Fotolia 43.000.000 images database
your images: 100
= % 0.0002325581395348837

Fotolia sells slightly faster than 123RF, but way slower than SS.

Comparing Fotolia to SS is like comparing a turtle to a hare. From my experience so far, files does sell on Fotolia, but it takes a while. There's quite a bit of spam (with high visibility) on Fotolia compared to SS and it makes it harder for buyers to discover your files.

Thanks for your useful inputs Hongover and Mat.

@Mat, I don't want to show my work due to many reasons... (one of them is, I don't want to get copied) Hope you understand. Thanks again.

Since "getting sales" depends on your work, there's no way to answer your question.  It isn't like a slot machine where randomly every image gets a sale.

Agree, that's why I think this not only a game of numbers.

But if you're not getting sales, then it's likely that no one would want to copy them anyways, so you might as well post.

I just started with Fotolia 2 weeks ago. And selling images in SS and 123RF for more than 2 years, and I'm doing fine at the moment in those sites (as I think)

Two weeks is way too short a time to be worrying about sales.  Different images sell at different rates on various agencies.  On average it looks like the action on FT is about 25% of what it is on SS according to the poll on the right.  For you, zero sales on 100 images in two weeks is normal.  My experience is that images often get DLs faster on SS but FT picks up eventually.  For me, I usually earn from 2-7 cents per accepted image per month at FT, which I assume is low.  If yours sell at the same rate then no DLs in two weeks with 100 images is about right.  Once you have 1000 for a few months you will have a better idea.

I started uploading around Jan 2015 and it seems my sales have picked up a lot after Adobe took over. The sales aren't as good as  Shutterstock but I would say they are my # 2 at the present. I really liked what Adobe has done so far.

Hehe, I remember my first sale on SS, I thought to my self "wow, someone actually wants to buy my photos", it was 0,25cents sub sale of a deer.

Today, the average new microstocker would need to uplod a thousand imges to make a claim, especially in a short time. As stated in an earlier post agencies generally are different as to when they sell. 50 images, 200 images, 300 images wont really tell you anything other than if you dont get any sales you can thank the other 50 bazillion images, the search, and your content. I used to upload 30 or so images on ss eight years ago and would make $40 in a day just on my new stuff, a day or two after uploading. Kiss those days goodbye.

I have couple of stupid questions to ask, sorry for that. Here we go...
1. Where should I enter my paypal email address to withdraw my sales money from Fotolia?
2. Does 50 credits mean $50? I'm using their US site.
Thanks!

Yes 50 credits means 50$.

I'm not sure about paypal address. Try to click "Covnvert credits" and enter your paypal address there.

Thanks!

FT was #5 for me, for a long, long time. Now #2. Go ADOBE!!!

FT was my #2 since the istock debacle in 2011 - but when Adobe took over sales started to crumble, and it fell far behind istock again. Nowadays I have to rely on the constant growth at SS. Go Shutterstock!

For me just one word. Brilliant! its my number two site and closing in fast on number one. Its not just all money thinking though, the site is working perfectly, the search promotes new files instantly and mixed with old content.
The people seem to know exactly what they are doing and thats half the battle.

I couldn't have put it better myself. Everything on FT has its own rhythm and it sticks to it, no glitches, no delays. As the big sales on SS dried out, FT is my #1. As said above, its not just all money thinking.
They do what they are meant to do, sell, without much ado and unnecessary shows. I hope it will stay this way under the Adobe domination.

No change for me. Tootles along.  Number 3 (just)(almost 4). Same as it always has been. Pretty much as on the right.
Loads of 29c sales or thereabouts.  Need a lot of them to make real money.
The odd 12.50 is rare and as good as it gets.

Yeah, same here.  I saw a bump after Adobe took over, but now has gone back to the usual. Still only around 1/3 of SS. 

Always been a good no 2 for me - just wish they could sort out their ridiculous categories.

No change for me. Tootles along.  Number 3 (just)(almost 4). Same as it always has been. Pretty much as on the right.
Loads of 29c sales or thereabouts.  Need a lot of them to make real money.
The odd 12.50 is rare and as good as it gets.

My husband is the stock producer and I am by trade a researcher. Your question got me thinking about the variability in our earnings from each site. Because we are still new, earnings totals are still heavily influenced by increasing portfolio sizes. So I compared the standard deviation of RPI  per month on each of the sites. Sure enough, SS has more variability (.07 cents is the standard deviation) compared to Fotolia (.02 cents is the SD). This difference is likely caused by many of the sentiments shared in this thread and is, most specifically, related to your comment about the odd higher sales. SS has more variability because of the extreme sales whereas Fotolia's income is more certain. I can better predict my income in a given month for Fotolia than I can for SS.

I hope someone enjoys the nerd rant and am happy to explain if anyone is more curious about the implications of my dorky analyses.

These statistics aside, I'd like to say that we, too, have seen a pretty big increase in sales on Fotolia since August, with our RPI per month nearly doubling from pre-August to August. September is on track to be better than August.

Quote from: PZF on September 16, 2015, 12:34

No change for me. Tootles along.  Number 3 (just)(almost 4). Same as it always has been. Pretty much as on the right.
Loads of 29c sales or thereabouts.  Need a lot of them to make real money.
The odd 12.50 is rare and as good as it gets.

My husband is the stock producer and I am by trade a researcher. Your question got me thinking about the variability in our earnings from each site. Because we are still new, earnings totals are still heavily influenced by increasing portfolio sizes. So I compared the standard deviation of RPI  per month on each of the sites. Sure enough, SS has more variability (.07 cents is the standard deviation) compared to Fotolia (.02 cents is the SD). This difference is likely caused by many of the sentiments shared in this thread and is, most specifically, related to your comment about the odd higher sales. SS has more variability because of the extreme sales whereas Fotolia's income is more certain. I can better predict my income in a given month for Fotolia than I can for SS.

I hope someone enjoys the nerd rant and am happy to explain if anyone is more curious about the implications of my dorky analyses.

These statistics aside, I'd like to say that we, too, have seen a pretty big increase in sales on Fotolia since August, with our RPI per month nearly doubling from pre-August to August. September is on track to be better than August.

Will you marry me? lol

Hello,

I just started with Fotolia two weeks ago and i got 12 sales. My first sale i had on day two allready. Next to that my kind of photos are very average. So i can say that sales on Fotolia are going very well. For sure there is some movements going on and i can say Fotolia is more then worth it.

Mirco

FT took a long time (+4 yrs) but it's finally on fire...while I can't claim sales anywhere near what I earn on SS or IS, its rapidly my 3rd top earner.  FT is hassle-free.  No nonsense with reviews.  Their support team in very responsive.  I've received personal emails from them thanking me for contributing and responding to suggestions I made on their forum.  They have a human side that none of the other agencies have.  I love FT <3

Are we on the same agency? it's the exact opposite here, sales couldn't get any worse (also 4 years), then there's an autistic reviewer that has to reject 1 image in every batch and support is amongst the worst. Human side? You must have a high in demand port to receive such treatment.

Where are you from? I think Fotolia suits us Europeans more - less shiny happy people content and more euro specific

Of course a lot depends on your content. You can have a port of 5K files just ordinary every day stuff and you be lucky to see one sale, you can also have a high commercial port of just 1K files and you get 50 sales per day.

On the whole, Adobe/FT and right now and given the fact of being a smaller agency, is outselling SS, their support and contributor communication is to be envied by other agencies and THIS is exactly where and why they score.

Honestly! if I was SS I would take off my suit and tie, get my hands dirty, dive down in the mud and grit and do something.

Not for me. I used to make a few hundred a month (up to 500) now I barely make 50, does that tell you enough? Their contributor support is not any better then all other agencies, on the contrary. Matt is a good guy though, well I hope he's not as sneaky as the rest anyway.

SS best september. I'm no fan of any agency because they are all doing their best to rip us off but if it wasn't for SS I would have been out of this business a long time ago. Despite showing some bad months SS can still deliver, something I cannot say about FT or any other agency, down and down they go.
FT is dead for me. I have already removed hundreds of files and will continue to do so. They once threatened me when I complained about their reviewers, I should have left them back then.
I am with 6 micro agencies and to be honest SS is the only one I still care about and upload to, the rest will vanish.
Good luck guys!

Quote from: MScontributor on October 03, 2015, 04:30

Quote from: weymouth on October 03, 2015, 03:20

Of course a lot depends on your content. You can have a port of 5K files just ordinary every day stuff and you be lucky to see one sale, you can also have a high commercial port of just 1K files and you get 50 sales per day.

On the whole, Adobe/FT and right now and given the fact of being a smaller agency, is outselling SS, their support and contributor communication is to be envied by other agencies and THIS is exactly where and why they score.

Honestly! if I was SS I would take off my suit and tie, get my hands dirty, dive down in the mud and grit and do something.

Not for me. I used to make a few hundred a month (up to 500) now I barely make 50, does that tell you enough? Their contributor support is not any better then all other agencies, on the contrary. Matt is a good guy though, well I hope he's not as sneaky as the rest anyway.

SS best september. I'm no fan of any agency because they are all doing their best to rip us off but if it wasn't for SS I would have been out of this business a long time ago. Despite showing some bad months SS can still deliver, something I cannot say about FT or any other agency, down and down they go.
FT is dead for me. I have already removed hundreds of files and will continue to do so. They once threatened me when I complained about their reviewers, I should have left them back then.
I am with 6 micro agencies and to be honest SS is the only one I still care about and upload to, the rest will vanish.
Good luck guys!

hey!  " rip-off"  welcome to the micro industry, do you think the car or fashion, restaurant, industrial businesses are any different?

I wouldn't be so sure about SS if I were you, the bigger they are the harder they fall and right now they are going through a shakey time thats for sure. I am earning a small fortune with SS so don't get me wrong but I still don't trust it. They could very well launch a royalty cut by Monday.

True, all industry is the same.
Like I said, I'm not a fan of any agency, they all have their ways.
If SS disappeared though would you still have any interest in uploading to microstock? I wouldn't.
I have been thinking about leaving this business many times but for now SS still makes it worth it.
anyway, enough said, this thread is about Fotolia 

Fewer but BETTER the competition has made things too easy for S Stock

You bet I would!!!!!!!!  60 million pics less, thats a big chunk. In this business the last thing we need is more agencies, we need less agencies, less pictures. Buyers will still come. They have no choice if they want pictures.

Many moons ago I could be sentimental about certain agencies but since then I have learnt plenty. I have learnt to look after myself because no agency will and here today but gone tomorrow.

It's always a lose-lose situation for us. There is no strategy to beat the system, they decide what happens to your sales or exposure. If FT drops tomorrow and SS goes up then what? praise SS and put down FT again?
Overall earnings have always been way higher on SS then FT for me (and many others) and that is the most important factor if I want to look after myself. I do not want to waste time waiting for agencies to pick up again, they are in or out.

I have seen many people complaining about diminishing sales and what not while they just continue to upload like mad. How on earth does that help them? No wonder agencies rip us off, many contributors have no dignity, no self respect. I have quit many agencies and continue to do so. Great more for you right? wrong, I feel that it's this kind of mentality that has destroyed this business. Too much talk and not enough action.
Remember Yuri's action? I loved it. Maybe he left money on the table but I'm sure his actions were taken because he needed to feel good about those he worked with and more importantly feel more secure financially.
Nah, not much good left to say about this industry, we can only keep up appearance. Just look how many posts are about new shady deals or royalty cuts. Deep down we know we're doomed, just a matter of time. I love it when new people brag about their success in the forums only to see their downfall after a few years.
OK, wasted enough time on this topic, good luck to you Weymouth and all contributors!