Cancelled my iStock exclusivity - Good or bad?

[shudderstok]

I actually like istock myself. I hope they will get back on track and I want hesitate to get back.

agree

me too

[AYA]

Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?

Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.

tx!

[leaf]

Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?

Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.

tx!

I tried Octopus again the other day and it looks like they had stopped supporting it.  Try microstock submitter instead!

[leaf]

... and what town are you in Kjetil??  I'm in NOrway as well.

[kjekol]

Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?

Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.

tx!

Hi Newby 514,

Sorry, I saw your post just now. This is a bit difficult to say because iStock sales was decreasing for me in the end of 2012 and in 2013.

I cancelled my istock exclusivity march 2013. It took me until the end of 2014 to get a "normal" sales level on all the new agencies. Now I have approximately the same return per image as the good days at iStock (2012 - Q1, 2013). So better than being exclusive at iStock these days I guess. Many say their sales at istock are slow now.

At Istock I earned almost everything in two genres of photos. Now I earn in different genres on many agencies.

My conclusion is that I don't regret to be non-exclusive.

Regards,
Kjetil

[Dumc]

Well, I guess he's got his anwaser.

After two years. LOL.

[wds]

Kjekol,
I just sumbled on this post and I was wondering what your experience has been so far after leaving exclusivity. Have you matched your income by uploading to many agencies?

Also, how are you finding Octopus? I am looking for an submitting site and I was curious to get your opinion.

tx!

Thanks for the feedback. What has been your experience regarding income from "the big three" (iS, SS, Fot) vs. the smaller players. Are the smaller players worth the overhead of uploading to?

Hi Newby 514,

Sorry, I saw your post just now. This is a bit difficult to say because iStock sales was decreasing for me in the end of 2012 and in 2013.

I cancelled my istock exclusivity march 2013. It took me until the end of 2014 to get a "normal" sales level on all the new agencies. Now I have approximately the same return per image as the good days at iStock (2012 - Q1, 2013). So better than being exclusive at iStock these days I guess. Many say their sales at istock are slow now.

At Istock I earned almost everything in two genres of photos. Now I earn in different genres on many agencies.

My conclusion is that I don't regret to be non-exclusive.

Regards,
Kjetil

 Thanks for the feedback
What has been your experience income wise of the the "big three" (SS, iS, Fot) vs. the smaller players? In your view is it worth bothering with the smaller agencies?

[weymouth]

Courageous move and wish you all luck!  I can say this, I am Double-Diamond at IS and I have like six sales per day, hundereds at SS and dozens at Adobe/FT per day that is.
No matter what, the climate right now is of such nature that exclusivity is a non affordable avenue and not even an option.

I think you've done the right move.

[fritz]

Same here! I'm diamond as well but yesterday had 1 sale at iStock. Sad

[Sean Locke Photography]

Same here! I'm diamond as well but yesterday had 1 sale at iStock. Sad

Egads.   I'd be living in a van down by the river if I was still there and doing 1 sale a day.  Just looking back at a random month, October of 2010, I had 12,623 downloads.

[weymouth]

Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.

My God!  whatever happened

[StanRohrer]

1421 downloads for me in Nov 2005. 342 in Oct 2010. 31 in Sept 2015. iS Exclusive the whole way. Ugh!

[ShadySue]

Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.

My God!  whatever happened

Poor management and greed; then Yuri project-managing, apparently, since last June. Notice he's keeping a remarkably low profile these days.

[weymouth]

Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.

My God!  whatever happened

Poor management and greed; then Yuri project-managing, apparently, since last June. Notice he's keeping a remarkably low profile these days.

Now when you mention it, not a word since he left, didn't he leave SS as well? going with GI?  or was it the other way around. Can't remember.

[ShadySue]

Its down out frightening to look back like that. I just did the same and also picked October 2010. I nearly fell off my chair: 5854 sales.

My God!  whatever happened

Poor management and greed; then Yuri project-managing, apparently, since last June. Notice he's keeping a remarkably low profile these days.

Now when you mention it, not a word since he left, didn't he leave SS as well? going with GI?  or was it the other way around. Can't remember.

http://arcurs.com/2013/07/microstock-sees-its-first-major-setback-in-6-years-and-here-is-why
(What is the white snot coming from that boy's nose all about?)

http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/can-istock-turn-midstock-sales-around
�Having just spent 3 days at GI in New York and today in Seattle with the IT exes I believe that very interesting things are in the pipeline for IS. Did I have a say in the upcoming changes... Yes - for sure. That being said. The GI top exe dev guys are highly competent and more flexible and agile towards change that I would have imagined. We are working on a set of core site improvements that will dramatically improve user experience and ultimately sales. Only thing that I can say now: Give IS three months and see the changes for yourself.
�Shutterstock might be in for a bit more competition than they expected, especially if GI has me project managing the development team and we utilize the two things GI has that nobody else has: 1. The best images in the world. 2. The best editors in the world. The best images displays that the world has ever seen is just around the corner. Watch this space!�

[ShadySue]

Same here! I'm diamond as well but yesterday had 1 sale at iStock. Sad

Egads.   I'd be living in a van down by the river if I was still there and doing 1 sale a day.  Just looking back at a random month, October of 2010, I had 12,623 downloads.

The way they treated you was shocking; but maybe it was tough love for your own good.
Probably not, just ironic in that the 'push' helped you in the long run.

[fritz]

They use to be Rolls Royce in the stock industry! Look at them now old rusty Lada ready for car graveyard

[weymouth]

Getty and IS should separate. Its not a healthy partnership anymore.

[kjekol]

Hi wds,

Here is how my income is spread over the agencies:

Shutterstock 40%
iStock (incl PP, subs and getty) 27,9%
Fotolia 10%
123RF 6%
Bigstock 5%
Pond5 5% (almost just video sales)
Dreamstime 5%
Depositphotos 3%

Canstock, Veer, Alamy - almost no sales

I think the sales varies on the different sites dependent of the contents of your portfolio.

I use Stocksubmitter for upload to all sites. Uploading to 10 sites takes the same time as uploading to three sites.

Hope this answer your question!

Regards,
Kjetil

Thanks for the feedback
What has been your experience income wise of the the "big three" (SS, iS, Fot) vs. the smaller players? In your view is it worth bothering with the smaller agencies?

[wds]

Hi wds,

Here is how my income is spread over the agencies:

Shutterstock 40%
iStock (incl PP, subs and getty) 27,9%
Fotolia 10%
123RF 6%
Bigstock 5%
Pond5 5% (almost just video sales)
Dreamstime 5%
Depositphotos 3%

Canstock, Veer, Alamy - almost no sales

I think the sales varies on the different sites dependent of the contents of your portfolio.

I use Stocksubmitter for upload to all sites. Uploading to 10 sites takes the same time as uploading to three sites.

Hope this answer your question!

Regards,
Kjetil

Thanks for the feedback
What has been your experience income wise of the the "big three" (SS, iS, Fot) vs. the smaller players? In your view is it worth bothering with the smaller agencies?

Thanks!