Corbis-owned Veer has fully launched of Veer Marketplace, the first microstock community to be part of a traditional agency’s Web site. The Marketplace was initially announced in February and has gradually added features and functionality since.
The Marketplace replaces now-defunct SnapVillage in the Corbis family. As part of the full launch, Veer has added credit-based pricing, subscriptions and new search functionality to previously available single-image purchase options and contributor-upload capabilities.
Since the beginning, Veer has said that it knew its traditional customers also used microstock, and that the company planned to take a share of that business by offering convenience. Veer director of Web platforms Anne Dawson confirms this strategy: “Our customers want a single destination for all types of photography.”
Other than being part of a professionally produced, traditionally priced offering, there is little to distinguish the Marketplace from a typical microstock. It offers credit packages of 10 to 2,000, with single-image costs of 1 to 20 credits. Overall, veer.com now offers buyer four price tiers by which to sort their searches: Way Cheap (from $1), Cheap ($9 to $100), Spendy ($49 to $350) and Worth It ($49 to $655).