Author Topic: For Independent Submitters Only: What Stock Agency Do You Feel Is Best? (Read 12435 times)

GeoPappas · « **on:** December 19, 2008, 14:20 »

NOTE: PLEASE ONLY VOTE IN THIS POLL IF YOU ARE AN INDEPENDENT.

As the question asks, which stock agency do you feel is best (from a submitters point of view)?

I am wondering what submitters (photographers, illustrators, CGI artists, etc) feel is the best agency.

You can vote anonymously and don't need to leave a response if you don't want, but if you want you can leave the reason for your vote as well.

FYI: I only included the top 7 sites, since they are the largest, and ordered the sites in the poll according to the "Microstock Poll Results" (on the right side of this page).

Fred · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2008, 14:22 »

It varies for me - too small a portfolio for consistent results probably - but I like the one that pays the most. Right now that is Stockexpert - but if I get back to uploading regularly it will probably change to Shutterstock.

fred

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #2 on:** December 19, 2008, 14:26 »

I use only four and am boycotting two. I like the Cutcaster Model and have pretty much commited to it. Sure wish I had some sales to show for it.

hali · « **Reply #3 on:** December 19, 2008, 14:36 »

voted.

MikLav · « **Reply #4 on:** December 19, 2008, 14:58 »

I can't vote because there is no one "best" for me - one is "best" for user interface, another is "best" for sales (and that isn't always the same one), yet another is "best" for rejections feedback, etc...

AVAVA · « **Reply #5 on:** December 19, 2008, 15:00 »

I voted.

Best,
AVAVA

lisafx · « **Reply #6 on:** December 19, 2008, 15:38 »

Me too.

I think all the sites have their good points, but I think the site that consistently excels in all areas is Dreamstime.

So much for keeping my opinion to myself, LOL

madelaide · « **Reply #7 on:** December 19, 2008, 15:47 »

I'm very happy with StockXpert, except for this month's sales, which dropped absurdly - it's currently my 6th earner. I would be very happy with DT if they allowed me to opt out subs.

Regards,
Adelaide

RGebbiePhoto · « **Reply #8 on:** December 19, 2008, 15:49 »

We voted for Dreamstime.

Shutterstock is good, but they do not offer exclusive images, and if you don't feed the beast, your sales decline.

Dreamstime offers a higher percentage on exclusive images, and the better your image does, the more money you make.

If we had to pick one agency to go exclusive with, it would be DT, and happily.

vonkara · « **Reply #9 on:** December 19, 2008, 15:56 »

Thats a pretty hard one. I voted for Dreamstime but if you was asking me 6 months ago I would not. But now i think they have a great search engine. I like the way it work using the title and a bit of the description. The acceptance ratio play also. It make things clear and this is the way I like it...

melastmohican · « **Reply #10 on:** December 19, 2008, 17:04 »

It's to short for me to answer. I know that only SS gives me regular payouts so obviously I voted for it. Others are pretty erratic. I Was thinking that StockXpert would be next best but this month they were outperformed by 123RF, DT and FT :-)

Pixart · « **Reply #11 on:** December 19, 2008, 17:06 »

DT all the way. For me this year they have made only 60% of what SS has earned, but they are far more consistent with everything: sales, reviews, customer service. They seem to constantly make improvements, enter new partnerships and I really like their price structures.

lagereek · « **Reply #12 on:** December 19, 2008, 17:21 »

Its a bad question, all have good and bad points you know and everything isnt about money, earnings. I will give you the most Un-professionally run agency: Hellman-Friedman.

lisafx · « **Reply #13 on:** December 19, 2008, 17:25 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 19, 2008, 17:21

Its a bad question, all have good and bad points you know and everything isnt about money, earnings. I will give you the most Un-professionally run agency: Hellman-Friedman.

^^ LOL!
Wonder how many will get this reference?

AVAVA · « **Reply #14 on:** December 19, 2008, 17:34 »

AH Lagereek,

You are a funny guy. We must sit and enjoy a beverage some day.

Best,
AVAVA

lobby · « **Reply #15 on:** December 19, 2008, 18:10 »

Is not my best earnier but i vote

DREAMS TIME

Kngkyle · « **Reply #16 on:** December 19, 2008, 18:14 »

I say Dreamstime as well for the same reasons as the others have posted. They are also not my top earning site.

anaire · « **Reply #17 on:** December 19, 2008, 20:05 »

Again, not my best earner (Shutterstock is), but I voted DT.

Reasons already outlined by Lisa (and others) in recent posts.

Can I mention one more site please?
That would be STXpert.
They're nice too and I enjoy uploading there.

Best,

epixx · « **Reply #18 on:** December 19, 2008, 20:15 »

I voted DT like so many others:

- Good sales of photos as well as vectors
- Prices that increase with popularity
- Sales are increasing steadily (no. 2 for me now, catching up on SS every month)
- Subs sales are low
- Very good user interface
- Good search engine (I'm a buyer as well, and I buy almost exclusively at DT)

Freedom · « **Reply #19 on:** December 19, 2008, 20:29 »

I voted for IS. On a per file basis, it makes almost twice as much as DT in a given period for simiar amount of files.

Clivia · « **Reply #20 on:** December 20, 2008, 03:05 »

I voted for Dreamstime, and would put Shutterstock close behind.
Dreamstime is not my best earner, but I like the way they run things and I think they are heading in the right direction.
It is not just about highest earnings, but attitude to the contributors. I hope Dreamstime's fairness and open-handed attitude can continue in the future.

fotografer · « **Reply #21 on:** December 20, 2008, 04:55 »

I voted fotolia because I make way more money there but for all round fairness to us Dreamstime gets my vote.

YadaYadaYada · « **Reply #22 on:** December 20, 2008, 07:11 »

None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

sharply_done · « **Reply #23 on:** December 20, 2008, 07:13 »

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on December 20, 2008, 07:11

None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

Speak for yourself, YadaYadaYada.

AsianEye · « **Reply #24 on:** December 20, 2008, 10:10 »

Dreamstime is so progressive. Very fair every step of the way. Plus also has a good looking and intuitive website.

Perry · « **Reply #25 on:** December 20, 2008, 10:15 »

I like Dreamstime... :

* Good sales
* Reasonable 50%/50% split
* FTP
* Prices that increase by popularity, Extended licence buyout (haven't sold any of those tho...)
* Totally random rejection reasons occur seldom
* Only minor nags about the site, everything is mostly ok.

DanP68 · « **Reply #26 on:** December 20, 2008, 10:25 »

A dead heat between Shutterstock and Dreamstime, but I chose DT because its earning curve is outpacing SS at the moment, and has just passed SS for my monthly earnings.

bittersweet · « **Reply #27 on:** December 20, 2008, 11:29 »

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on December 20, 2008, 07:11

None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

I think it's kinda sad that you have wasted your time to register here just to tell us how stupid we all are. Seems like an important professional such as yourself must have some other more pressing matters to attend to.

lisafx · « **Reply #28 on:** December 20, 2008, 12:10 »

Quote from: whatalife on December 20, 2008, 11:29

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on December 20, 2008, 07:11
None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

I think it's kinda sad that you have wasted your time to register here just to tell us how stupid we all are. Seems like an important professional such as yourself must have some other more pressing matters to attend to.

LOL! If he doesn't let us know how stupid we are, how would we ever find out?

He's performing a public service - now we can all take to the streets with our tin cups in hand and stop competing with him for those pathetic dollar sales

Lcjtripod · « **Reply #29 on:** December 20, 2008, 13:34 »

After reading this thread you all have convinced me that Dreamstime will be my next site for uploading.

Money is not everything .... how they treat you as a contributor counts a lot for me.

-Larry

nebojsak · « **Reply #30 on:** December 20, 2008, 14:55 »

I have one big problem regarding DT policy towards contributors - it's that 6 months you have to wait in order to close your account. Few months ago, I decided to disable the allowed amount of my images there (think it's 30% within the 6 months I have mentioned). Disabled a few, and then this

Quote

This image has been rightfully reported as having bad keywords and an editor approved the needed corrections. At this time you can add more keywords only through the key-mentoring system.

shows up beside every single image in my portfolio. So, all of my keywords were ok till the moment I decided to disable them. Well, gimme break, the fair agency.

Pheby · « **Reply #31 on:** December 20, 2008, 14:59 »

I voted for fotolia - they are my best earner, the communication with them ist quick and polite, the review time is ok, and I like the community there. On the other hand - their information policy is awful, and they are starting to copy what works for istock (gang shoots and introducing video stock). Also, regarding rejections, contributing to them seems to be like playing the lottery (not for me so far, though)

Dreamstime is my worst earner of the 4 of the big 6 I contribute to. But they have great statistics and my favorite feature all over the sites: showing the keyword by which the costumer found a downloaded image. And I think it is very fair that the price of an image increases not according to your status but to the number of downloads of that image.

sharply_done · « **Reply #32 on:** December 20, 2008, 15:23 »

Quote from: nebojsak on December 20, 2008, 14:55

... Disabled a few, and then this

Quote
This image has been rightfully reported as having bad keywords and an editor approved the needed corrections. At this time you can add more keywords only through the key-mentoring system.

shows up beside every single image in my portfolio. So, all of my keywords were ok till the moment I decided to disable them. Well, gimme break, the fair agency.

This happened to me a while ago too - I think it's a bug in their system.
Send achilles a note about it and it'll be fixed soon enough.

leszek · « **Reply #33 on:** December 22, 2008, 18:56 »

Not my best earner - but I voted for DT...
SS and StockXpert are close next ones.

sleiselei · « **Reply #34 on:** December 22, 2008, 22:29 »

I voted for Dreamstime, I am a Exclusive Photographer in DT two years.
My sales growth steady and DT have a best team.

slei

madelaide · « **Reply #35 on:** December 23, 2008, 15:11 »

Quote from: sleiselei on December 22, 2008, 22:29

I voted for Dreamstime, I am a Exclusive Photographer in DT two years.

If you are exclusive, you should not have voted. That was the meaning for "independent submitters only", although I agree it may be confusing.

Regards,
Adelaide

YadaYadaYada · « **Reply #36 on:** December 23, 2008, 16:41 »

Quote from: sharply_done on December 20, 2008, 07:13

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on December 20, 2008, 07:11
None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

Speak for yourself, YadaYadaYada.

I do only for myself.

DanP68 · « **Reply #37 on:** December 23, 2008, 16:57 »

Quote from: lisafx on December 20, 2008, 12:10

Quote from: whatalife on December 20, 2008, 11:29
Quote from: YadaYadaYada on December 20, 2008, 07:11
None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

I think it's kinda sad that you have wasted your time to register here just to tell us how stupid we all are. Seems like an important professional such as yourself must have some other more pressing matters to attend to.

LOL! If he doesn't let us know how stupid we are, how would we ever find out?

He's performing a public service - now we can all take to the streets with our tin cups in hand and stop competing with him for those pathetic dollar sales

I tried begging on a street corner today, but I still made more in microstock. You lied, Yada^3. I think I'll stick with microstock.

lathspell · « **Reply #38 on:** December 23, 2008, 17:40 »

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on December 20, 2008, 07:11

None of the above until they start charging more for mine work and paying more. You can make more begging on a street corner.

I think we all got your point now. Why don't you just move on - to the next street corner perhaps?

gbcimages · « **Reply #39 on:** December 23, 2008, 17:46 »

DT FOR ME

sleiselei · « **Reply #40 on:** December 23, 2008, 20:18 »

Quote from: madelaide on December 23, 2008, 15:11

Quote from: sleiselei on December 22, 2008, 22:29
I voted for Dreamstime, I am a Exclusive Photographer in DT two years.

If you are exclusive, you should not have voted. That was the meaning for "independent submitters only", although I agree it may be confusing.

Regards,
Adelaide

I'm sorry, I do not have a serious look at the subject.
Thank you for reminding.

Best Rgds.
Slei

qwerty · « **Reply #41 on:** December 24, 2008, 00:50 »

I think dreamstime is the best site, I like that the photos increase in levels, can easily see an increase in RPI there. Reasonable upload limits, (well not as bad as Istock.)
I know its not asked in the question but I hate fotolia the most, progression levels are too high, rejections are 30% higher than others sites. = less dollars.

madelaide · « **Reply #42 on:** December 24, 2008, 10:11 »

Quote from: sleiselei on December 23, 2008, 20:18

I'm sorry, I do not have a serious look at the subject.
Thank you for reminding.

No problem. Given the current results, one vote more or less for DT doesn't matter.

Regards,
Adelaide

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For Independent Submitters Only: What Stock Agency Do You Feel Is Best?

Author Topic: For Independent Submitters Only: What Stock Agency Do You Feel Is Best? (Read 12435 times)

WarrenPrice

hali

AVAVA

lisafx

vonkara

lagereek

lisafx

AVAVA

DanP68

bittersweet

lisafx

DanP68

gbcimages

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