Scam?

[reg]

Dead horse, meet paddle.

 

[jfujita]

to anyone who still isn't convinced that Studio 414 contest is a fraud, scam, lottery whatever you want to call it, I just looked at another ad for it shown to me by our great friends at Facebook, they are now asking for 25$, twenty more then previously stated

 

[Garbz]

What is it with people registering just to revive this thread from the dead every few months. Let it die. We know it's a scam.

 

[dkp]

studio 414 is asking $8.00/per picture submission...

i'm actually quite good friends with one of the winners on this photo contest...he actually won a camera...so I somewhat doubt that this contest is a scam.

But, I've been proved wrong before.

 

[AlexColeman]

Have to laugh, one post, and he can verify the contest.

 

[SrBiscuit]

i vote the mods delete this whole thread so it doesnt come up on searches, and the quarterly price quote will cease

 

[dk489kfk]

i vote the mods delete this whole thread so it doesnt come up on searches, and the quarterly price quote will cease

Well, for what it's worth, I"m glad it wasn't deleted, because as long as that site is up, some people may search Google to see if it's a scam. Not everyone can recognize a scam off the bat.

Case in point... *I* found this site when searching to see if "Studio414" was a scam, because I am into Photography. Because of this post I will not send in my $8 to submit a picture.

So, I want to thank the admins for keeping this thread up, and saving someone else $8. :thumbup:

ps... for the post who said the site was just created the day before the contest ends... the site may have just been UPDATED, not just created, and instead of it saying "updated" it says "created"

 

[CWW|Original]

Have to laugh, one post, and he can verify the contest.

Well I guess someone will have to come in here with some evidence then, huh? I've been checking in on this thread for weeks now and still can't believe that no one has ever tried to prove that the site is not a scam. Seems it was guilty until proven innocent from the very beginning!

Originally, BoblyBill posted asking whether anyone had entered into the contest due to his reluctance to believe in another one after being duped before. Not one person replied with any kind of substantial evidence it was a scam, or was not. Simply because BoblyBill was afraid it was true, several other people assumed it was and perpetuated the suspicion without trying to support it:

Taking a look at the site, did anyone even click the Better Business Bureau link on the top of the front page? It's front and center on the contest website. Looking at the BBB's report of the business you immediately see the site and business are registered to Studio 414, Owned by Jessica Mealey, and given an A- rating only because it is a relatively newer business [2008].

Okay so it's backed by the Better Business Bureau, so what? It's still gotta be a copyright scam!

Except for the bold font two-thirds of the way down the page, just below the Contest Entry and Winning Announcement links. This section is devoted to relaying all of the rules and copyright information involved, putting to rest that fear as well, "Photographers retain all copyright to their images."

When you go to the original photography website, www.studio414.com, you can see the address of the studio, phone number, and name of the owner, Jessica Mealey, again. It's really not that hard to google-map the address to see it does exist, and even the phone number to see if it leads to that address.

And they do.

Now I know this is nothing concrete itself, but when you look at her website, it's strange that someone trying to work an easy scam would go through all the trouble to make up a fictitious persona, studio address, or phone number and two websites linked together. Not to mention all of these names, addresses, and phone numbers align with the Better Business Bureau's own records.

Now let's say the BBB logo, link and report are fake, and the studio414.com websites to the owner's personal business and contest are also a fake. What about the several Grand Prize winners of the contests who now have their own personal photography websites linked-to via Studio 414's contest website? Clicking the Winner's Gallery shows several of these all under totally different names, and does not link to stock photo sites. How much effort would someone really put into creating a scam contest where names, addresses, contact numbers, emails addresses, photos, BBB reports, and winning contestant websites all need to be fabricated, linked and consistently used throughout?

Simple. Studio 414's contest is not a scam!

and how do we know that the "winner" isn't a friend of the person running the contest?

Again, a simple answer for a simple question: I am a recent winner of the contest, and here are my brand new photos taken by the FREE Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera to prove it: Flickr: C Double W's Photostream And this is thescreenshot I took of the Winner's Gallery the night I discovered I had been selected: http://www.flickr.com/photos/cdoublew/3310047989/

My website CDoubleW Photography -- Chris Williams- powered by SmugMug is linked to in the Winner's gallery, and was also mentioned several times in Studio 414's newsletter, which anyone can sign up for when they enter the contest.

By allowing incorrect assumptions to turn into false accusations, this forum and plenty of others actively discourage potential entries, that could turn out to be winners, by simply letting this negative and incorrect thread exist. Now I don't work for, or belong to anything affiliated to Studio 414 other than being a hand picked winner on February 23rd, but I feel I owe them at least this much in helping the future of the contest where more people aren't turned away by misinformation and lies. I would like to at least thank Moglex for trying to stay objective through this whole thread and not jumping on the bandwagon. And hope anyone looking to try their luck in the contest will try it out and submit their own photographs. Yes there is a risk you'll lose your $8.00 and may not be selected, but it's a contest not a giveaway. It took me several months before I submitted a winning entry, from Novmber until February, and obviously it has paid off! A few times I even paid a $35 entry fee per image to see if I'd land a place in the winner's gallery. I knew it would give me a great start as far as confidence in my ability and exposure to my work, and all it took was patience and some entry fees.

 

[Moglex]

Having just had a look at the competition site I have to say that if they are picking winners at random (as someone suggested) then the standard of entries is extremely high.

And if this were to be a scam they have gone to a great deal of trouble to set up very professional sites.

How much profit they make on each contest is an interesting matter for speculation.

 

[KvnO]

Studio 414's contest is not a scam![/size]

When this thread first resurfaced, I checked out the site and came to the same conclusion. I thought the thread was kind of dead so I left it alone.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's legit.

How much profit they make on each contest is an interesting matter for speculation.

On the site it says they reserve the right to change the deadlines. This ensures they make as much as they need/want to.

 

[CWW|Original]

I know there's no real big reason for anyone to believe me, but in my mind it's simply the truth. I entered the contest in February and won, I emailed the Studio as instructed on the Winning Announcement and several phone conversations later my camera arrived, shipped overnight, including a hand-written card from the people at Studio 414 congratulating me. I understand this thread has gone on long enough but I simply wish I could show everyone that it truly is a legitimate contest and they can enter with no fear of it being a scam.

With the thoughts on their "lucrative" gains from having thousands of people paying $8, they admitted in the last newsletter that their available funds are dwindling and almost had to choose between sending my camera right away or having to keep the money to continue their advertising on Facebook for the next contest. You can read it right here to see exactly what I read in my inbox.

That reminds me, has anyone else thought to use any of the Contact information to email the Studio and see what kind of reply they get? It may seem silly to ask "is this contest real?" to the very people putting on the contest, but the owner has told me they get emails all of the time asking the contest's legitimacy, and I personally have been getting emails ever since my photo was chosen by complete strangers with the same questions, and I just wonder if anyone here trying to prove it's a fake has tried that out?

Anyway, they spend $3,400 every contest for the 3 prize winnings, and at $8 per entry that's 425 entries just to break even, not including shipping costs like sending my camera to me overnight. Whether that's a large or small number of people to get to enter doesn't matter in my opinion because it is a business they're running and they do need to make extra to continue the contest. They do however help amateur photographers get exposed and afford to upgrade their equipment to further their passion/hobby, which is their purpose and the goal of the contest. I didn't know their current situation when I was talking to them and getting my camera shipped, but that, among other things, compelled me to say something and remove the completely false notions that this contest was a scam.

It is a real, honest, and legitimate contest and I hope this at least encourages a few more people to try it out rather than shy away because of what was said earlier in this thread.

 

[tijean]

My personal preference is to never enter any contest that requires a fee - photo contest or anything else. In entering "free to enter" photo contests in google, I was given nearly 40 million results. Now, I am sure that many of those are junk results, but I am also sure that some are not. Actually, I rather not enter contests at all, not because I have anything against them, but because I personally prefer to use the photography marketplace to the same end.

If you are trying to make money and find fun ways to focus your photography, try selling microstock or pick up a copy of the latest Photographer's Market on Amazon: [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Photographers-Market-Editors-Writers-Digest/dp/1582975469/ref=pd_bbs_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1237817687&sr=8-1"]Amazon.com: 2009 Photographer's Market: Editors of Writers Digest Books: Books[/ame]

$20 for a copy of that book is money much better spent, IMHO as always, than $5 here and there for photo contests that mean nothing aside from the immediate monetary gain and will look ridiculous on your credentials. The first time I sold a photo to a major publication, it felt much better than if I had won some contest that the organizer was holding for profit.

Which would you rather say: "I shoot freelance editorial photos for several publications" or "after I paid the guy at superphotowhizbang.com $5, he said my photo was the best of anyone who had paid him $5"?




Also, to Chris, I am glad that you won the contest. I think your talent could put a 5D Mark II to very good use.

 

[GeneralBenson]

Hmmm... I wonder if DKP works for Studio414...?

 

[JerryPH]

I think B&H require it also - doh, ordered something from them last week and didn't even notice Not a good thing to be that familiar with their ordering process.

B&H did not require it from me last week, but my CC vendor protection scheme did ask me to either enter my predefined password or the 3 digits from the back of my CC so it happened during the transaction, just not at the BH website.

 

[JerryPH]

Simple. Studio 414's contest is not a scam!

No its a weak-ased attempt for a cash grab. That is all it is. If people are sucker enough to PAY for a contest, go toss your money into someone else's pocket. Me, I am not that stupid, nor do I need their prizes because I know that they can easily make up some user or 2 that do not exist and "give" them the prize.

This SCAM happens all the time. If you don't believe me, I have this nice little pyramid scheme going, just give me 10 bucks and you can make $500 (maybe... in 20 years).