MicrostockGroup

Both Vetta & agency collections are edited. You can submit a limited number of your new images each month but the editors decide what's in or out. No appeal, no discussion. You can look at the existing collections to see what the editors like, and once you're exclusive you can see the Vetta & Agency forums where people show their latest rejected images (not to get anything changed, but to commiserate).

The big win is that your prices are higher (not just your royalty rate) and arguably you get better search placement. Photos+ allows independents to effectively sell a portion of their portfolio at exclusive prices (2 credits for XS vs. 1 credit, for example). If you search these forums you will find many prior threads on the pros and cons including this recent one.

thanks for the helpful info;)
yes that's me;)  i have not submitted to istock much but i am curious! I have been cautious about microstock so far but i have experimented with the different agencies... 

...i didn't know the process is the same for submitting for vetta and agency

so once i go exclusive i'm allowed to submit a few per week and its all up to the editors?

Right. If you get a lot accepted you can ask for a higher quota and they might give you more slots, but that's discretionary. Back at the beginning of Vetta there were requests to have a Vetta critique forum - where you could get feedback on why a file you submitted didn't make the cut. The admins who run that editing process said no - quite bluntly - and it has been asked many times. It is also now the case (as of last September) that you get a lower royalty rate on Vetta/Agency than you do on the rest of your iStock sales, and that there is a large pile of Getty content that got fast-tracked into the Agency collection, so there's competition from off site as well.

The Vetta/Agency stuff is mirrored at Getty Images (no opt out; you have to if you've opted in to Vetta/Agency) and the results were very mixed as to how much extra business came that way. And of course any sales via Getty were at 20% and no RC for the sale.

Given that I just returned to independence after nearly 3 years as an exclusive, you may want to take into account that I am not the most likely candidate to talk you into exclusivity

Hi JS,

 Can you tell me how to see what images a photographer has in Vetta and TAC. I am not quite sure how to find them on the Istock site. I can find them on Getty but not Istock. Thanks for the help, that goes to anyone that can help this feeble photographer.

Thanks,
Jonathan

Feeble! Very droll sir

I wish there were a Vetta/Agency price choice in the slider, but you have to know that Agency is the top tier and Vetta is the next one, E+  the third. You may get some audio or video in there, but you can check the Photos box on the left to see only images.

Thanks everyone I appreciate the help.

Best,
Jonathan