My experiences so far with FAA - blog post

[Brasilnut]

Hey all,

I just put together a blog post about my experiences so far with FAA. Any comments and tips would be appreciated, especially since I haven't got any downloads with them (yet).

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2017/06/27/opportunities-outside-of-microstock-uploading-to-print-on-demand-agencies/

Thanks

Alex

[ShadySue]

Just to let you know that many of the 'vistors' are actually bots- like you, I have lots of visits from e.g. Syracuse and Epsom. In my case more from Sunnyvale and Beverley Hills, but bots just the same.

The buying base there is heavily US-concentrated. Although US images are a small part of my port there, most of my not many sales there have been of US images, or subjects which are very well known to US tourists (landmarks/highly recogniseable wildlife). Photos aren't necessarily their most sought-after medium. Regularly check what's been selling.

There are promoted artists there who have been head-hunted, it's very difficult to get visibility/traction. There have been strong rumours for years of pay for positioning, I have no idea the truth of that. There are a lot of quite 'irregular' goings-on there - some of what they say can't be taken as truth, shall we say; and their forum can be pretty toxic.

I've only had one sale there this year, not quite made my 'subscription fee'.

[Pauws99]

I've dabbled in Zazzle....really because it makes a change but sales pretty hopeless...at least its free.

[stockastic]

I've been on FAA for about 5 years.  I sell a couple of sizeable prints every month, sometimes more. 

I'd like to see more discussion of FAA here, because the FAA forum admins won't allow any critical posts on their forum. 

FAA has good points and bad.  The big positives are: you set your own markup, and they have a keyword search function which can bring you some sales even if you have no marketing.

The big negatives are: their search ranking is heavily weighted by previous sales; the site looks clunky and hasn't been updated in years; and the page coding seems to ignore current SEO principles, so your images probably aren't well represented on Google.

[steheap]

I've been on FAA for about 5 years.  I sell a couple of sizeable prints every month, sometimes more.

How many images do you have on there, if you don't mind me asking? Is there any pattern to the ones that sell - specific locations, or types of image. I've often looked at their page of recent sales but it is hard to draw any conclusions from that. I did use it once to check if my pricing was out of line with the ones that sold and I came up with my current pricing strategy as a result of that analysis: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2015/12/fine-art-america-trying-new-pricing/

Steve

[stockastic]

I've been on FAA for about 5 years.  I sell a couple of sizeable prints every month, sometimes more.

How many images do you have on there, if you don't mind me asking? Is there any pattern to the ones that sell - specific locations, or types of image. I've often looked at their page of recent sales but it is hard to draw any conclusions from that. I did use it once to check if my pricing was out of line with the ones that sold and I came up with my current pricing strategy as a result of that analysis: http://www.backyardsilver.com/2015/12/fine-art-america-trying-new-pricing/

Steve

I have about 500.  Can't really tell you what sells, because I have all sorts of subjects.  I've sold a few of 'iconic' locations in and around my city, so some people are obviously finding those by searching for specific words.   And a bunch of artsy shots of sea shells, a perennial 'wall art' subject'.   A couple of classic/vintage cars.   I have no marketing - zip - my only hope for a sale is someone finding me via keyword search. 

I learn nothing from the recent sale page - in fact it's depressing.  Celebrities, sports figures, vintage photos in the public domain.  Lots of horses and dogs.  And recently, tons of Conde Nast images like New Yorker covers.  Keep in mind that many POD sales are people buying their own work, or sales to friends and relatives.

[steheap]

Thanks! I have 622 images and get one sale every couple of months it seems. I must look for some more "arty" shots in my portfolio!

Steve

[miR156]

I started putting some of my photos there since a year ago. Only got one tiny sale so far. The search ranking system is complicated (you can sponsor some keywords through traffic etc.) that I didn't spend any effort working on that.
here is my port.
https://fineartamerica.com/profiles/jia-he.html

[Mantis]

FAA is not very good for me. I might get one sale a year. I have 3,500 or so images there. 

[Brasilnut]

FAA is not very good for me. I might get one sale a year. I have 3,500 or so images there.

 

[steheap]

This discussion made me realize that I didn't really have that good a view of which of my own images have sold on Fine Art America. I decided (while listening to a long conference call in my "day" business) to go through all my sales and post the image and profit it made. This is now on my blog:
http://www.backyardsilver.com/2017/06/sells-fine-art-america/

What really surprised me was the prominence of Washington DC images in my sales. Makes me realize I need to go through my library and maybe make some more artistic versions of other shots - digital painting or black and white perhaps.

Steve

[Microstockphoto]

i used to sell about 300 dollar per month, until the bottom fell out and my last sale was november 2016, pretty depressing and i cant stand their management, obnoxious and arrogant seem to be flattering them

[stockastic]

FAA is basically one guy, and he's not an artist or photographer.  He hires a few people to handle customer issues and police the forum, but other than that, the site is on autopilot, he does nothing but fix critical problems when they occur.  It is what it is, and it's not going to change. 

They don't screen what comes in, so they're flooded with repetitious and low quality stuff, and keyword spam, which hurts the search. 

One thing that is happening: deals are being cut with big corporate sellers.  Conde Nast (New Yorker magazine covers, cartoons etc) recently showed up with over 10,000 images (actual number not disclosed) and they're selling a lot.  Naturally, Getty is in there too. 

Bottom line, we need some new players in POD.