i have a few sales now and then, and they do seem to be one of the best newcomers ... (i guess you can see with the stats on the left) ... but they are still pretty slow.... I am wondering when things are going to pick up.  When looking at alexa other sites such as dreamstime, shutterstock, fotolia all rose quite quickly in site traffic, but lucky oliver is rising quite slowly.

It will be interesting to see the new look site.  The bits that were previewed in the blog looked good.

I am 5 downloads away from using the sideshow.  I hope that will boost sales.

new site?! ohh.. i guess i saw that but didn't pay much attention.  I think their 'old' site which still seems new to me, is top notch.  I still give them top grades in site design. I hope the next version is just as good.  I still have high hopes for them and they would get my bet for the site to kick the bottom big 6'er out of it's place,....... but that's only hoping.

This is the blog entry that previews a new feature.  Looks good to me.
http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog/267/feature_preview_keepers_and_shoeboxes

They have the highest acceptance rate out of them all ('cept Mostphotos who doesn't inspect).  In some ways, accepting more than the other agencies is a good thing, they certainly have a database that cannot be found on IS, StockXpert or SS.  And I do like the let the buyer determine what is best approach.

Searches really need to be improved.  New images are NEVER seen any more.  It seems the only way to get any attention is to swap image comments.   So, even the crappiest snapshot with lots of comments floats to the top of searches.

I'm just not so sure if buyers accustomed to the quality at Istock would be enticed to switch agencies.  I hope they don't give LO a chance only to be turned off by their first couple of searches.

We do most of our purchasing at DT - mostly because the have quite a good database and the contributer in me is impressed that they give 50% to those who make their agency possible.  The IS database is YEARS ahead of everyone, but I hate throwing them business unless I have to for the opposite reason I like to give it to DT. 

I think that buyers might like the extras they are adding.  Other sites have more to offer buyers at the moment.

LO have done well with attracting contributors.  I am sure the design of the site has had a positive effect.  If they can do as well with buyers, they have a good chance.

I like LO and I have from the start, been there since august 2006.  Sales are low and slow.... I did have one EL  recently...

I'm hanging in there. See what develops. 

Quote from: sharply_done on November 15, 2007, 16:53

Quote from: Kngkyle on November 15, 2007, 15:46

... Crestock, Snapvillage, and Canstockphoto are all outselling them this month. ...

Crestock is beating LO? Egad, things must be downright horrible there. Why are they redesigning the site? Seems to me that buyers are needed more than a fresh interface at this point.

where do you see that?

from the poll it goes bigstock - canstock, then lucky oliver.

oh .. wait i see, you are looking on the full results page
well taking into account that only 20 people voted on the crestock rating, I would take it with a grain of salt.

I was just referring to my own stats this month. Crestock, Canstock, and even Snapvillage has made me more than LO this month. (I have not had a single DL on LO this month)

My sales on LO is almost payout a month (was something like $96 for October). I am very impressed with the site design and sales rate for a new site like this, and, having met Bryan when he was in Toronto recently, with him as well:) Making sure that the site can handle traffic and search demands *before* trying to increase that traffic is something that any internet based business should do. It's common sense, but we have seen so many examples of the opposite:) Good luck Bryan with your upgrade - hope it goes smoothly.

I hit my second payout this month. 

The main thing I'm impressed with is the frequency of ELs.  I've never had one at DT or BigStock, only one at 123RF, and yet I've have had several at LO since July.  Plus, in July, LO was my #5 earner behind SS, IS, DT and StockXpert!  So, at least for me, LO is already showing signs of knocking on the Big 6's doors. 

The main thing I'm impressed with is the frequency of ELs.  I've never had one at DT or BigStock, only one at 123RF, and yet I've have had several at LO since July.  Plus, in July, LO was my #5 earner behind SS, IS, DT and StockXpert!  So, at least for me, LO is already showing signs of knocking on the Big 6's doors.

Don't forget to mention you are employed by LO as a reviewer, so this hurrayh LO message should be read in context. For an exceptional photographer as yourself, it's not that difficult to get some sales, even at LO. I bet you make much more at SS or at any other site.

For mere mortals as myself, with a modest portfolio, LO has been a debacle and an utter waste of time. The CEO Chief Instigator has been like acting on Prozac for the past year, partying (or Balloohing) all over Ca, promising a real take-off the next quarter, but never delivering on his promises.

The best part of LO are the reviewers bouncers who seem to be great for beginners. The community approach and the commenting game is silly, because we have a (much better) Flickr for that. Recent uploads don't get any views any more, probably because the previous views all came from random Google traffic, not from buyers. IMHO the strategy of LO is basically wrong. It doesn't translate into sales.

It's great some people seem to have sales on LO, so I wish them the best with it. LO works for them. Not for me. So be it. I stopped uploading and will jump out as soon as I hit the next 10$ to convert to credits, and make some people happy with a download. As to EL, I got 3 in a row on DT alone this month, so I hope not all my shots are crap.

And finally, it's great to post here, where threads aren't closed and messages don't get removed because they are "bashing LO". That's why I left TalkMicro.

Quote from: Karimala on November 16, 2007, 02:37

The main thing I'm impressed with is the frequency of ELs.  I've never had one at DT or BigStock, only one at 123RF, and yet I've have had several at LO since July.  Plus, in July, LO was my #5 earner behind SS, IS, DT and StockXpert!  So, at least for me, LO is already showing signs of knocking on the Big 6's doors.

Don't forget to mention you are employed by LO as a reviewer, so this hurrayh LO message should be read in context. For an exceptional photographer as yourself, it's not that difficult to get some sales, even at LO. I bet you make much more at SS or at any other site.

For mere mortals as myself, with a modest portfolio, LO has been a debacle and an utter waste of time. The CEO Chief Instigator has been like acting on Prozac for the past year, partying (or Balloohing) all over Ca, promising a real take-off the next quarter, but never delivering on his promises.

The best part of LO are the reviewers bouncers who seem to be great for beginners. The community approach and the commenting game is silly, because we have a (much better) Flickr for that. Recent uploads don't get any views any more, probably because the previous views all came from random Google traffic, not from buyers. IMHO the strategy of LO is basically wrong. It doesn't translate into sales.

It's great some people seem to have sales on LO, so I wish them the best with it. LO works for them. Not for me. So be it. I stopped uploading and will jump out as soon as I hit the next 10$ to convert to credits, and make some people happy with a download. As to EL, I got 3 in a row on DT alone this month, so I hope not all my shots are crap.

And finally, it's great to post here, where threads aren't closed and messages don't get removed because they are "bashing LO". That's why I left TalkMicro.

I agree to a lot of what you said. I do, however, continue to upload since it is very easy, and I hope Bryan will start to make LO a success instead of a fish out of water, which is what it seems to be for me at least... LO is my lowest earning site, and the $100 payout limit will take forever...

The worst part is, I was making more on LO 5 months ago than I have been in oct and nov.

.. and in an attempt to try and keep things transparent  - here is a little notice at a moderation ...

one post has been deleted from this thread which didn't offer much to the conversation except mild name calling and 'egging on' of other members.


I hope to keep this forum as 'unmoderated' as possible so all opinions can be expressed, but I feel that editing or removing posts that resemble personal attacks doesn't detract from the conversation of microstock and keeps the forums a little more 'friendly' despite our disagreements