MicrostockGroup

I think you need some big portfolios to make your stock images section appealing to buyers.  How do we sign up and do you have FTP?

As sharpshot wrote, FTP - and also IPTC - is fundamental, please let us know exactly how the upload process is. We are willing to support new / small sites with good commissions - especially after repeated commission cuts from two major sites - if uploading is easy.

I see files are grouped in "themes" with about 10 pictures on the same subject, seems a nice idea but requires additional time. Also, prices are varied: some packs of 10 pictures are selling at $1, which is too low. Some have higher, acceptable prices. If it's up to us to decide the price, fine.

I'm asking a lot of questions because I am possibly interested in joining.

Agreed 100% with the big portfolio comment, sharpshot. We don't offer FTP at the moment, no, but zipped files direct to our S3Hub. If people would like FTP then we'll absolutely consider developing it - we're new to stock image sales so we're happy to be guided by those more experienced in the field.

Please feel free to sign up and give our back end a spin  /www.superhug.com/users/new



The one constant since the beginning of the Superhug development has been how to convey a hug. I think our verdict is that it's impossible without involving rainbows and teddy bears 

Not ruling them out 100%, mind you!



Those who sell on Superhug have control over how their images (or templates/designs) are featured. When you sign up and upload an image/a set of images, there's a box into which you can suggest how much you'd like to charge for your work. I can count on one hand the number of times we've felt compelled to tell an author her/his appraisal was unrealistic. So yes, it's entirely up to you what you charge. It's your work, after all.

By all means, if you have questions ask them. This is what I do and I don't consider any question too much or unworthy of my time. We're very serious about what we do so please don't hesitate to contact me here, on Twitter (@JenSuperhug) or by email jennie [at] superhug.com

Again, thank you all for your interest and for having read my spiel 

Jen x

Me too. It does sound like you are selling teddy bears and rainbows. Can't see it developing into a serious stock agency with that name. Who are you targetting your marketing at? Professional designers or 10-year old school girls?

Agreed.  The name is terrible.  And sorry, it doesn't really look like you are seriously entering the stock image arena, just that you shoehorned a different digital asset into your existing template sales structure (especially the licensing terms as noted in the other post).  You don't really have a good filterable search return.  I also can't really figure out what I am looking at - these "products" seem to be collections of multiple images.  How would a buyer find a specific image if it is buried under a bunch of others.

Thanks for your kind words of encouragement, they're hugely appreciated.  The "exclusive" thing is something we've debated long and hard over the past few months. While we can obviously see the benefit for the website on which the images are featured, there doesn't seem to be any upside for the author of the asset for sale. By all means tell me to wind my neck in if I'm being too nosey but I'm interested to hear different perspectives - what does exclusivity offer you as a photographer?


Some of the designers who have submitted to us wanted to sell their images in sets. If that's how they want their work to be sold then we're happy to oblige. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll through those sold in sets. Some of those with images for sale on Superhug have joined from other, more established stock agencies and have been testing our marketplace and trying out different methods of displaying their items. If they decide our search function isn't allowing users to find their images I'm sure they'll change things pdq 

Well DreamsTime is a nice name if you ask mean. Relative to Dream, dreaming time, all the images you can dream off, anything that you can image, time to dream!

If you are asking if I would want FTP to upload to your site? It's a Must... FTP with IPTC data.

I have a lot of vectors, and for new sites, I like when you can upload your portfolio without have to process every single images. Best example of this would be Canstockphoto. Upload the EPS, go to your Unfinished section, tick Select All Images box and hit Submit. Be it 10 images or 100 images, all IPTC data is read, and makes the processing really simple.

iStockphoto is a pain to upload because we have to process each image individually unless you are building your IPTC exclusively for iStock and not the other sites. Vectorstock is an example of site I will never upload to unless they add batch processing and FTP.

Basically, if you want images to sell on your website, get this feature and let it be known here, there are a lot here who likes to give a chance to new sites which are simple of use for us, and have the (cross our fingers, be optimistic, who knows) possibility of making an extra payout each month.

First you need to attract thousands of contributors images to your site, second you need to make it appealing to the customers who buys images, and to have a chance if you stay ''small'', you have to develop a niche for specific image buyers out there... or jump in and try to compete with the bigger Stock sites.

Good luck, and let us know when the FTP and IPTC is out

Ok, sounds interesting.
What should be there (some of this has been mentioned):

• FTP Upload
• automatic reading of IPTC data (keywords, title description)
• set your own price is cool, but there should be the possibility to set a default that is automatically used (no need to type the price for each upload)
• clarify the licensing terms: what can a photo be used for, e.g. use in templates to re-sell? used on a product (e.g. mug or t-shirt) to re-sell? that usually requires a different (more expensive) license on other stock sites. You should offer different licences (normal + extended) or we would have to set rather high prices (since extended usage is included) which would lead to lower sales numbers
• where are you located? US? then there needs to be some attention to tax issues (as experience has shown with other agencies)?
• image sets should be purely optional, including the workflow

The ideal upload workflow would be: Send files via FTP and you're done. No more buttons to click, fields to fill, categories to choose, prices to be typed manually. Should all be fully automated.
If you get that going, with the rates you offer, expect to be flooded with content 

Where's the upload page?  I'm not going to upload anything that sells much until the legal side is sorted but I signed up (sharpshot) and can't see any contributor back end.

I bet he was high when that name magically appeared in his head. 

The three most negative posts in this thread were all written by iStock exclusives. I'm puzzled; what business of theirs is the subject of this thread anyway?

If they want to comment on things which do not concern them, maybe they should do so when they have something positive to contribute?