WP Aviary [review]
POS:
It works as it says it does.NEG:
Questionable value for the internet marketer, seller had no part what so ever in the product creatonToday Im doing a review of WP Aviary by Vas Blagodarskiy. Ok so what exactly is WP Avairy. Well first let me explain what Avairy is. Avairy is a photo editing kit for software developers. It allows developers of software to add photo editing ability to the software they develop. WP Avairy uses the Avairy […]
Today Im doing a review of WP Aviary by Vas Blagodarskiy.
Ok so what exactly is WP Avairy. Well first let me explain what Avairy is. Avairy is a photo editing kit for software developers. It allows developers of software to add photo editing ability to the software they develop. WP Avairy uses the Avairy library to let you add photo editing ability to your WordPress admin area. So when you upload a photo to your site you can then do things like rotate, crop, add text to, and adjust color, brightness etc to the photo from right inside of the WordPress admin area. It has a ton of functionality and options which all work very well, which is not surprising since WP Avairy really is little more than a wrapper for the Avairy library.
Ok so I will admit at first I was really impressed by this. But then I started thinking to myself. How is this going to make me money and how is this going to benefit my business? The answer: probably not at all really. You can’t make graphics with this. It just lets you do basic photo editing on ones you already have. The vast majority of graphics that most people will put on their blog are going to be clip arts, which dont need to have adjustments like saturation, warmth, or sharpness. These types of things are good for digital photo editing, but not really useful for graphics other than actual photos. So basically that means this really is only useful for rotating, cropping, and adding text. But I can do that with any free paint program before I upload the graphic to WordPress. Do I really need to buy a plug in just so I can do it inside of WordPress after I upload instead? Is that going to bring me value or earn me money? Probably not.
Now I should probably point out something. You see at the start of this review I said that this was by: Vas Blagodarskiy. But that not really true. You see Vas didnt create this plug in. He actually didn’t even commission a developer to create it for him. What he did was buy it on Code Canyon where it has been offered for sale for just about a year now.
Now I want to be clear on something. I didn’t ‘discover’ that this was a CodeCanyon product. Vas told me it was. In fact he gave me the link. He also gave me contact information for the guy who wrote this plugin and put it on CodeCanyon. Vas was very upfront and didn’t try to hide this at all. I will say I appreciate his honesty.
I spoke with him on Skype and he confirmed that he told Vas he could sell this himself. He did however say that he was not sure if what Vas was doing was in compliance with Envato’s license agreement (which everyone who makes a purchase through must agree to follow).
I actually put a lot of time into reading licensing. Both for the Avairy library and for purchased on CodeCanyon. Finally I decided that I have no idea if he is allowed to sell this. While Im about 80% sure he can resell the plug in to single users, which is the front end of Vas’s offer, I have serous doubts if he really has the right to offer it as a PLR / MRR product, which is the OTO. The developer of this plugin also seems to have doubts.
Vas asserts his right to do both the single user license as well as the OTO upsell. I tend to think he interpreters the license agreements in a way that most favors him. However I fully admit that I’m not a lawyer, I have no training in intellectual property rights or copyright law so I wont make any concrete judgement on this. I will simply say I’m unsure and that Vas could eliminate this unsureness in everyone if he would just put the effort into actually creating (or commissioning) the products he wants to sell personally.
License issues aside I can see some other problems with Vas selling a product that he had no part in creating. Like who is going to do support? Do you contact him or the product creator? What about updates to the plug in? Vas isn’t going to make updates personally since he didn’t create this product. If the guy who made it and put it on CodeCanyon makes an update do you get it? What about when a new version of WordPress comes out, if this version is not compatible with this plug in is Vas going to get you a updated plug in? Is the guy on CodeCanyon going to give it to you? I dont know, and honestly I dont like not knowing.
All of these unknowns are directly caused by the fact that Vas didn’t create this plugin (or didn’t commission its creation). I can’t help but wonder if they are worth saving a lousy $5. Vas is selling it for $9 and the creator of this plugin has it on CodeCanyon for $14. Is the possible aggravation worth saving that $5? Im not so sure.
Ok so lets sum up: This is a product that has questionable value to the online marketer, that is being offered by a person who had no hand what so ever in its creation and that has unknowns as far as licensing. I’m going to have to say pass on this one. I’m also going to say to Vas Blagodarskiy that while I appreciate you taking all that time answering my questions and being totally upfront with me, I strongly suggest that if you want to launch / sell products you actually create them yourself (or commission someone to create them to your specs). I think you will find that it is very rewarding, much more so than taking these ‘short cuts’.
** Since writing this review Vas has told me that he will be giving updates to this plugin and doing support himself.
** After reading the full review Vas then said he wants me to take the review off of my site, and that he will file a DCMA complaint if I dont (Im not going to do that. Critical reviews are not subject to DMCA complaints)
** Just another update .. Vas did file a DMCA complaint saying I use the WP Aviary cover graphic without his permission. While I could argue the fact that Im permitted to use it for reviews under Fair Use, I decided to just change the graphic. What I found interesting though is that Vas actually asked that the entire review be removed, not just the graphic he felt was used without permission.
We need to show these so called ‘marketers’ that they are not going to hide the truth about their shady tactics with false DMCA complaints. Help me spread the word about this and share this article as much as you can!
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A quick note about the reviews I do on this site. The product vendors give me access to their products for free in order for me to do my review. However I make no promises to them regarding the results of my tests or what I will write in my review. Should you click a link that takes you to a sales page for a paid product for sale this link will be an affiliate link and I will be paid a percentage of the sales price should you decide to invest in it.
About the Author
Thanks for the shout out Brett! Can always count on you for telling it how it is. Just one thing – I’m not sure why you focused on the developer of the product more than the product itself. It’s no secret that I didn’t make the product; the developer’s name is on the eCover. Had my name been on the box, it would’ve been a much more worthwhile mention.
I just want to stress the point that I do have the original author’s permission – the developer and I are working in tandem. But at the end of the day, the programmers aren’t attorneys. He said he doesn’t want to be responsible for any legal issues in the Skype, because who would? Especially when his role is to program and mine is to sell. I hope you understand.
You where not working in tandem Vas, he was selling this on CodeCanyon for nearly a year and you approached him to try to get the rights to sell it yourself. Its not like you and the programmer had a partnership. You know: You had a great idea but cant code, he had coding ability but no idea. A perfect match. This is different. He has a product that was already getting sold you approached him to try to get rights to sell it yourself. Thats far from a partnership or working ‘in tandem’ in my eyes.
Dont forget you showed me your conversation with him it was very clear that he kept saying that he does not think your permitted to sell this, and you just where not hearing him or where simply ignoring him.
Brett, the eCover has the developer’s name on it.
I’m sorry, but you’re wrong.
What am I wrong about Vas? Was this not for sale for a year? Did you not approach this guy and ask him if you could sell it? Did he not say he had doubts about your right to sell it and that you should ask Envato? If there is something that Im wrong about I will for sure amend my article, but honestly Im not sure how his name on the E-Cover disproves anything.
I’ve explained to you over Facebook how the GPL, under which the software was licensed to me exclusively, is the most inclusive license. I have also explained to you that I have contacted the developer and told them about the scope of my project. The developer’s uncertainty about the law does not in any way make my position any less “legal” or “moral.” You even admit that “Finally I decided that I have no idea if he is allowed to sell this,” which indicates that you’re not an expert on the topic on which you purport to be an expert. At the least, that’s bad research, and at most, it’s willful ignorance. As you have pointed out yourself, I told you everything there was to be told, even put you in touch with the programming lab – but nothing is enough for you; so even when I have settled all your doubts and explained how the Extended License works on Envato, you still push forth with publishing this. That’s an appalling standard of journalism yet again, but hey, at least this time you contacted me first and interviewed me. That wasn’t always the case – you used to publish garbage content without even interviewing creators. Glad to see you’ve progressed some, but clearly there’s still a ways to go.
I never professed to be an expert in anything. Actually Vas I said that 1) I was not an expert, but I felt that it was uncertain because you may not be complaint with Envato’s agreement. But I admitted I didn’t know for sure. I also said 2) That the developer of this plugin had concerns, which he does. As I said I never claimed to know for sure only that I had doubts. You say you ‘settled all my doubhts’ well obviously you didnt or else I wouldn’t be saying .. I have doubts. Also obviously you didnt settle the developers doubts or he wouldn’t be saying it. Once again Vas you are reading things in your ‘own way’ and hearing what you want to hear. Dude for real, its like you live in your own world where no matter what anyone says .. it somehow converts into what you want to hear.
Also as I said.. you contacted the developer .. he was already selling this .. etc. Basically everything I said was the real truth but in your little Vas world somehow it means something different. It a little frustrating actually.
Hi,
What I can tell you is if you look at the Aviary terms and conditions for the use of their SDK in the plugin anyone selling it is in breach of their licensing agreement unless they get permission from Aviary or they pay $275 per month license fee.
I know this as I bought the source code to a photo app for iOS not knowing that it was using the Aviary SDK. I was only selling this for $0.99 in the Appstore. After a few months I was approached by Aviary who advised me to remove it from the appstore or make it a free app as I was not permitted to make any revenue from it not even with ads in the app without their permission or by paying the monthly fee. There fortunately weren’t difficult about this as I co-operated and made the app free and then suddenly over a week got more than 30,000 downloads. I’ve since changed the app to a paid one by removing the Aviary SDK.
In particular check this out especially item 4. https://www.aviary.com/legal/terms
Brett,
Keep up the good honest work.
Jim
Brett, I’m not surprised. Two months ago I bought a PLR product from Vas that I later found out was available for free. OK, call it creative capitalism, sort of like people trying to sell you IRS form guides that are freely available direct from the IRS. But when I found out, it was within the 30 day refund period, so I asked for a refund. Never heard a word back from them, even after repeated attempts. After what you’ve brought to light, I won’t buy anything from the guy.
I am sick and tired of buying products that are just either faulty or don’t deliver or the owners are bad on support after the sale. Keep revealing the truth in your product reviews Brett. We’re right behind you.
First and foremost, I want to thank you for the reviews that you publish. I have always viewed them as being fair, to the point and without a lot of BS.
In this particular review, you support the comments with factual data, and if the seller gets offended, well, so be it.
The fact that a DMCA was issued on a review, speaks loudly about the “marketer” of the product. The individual would have been a lot better off being upfront with details and supporting data instead of a lot of defensive comments.
Anyways, I want to thank you for the reviews and please keep up the good work.
Thanks Brett for always keeping it real. I have purchased my share of crappy software and some that was pretty good. The ones that were OK, the creators would stop supporting them. Like Byrt, I’m tired of the scammers, lies and down right thieves. I commend you for the courage to call them out.
By the way, I watched a video just yesterday with this same guy and was wondering if this product was any good. The name of the product is Traffic Elixir.
Not sure if I can include a link, but here’s the video:
Vicky, I removed the link, only because I did not want to give James Knight a free back link to his site. I reviewed Traffic Elixir by the way. Though I will say in this review I got a little worked up and lost my cool a bit which I normally try hard not to do. Here is a link to it.
http://brettrutecky.com/Wordpress-detail/traffic-elixir-review/
In all fairness Vicky, Vas is not “officially” involved with Traffic Elixir. He was simply hired to do the voice overs for the presentation video. I believe Traffic Elixir is from Precious Ngwu and someone named Emi that I never heard of before.
Also, the product (Traffic Elixir) itself has some merit allowing automated posting to Google+ Communities. I have not heard of any other products doing it so far although there are many that will post to WordPress sites, YouTube, Facebook and many Web 2.0 social sites but I’m not sure about Google+ Communities.
However, the presentation and sales machine behind Traffic Elixir is most likely very hyped. From memory, it guarantees you traffic of 200+ visitors to your site. I’m not sure how someone can make these claims especially with Google+ Communities that so many believe are dead. They are obviously not dead but I believe we can agree that it does not compare even remotely to Facebook.
I can understand how Brett’s reviews are ruffling a few feathers and probably are changing the landscape as I don’t believe there are other Internet Marketers that are actively reviewing other marketers’ products out there and certainly not with this level of engagement, scope and following.
Your are correct Daniel. Right after I did the review of Traffic Elixir Vas sent me a message on Facebook and said he wanted to make it very clear that he was not associated with Traffic Elixir. That he was just hired to do the voice over work. Also you told be he watched my review and called it ‘fair’. Traffic Elixir as I mentioned in my review is indeed a software that ‘may’ bring in some traffic and which has some merit (I say this in the review). However it is not ‘push button instant traffic on demand’ as they claim, nor is it many of the other outrageous claims they make. Basically it was the over hype and flat out lies in the sales copy that turned me off to this product (and its creator).
You rock Brett,
…If ‘say the hell away’ warrants three stars though, I think the scale needs adjusted. : )
The Aviary SDK issue is key. …but the mis-use of the DMCA is amazingly telling. Vas got himself on the blacklist of more than one buyer and producer today.
Cheers.
Ha yea the star rating on this one is a little skewed because I gave it 4 stars on execution. Which it deserves the software is well written. Its just that its not a really good software for people trying to make money online, oh and there is the fact that it’s actually not Vas’s software.
Thanks Brett for that review also. You know I didn’t think about that, but James Knight is not what people think he is either. I was in his so-called master mind group to learn CPA marketing, but ended up everyday he, his brother and another guy were selling something almost daily and they all lost site of what we were really there for….it was all probably by design.
Well in the end, a lot of the members purchased a very high dollar product from them because of the hype and no one got what they paid for. James claimed the other guy ran off with the money, but who knows if that’s the truth. All I know is that members lost thousands of dollars and thank God I followed my gut and didn’t purchase anything else from them.
James is off now starting another mastermind group. I feel sorry already for the members. I’m starting to wonder if there’s many honest marketers left, except you and few others : )
You better believe from now on, I will come here before I purchase another product.
There is another product I hope you will review. Is there somewhere we can request reviews?
Thanks again Brett!
Oh yea I learned about James Knight the hard way. I thought he was a good guy myself until he asked me to do a review of his last release. From there things between him and I went downhill fast. Seems he thought I was just going to hype him up and he didn’t like that I told the truth.
http://brettrutecky.com/Wordpress-detail/youttube-traffic-grabber-review/
Well done Brett,
Keep up the good work and I am extremely pleased to see someone providing honest reviews of this nature. I have wasted quite a lot of money on many useless products and it is amazing to see these promoters get away with any responsibility whatsoever.
Full support to you for any productive effort from your side.
{note, I deleted two off topic comments from this post, not because there was anything wrong with them, just because I like to keep the conversation on topic, I was however inspired to create a general chat section where anyone can ask me off topic questions or just post off topic messages}
http://brettrutecky.com/chat-with-brett/
NICE JOB BRETT!!!
I have posted “Help Support Brett” to my Facebook groups with a link to your review.
Doing what is right is not easy, Thank you for your service!!!!!!!
There appear to be three potentially aggrieved parties here, Aviary, Brett (the author who converted Aviary to a WP plugin – we assume is actually paying to license the Aviary SDK) and Envato/Codecanyon. Any of those parties could come forward and file a DCMA, and I wonder why that has not happened. If this is on WarriorForum or somewhere similar, they would immediately pull it if a DCMA complaint was filed (remember Rent_A_SERP?)
Envato, by the way, have always done a poor job on licensing – they have no concepts of multiuse or developer licenses that are needed to sell WP plugins – so if you pay $14 you can probably use it on only one blog.
Thanks, Brett, for bringing this to my attention – not that I believe in adding this sort of bloat to slow down my WP installations. I do agree with the post from Joshua – why three stars – this should get one.
Brett, KEEP YOUR HONEST REVIEWS! This is what makes you different than any other marketers around! I have your products and you have showed me how HONEST YOU ARE!
I’m sure many other people think like I do about you!!!!
Me and my family appreciate your honesty.
Big HUGS Man,
Ronaldo
Right on Brett! Your not burning bridges, your building them.
Your emails go to my inbox because you have integrity and offer value.
Keep up the good work. Always let the truth be known.
I appreciate the effort you put in on revealing the truth in new products for IM. It cannot be easy, but the rewards have to be great. You have a loyal follower.
Thanks!
I sent VAS a message on facebook to make sure that he is aware of the terms to using the Aviary API and this is the reply he sent me which of course does not align with the Aviary terms. Another reason in my humble opinion to steer clear from this product
‘WP Aviary is open-source. Their licensing fee doesn’t apply to free SDK software like WP Aviary. Unless it’s used for an absurd number of photo edits, or for pictures with a high megapixel count, you’ll never have to pay extra. It will always be free for the casual user editing no more than a few dozen photos per hour. Good on you for checking on this! Thanks for contacting me’
Yea , Avairys TOS / License agreement says nothing about the amount os use etc. Its fairly clear, if your using Avairy in a free app its cool, if your charging and making money with it, you need to pay for a license. Also dont forget that Vas bought this from CodeCanyon, so he has to follow their license agreement as well which seems to forbid him giving away PLR rights. Im not a legal expert but it really does seem that no matter what anyone says Vas just hears what ever he wants to hear. I have spoken to Vas and have caught him making flat out, blatant lies. Honestly I just dont trust the guy.
Brett,
I look for your reviews before buying from someone I am unfamiliar with. I know I can count on you to tell it like it is. I love your authenticity! You keep it REAL.
The value and integrity you put into your own products and pass on to your customers speaks volumes – not to mention chasing down bonuses for us when you do market another product from someone else that you believe in! (Right On!!)
You’re a rock star in my book Brett! Thank you for speaking up!!
Brett. As I read the envato knowledge base “Owning copyright in an original work gives you the right to decide how that work is used. When an author sells an item on the Envato Marketplaces, they use that right to agree to use our licenses when they sell items to buyers. The licenses set out how a buyer can use the item and the restrictions on that use. ”
I understand that he (VAS) is going for the Opensource aspect of the GPL, but has Not asked envato for their blessing. I guess I read this like, “the owner of the car gave me the keys so I know have permission to speed.”
A key aspect missing is that he forgets that there is an added party to the mix that can get him sued, shut down or even banned from JVZoo, etc.
I like the concept of the plug in. Not so much for marketing, but more of a “this is cool and I can mess with photos to make them look unique.”
If I see another person use the DMCA to shut down a reviewer I’m going to scream. It is used for copyright issues not gestopo censorship. Take the review for what it is. Make a reply and move on. Use the review and make an FAQ to highlight concerns and cover buyers questions. It can be a benefit if you approach it better.
A flaming argument about interviews and bad press tactics just make you look like a dick.
If aviary gets involved and they go after VAS, he may have to deal with returns, aviary claims and envato issues. This is a web I would not want to get caught in, BUT…it’s not my business, so…..
Good luck to VAS, Thank you Brett and to everyone else….. hi!
The bottom line, I believe, is that the author on Envato is listed as an exclusive author. What this means that he gets a higher commission per sale, but in return he is NOT allowed to sell this product anywhere else other than on CodeCanyon. The terms are crystal clear. It goes without saying that he can’t give someone else permission to sell it either.
Any other excuse like the GPL situation, etc. is BS in my opinion.
Yea it’s strange. Only four days after launch and this product has been removed from JVZoo and even the website for it has been taken down. Vanished without a trace. Now why would anyone take their product down so quickly after launching it?
Seems he is at it again?
Someone said he’s the behind this as well…
———–
I wondered who the seller was, it seems he is misunderstanding the Extended License terms of Envato. Whatever products are purchased from Envato/Codecanyon can be bundled with a product, let’s say a I buy extended license for a theme I create, which I then sell… but simply rebranding and reselling the plugin? that’s a different story.
That means I could do the same… pay $125 for an extended license and call it WPVisionary or something like that, and resell it… I doubt WPBakery allows this, as it would destroy his own profits, and with over 31,516 sales, I doubt he wants that to happen.
Oh what a tangled web we weave… LOL.
Furthermore, Vas has just released a plr version of ViCom, a video composer knock off, and when that starts being given away or sold for a small price I’m sure there is going to be legal action! Should make for an interesting IM story to follow…
Brett,
Nice job. I bought this from Vas on July 5th. I tried to access the purchase today and his account is suspended. I am guessing that I am out the $12 that I spent. I am happy that it only took $12 to find out that Vas is a mess.
Thanks!
Nice work, Internet needs more work like this being done. Keep it up!
You’re absolutely right Brett. From what I’ve read, it seems that Vas lives in his own world. He’s “good” at talking circles around a point and constantly ignores key arguments and goes around thinking he’s in the right. Do not do business with him EVER