Semi new at stock, in high need for pieces of advice ;-)

Autumnleaves

New Member

« on: September 01, 2010, 15:32 »

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Hi all!
I'm a semi new. I mean by that that Photostock world isn't new for me, but I'm looking more expert people to advice.

I'm exclusive at Dreamstime agency, but I think it's time to expand and I would like to try other agencies. I don't know anything about the others, so I would be very very grateful if someone can illustrate me. I've been said that the best is Shutterstock, but that it requires to send 10 pictures and get 7 approved. What about the sales there? are they consistent? and the refusals?

Istockphoto seems the second one, but no idea about them, what standards do they have? are them very though?

I'm not professional, not have a great equipment, neither study, flashes or lights. I do my illumination taks with natural light at my terrace Roll Eyes

IWhat I have heard about fotolia don't like me very much

and the rest: 123, bigstock, etc... seems to be lower earners.

Now in my Dreamtime exclusive situation I have some privileges: 60% revenue per download, 0,20 cents per approved file, better serach engine position... If I quit exclusivity I'm sure my earnings there will drop 60 or 70% so I must try to compensate with other agencies.

Pardon my big speech, but seems that this forums are full of pros and good microstockers with a lot of experience in this world and knowledge.

So all advices and words will be welcome

Thank you for your attention!!!


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« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2010, 16:54 »

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You could first read the only two blogs I find really interesting (as to your question):

http://www.microstockdiaries.com/
http://www.microstockinsider.com/

In my opinion, ShutterStock is the one to go for first. Before you do, put your images up full size here for review. You can use dropbox.com for that. Just put on a light watermark but upload full size full quality.


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Autumnleaves

New Member

« Reply #2 on: September 06, 2010, 14:33 »

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Thank you for your answer!


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gaja

« Reply #3 on: September 06, 2010, 14:56 »

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This is how my income at DT dropped, when I went from exclusive to independent.


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« Reply #4 on: September 07, 2010, 07:35 »

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Quote from: gaja on September 06, 2010, 14:56

This is how my income at DT dropped, when I went from exclusive to independent.

Interesting stuff!! But what about your total income? Did it (over)compensate?


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gaja

« Reply #5 on: September 07, 2010, 08:17 »

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My port is miniscule, please keep that in mind when looking at my data.

It didn't take many months before Istock and Shutterstock together equalled my top month at Dreamstime (with only half of the pictures due to upload limits and stricter acceptance). The other agencies are bonuses. The reason I quit was to be able to sell some pics as RM, not because I was unhappy with DT. But a larger total income is of course positive.

Note: the downhill trend started before I quit the exclusivity.


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Autumnleaves

New Member

« Reply #6 on: September 10, 2010, 11:29 »

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Yeah I'm conscient that DT revenue will drop drastically, since as exclusive you get 60% but as independent you get only 30% so I hope SS can compensate the loss


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« Reply #7 on: September 11, 2010, 14:47 »

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Quote from: gaja on September 07, 2010, 08:17

The reason I quit was to be able to sell some pics as RM, not because I was unhappy with DT.

Yes, DT exclusivity would be a lot more attractive without the RM exclusion.

Quote from: gaja on September 07, 2010, 08:17

Note: the downhill trend started before I quit the exclusivity.

June-July were horrible for me on DT too. September up till 9, they sold more than SS (due to an EL).


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Autumnleaves

New Member

« Reply #8 on: September 21, 2010, 07:56 »

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What about 123rf and bigstock?? are the sales coming regularly??

and what about canstock and deposit? it's worth to submit there??

THANK YOU!!!!


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nicmac

New Member

« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2010, 23:18 »

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I've had over 250 photos accepted at Bigstock since June and strangely enough only a couple seem to be selling over and over while the rest doesn't. I uploaded mostly best sellers at IS and SS so I'm surprised by this kind of secular performance. Their rates are nice though with the lowest commission at 50 cents - none of these insulting 19-22 cents sales you get at IS or FT.

You do not mention Veer, and you should. I've had steady sales there with great commissions and their dash for cash promotion brought me over $850 just for uploading, and I think they'll become a major player in the years to come. For the short time they've been active in microstock the seem to be doing very well and are worthy of our attention.


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leaf

Premium Member

« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2010, 02:09 »

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Quote from: Autumnleaves on September 21, 2010, 07:56

What about 123rf and bigstock?? are the sales coming regularly??

and what about canstock and deposit? it's worth to submit there??

THANK YOU!!!!

yeah 123rf and bigstock are good. So is Canstock. Everything below those sites on the poll on the right are debatable. Veer is good for some others have a hard time with it. I have seen some good sales there though. Deposit Photos is still pretty slow for me.


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Rculleton

New Member

« Reply #11 on: October 06, 2010, 06:19 »

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To put a slightly different spin on things, although the big players are good on paper, it has been worth my while to go with smaller sites like Photaki.com. I felt like I got more attention and decent commission rates.

Maybe the big ones work for most, but I just wouldn´t rule out the smaller companies without a thorough investigation!!


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Rculleton

New Member

« Reply #12 on: October 06, 2010, 06:23 »

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microstockphoto.co.uk

« Reply #13 on: October 06, 2010, 07:40 »

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Some minor sites work if you have a large share of their total number of pictures.
If they have less than 1M pics, and we have a port of a few thousands, then we can get a decent % of their sales.
But once people discover this, the game is over.

(I'm speaking in general, not about Photaki which I never tried and cannot tell about it)


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« Reply #14 on: October 06, 2010, 08:29 »

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Quote from: microstockphoto.co.uk on October 06, 2010, 07:40

But once people discover this, the game is over.

Yuri is on Photaki with almost all of his port. So you can forget it. Wink


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microstockphoto.co.uk

« Reply #15 on: October 06, 2010, 13:22 »

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Quote from: FD-regular on October 06, 2010, 08:29

Quote from: microstockphoto.co.uk on October 06, 2010, 07:40

But once people discover this, the game is over.

Yuri is on Photaki with almost all of his port. So you can forget it. Wink

Yuri is everywhere... every time I find a new microstock site, he's already there

Good for him... uploading to every site is a great way to monitor the whole market, to be there in case one of the low sellers turns into the next big one, and also to support minor sites

Unfortunately for many of us, it's just too time consuming and we have to make an educated guess about which sites are worth


« Last Edit: October 06, 2010, 13:29 by microstockphoto.co.uk »	Ignore \| Logged

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