[2]
Corbis [3] have anounced their plans that veer.com [4] will host a collection of microstock priced images heralded as 'marketplace' from 23rd Feb.
This news also spells the end for snapvillage.com [5]. For various reasons snapvillage never really took off, partly a lack of marketing budget and an expectation to 'put it up and people would come and buy'. This news however does not mark snapvillage out as another failed microstock site. Almost all of the current snapvillage collection will migrated over to veer.com from the launch. As I understand it only images with potential legal issues will not be migrated, veer will not be hand picking their new collection. It's understood that snapvillage will continue to operate well into this year before being closed. Personally I see this as good news for current snapvillage users and the current poor sales levels. Snapvillage will in effect give the new veer marketplace collection a head start that most starting microstock libraries do not have.
Veer have a strong following in the design industry with their desirable collection of full priced images and typography, time will tell if the traffic on their site produces a sustainable level of sales. While the most lucrative customers for micrstock sites are designers and their repeat purchases, a large proportion of microstock is sold to amateurs making a one off purchase with no plans to make a repeat; will veer attract this market or can it afford to ignore it?
At present I still recommend that photographers continue submitting to snapvillage [5] until full details are available for review after the launch of the veer marketplace. I will be reviewing veer.com in full over the coming months (despite the launch date mentioned above details posted on the snap village blog reveal that upload via veer is not planned to go live until spring/summer this year).
Lessons learned at snap village:
Community is still important in microstock: without the support of the photographer community start-up sites will struggle to attract images and buyers will go elsewhere.
Allowing the photographer to specify pricing causes confusion amongst buyers, it's better to let the agency choose a fixed price for each image varied by size, style or perhaps even subject matter.
It's quiet in here!