pancakes

MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Author Topic: Experiences after quitting iStock exclusivity.  (Read 60123 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

« Reply #225 on: March 19, 2013, 06:02 »
+4
"You have no right to expect or demand $13 per sale in microstock. That's not what it's about or ever was" (Gostwick)

I'm certainly not going to sell files for cents while I can sell for dollars. That's about shooting, selling and having benefits.


« Reply #226 on: March 19, 2013, 06:04 »
0
I've never looked at those figures before and I'm not sure they have any real value since they don't represent the steep decline in downloads, but in January, mine were:

IS $12.50
GI $32

wds

« Reply #227 on: March 19, 2013, 08:08 »
+1
I'm not interested in resurrecting any drama around here. I thought we'd all grown up by now.

I appreciate the majority of the well wishes and as those of you know who I chat with via messages etc., at the end of the day our interests are the same. I'm not looking for handouts or wooyays. it will be tough for a while and I know it.

Stacey, good luck to you as an independent. I think there may ultimately be many more of us exclusives to follow if things continue as they are at iS.

« Reply #228 on: March 19, 2013, 09:42 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:20 by Audi 5000 »

« Reply #229 on: March 19, 2013, 09:45 »
+2
.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:20 by Audi 5000 »

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #230 on: March 19, 2013, 11:43 »
0
I'm not interested in resurrecting any drama around here. I thought we'd all grown up by now.

I appreciate the majority of the well wishes and as those of you know who I chat with via messages etc., at the end of the day our interests are the same. I'm not looking for handouts or wooyays. it will be tough for a while and I know it.

Stacey, good luck to you as an independent. I think there may ultimately be many more of us exclusives to follow if things continue as they are at iS.

Thank you :-)

Ref: Alamy: I like Alamy. I've been uploading RM and editorial there for a while. I know they are small comparatively, but so far great contributor relations. I plan on putting a lot more up now that I can. The only downside is their upload system; so clunky and time consuming.

lisafx

« Reply #231 on: March 19, 2013, 12:20 »
-3

She even went a couple of rounds with lisafx but looks like they are on the same team now.  :D

I've always liked Stacey personally, and respected her talent and work ethic.  We've disagreed on some issues over the years, but I think we managed to stay on friendly terms even when we've disagreed. 

« Reply #232 on: March 19, 2013, 12:35 »
-1
(...) I want to hear the experiences from members that have quitted the iStock exclusivity and started to work with other agencies.  I want to hear your experiences, sites you've submitted, if you're making much more money than you're doing as exclusive at iStock, size of portfolios, best sellers sites, how long did you take to reach the same income you were doing as exclusive at iStock, are you making more, and so on.


As usual with my posts, going back to the subject and main question.

On my blog http://targoszstock.blogspot.com/ i post exactly what you were looking for. If you have any other questions feel free to send me a targoszstock gmail : )

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #233 on: March 20, 2013, 18:43 »
+4
well, I had my first sales on SS today.

Fotolia and Dreamstime, do they both require 6 month commitment?

« Reply #234 on: March 20, 2013, 18:46 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:20 by Audi 5000 »

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #235 on: March 20, 2013, 21:12 »
0
^ thank you...

shudderstok

« Reply #236 on: March 20, 2013, 22:14 »
0
this may be a moot question, but has anybody done better financially by dropping exclusivity? i have not seen an overwhelming yes.

« Reply #237 on: March 21, 2013, 02:21 »
+1
this may be a moot question, but has anybody done better financially by dropping exclusivity? i have not seen an overwhelming yes.

This may not be so obvious when you look at my sales statistics, however if you take average income over several months, and portfolio size in to account, I am doing definitely better.

« Reply #238 on: March 21, 2013, 10:28 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:20 by Audi 5000 »

« Reply #239 on: March 22, 2013, 03:29 »
+1
Yes, these are video stats only.

You say stagnant, I say stable - on a level that IS came close three times only.

I believe my last months of IS exclusivity were a rollercoaster as it was throughout all the years. By accident it only seems to be a trend. I bet if I stayed exclusive i would have a month with quarter the income very soon, as it has happened in the past.

Other than that, these IS statistics have some getty sales within. I will redo the chart someday to separate them from the dark gray bar. My portfolio is still available on getty, just no more sales.

« Reply #240 on: March 22, 2013, 09:06 »
+1
well, I had my first sales on SS today.

Fotolia and Dreamstime, do they both require 6 month commitment?

Congrats on your first sale at SS, Stacey!

I've seen negative news here about Fotolia. I can't recall the specifics (I hope someone else can chime in with a few highlights), but I figure that since I left IS exclusivity partly due to trends that were anti-contributor, I would just be making a deal with the devil I don't know if I linked up with Fotolia. A year or two back I was excited about them but am under the impression now that they've started down IS's path. If I am mistaken, I'll take it back.

I had enough frustration with DT back before becoming exclusive that I won't work with them again.

For me going forward, it's co-ops and agencies that pay 50% commissions or better. I will contribute to SS also, because they're a major player with good sales that's been transparent with contributors. I still have a soft spot for Jon from the time(s) they gave contributors a raise back in the day. Imagine that!  ;)

« Reply #241 on: March 22, 2013, 09:46 »
0
well, I had my first sales on SS today.

Fotolia and Dreamstime, do they both require 6 month commitment?

Congrats on your first sale at SS, Stacey!

I've seen negative news here about Fotolia. I can't recall the specifics (I hope someone else can chime in with a few highlights), but I figure that since I left IS exclusivity partly due to trends that were anti-contributor, I would just be making a deal with the devil I don't know if I linked up with Fotolia. A year or two back I was excited about them but am under the impression now that they've started down IS's path. If I am mistaken, I'll take it back.

I had enough frustration with DT back before becoming exclusive that I won't work with them again.

For me going forward, it's co-ops and agencies that pay 50% commissions or better. I will contribute to SS also, because they're a major player with good sales that's been transparent with contributors. I still have a soft spot for Jon from the time(s) they gave contributors a raise back in the day. Imagine that!  ;)

i am also interested to hear about Fotolia, i have joined but i can also unjoin


« Reply #242 on: March 22, 2013, 10:11 »
+2
Quote from: susandaniels link=topic=15170.msg305548#msg305548
i am also interested to hear about Fotolia, i have joined but i can also unjoin

I started deleting images from Fotolia at the same time as iStock dropped royalties, and for the same reasons.  Fotolia has reduced royalties three times, and increased the thresholds to reach higher levels at the same time.  One time when they cut my rate they offered to reinstate it; all I had to do was give them a couple of dozen of my best sellers to give away.  Needless to say, I didn't accept.  But the regular moving of goalposts was enough to make me walk away.  There's also the currency exchange games they play, where suppliers who are paid in Euros get more money than those of us paid in dollars.  Suffice it to say that I don't trust them.  And given how far my sales there have fallen (they're down to 1.4% of my total over this past year), it's no sacrifice to stop uploading there and to continue deleting what's left.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2013, 11:35 by disorderly »

« Reply #243 on: March 22, 2013, 15:18 »
0
 Lucato, Regarding Alamy, the sales vary very much month by month but it's definitely worth uploading there. I'm surprised you haven't heard of them. You can also upload your RF images there (same images as on the micros). I have a small port (approx 300 images) but managed to sell 1 image for 1300 last year (I got 40%). They made more for me last year than any micro but that was just a lucky year I think.

Good luck to you.

« Reply #244 on: November 29, 2013, 09:15 »
0


 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
20 Replies
8561 Views
Last post June 01, 2008, 18:02
by DanP68
4 Replies
3369 Views
Last post February 06, 2010, 20:50
by Jo Ann Snover
4 Replies
2802 Views
Last post February 04, 2013, 08:48
by gostwyck
8 Replies
4206 Views
Last post January 17, 2017, 14:08
by umdash9
9 Replies
5935 Views
Last post October 24, 2020, 08:29
by wds

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors