MicrostockGroup

I recently had some images rejected under the too similar tag, these images are part of a series which I sell thousands off on iS and the other sites but the subject is a completely different concept (all of the other sites have approved them obviously). I sent a message to support but they insisted I replied to the rejection email which then goes back to the original editor!!!!! What's the point in that? His reply to my appeal made me believe he didn't really understand about the stock business and what makes an image sellable so if he didn't understand it the first time how is appealing to him a second time worthwhile. Even the images in the series that I do have on DT are my best sellers there 

So the lesson I learnt was if you have a niche series which sells in the thousands everywhere else you can only upload one to Dreamstime, even if the actual subject concept is 100% different. Now I wonder why people are stating that their Dreamstime sales aren't keeping up with the other sites 

Richard, I admire your perseverance. But I think you'll always get the same answer "I was right the first time and of course I'm right now". I believe there is no point in arguing or trying to reason with these guys. The translated universal reply to every contributor that tries to explain them anything is "We are not what you think we are". On top of that, RPD is falling aggressively and income as well. Therefore I can't be bothered with uploading to them anymore. Every once in a while my wife sends them some images, but I really don't care what happens with them.

... is the correct answer!

I think DT may have out-sourced some of their inspection process to a company specialising in it. That's probably why they just refer you back to them. It also may explain why the contractor is so rigid in applying whatever 'rules' they have been given. Of course the contractor doesn't have a vested interest in sales, either on behalf of the agency itself or the contributor, but is more concerned with keeping DT happy and retaining their services.

I wouldn't mind so much if their policy really did lead to a higher standard of images for the buyers __ but it doesn't. The default sort order produces simply awful results. Try this search on 'breakfast cooked' with the sort order set to the default of 'relevancy descending' and 80 images per page;

http://tinyurl.com/breakfastcooked

There are only 9 contributors represented on the first page out of 4800-odd results. No less than 63 of the 80 images are all from one contributor, are nearly a year old and have only one sale between them. Hardly surprising that our sales there see-saw up and down and are generally in decline. What on earth are DT playing at?

I just looked at this week's DT "featured artist" linked from the tweet in the little box here at the top of the forum, and it's nothing but similars.

When I look at their stats of 5000+ uploads and 2000+ downloads, it amazes me they can churn them out and still have a roof over their head, especially with 5 'employees'.  

Didn't one of the big shots stop uploading to DT due to "lack of professionalism"? 

Gee, I wonder why...

This is what Achilles said at CEPIC:

The price level system of Dreamstime is one of the reasons that causes rejection for submitted series of similar photos: focusing on the best ones there is a greater probability to drive them to the higher levels of price with an advantage for the agency and the photographer.

More info here - http://www.mystockphoto.org/cepic-new-media-conference-making-millions-with-microstock-part-1/

Translation: We only accept one (the best) shot of a series because then we will build the best library there is on the internet which will make lots of money for DT but less for the individual photographer *cough* did I just say that out loud?

Isn't it just terrific that DT is making these hard choices for us instead of simply approving technically correct images?

Approving one shot of a series of garden herbs and claiming it's the best shot of a series is just *cough* not right to make an understatement.

This is to the sole advantage of DT and not the contributors. DT will claim that this will be all for the greater good but what are the new streams of buyers good for if they want my chive image but DT only approved my cilantro...  

How can I remove image from exclusivity on DT?
Incidentally I have set several...

That's a typical case of shots that they would love you to combine to a collage - six or so for the price of one for the buyer! Doesn't it even say so in the reject note?

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