go credit packages
Credit packs will receive a change in pricing, as will the way we price foreign currencies. Right now foreign currencies are dynamically priced every day. While this provides some stability for photographers and iStock, it makes our customers crazy. With the volatility of currencies, prices were changing day by day, even when rounded to the nearest whole, making it difficult for our foreign friends to know how much a package was going to cost from one day to the next. We will now set currency prices on the 1st of each month. We will reserve the right to update the prices mid-month on extreme fluctuations.
You can see the complete 2009 pricing schedule here.
Site Changes -- File Close-up page
A few months ago you may remember we posted some mock-ups of coming changes to the file close-up page. We've been hard at work on that project ever since. Now, after a lot of focus group and beta testing, we're just about ready to launch this new streamlined page. You will see it live in the next 5 days.
We'd like to announce one more thing we're incredibly proud of. Like everyone else these days, we've had to tighten our belts around here. No cent is spent without good reason and no expenditure approved without a thorough analysis. But one thing that has continued to rise is the amount we pay our photographers. iStock now pays its contributors -- are you sitting down for this? -- almost $1.1 million dollars per WEEK in royalties. That amount only continues to grow -- something we're thrilled with in these rough economic times. We hope that all of our contributors continue to see more in the new year.
Now go have a happy holidays.
The iStock team
(Edited on 2009-01-06 15:53:19 by alibrace)
