iStockPhoto Price SHifting?

[jiarby]

I was just browsing some iStock files and saw one that looks ok for 5 credits.... but I kept browsing. A few minutes later I browse back to the file I liked and the price was now 10 credits!!

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-illustration-8648780-lightbulb.php

I suspect that they are manipulating cookies to keep up with what I am browsing and raising prices dynamically like the travel websites do. (expedia, travelocity)

Anyone else seen this shift price behavior??

 

[Bigdawg]

never and I buy regularly. The price has always been the same when I go back to it later...

 

[SignManiac]

They have raised their prices since being bought out by Getty. I used them all the time years ago but now their prices are getting up there.

 

[SurfaceSigns]

They have raised their prices since being bought out by Getty. I used them all the time years ago but now their prices are getting up there.

When I started with them, everything was free. Between the diluted value of a credit and the constant price increases, I've had to move on to other sites. Too bad really, it was an excellent source in it's early years. Greed has definitely taken over.

 

[mudmedia]

Are there any other sites out there that compare? I use to use them all the time but now its pretty pricey...I still use them but was wondering if there were any others? The only other one I think is something like www.Vectorstock.com but never used em.

 

[jiarby]

Ended up sucking a useable lightbulb from a JuiceDrop... (JD1770)

The istock credit devaluation over the years is purely greed and intentional deception. Why not just list the price in dollars?

"Oh look... still just 10 credits" That's $14.60

But 100 credits cost $146. AND they EXPIRE! Why is that??

 

[Rising]

We use Istock a fair bit too. Have noticed the price going up, but not as suggested Jiarby. Fight back and delete your cookies then go back if you really want the image, or holiday, unless its an ip log too?

 

[SurfaceSigns]

I was just looking back over my account at istock, and in 2004 credits were $0.50 each, and any size image was 1 credit. Compare that to today where a large image is 10 - 15 credits, putting the image cost at $15 to $20+, that amounts to a 3900% price increase over 6 years, or a 100% annualized price increase. Amazing.

I have been using Shutterstock.com a lot the last few years, as a subscription of $249 gets you 750 images, and many of the images and vectors are the same as the ones on istock.

 

[John L]

manipulating cookies to keep up with what I am browsing and raising prices dynamically like the travel websites do. (expedia, travelocity)

Tell more about this and what they are doing... interesting.