Alamy

[arnabdas]

I have a few questions regarding Alamy which seems to be quite popular with

many photographers here.

 

1. Exactly how big are they relative to other stock agencies? Is it an

independent stock agency, a portal for many small-to-medium stock agency or a

mix of both?

 

2. What's the nature of service provided to stock photographers -- do they

just serve as an online stock photo catalog or do they actively go out and

market stock photographs? How's the visibility of your work?

 

3. Do they publish any annual bestselling printed catalog?

 

4. What's the quality of customer service (both buyers and shooters)? How

quick in due settlements etc?

 

5. For those who are registered there - any unique features over other stock

agencies that you like?

 

6. How are the online tools such as search, lightbox etc. compared to other

agencies?

 

7. Who do you think are their competitors?

[simon_meeds]

<p>You're not getting any quick responses, so I'll have a go - others should feel free to shoot me down. I have some images on Alamy and have just had my second sale.</p>

<br>> 1. Exactly how big are they relative to other stock agencies? Is it<br>

> an independent stock agency, a portal for many small-to-medium stock<br>

> agency or a mix of both?<br>

<p>They see themselves behind only the big two (Getty and ?)</p>

<br>> 2. What's the nature of service provided to stock photographers -- <br>

> do they just serve as an online stock photo catalog or do they <br>

> actively go out and market stock photographs? How's the visibility <br>

> of your work?<br>

<p>Yes and yes. Have a look on <a href="http://www.alamy.com">Alamy</a>. If you're lucky you might get featured on the home page or at least in the "showcase". Otherwise visitors can search by keyword. Try searching for "Simon Meeds" to find my images or <anything> to find images on a subject. They have relationships with distributors worldwide and you can opt into having your images distributed on a per-country basis, changing your selection each year if necessary.</p>

<br>> 3. Do they publish any annual bestselling printed catalog?<br>

<p>Not as far as I know.</p>

<br>> 4. What's the quality of customer service (both buyers and <br>

> shooters)? How quick in due settlements etc?<br>

<p>I haven't had any problems. While I have made two sales, when my storage fees and commission are deducted I haven't yet made the threshold for the first payment, so I can't comment on settlements.</p>

<br>> 5. For those who are registered there - any unique features over<br>

> other stock agencies that you like?<br>

<p>There is no mimum submission. Generally they rely on the photographer to edit submissions, so all submissions are accepted unless they break a few rules (e.g. files too small, many similar images from the same photographer, faulty images). Although there is a storage fee it is never charged to you, only deducted from sales, so there is no bottom-line cost to the photographer. Currently they only accept submissions by post (on CD or DVD), but they are migrating to on-line submission later this year. 25-35% commission depending on the subscription option you take.</p>

<br>> 6. How are the online tools such as search, lightbox etc. compared <br>

> to other agencies?<br>

<p>I don't know the comparison. Try it out at <a href="http://www.alamy.com">Alamy</a>.</p>

<br>> 7. Who do you think are their competitors?<br>

<p>I have no experience with competitors.</p>

[adam_buteux1]

>They see themselves behind only the big two (Getty and ?)

 

corbis

[joename]

I've been with them a few years, and have 300+ images there. I have

sales from time to time, but it's slow at best. My images are from

an earlier time in my development, and not as hight quality as I'm

producing now. <p> I think the mailing of media to them for

submission is slow and painful at best, but later this year they will

have upload ability. I've been paid, and it went through as quickly

as they said it would. It's even drawn on a US bank, so it's not

hard to cash. <p> Over all, I like using them for a couple of

reasons: <p> All of my sales have been overseas - no competing with

images in an agency in this country, so I could start utilizing one

here if I wanted. <p> The interface and search capabilities on their

site seems MUCH better than competition, and I think will be utilized

more and more as time goes on.<p> Joe