MicrostockGroup

I don't see why people that weren't contributing to Fotolia before wouldn't want to now.  There is strong momentum with increased visibility in the market and the commission rate for photographers is so much higher than it is at I-stock.  Doesn't I-Stock pay somewhere around 20% commissions?  At Fotolia I am getting 55% commission and can charge $5 for XS files and $30 for XL if I want to (though I choose the $3-$18 range instead).

Whoever posted about the professionalism of micro-stock hit the nail on the head in my opinion.  It's not a market for amateurs anymore.  So many of the big dogs have made the switch.  The switchover from macro to micro reminds me of the reluctance to switch from film to digital.  It took a while to get the ball rolling but once it did there was no stopping it.

It's not true. Fotolia doesn't pay 55% commission to non exclusive so why you compare it to non exclusive commission at IS?
And dont forget a footage. Fotolia's deal is the worst in this industry. 3,5$ for HD video!
An
My earnings (total and per download) are much, much higher at Istock. Talking about porcentage is useless. Only money in my pocket count.
And now most important point : I just don't trust Fotolia anymore. They can give something today and take it back tomorrow. They change rules (subscriptions, rankings, commissions...). They take back our money too. Recently they took 400$ from Jason Stitt' account.
There is no this kind of problems at Istock. IS is thieves free.

I'm not sure what the commission rate is for exclusive or non at I-stock so I apologize if I misquoted.  I was referring to the commission rate I personally receive at FT.  What is the commission rate at I-stock?  I remember a comparable debate about this last year and I remember being surprised at how much lower the commission rate was at I-stock with so many people vehemently defending them. 

I agree with you about the money in pocket stat being the most important.  For me, I've seen consistent and dramatic increases in activity at FT and I think many others have too.  My money in pocket stat keeps going up so I keep on feeling pretty good about my decision to be an exclusive contributor there.

I don't think so. If they are looking to attract istock exclusives, they needed to make the offering public, to let them now about it.

I think his profile picture might explain how he's feeling if thats the case.

Are you talking about Oleg's shoe?

I don't know the answer to whether or not this option is open to existing contributors.  I doubt if it is as I don't think it would make a lot of sense from a business standpoint but that is an uneducated guess.  You are mistaken as  I'm not an employee of Fotolia.  I have been a member there since the beginning and had taken an active role in the forum years ago.  It (the forum) was essentially un-moderated and got a bit out of hand so myself and another active contributor Christina aka Kerioak from the UK volunteered to moderate the forum.  I have always been a glass is half full kind of guy.  Lets be honest, pretty much any time any change is made people tend to immediately freak out rather than think it all the way through and view it from all perspectives.  Just because it doesn't necessarily benefit me right now doesn't mean it won't in the long run.  If more high end, professional stock photographers are recruited to Fotolia that would serve me by increasing traffic from buyers as the FT reputation will continue to grow and pick up more momentum.  That is good for me, good for all at FT.

Just my .02,

Mat

Are you sure that expanding the FT reputation is a good thing?   

I appreciate your honesty and I think a lot of us hope for the best with any change as well. Although, we all have been burned before, so we plan for the worst too. If it is not for the existing contributors, it just doesn't make sense to a lot of us that we could delete our portfolios and get emerald status tomorrow instead of several years from now by keeping our portfolio on Fotolia. Personally, I'd endure the pain of reuploading my entire portfolio to have a shortcut to emerald.

Well, I applied and filled out the form. I figured there was nothing to lose.

To anyone that filled out the form, did you see the "Add More" button that they were referring to on the form?

I couldn't see the button either.

Thanks for your response Matt - I didn't mean that you work for them, just that you know more of what's going on there.

The reason it would be a good business decision is that it would put back a bit of goodwill amongst contributors, particularly those that feel burned by the change in the rankings system.  It would be an extra reason NOT to go exclusive to IS, and that it wouldn't actually affect that many contributors.

Financially FT benefits by having more files at higher prices - while the % commission drops, the total $ will actually increase.

I talked to Jennifer from Fotolia at Photoplus today and she told me that current Fotolia contributors would not qualify for 'Operation Level Ground'