I'm Complaining!

LJade · Post by **LJade** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 6:39 pm

Before I was earning $200-$400 a week ... my last payment from C-C was just under $70 and it took longer than a week to get that.

Authors are slashing prices around here I believe for the sake of numbers because no one can live off of $7 per 500 word article!

Something is gonna have to give.

I've been talking to some of the other established authors that have been here longer than me and we all see the problems with new authors selling for cheap.

And that's my two cents today.

Post by **constant-content** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 7:46 pm

I don't see this at all... look at the recently sold content section.

Jan 29, 2006, 8:36pm
$64
$30
$20
$20
$20
$20
$50
$3
$3
$25
$50
$50
$6
$35
$30
$10
$3
$75
$11
$13
$15
$35
$40
$25

All the cheap ones are just for usage and are articles that are already published all over the internet. Some are also the result of a private request and volume discounts the requester and writer have worked out with each other. But for the most part prices have not been lower. If they are lower it because its not unique or its only 200 words or less.

Going back more prices are even higer then the ones posted here...

LJade · Post by **LJade** » Sun Jan 29, 2006 11:33 pm

That's what I'm saying ... going back the prices are higher. I can remember weeks where there was nothing sold less than $35! It just seems that in the past month or so, a lot of articles have sold for a lot less than they would have four months ago.

And 'volume discounting' is cheap Chris, you know that.

Honest writers may knock off 10% but no more than that and who in their right mind will write more for less?

BigDaddy stop throwing numbers at me, you're not a writer ... this is the 'writers' part of the forum! LOL I wanted to see if some of the other whiners would speak up, not you.

LJ

southernrose · Post by **southernrose** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:05 am

Hopefully it's just a temporary trend, like these things usually seem to be. Boy, did I like that trend a month or so ago when it seemed like a lot of articles were selling for around $100!

Of course, I remember a lot of these articles were longer, too. I've been selling a lot of $20-30 articles lately and not many bigger sales, but they've all been short, easy articles so I can't complain. Of course, no matter what the trend is, I think it's unreasonable to sell a 500-word article for $7, period.

~Elizabeth~

Post by **constant-content** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:58 am

LJade wrote:And 'volume discounting' is cheap Chris, you know that.

I know, but these are private requests that writers are unable to see. If a writer works out a deal of 50 articles for $20 a piece, it may seem to all of you that article are selling for cheaper, but if someone commits to say 50 articles, that’s not so cheap any more. I just wanted to let you now these things exsist.... I’m personally working on a better system for volume requests.

LJade · Post by **LJade** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:26 am

50 articles at $20 ... that's $1000! Where's that Sugar Daddy cause I really need to run into him. Southern Rose, I agree that an article that goes for $20-$30 that was an easy task is good and granted there are a lot of topics that aren't so demanding.

I've sold a few 500 word articles for $10-$15 for the same reason, they were mostly my own point of view.

But ...

When you see technical articles like debt consolidation, tax preparation or home insurance articles at 500 words going for less than $20 ... that's bad.

And Chris ... you are always working on something busy body. It would be interesting to see the 'bulk articles' going though. Alright now I'm back to work--again.

LJ

Lizaj · Post by **Lizaj** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:01 pm

The thing that concerns me is that new web managers who are looking around C-C probably look at the requests to see what other managers are offering...just like we new writers poke around to see what other writers are charging. If they see someone offering $10-$20 for a 500-page article (and then saying..."oh sorry, that's too high..how about $5?) then why would they offer $30-$50?

I really don't mind helping out a new website but I'm afraid that if we do it too often or too collectively, the lower offers are going to spread like a rash.

Dorothy Edison · Post by **Dorothy Edison** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:19 pm

I agree. We've had discussions about discount "bulk" pricing before, and most of us shuddered at the thought.

Many many authors are under-pricing themselves.

I am also wary of this new "private messaging" in the request area. What's to prevent a requestor from shopping around for the "best" deal? That doesn't do anyone any favors.

DE

Lizaj · Post by **Lizaj** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:55 pm

I don't like the private request/messaging thing either. In my opinion, what makes C-C great is that a customer can put in a request, then we all type like crazy and submit and the customer has all these articles to choose from (not authors but articles!). That is what makes C-C unique and amazing. That is what gives each of us the opportunity to make as much or as little money as we want. We all have equal opportunity to write the best article based on the request and then let the customer choose...no hard feelings...yay for the author whose article was chosen. Perhaps I'm being too negative, but I'm so afraid the private stuff will kill this atmosphere.

Maybe I just don't like change. lol I just love C-C so much the way it is. Sometimes "new" is not necessarily "improved."

Eric Maus · Post by **Eric Maus** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 4:59 pm

How do you guys come up with a price for your articles? Do you ask others for advice? Have you just been around long enough to figure out a rough estimate as to what you should charge?

I feel like I am unsure of how much I should be charging.

southernrose · Post by **southernrose** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 5:04 pm

I usually charge somewhere between $0.08 and $0.12 per word for most of my articles here at CC (for unique rights). This is just what I've come up as a fair price for my writing, and it works for me. I believe a lot of writers here at CC charge somewhere around that amount. To me, that price is just reasonable for the time and effort I spend researching and writing.

~Elizabeth~

Dorothy Edison · Post by **Dorothy Edison** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:19 pm

Lizaj wrote:I don't like the private request/messaging thing either. In my opinion, what makes C-C great is that a customer can put in a request, then we all type like crazy and submit and the customer has all these articles to choose from (not authors but articles!). That is what makes C-C unique and amazing. That is what gives each of us the opportunity to make as much or as little money as we want. We all have equal opportunity to write the best article based on the request and then let the customer choose...no hard feelings...yay for the author whose article was chosen. Perhaps I'm being too negative, but I'm so afraid the private stuff will kill this atmosphere.

I completely agree. One reason I've stuck with CC is the "equal opportunity" atmosphere. I can see that deteriorating with the implementation of regular private messaging.

DE

Post by **constant-content** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 6:24 pm

I'm not sure if this matters but it will be monitored for abuse at all times. People posting just sales thread will be removed from the site, that is not what it is for. Maybe you are right... I'll have to rethink this.

LJade · Post by **LJade** » Mon Jan 30, 2006 8:26 pm

I'm keeping my mouth shut now ... (choking), this could be a hornets nest but leave it to me right!

RachelN · Post by **RachelN** » Tue Jan 31, 2006 2:34 am

Well, I think having the option of a private request facility is a nice idea - especially for buyers, as they've got two ways of getting the articles they want. If they read someone's work on here and really like their tone and style, wouldn't it be a bit annoying to only be able to put a general request on when you just want one writer? I'd rather people came here and requested one person, than go off and find someone somewhere else online.

I've only very recently got to experience the private method, and that was only because I'd written an article for a recent open request which wasn't picked up by that buyer, then along came someone else and it happened to be dead on the word count and topic they wanted, so they requested more similar things. If it wasn't for the open requests, that wouldn't have happened. There still seem to be plenty of general requests appearing so I doubt private requests would really kill it off completely.