14 DAY TRIAL // Micro-stock website StockXpert announced its users that it would no longer sell new credits or accept member registrations starting with February 3, 2010. On February 10, site features like searching or downloading will be shut down, users having until then time to spend all their credits or have them transferred to iStockphoto at a one-per-one ratio.
All StockXpert users will still be able to access their account details, receipts and operation history after that date, but won't be able to process new tasks.
Founded by HAAP Media Ltd., the same company that put the base of Stock.XCHNG, StockXpert had a similar fate as its brother service, being sold to Jupiterimages in 2006. A year ago, in February 2009, the latter was absorbed by image media giant Getty Images.
In the following months, Stock.XCHNG got the OK from Getty to continue operating as a separate service bearing Getty's credentials and brand, expanding, and now holding over 400,000 uploaded images in its database.
On the other hand, StockXPERT wasn't so lucky and starting with February 11, all media content will be moved to Getty Images, and more precisely to the newly launched subscription service named ThinkStock. This is a mash-up of several micro-stock services like iStockphoto, Stock.XCHNG, Clipart, PunchStock and other Getty subsidiaries.
Thinkstock is basically a Getty Images clone of Shutterstock, offering users downloadable image packs at various fees. While Shutterstock offers 5, 12, 25 or 60 downloads with their On Demand subscriptions, Getty will be delivering 5, 25, 100 and 250 personal download image sets with their new plan.
Thinkstock's and Shutterstock's prices vary in a little margin, giving the edge for now to Thinkstock due to its larger image database and to its joint search results displaying artwork from various Getty subsidiaries at once.
With the initial launch of the service, Thinkstock is offering a one-year test drive subscription. More details on Thinkstock's frontpage can be found here and here.