Alamy - Reviews and experiences

I thought it would be straightforward. I’ve used the site a few times before, just grabbing images for a personal project, and never had trouble. A few weeks ago I downloaded an image I believed was licensed. Turned out not. I pulled it down as soon as I knew. Then came an email asking for £450 — citing "past license use" and work fees. The message felt terse and a bit threatening. The invoice had no VAT, and when I asked they called it a "settlement fee", which didn’t add up. I reported it and closed my account. Disappointed and a bit annoyed, honestly.

As a customer at Alamy, I recently bought a stock image that was supposed to be high resolution. However, when I downloaded it, it turned out to be a compressed JPEG even though I chose 'high res'. I was disappointed that I couldn't get the promised 5.8MB high resolution file. When I contacted customer service for help, they just told me to use photoshop to enlarge the compressed file to a TIFF format. That didn't sit well with me because it didn't meet my standards for image quality. I was puzzled when they mentioned something about 'protecting the distributor/creator', which sounded like a weak excuse for their false advertising. This whole situation has made me doubt the trustworthiness of this company, and I think it's important to report their shady practices to the right people.

I was super bummed out about my experience using this stock photography website. The photos I bought ended up being ones that are already out there for free. And to top it off, this website says they own the rights to these pics and they even try to take down the same ones from other places. It's totally sketchy and a scammy way of doing business - not cool at all.

I recently bought a licensed image on Alamy, and let me tell you, I was super disappointed with how it all went down. They didn't communicate well at all, and they went straight to aggressive tactics when it came to licensing issues. They contacted my clients saying they were stealing without even asking for proof of the license. It was a total mess - my clients were freaking out and accusing me of using images without permission when really, I had everything properly licensed. Their approach caused so much unnecessary stress and confusion for everyone involved, and it really put a damper on my business relationships. Honestly, I wouldn't recommend using this company if you care about your business's reputation and integrity.

I bought some images on Alamy for licensing not too long ago and at first everything seemed fine. But then I found out that they were trying to get around our Canadian consumer protection laws. I called them out on it and their first suggestion was to lower the fee, but now they're not saying much and I haven't gotten a proper answer from them.