ClusterShot saved

Towards the end of January we reported that the photo-dealing website ClusterShot had suspended new account creation and was closing its doors, unless someone stepped forward to buy it, that was. As it happened, over 20 parties took an interest and put forward bids for it. When the hammer fell, it was Dominic Ang who walked away with the lot.

The new owner, who’s not letting on just how much he paid for the business, is keeping it open and seems to be rather excited about the venture. Whilst all the technical handover takes place new account creation and photo uploading is still suspended, though. It’s probably easier than risking stuff being lost in the aether.

Good luck to the new ClusterShot team; let’s hope that they can make it work this time around. I think that the idea is a fine one.

ClusterShot closes its doors

The guys over at ClusterShot – the website that made it easy for people to sell their images, be they of their hamster of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to anyone that wanted them – have decided to call it a day. In their own words, ClusterShot was an experiment for their company and its business model, and the experiment hasn’t been quite successful enough.

The idea that it should be simple for people to sell their photos at a price they set, and for people to be able to find and buy the images that they want and need is a damn good one. So it’s a shame that it didn’t work out for these guys and the people that used the site.

As of the end of last week, account creation and photo-uploading have been suspended and refunds are being offered on pro-accounts. (Accounts over two months old will receive a pro-rated refund; accounts under two months old will be fully reimbursed.) You can still buy images right up until they turn off the lights and close the door behind them on 21 February, though.

Unless, that is, someone steps forward to buy ClusterShot. silverorange, the brains behind the website, have received quite a bit of interest in the site. So they’re planning on selling it by private auction. The highest bidder gets the whole kit and kaboodle, from the code to the content, to the FaceBook page to the reputation. But they also have to honour ClusterShot’s current terms and conditions and user privacy agreement.

Fancy becoming the proud new owner of a photo-dealing website? All the details of how the auction will work and what exactly is up for grabs are here.