Envato Studio and Twenty20 to close

@BenLeong @KingDog

Please create a group in LinkedIn , so we can use it as another proof for employment.
Employment letter is not trustable one by companies in my country.
I have tried an interview and simply reject the candidature after seen this letter without verify to envato.HR says it’s look fake.

Please create LinkedIn group in which we have more trust than this employment letter.

I have stated that earlier already its no good for an official job interview:

Out of interest (this is NOT intended as a justification for anything being right or wrong) but technically are authors, service providers etc actually “employed” by envato?

Are they not self employed using envato marketplaces to sell their products and services?

Again, this is not meant to dilute the impact of this change, only to try and suggest a potential reason why they are not, and will never be, able to provide anything beyond factual (not at all uncommon for any job or industry) references, and certainly not evidence of “employment”.

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Hi all.

I can confirm that there is a legal distinction between those terms, and we can’t misrepresent that in official documentation. As a freelance contractor, you are your own employer: Envato is a platform provider, through platforms like Envato Market and Envato Studio. We are required to use the wording contained in the service provider letters to accurately state the relationship between Service Providers and Envato.

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From legal point of view, we as authors can’t claim that we were Envato’s employees, at least not officially. I think that everybody with a bit of common sense knows it.

That said, the Express Services were as close as possible to a form of employment, I wasn’t exactly my “own employer”. Each service had an exact rules that stated what I can do and what I can’t do, what I have to deliver as final files. I had a time frame to asnwer and to do the work required. Each service had a preset price. I could not provide any personal contact information. None of this was something that I had control over. Sounds like employment, doesn’t it :slight_smile:

No hard feelings from me, but facts are facts^.

P.S: I have no idea why you had to waste your time with this “Studio Employment Letter”, it’s absolutely useless.

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My cents worth (well in the UK we call it pence and pounds)

Firstly it should never have been called or referred to as a “Studio Employment Letter”.

You are not employed by Envato, you are self-employed and decided to sub-contract your services on this platform. This would be no different to selling on Fiverr - you would be deemed a “freelancer offering digital services”.

Whilst this is clearly a disappointment for many of you, you cannot simply blame Envato as some of have mentioned, and nor should you feel that your whole world is in ruins because Envato plans to do away with this platform.

For those of you that are any good suppliers of services, you will have already formed positive bonds with your customers, and this should not impact you too much. There are other freelancer websites available, or better still build your own website (websites) to get your message out there for clients looking for services that you have to offer.

As a business owner myself, I have often realised that the internet/social media/websites etc are not the be all and end all of your business. You need to build networking solutions, build up a database of clients, speak to people, and LOOK AFTER YOUR CLIENTS. If you do all that, then you should never need to rely on a platform where you sell your digital services, and your clients will always be the ones telling others about your services.

It’s very hot in the UK so forgive me if I sound flippant :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile: :sweat_smile:

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It was against of Studio rules. We weren’t allow to contact the clients off the Studio.

We are blaming Envato for the decision about to closure was so sudden. If they gave us the information few months earlier about the closure, we would have had enough time to take care of ourselves.

Then, the Employment letters issues.

We have no contact information to check with them if they are aware of the closure or how they would be able to find us after 21st of August.

This is a start. In couple years, there’s no guarentee that they will not shut down the other marketplaces ( TF /GR ) as they will continuing focusing on Elements or other part of the site. We would be having the same situation with you and other authors. Then we could say same things for you as well.

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@123Simples I couldn’t care less for Envato or Envato Studio. This is just a business - they offered the platform and provided the clients. I did the job and they take their share of it, which by the way is the biggest that I have ever paid on any platform that I have offered my services. I had a very good experience with Envato’s staff members, they are so far the best that I have met. It’s all fair for both sides as far as I’m concerned.

The issue, as many pointed out already, is how they managed the situation. They announced the closure few weeks before the actual shut down, didn’t offer any alternative to their loyal service providers, only a “Studio Employment Letter”, in which they clearly state that they have notting to do with you and you are not their employee(which is true). How ironic, isn’t it?

Fortunately I don’t rely on Envato, but there are people that do, and they(we) were mistreated.

Cheers

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Envato confirmed that the freelancer marketplace Envato Studio, and the stock photo marketplace Twenty20 will be no longer in use and both platforms will be closed very soon. The users will be able to access Twenty20 by end of July 2022, and Envato Studio by end of August 2022 .

I got the notification for the alternate website but I don’t think it’d work.

I’m not going to ask any of my returning clients to work somewhere that I don’t know if it’s legit or not ( I could work directly anyway ) and I’m quite sure they’re not going to find clients like Envato ( as they were promoting Studio over ThemeForest/GraphicRiver )

Aside from envato being trademarked, the complexity, technical, legal costs (let alone marketing as @ki-themes rightfully said) to run an alternative website properly would be huge. It’s not as easy as just building a website.

It’s also important not to under estimate the value of envato’s existing infrastructure and resources when it comes to doing this.

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Charlie, there is a high chance that one day you will receive a heartfelt goodbye from Envato too. These guys are desperate, upset, and sad because of the closure. It’s affecting their lives. They are trying to find ways to be able to continue their journey and provide for their families.

You do not leave helpful comments to them. You seem to be mocking/ lecturing them. It feels like you are enjoying rubbing salt into their wounds. Why don’t you keep your negativity to yourself and leave them to freely discuss their ideas with each other?

They can have their dreams and goals and they can make them. If they want to create a new website together then let them do that. They don’t need lectures about the financial cost and complexity, technical stuff, etc. They are smart people and they will figure things out. They won’t break under pressure!

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I certainly never intended to put anyone down and have said all along that I recognise the severity of the situation, and that I would applaud any realistic ways to help.

Nevertheless - preventing visible confusion and misunderstanding that will only lead to even greater frustration or disappointment is not a bad thing.

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@TiborMiklos @ki-themes @TodorKolevDesign

There but for the grace of God go I -

We all recognise the severity of this issue, and in our own ways have done and said, raised concerns, made comments in one forum topic or another. At the end of the day we do not own or have shares in Envato and therefore can only help as best as we can.

@ki-themes - I didn’t know it was against studio rules so I apologise. I agree that the closure is quick - 6 months would have been better. Marketplaces will come and go - just like business owners similar to myself. I try hard to keep in the competitive market as a sole trader, but there is always someone biting at your heels. I have no doubt one day I won’t be around, and that is just life!

@TiborMiklos - of course @charlie4282 recognises the desperation, but you are shooting the messenger, not the source.

Believe it or not (and we don’t get paid for this) we’re just here to help and support you as much as we can. We’re not perfect, and we will make mistakes of course. But hey we are trying our best :slight_smile:

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Many of us, the Express Service providers in 8 years of work entrust our Trajectory to Envato Studio. I believed that I had stability and support there. For this reason, unfortunately, like many colleagues, I did not try to grow as a provider in other FreeLancer platforms or in a particular way.

Just For Information: Due to the way “Express Services” were handled and assigned, many buyers probably believed they were dealing with someone from the “Envato team”, so I think, in a way, we were representing Envato.

Envato says that the decision to Close was not taken lightly, so why were we notified so suddenly?
They know that many of us were counting on the revenue stream from Express Services.

What is the message that Envato is sending with this?

I understand that this is a Business, but really, can’t there be a better Closing, with more understanding towards us?

It’s an Envato decision, and if they don’t want to continue with Studio that’s fine. But I think we Express Service Providers deserve a more favorable resolution, and in my opinion, this can be easily possible if there is interest and empathy for us. That would convey a different message…

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A post was split to a new topic: Twenty20 contributor question - migrating content to Elements

So, all these discussions, requests, and suggestions ended up like this.

Yes, I know it is only our (Express Service Providers) fault that we decided to work for express jobs and didn’t establish profiles on other platforms. It was our decision and that was wrong.

@touringxx Just For Information: Due to the way “Express Services” were handled and assigned, many buyers probably believed they were dealing with someone from the “Envato team”, so I think, in a way, we were representing Envato.

agree with you…

@touringxx It’s an Envato decision, and if they don’t want to continue with Studio that’s fine. But I think we Express Service Providers deserve a more favorable resolution, and in my opinion, this can be easily possible if there is interest and empathy for us. That would convey a different message…

I don’t think they have any sympathy or understanding of what they did to us…

If they can shut down the express jobs then it means they can and they will close some marketplaces too in the future… Less express jobs mean less sell and less sell means they will shut down that…

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@BenLeong Would you consider a new paw as a reminder for Studio for all of the providers ?

I noticed that you’re offering suggestions for the Twenty20 providers to join Elements. I’m not optimistic about this but do you have any idea/plans for the Studio providers in the near future ?

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This disappoints me a lot… they consider twenty20 but not the service providers who spent their own time building Envato’s reputation as the service provider.

Because, as @touringxx said, many buyers thought Envato Team is providing the service

I personally work in that mindset (if I make any wrong Envato will face that, I tried to do out of the scope all time to increase the reputation)

And the result is zero now… :frowning:

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I understand your situation and feeling but my suggestion to you to lower expactations from Envato related to Studio.

Accept that we ( all ) made a mistake by counting on Envato ( Studio ) but it’s time to move one. It’s easier for some providers, it may not be easy for you but there’s not much to do.

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