Author Topic: Shutterstock's "Bridge to Bigstock" program (Read 41135 times)

lisafx · « **on:** December 22, 2010, 16:21 »

I just logged in to Shutterstock and got a popup offering me to join a new program called "Bridge to Bigstock". If you join, then your SS portfolio is automatically uploaded to Bigstock.

In my case, nearly all the same images have been accepted at both sites. It does sound good to only have to upload to SS now and be able to skip the extra step of uploading to BS.

There doesn't seem to be anything about changing the way payouts are done, so for now I guess we continue to request payouts at BigStock as before?

arquiplay77 · « **Reply #1 on:** December 22, 2010, 16:38 »

there´s no such an option for me

lisafx · « **Reply #2 on:** December 22, 2010, 16:47 »

Try logging in and out to both sites a few times. It seems to be popping up intermittently...

fotografer · « **Reply #3 on:** December 22, 2010, 16:57 »

I've logged in and out a couple of times but I'm not seeing it.

cathyslife · « **Reply #4 on:** December 22, 2010, 17:00 »

Interesting. I logged in and out at SS, but did not get a popup either, but no matter. I am already at both places. In fact I have more images at BigStock than at SS. But a nice option for anyone not already at BigStock.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2010, 17:05 »

Quote from: arquiplay77 on December 22, 2010, 16:38

there´s no such an option for me

Obviously it's only for some "special people" LOL (and I'm not one of them either)

I suppose I should do the bridge since I stopped uploading to BS a long time ago. I wonder what they will do about dupes? And here's the burn again, like with IS and StockXpert. I uploaded some files at a smaller size to the second cousin sites, so they have both versions up for sale. Not that I'm complaining about having dupes on sale or more exposure, just that, it is possible to have some crossed images because they don't read as identical to the Bots.

Then I ask, will I ever make payout at BS with this boost? Had I known I would have uploaded more to SS because believe it or not, sometimes BS rejected images that SS took!

Now I'll be looking for that option as a Christmas Gift from SS.

Hmm, just a thought. I do have pop-up blockers and flash blockers turned on.

Lisa if you get it, can you copy the link? That should help?

luissantos84 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2010, 17:08 »

no popping here

danhowl · « **Reply #7 on:** December 22, 2010, 17:23 »

is the web site stuck? I don't seen my total downloads figure updating on the contributors page, but I see the images that were downloaded on the detail-by-day page. Maybe that accounts for not seeing the BigStock option.

Newsfocus1 · « **Reply #8 on:** December 22, 2010, 17:49 »

Wow! I hope this means what I think. I can have my entire SS port available on BS? Over 900 on SS and just 400 odd on BS. I've been banging on about this on my blog ever since the buyout! That said, I'm not getting the pop up either yet. That would be a very nice Christmas present if it happens like that. We'll see...Regards, David (now back to SS to try and get that pop up).

Carl · « **Reply #9 on:** December 22, 2010, 17:57 »

I wonder if it will work in reverse - have your images at BS placed on SS? I have 300+ images on BS, and will soon submit my intial ten for the seventh time to SS. (SS rejected images that were approved on BS, FT, Alamy, CanStockPhoto, DT, and others.)

disorderly · « **Reply #10 on:** December 22, 2010, 18:16 »

I wonder if they'll reconcile their standards at the two sites. BigStock has or at least had a strict policy of not accepting any nudity or anything they considered too racy. Does this mean they'll revise the policy, or will they just move over images that don't have the SS nudity flag checked?

lisafx · « **Reply #11 on:** December 22, 2010, 18:19 »

Oooops. Looks like it is in BETA and not ready to be rolled out yet.

It does sound like a really great program and I am eager to try it out, but apparently it's not being released at the moment.

Sorry for the confusion

Newsfocus1 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 22, 2010, 18:29 »

Quote from: lisafx on December 22, 2010, 18:19

Oooops. Looks like it is in BETA and not ready to be rolled out yet.

It does sound like a really great program and I am eager to try it out, but apparently it's not being released at the moment.

Sorry for the confusion

Thanks for the update Lisa. Will just wait in hope then........Regards, David,

lisafx · « **Reply #13 on:** December 22, 2010, 18:49 »

Well, even if it isn't happening for Christmas, it will still be great for you, David, and others who don't have their whole ports on BigStock. Hope it is implemented soon!

sharpshot · « **Reply #14 on:** December 22, 2010, 19:07 »

I have a much better acceptance rate with BigStock than with SS lately, so I wouldn't be interested in just submitting to SS unless they let BigStock have some of the rejects.

melastmohican · « **Reply #15 on:** December 22, 2010, 19:23 »

So BS will become just a affiliate of SS, another distribution channel? It seems like they can save some money by having just one image database, one inspection queue, etc.

pancaketom · « **Reply #16 on:** December 22, 2010, 20:04 »

I am often surprised by the differences in acceptance at SS and BigStock though.

It does seem to make sense to just review the images once if they can - it would save them a lot of cost if they could cut out 1/2 the inspectors and digital storage. I wonder how they will deal with duplicates as they go forward with this, especially for stuff that is resized or cropped differently.

It would be nice if BigStock started getting a reasonable number of sales too, but if it just takes away the SS OD sales, that wouldn't be so good.

rubyroo · « **Reply #17 on:** December 23, 2010, 03:25 »

Me too.

It seems to me that BigStock are the only agency that gives the 'cropping' rejection reason. They prefer to sell images with the entire object visible, and allow the designer to make their own artistic crops. My feeling is that I can't be so bad at making those creative judgements, as all the other agencies accept my in-camera crops, including SS, and they do sell.

So... I wonder how BigStock feel about this idea. It sounds as though this will override their usual acceptance criteria.

leaf · « **Reply #18 on:** January 11, 2011, 04:45 »

The program just went live
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/blog/theupload/2011/01/the-bridge-to-bigstock/

Quote

We’re excited to tell you about a new program we’re offering to a select group of contributors at Bigstock’s sister site, Shutterstock. We’re calling it the Bridge to Bigstock. Here’s what we’re doing and why we think it’s a win for everyone.

As you may know, Shutterstock and Bigstock are two stock image sites owned by Shutterstock. They’re run as separate brands and marketed to different customers—Shutterstock to high volume image users and Bigstock to users who only need a few images at a time. In early 2010 we relaunched Bigstock with a new look and a new search engine. The upgrade was a hit with customers and contributors alike. Now we’re ready to crank Bigstock up another level.

The details:

Beginning this week, we are inviting select Shutterstock contributors to automatically copy all of their approved Shutterstock images—including current and future images—to Bigstock as well. We’re starting with a very small group, but will expand the invitations over the next few weeks as we ramp up the program. Invited Shutterstock contributors will be able to upload once to Shutterstock and sell on both sites.

We’re doing this to boost the Bigstock collection, making it larger and more diverse to meet the needs of our growing customer base. We expect this to help grow Bigstock sales and have little if any impact on Shutterstock sales.

The Shutterstock and Bigstock collections will remain separate. We have no plans to mirror their full libraries. Shutterstock and Bigstock have different customers and we want to maintain the collections that best meet the needs of each audience.

Participation in the Bridge to Bigstock is by invitation only. We are inviting Shutterstock contributors with high performing portfolios. They will receive an e-mail giving them the choice to opt in to the program. For contributors who participate, all of their images that are accepted by Shutterstock will now automatically be accepted by and uploaded to Bigstock. The artists will earn payouts at standard Bigstock rates. For participants who already upload to both sites, we will filter for duplicates as we move Shutterstock images to Bigstock. This may take some time as we ramp up the program, but we will keep participants informed by e-mail during the process.

Select Shutterstock contributors will begin receiving e-mails from Shutterstock with details on how to participate in the Bridge to Bigstock. We may gradually invite more high-performing Shutterstock contributors once we finish the integration for the first round of invitees.

We’re sorry we can’t offer this service to everyone at this time. It requires staff time to sync a Shutterstock portfolio with a Bigstock portfolio, so we are only able to offer this program to selected contributors. We may expand the program after we finish processing the first round of invitees.

If you aren’t invited, or if you are invited and choose not to participate, there will be no change in how you use Bigstock and Shutterstock. All contributors will still be able to submit to both sites.

Thanks to our contributors for their continued association with Shutterstock and Bigstock. Together, we’re going to make 2011 an awesome year for both brands and all our artists.

corepics · « **Reply #19 on:** January 11, 2011, 04:52 »

The bridge is by invitation only. A pity Shutterstock / Bigstock remains vague on who's eligible, and what's considered to be a high-performing portfolio.

qwerty · « **Reply #20 on:** January 11, 2011, 05:52 »

It would be good to only have to submit at shutterstock

I know I'll get shot down in flames for this but I would want to be able to upload rejected files to bigstock "as they service different customer bases"

pancaketom · « **Reply #21 on:** January 11, 2011, 10:09 »

I think they are just rolling the "bridge" program out in order of seniority or total $ sales or something since they offered it to me a few days ago and I am hardly any sort of elite material (although I am firmly in the .36 camp). I e-mailed a few questions to them (mainly about different size images) and got an auto reply saying they will get back to me and meanwhile I should check the FAQ (that I already had). I also wonder about submitting SS rejects to BS.

If nothing else I'd love to have my early SS images ported over to BS. I wonder if there are a number of big SS players that aren't on BS and as this moves forward the BS file # will shoot up w/o any new buyers at least at first - meaning my sales will drop even more there. In the long run it should help sales at BS and possibly make our workload easier too.

ETA they did mention that anything marked as R rated on SS would not be moved over, so I don't think they are planning on changing that at BS

cthoman · « **Reply #22 on:** January 11, 2011, 10:33 »

Interesting idea. Especially, since it is such a pain to upload to Bigstock and not really worth the effort. I'm sure it will take a while to get to my vector portfolio, since it is a mess of vectors and raster duplicates on SS.

sc · « **Reply #23 on:** January 11, 2011, 10:57 »

Quote from: pancaketom on January 11, 2011, 10:09

I think they are just rolling the "bridge" program out in order of seniority or total $ sales or something since they offered it to me a few days ago and I am hardly any sort of elite material (although I am firmly in the .36 camp). I e-mailed a few questions to them (mainly about different size images) and got an auto reply saying they will get back to me and meanwhile I should check the FAQ (that I already had). I also wonder about submitting SS rejects to BS.

If nothing else I'd love to have my early SS images ported over to BS. I wonder if there are a number of big SS players that aren't on BS and as this moves forward the BS file # will shoot up w/o any new buyers at least at first - meaning my sales will drop even more there. In the long run it should help sales at BS and possibly make our workload easier too.

ETA they did mention that anything marked as R rated on SS would not be moved over, so I don't think they are planning on changing that at BS

I don't know about that - I have over a bit 3000 images on SS and about 2100 on BS - I'm in the .38 camp and have not been offered the deal.
I hope they do eventually since I don't want to try to figure out at this point which 1000 images aren't on BS. Ya never know maybe it's the 1000 that will actually get me some sales there

madelaide · « **Reply #24 on:** January 11, 2011, 15:02 »

As long as they don't migrate my BigStock images to SS, I'm ok.

djpadavona · « **Reply #25 on:** January 11, 2011, 18:49 »

Quote from: madelaide on January 11, 2011, 15:02

As long as they don't migrate my BigStock images to SS, I'm ok.

Yeah, you've always had much love for SS Madelaide. Just out of curiosity, what is your RPD like at sites like FT and DT? You might be surprised to learn that many of us have pretty good RPDs at SS. I generally average about 45 cents per download once I factor in On Demand sales. In months when I get EL's, I often average close to $1 per download...which is pretty much what I average at BigStock.

madelaide · « **Reply #26 on:** January 11, 2011, 19:54 »

Quote from: djpadavona on January 11, 2011, 18:49

Just out of curiosity, what is your RPD like at sites like FT and DT?

I don't follow that, but DT has the answer in their stats: in 2010, disregarding one month with EL, it ranged from 91c to 2.36, year average was 1.59. It's around US$1 also in BigStock. Dec in FT was 65c.

I still think SS created an unnecessary precedent with subscriptions, making cheaper what was already too cheap. I never supported that model. I stopped uploading to FT when subs were introduced. To DT also, I think. I've started uploading to SF, but if they become a mainly subs site, I'll remove my stuff from there.

mantonino · « **Reply #27 on:** January 12, 2011, 18:18 »

I just got some follow up questions answered about this and blogged it:

http://www.niltomil.com/microstock-world/bridge-bigstock-program-qa/

Hope that gives a bit more info on the program.

xst · « **Reply #28 on:** January 12, 2011, 18:27 »

It’s obviously not going to be for everybody.
SS accepts nudity and BS doesn’t allow at all - bare butt is no-no, I’m not even talking about nipples visible.

Newsfocus1 · « **Reply #29 on:** January 15, 2011, 07:42 »

How dissapointing! I've been waiting for this to go live since December (and hoping they would do this for a lot longer) but now it seems it's only for selected contributors. I've read all the info over and over but still have the same question. Is this just initially for selected people and then intended to be available to everyone down the line? Or is it only ever going to be for selected portfolios? I can't tell one way or the other from what's been said so far. Anyone know any more on that one? I know Scott from Bigstock follows this forum so perhaps he would be kind enough to let us know. Regards, David.

grp_photo · « **Reply #31 on:** January 15, 2011, 15:47 »

Quote from: scottbraut on January 15, 2011, 14:36

I'm confident that some more optimizations and improvements will be coming. Your input is always considered and appreciated. We'd like to do something for everyone.

Get rid of the demand of the seven word description!

Newsfocus1 · « **Reply #32 on:** January 15, 2011, 15:48 »

Thanks, Scott, for clarifying that. Much appreciated. Not the answer I was hoping for (obviously) but at least I know where I am. There's no problem continuing to uploading to both sites for me -but I do have had a lot more accepted at Shutterstock than at Bigstock so I was hoping to double my port overnight with you (especially my archive celeb shots -selling at SS and rejected for "grain" at BS

). But, anyway, thanks again for your response. Kind regards, David.

lisafx · « **Reply #33 on:** January 15, 2011, 16:21 »

Thanks for weighing in Scott. I didn't realize it was for limited to certain contributors. Thanks for including me

As I understand it, the migration of images hasn't started yet. When is it due to start, and until it does, should I continue to upload to both sites?

scottbraut · « **Reply #34 on:** January 15, 2011, 16:49 »

Hello,

Regarding different approvals - we get a large number of questions about that. As of last year, there's one overall review team for both Bigstock and Shutterstock (although individual reviewers still work on each project). We've already begun the process of putting one set of shared standards in place, as well as shared training, legal guidance, etc...

Any differences that you've seen in the past should go down (or go away) with time.

Lisa - you should upload once to Shutterstock if you've already opted in. There's a little work that's still being done to enable the end-to-end process, but we hope to see the initial batches making their way in this week or next.

Best,
Scott

lisafx · « **Reply #36 on:** January 15, 2011, 17:35 »

Quote from: scottbraut on January 15, 2011, 16:49

Lisa - you should upload once to Shutterstock if you've already opted in. There's a little work that's still being done to enable the end-to-end process, but we hope to see the initial batches making their way in this week or next.

Best,
Scott

Sounds good Scott. I have been busy uploading, so there will be new content to ship over.

Good advice on the SEO too. Thanks

richc · « **Reply #37 on:** January 16, 2011, 06:08 »

Quote from: madelaide on January 11, 2011, 15:02

As long as they don't migrate my BigStock images to SS, I'm ok.

Why not? Shutterstock is my best earning stock site by far, and this seems to be the case for most people. The rate per download might be low but more than made up for in volume

grp_photo · « **Reply #38 on:** January 16, 2011, 15:31 »

Quote from: scottbraut on January 15, 2011, 17:05

Even if we were to change things, I'm a big advocate for good metadata.

Best,
Scott

I'm a big fan of tighten keywords, keyword-spam is Microstock's desease and one of the main points in quality difference between micro and "real" macro (Getty and Corbis).
Veer used to be a great site with good search results now you are swamped with pictures of "woman in lingerie" if you look for a child helping her mum with her laundry - it is really that awful, and you can't microimages turn off - only macro!.
But "isolated potatoes on white" doesn't really need a seven word description, it is okay to demand a description, but let the photographer decide how many are needed sometimes three words are enough to describe a photo thoroughly and sometimes you need twenty words - it depends on the image - and believe me, we know our images best!!!!!!!

RacePhoto · « **Reply #39 on:** January 16, 2011, 16:14 »

I disagree GRP that's "isolated sliced tomatoes on white."

Scott by encouraging people to have 40 keywords you are embracing and enhancing bad searches. Yes a seven word description may be useful, but 40 keywords just makes for a mess as people spam their images. God search for red apple and see the cornucopia or a field with on tiny red apple tree way in the background, or something where red apple isn't the main subject, but people have 40 keywords, including the ant on the cookie jar.

Good metadata would be forcing people to have accurate and relevant data only.

Can you enhance this bit a little. I've seen it a couple of times, referring to BS buyers and the collection, and also as who might be added to The Bridge. "content that fills specific needs at Bigstock" Can you explain what specific needs might be? More specific examples?

Thanks for continuing to come to the forum with helpful answers and advise from BigStock.

Quote from: grp_photo on January 16, 2011, 15:31

Quote from: scottbraut on January 15, 2011, 17:05

Even if we were to change things, I'm a big advocate for good metadata.

Best,
Scott

I'm a big fan of tighten keywords, keyword-spam is Microstock's desease and one of the main points in quality difference between micro and "real" macro (Getty and Corbis).
Veer used to be a great site with good search results now you are swamped with pictures of "woman in lingerie" if you look for a child helping her mum with her laundry - it is really that awful, and you can't microimages turn off - only macro!.
But "isolated potatoes on white" doesn't really need a seven word description, it is okay to demand a description, but let the photographer decide how many are needed sometimes three words are enough to describe a photo thoroughly and sometimes you need twenty words - it depends on the image - and believe me, we know our images best!!!!!!!

dgilder · « **Reply #40 on:** January 16, 2011, 22:29 »

I have 2,500+ images (with many multiracial shots) on Shutterstock and 0 on BigStock. I have never gotten around to uploading them to BigStock myself, and at this point I never will. I asked support politely if they might consider including me in the program, as there would be no filtering for duplicate images required and they mentioned it was invitation only. So either my portfolio is insufficiently performing, or they actually don't need my photos on BigStock.

lightscribe · « **Reply #42 on:** January 19, 2011, 14:19 »

On the 7 word description issue, it may seem like a little thing, but when I upload to all sites with mass upload software such as the new microstocksubmitter software (or other software) I have to check off don't upload to bigstock, because it is the only one of all the sites that has this silly restriction so the software will force me to re-keyword everything (which I am not doing). This means I would have to spend hours re-keywording my metadata on hundreds of images (some people have thousands) just so that I can get my images on one of the lowest earning sites? If the whole goal is to make it easier for people to get images on the site then "little" things like this compounded over thousands of people and thousands of images can make all the difference. When I do take the time to upload to big stock I find myself having to use filler (spam) words just to fill the quota. An image of "poison ivy" becomes "green poison ivy leaf on sunny day" that to me is forcing contributers to do "soft spamming", when someone is looking for "poison ivy" leaf they do not want images with keywords sunny day and green that will return too much unrelated stuff such as hundreds of pages of green grass on sunny day with no "poison ivy" to be found.

Anyway I just wanted to let my voice be heard, what seems like a tiny requirement is actually keeping many images from being uploaded and helping to force spam. I wish there was an industry standard with metadata requirements. the pay is not enough to warrant special attention to any one site let alone a low earning site with odd requirements.

lisafx · « **Reply #43 on:** January 19, 2011, 15:07 »

I realize it may not be an ideal solution, but why not just add 7 word descriptions to all your images in the first place. That's what I do and so it's never been a problem uploading to BigStock.

lightscribe · « **Reply #44 on:** January 19, 2011, 15:33 »

Quote from: lisafx on January 19, 2011, 15:07

I realize it may not be an ideal solution, but why not just add 7 word descriptions to all your images in the first place. That's what I do and so it's never been a problem uploading to BigStock.

You are right, I will add the 7 words for future images but I am not going back and editing the past. I know it really seems like a petty and minor issue but with absolutely no standardization in the industry it is always the artist who is expected to make the time consuming adjustments. I am tired of jumping these little hurdles... they do add up after a while and make for major keyword fatigue, and I only have a few hundred images, I can't imagine what a new contributer to Bigstock who already has a few thousand images keyworded would have to go through just because of such a simple thing. Anyway I think we beat this dead horse enough. Hmm, "beating a dead horse".... anyone up for a totally sick concept shot? * still only coming up with 4 words for descriptions.

scottbraut · « **Reply #45 on:** January 19, 2011, 15:45 »

Lightscribe - you make an important point and I think the answer is somewhere in between.

From the perspective of a search engine, metadata is critical to showing *accurate* results. For example,

-----
Title: Red Rose

Description: Macro closeup of a single open red rose

Keywords: affection, anniversary, background, beautiful, beauty, bloom, blossom, botanical, closeup, color, decoration, elegant, floral, flower, fresh, gift, holiday, love, macro, nature, passion, petal, plant, red, romance, romantic, rose, single, texture, valentine, natural
-----

From the search engine perspective, the system knows that this is definitely a red rose; it should be a single red rose; and it's a macro or closeup image. The search engine now also knows that it might be related to the concept of a "gift" or "romance," but those concepts are loosely related. If this were a gift box, then the title would be "Gift Box" and the description would be "Single gift box with Christmas wrapping paper." The system would then know that the image is definitely a gift box (etc..., etc...) and probably has a Christmas theme, etc..., differentiating it from the first photo - a red rose that might be given as a gift.

If people *accurately* enter metadata, this should create very (relevant) search results. Arguments could be made that the "short titles" should be more robust for SEO purposes, but in general, that will work.

Now if people rush through metadata, it's a moot point. But everyone should keep in mind that metadata is how people find your images. If you put in *inaccurate*metadata, you'll just frustrate buyers and dilute the overall search experience for everyone. If you put in insufficient metadata, when a buyer searches for "single red rose white background," your image might not come up and you'll lose the sale.

None of this is really a secret, but good metadata practices are something that the top sellers often use to their advantage.

As always, our policies might get relaxed, but we're here to help and to ensure the best experience for both our contributors and buyers. We want you to be successful...creating a good search experience is a shared effort.

grp_photo · « **Reply #46 on:** January 19, 2011, 19:08 »

Well Scott,
you have actually a lot of pictures on your site with less than a seven word description with the "bridge to bigstock" program you may have a majority with pictures with less than a seven word description on your site in the future.

Would it just make more sense to have the SAME Metadata requirement on SS and BS?

And as lightscribe mentioned you fill up the description with silly words like "isolated potatoes on a happy sunny day". As a native speaker it is maybe easier to fill up the seven word requirement with something more useful but as a non-native speaker you fill it up with something silly just look at your own site for some examples. That requirement isn't the key to good Metadata thats just unnecessary nonsense.

Mantis · « **Reply #47 on:** February 16, 2011, 08:39 »

Quote from: lisafx on December 22, 2010, 16:47

Try logging in and out to both sites a few times. It seems to be popping up intermittently...

It's only for high performing ports, selective. No nearly everyone will be invited. Only a few high performance artists will be invited (for now, per SS admin).

I'm already on both anyway but I bet invitees who do it get preferred placement in the search.

Slovenian · « **Reply #48 on:** March 09, 2011, 17:30 »

deleted text due to an error (can't delete the post)

danhowl · « **Reply #49 on:** March 28, 2011, 08:44 »

To new/low volume to get invited, so I decided to upload manually. Just wondering if duplicating the keywords used for the images already uploaded to Shutterstock is an acceptable approach for Bigstock uploads? I do see that some changes need to be made, for example Latina is acceptable on SS, but not on BS as a keyword for Hispanic Woman. Speaking in general though, are Shutterstock keywords going to fare well within Bigstock's search engine?

stockastic · « **Reply #50 on:** March 28, 2011, 09:18 »

I quit thinking about it as the months went by. Sounds like SS got what it wanted - a quick infusion of high-volume images to Bigstock - and they're never going to get around to offering this to small contributors. Just more unfulfilled hype.

rubyroo · « **Reply #51 on:** March 28, 2011, 09:20 »

I don't' know if it's just me, but they seem to have speeded up the review times at Bigstock as a result of all this.

gostwyck · « **Reply #52 on:** March 28, 2011, 09:55 »

Quote from: stockastic on March 28, 2011, 09:18

... and they're never going to get around to offering this to small contributors. Just more unfulfilled hype.

I'm not sure the size of the contributor makes any difference __ they never asked for my height or weight anyway.

I think the process may be quite labour intensive so possibly uneconomic for low selling images. For small portfolios it's not much hassle to upload to both sites manually.

My sales at BigStock appeared to have jumped over 50% since my images were ported over from SS. I'm projected to be 65% up compared to March 2010 so I'm delighted with the programme.

rubyroo · « **Reply #53 on:** March 28, 2011, 10:35 »

Glad to know it wasn't my height that got in the way. I'm only three inches tall and carrying this camera gear around is murder...

Great to hear your sales are up Gostwyck. Always good to hear good news in these times of doom-dominance.

Even if they'd offered me a 'bridge', I'm not sure I'd have taken it though. When it comes to that very subjective 'focus' rejection at SS, I invariably get those shots accepted at Bigstock, so I'm not sure it would have panned out so well for me.

Here's to us all, tall or small. <Grabs string and climbs off desk>

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #55 on:** March 28, 2011, 13:09 »

There does seem to be some strange things happening. At one time, BigStock was very strict on focus. Now, I'm getting OOF rejections at ShutterStock and the same image is being accepted at Big Stock.
I know there is considerable complaining about the auto-reject button at Shutterstock but WHY?

I would much rather have my images accepted at ShutterStock; they sell there.

Suljo · « **Reply #56 on:** May 11, 2011, 20:51 »

So at the end is it one way transaction of files from Shutter to BS?
Anyhow where on BS I can see my newest approved images are?
Is this is also applied to Vectors?

lagereek · « **Reply #57 on:** May 11, 2011, 23:43 »

Hi Lisa!

What do you mean? the entire portfolio at SS, is copied over to BS? have you done it? must be an advantage in that case.

lagereek · « **Reply #58 on:** May 12, 2011, 00:49 »

Yeah well I DO get the pop-up link but then theres an internal server link error, sigh! would be nice to just shuffle over approx 2000 shots from SS, for me time is the essence and I simply cant fint the time to manually get them all over to BS.

fotografer · « **Reply #59 on:** May 12, 2011, 02:24 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 00:49

Yeah well I DO get the pop-up link but then theres an internal server link error, sigh! would be nice to just shuffle over approx 2000 shots from Shutterstock, for me time is the essence and I simply cant fint the time to manually get them all over to BS.

After I was invited they moved the images over for me. All I had to do was to reply and agree to it. Sales have doubled for me at BS since then. Write to support and ask them if they can move yours over, it is well worth it.

lagereek · « **Reply #60 on:** May 12, 2011, 03:21 »

My " bride-to bigstock" invite is there in the popup menue but when pressing on it, Im getting an Internal-server-problem? meaning what?

best.

fotografer · « **Reply #61 on:** May 12, 2011, 05:01 »

No idea but I'm sure support can sort it out for them . It's only a matter of agreeing to let them do it. They look at your whole port on SS and move over anything that isn't already at BS.

lisafx · « **Reply #62 on:** May 12, 2011, 08:29 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 03:21

My " bride-to bigstock" invite is there in the popup menue but when pressing on it, Im getting an Internal-server-problem? meaning what?

This Bride to Bigstock must be a special offer just for you Chris. I'm jealous!

Seriously though, sounds like there is just a glitch in the works for you. I would write Support and see if they can sort it out for you.

Seems like it takes a couple of days after SS acceptance and then the same images are all on BigStock.

lagereek · « **Reply #63 on:** May 12, 2011, 08:40 »

Quote from: lisafx on May 12, 2011, 08:29

Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 03:21
My " bride-to bigstock" invite is there in the popup menue but when pressing on it, Im getting an Internal-server-problem? meaning what?

This Bride to Bigstock must be a special offer just for you Chris. I'm jealous!

Seriously though, sounds like there is just a glitch in the works for you. I would write Support and see if they can sort it out for you.

Seems like it takes a couple of days after Shutterstock acceptance and then the same images are all on BigStock.

Oh! sheit! is that what I wrote? blimey so it is, whats even worse is that I probably wrote the same to SS support, was busy and didnt think straight. This is a good deal actually because with the little time one has, I would never be able to upload a further 2000 files, impossible.

However, I do think this should be open to all, reason being that it will hopefully increase revenue for agency as well as photographer, or at least with ports of 500 shots plus.
saves an awful lot of time and hassle.

best.

lisafx · « **Reply #64 on:** May 12, 2011, 08:46 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 08:40

However, I do think this should be open to all, reason being that it will hopefully increase revenue for agency as well as photographer, or at least with ports of 500 shots plus.
saves an awful lot of time and hassle.

I don't know for sure, but I would be willing to bet it will eventually be open to all, because you are right - it should save time (and reviewing costs) for the agencies, and it is sure a timesaver for us

dgilder · « **Reply #65 on:** May 12, 2011, 16:51 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 00:49

Yeah well I DO get the pop-up link but then theres an internal server link error, sigh! would be nice to just shuffle over approx 2000 shots from Shutterstock, for me time is the essence and I simply cant fint the time to manually get them all over to BS.

I'm pretty much in the same boat (except without an offer to join). I have 2500 photos on SS, and 0 on BigStock, and I can't find any motivation to upload them myself, but I would be happy to join the program.

fotografer · « **Reply #66 on:** May 13, 2011, 03:03 »

Quote from: dgilder on May 12, 2011, 16:51

Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 00:49
Yeah well I DO get the pop-up link but then theres an internal server link error, sigh! would be nice to just shuffle over approx 2000 shots from Shutterstock, for me time is the essence and I simply cant fint the time to manually get them all over to BS.

I'm pretty much in the same boat (except without an offer to join). I have 2500 photos on Shutterstock, and 0 on BigStock, and I can't find any motivation to upload them myself, but I would be happy to join the program.

Why don't you write to support and ask them if they will do it for you? You have nothing to lose by asking.

lagereek · « **Reply #67 on:** May 13, 2011, 03:53 »

Quote from: fotografer on May 13, 2011, 03:03

Quote from: dgilder on May 12, 2011, 16:51
Quote from: lagereek on May 12, 2011, 00:49
Yeah well I DO get the pop-up link but then theres an internal server link error, sigh! would be nice to just shuffle over approx 2000 shots from Shutterstock, for me time is the essence and I simply cant fint the time to manually get them all over to BS.

I'm pretty much in the same boat (except without an offer to join). I have 2500 photos on Shutterstock, and 0 on BigStock, and I can't find any motivation to upload them myself, but I would be happy to join the program.
Why don't you write to support and ask them if they will do it for you? You have nothing to lose by asking.

Yep! doing that right now actually.

dgilder · « **Reply #68 on:** May 13, 2011, 23:48 »

Quote from: fotografer on May 13, 2011, 03:03

Why don't you write to support and ask them if they will do it for you? You have nothing to lose by asking.

I did back in January, and got a canned response along the lines of "its invite only..."

lagereek · « **Reply #69 on:** May 14, 2011, 00:08 »

I have written to support!!!! and I have an INVITATION!! but there is a freaking server error 500 on their server which is screwing up my Bridge.

They wrote back to me saying they gonna speak to the tech-dept, etc.
Cant really understand this? its in their interest as well as mine to transfer some 1700 shots, some great sellers, etc.

Why should my Bridge be screwed up? havent got the time to manually do this myself.

Ploink · « **Reply #70 on:** May 14, 2011, 02:34 »

Quote from: lagereek on May 14, 2011, 00:08

I have written to support!!!! and I have an INVITATION!! but there is a freaking server error 500 on their server which is screwing up my Bridge.

They wrote back to me saying they gonna speak to the tech-dept, etc.
Cant really understand this? its in their interest as well as mine to transfer some 1700 shots, some great sellers, etc.

Why should my Bridge be screwed up? havent got the time to manually do this myself.

I got my invitation yesterday, too and I had also problems going through their sign-up process. I didn't get a server error, it just got thrown back to the login page for customers, not submitters. For me the solution was to try a different browser (Safari on my IPhone, of all things) and voila, today I got the e-mail that my photos were sucessfully transfered. So if you haven't already done so, you might try another browser and/or OS...

Roadrunner · « **Reply #71 on:** May 14, 2011, 07:39 »

Sorry - my post ended up in the wrong place - so I deleted the text.

lagereek · « **Reply #72 on:** May 15, 2011, 00:48 »

Dont think SS, know what a server error-500, is? or they would have sorted it out by now. However its one of the most common server errors in the business, can easily be fixed but ofcourse you have to get around to do it.

lagereek · « **Reply #73 on:** May 16, 2011, 12:47 »

I have now mailed SS and BS, but all I get is ignorant silence, I dont think they know what the f-ck an error 500 is! yet its the most common internal server error existing.
Lousy.

borism · « **Reply #74 on:** May 19, 2011, 15:14 »

Hi lagereek,

I work at Bigstock and can I can speak with support to check in on the error that you are seeing. Could you send me a private message with your Shutterstock contributor name?

Thanks very much, and sorry to hear about the troubles!

- Boris

lagereek · « **Reply #75 on:** May 20, 2011, 00:00 »

Quote from: borism on May 19, 2011, 15:14

Hi lagereek,

I work at Bigstock and can I can speak with support to check in on the error that you are seeing. Could you send me a private message with your Shutterstock contributor name?

Thanks very much, and sorry to hear about the troubles!

- Boris

Thanks mate!! kind of you.

I think its sorted out now, I got into the Bridge-program and accepted and much thanks to Vincent at SS, it was all cleared up now and some 2000 shots should be on their way.

he told me it can take from a few days up to a week or something, because of dupes and everything.

I would appreciate though if you kept an eye open, so we dont bump into more glitches, etc.

thanks again, really appreciate it.

best. Christian

borism · « **Reply #76 on:** May 20, 2011, 09:23 »

Hi Christian,

I'm glad to hear Vincent was able to help, and that its working now. (And I apologize for the initial problems). If you have any other problems with Bridge to Bigstock, feel free to drop me a PM.

Take care and have a great weekend,
- Boris

lagereek · « **Reply #77 on:** May 20, 2011, 09:37 »

Quote from: borism on May 20, 2011, 09:23

Hi Christian,

I'm glad to hear Vincent was able to help, and that its working now. (And I apologize for the initial problems). If you have any other problems with Bridge to Bigstock, feel free to drop me a PM.

Take care and have a great weekend,
- Boris

Thanks Boris!

Well I hope its OK!, it was 3 days back but I havent seen anything come through to BS, as yet. Might take a longer time? In any event I appreciate your help very much.

I take it that from now on, whatever I upload to SS, will automatically be transfered to BS, as well? does it work, vice-versa?

best, take care. Chris

borism · « **Reply #78 on:** May 20, 2011, 10:53 »

Hi Chris,

It could take up to a week, thank you for your patience. If you still don't see anything in a week's time, send me your shutterstock contributor id and I'll take a look.

Regarding your second question, yes, anything you upload to Shutterstock after you initiate the bridge does go automatically to your Bigstock portfolio. It does not work vice-versa (another-words images you add to Bigstock do not automatically get sent to Shutterstock).

Thanks again,
- Boris

Edit: May 23rd, 2011 to correct answer regarding automatic transfers from Shutterstock to Bigstock

Perry · « **Reply #79 on:** February 02, 2012, 18:05 »

I like this Bridge to Bigstock - thing: Bigstock had always a painful upload (categories etc.), stupid rejections etc., now submitting is easy and sales seems to be picking up.

One thing I can't help wondering: Why not integrate the payments - This could work like PP at IS, Bigstock earnings could be moved to SS account monthly. Would anyone else like it this way?

jamirae · « **Reply #80 on:** February 02, 2012, 18:10 »

is this still an invitation only program?

lisafx · « **Reply #81 on:** February 02, 2012, 18:10 »

Quote from: Perry on February 02, 2012, 18:05

I like this Bridge to Bigstock - thing: Bigstock had always a painful upload (categories etc.), stupid rejections etc., now submitting is easy and sales seems to be picking up.

One thing I can't help wondering: Why not integrate the payments - This could work like PP at IS, Bigstock earnings could be moved to SS account monthly. Would anyone else like it this way?

I like the B2B program too, but I like getting paid by Bigstock whenever I reach payout. I don't see any advantage to having to wait until the end of the month to get paid.

Jo Ann Snover · « **Reply #82 on:** February 02, 2012, 18:27 »

Quote from: jamirae on February 02, 2012, 18:10

is this still an invitation only program?

I think so. But honestly my BigStock sales have been so pathetic (on about 1,200 of my images; I have no incentive to upload more) that I don't really care. A while ago when I noted that I didn't know why sales had been so poor (BigStock used to be a pretty decent and consistent lower-tier site) someone said that they'd seen mainly older images selling, which might account for what I'm seeing.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #83 on:** February 02, 2012, 18:51 »

It probably is not a simple change. Don't BS and SS operate as totally different companies? Might even be separate banks, accounts, accountants. Don't they provide separate 1099 reports?

Could be much more complicated than it might seem?

But, I would get my few Big Stock dollars much more frequently ... if it did happen.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #84 on:** September 10, 2014, 10:28 »

I ask them from time to time and get various answers. This Spring it was, the program is closed. One email someone from SS, said he would ask for a review of my SS files and see. That was hopeful and encouraging. Never heard back, even if it was "we don't feel that your collection fits our program at this time."

Here's what I got today, BigStock Chat, and it's pretty much saying, Yes it's closed, but you can write and ask?

Emphasis is mine. So why do I want a review if it's not open?

"Grete: At this time our content department processes these inquiries. At this time the bridge program is not open, however if you would like to have our Content manager review your portfolio, you may submit it to them through [email protected] ATTN Content "

I suppose it's time to stop asking?

Quote from: jamirae on February 02, 2012, 18:10

is this still an invitation only program?

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