Crestock is all…

On April 9th of this year, one of the veterans of the microstock market, Crestock, notified all participants about its bankruptcy. The microstock Crestock (Crestock Corporation), which began its operations back in 2005, sent out a letter about the start of the bankruptcy process and the acceptance of creditors’ claims.

Crestock Bankruptcy

In fact, if we look at the report they also sent with this notice, we can see that as of the date of the report, they have liabilities totaling around $187,000, and assets of only $15,000.

So, claims can be made by those who haven’t received their latest payments or those whose amount was below the minimum threshold, but it’s unlikely that you’ll recover anything from them.

Yes, in the bankruptcy notification they sent, they express deep apologies and honestly admit that they have almost no assets and the chances of receiving any payments after liquidation are practically zero.

Nevertheless, the appropriate form in English for submitting creditor claims is attached to the letter.

These are several screenshots with figures from the bankruptcy form. As we can see, Crestock’s entire debt is related to payments to contributors (royalties).

Their assets are presented in intangible form (Intellectual Property). In general, we can estimate that, at best, after the bankruptcy process, no more than 9% of creditors will receive payments.

And considering that there will also be related costs during this procedure, the percentage of creditors’ claims that will be satisfied from the available assets will be significantly lower.

What to do with your Crestock portfolio?

This is quite an interesting situation. The letter received mentions that the Canadian company Design Pics Inc. has made an offer to the trustee of Crestock to acquire it and allow the microstock to continue operating as one of the buyer’s divisions.

According to the conditions of the received offer, all accumulated debts to creditors (contributors) will be written off, and the buyer will start payments from scratch, that is, from the sales that occur after the acquisition.

So, if you have a portfolio on Crestock, there is a possibility, in case this deal is agreed upon, that sales on the microstock will continue and payments will be made. However, this will be after the existing debts to Crestock have been accounted for.

Who is Design Pics Inc.?

The company appeared in 2001 and, during its operation, has acquired or taken over a large number of small microstocks. Under the umbrella of Design Pics Inc., the following microstocks currently operate: Design Pics, Printscapes, The Irish Image Collection, First Light, Axiom Photographic, Pacific Stock, Alaska Stock, AgStock Images, Disability Images.

As you can see, the buyer has the necessary competencies in this area, is capable of setting up the microstock’s operations, and providing support. However, all of the company’s brands are exclusively involved in the distribution of stock photography, and they are not currently working in other microstock directions.

So, it may make sense to take a pause and see if a new owner for Crestock appears and what terms they will offer.

This article is also available for reading in the following categories: About Microstocks