Alexandre Rotenberg

Is EyeEm Heading for Closure?

I’ve been watching closing some of the problems that are appearing at EyeEm. Read on as I’ll go through some red flags that are showing up as indications that EyeEm is perhaps following on Imagebrief and Twenty20 footsteps and will be the next to be closing shop.

RIP EyeEm?

Overdue Contributor Payments

All contributors are complaining over at MicrostockgroupForum that it’s been almost two months and they haven’t received their payment or any news when they should expect to receive the monies.

Major delays in payments is usually one of the first red flags of an agency that struggling and may soon be closing. We’re not talking about a few days, which happens, we’re talking about weeks! Here’s a usual reply from their Customer Relations for the past few weeks.

Sold images not being reported, at least for me

In addition, related or not, I have spotted the following two images sold via EyeEm’s Partner Program with Getty that I have received no notification of sale which is also a red flag. Please comment below is you have also had this issue.

Introducing Talenthouse AG – Exciting News!

In March 2022, EyeEm were purchased by Talenthouse AG, which rumors have it is going through financial difficulties themselves.

Here’s how Talenthouse reported the acquisition – exciting!

“Creativity and the empowerment of our community has always been at the very heart of everything we do, and this new family of platforms and products means we can provide even more and even better opportunities for creatives. With exciting initiatives such as our money management platform, ElloU (launched in Europe in November) and online job boards, ElloWorks, we are continually looking for ways to support and provide you, our fine community, with opportunities to thrive.

We can’t wait to continue to roll out opportunities for you to work with globally respected brands, to create unique and dynamic artwork, and to be fairly compensated as selected Creatives. This is a great time to be a part of the Talenthouse community, to showcase your talent and find new work opportunities. The future is looking rosy.”

Rosy future!…

How to flush the EyeEm Turd down the toilet!

Perhaps the future doesn’t look so rosy and you’re fed up with them to the point that you have decided to close your EyeEm account. Simply follow these steps.

Watch this space

One week is a long time in the stock world and we should be hearing some “news” from EyeEm on when they’re expected to release payments or worse, when they will be closing shop. So stay tuned and hope for the best but expect the worst!

August 24 Update!

Seems like EyeEm has started to finally make payments, great news.

Also been featured at the Petapixel blog – check it out.

About Alex

I’m an eccentric guy, currently based in Lisbon, Portugal, on a quest to visit all corners of the world and capture stock images & footage. I’ve devoted eight years to making it as a travel photographer / videographer and freelance writer. I hope to inspire others by showing an unique insight into a fascinating business model.

Most recently I’ve gone all in on submitting book cover images to Arcangel Images. Oh and also recently purchased a DJI Mavic 2s drone and taking full advantage.

I’m proud to have written a book about my adventures which includes tips on making it as a stock travel photographer – Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock Photography

32 comments

  5. I highly recommend you do not delete your account. I did that on EyeEm several years ago. Only to later find that they were still selling my images via their Partner Collection but I wasn’t being paid because I had closed my account. It took 6 months and numerous emails to every email address I could find to finally receive the money they owed me and reopen my account. This time, I just deleted a lot of my images but am leaving the account in case they ever issue payments.

    BTW, even though Twenty20 has been closed, our accounts were transferred to Envato Elements and we are still getting paid for our sales.

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  6. In the facebook group people are reporting that payments are coming in. I suppose it was the looming court case an artist was preparing that made them reconsider withholding payments. Let‘s see if they give additional explanations or tell us what they want to do with eyeem in the future.

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    • a message like this made me close my account and the final payout was delayed by over a week (it was supposed to be 15-30 days) and it was a funny small amount of money…

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  17. hello, i am too on eyeem and i had no sales in june 2022.
    i am on eyeem for 6 or 7 years and i had always sales, every month. but none in june?

    so yes i think they are selling stuff without reporting it to teh contributors.

    and the 1 cents sales you get from getty partner program are a sad joke too.

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