MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Stocksy => Topic started by: jen on July 06, 2015, 15:58
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The Call to Artists for 2015 just opened: https://twitter.com/StocksyUnited/status/618155280631754752
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Do they sell vectors?
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Nope. Although there are some 'illustrative' photos in the collection.
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That's a shame. I wouldn't mind making an exclusive collection for them to test it out. I guess I could always make it a raster collection, but it seems like if it is going to be raster then there should be a reason (effects or something else that makes it special). Maybe too much thought for a test though.
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I have sent portfolio to be reviwed almost 4 weeks ago. Unfortunately I didn't read carefully what is needed before applying so I don't hold my hopes high.
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Is it worth giving exclusive images to Stocksy instead of uploading to all the micros and alamy? Their sales would have to be good to make me want to join. I never got a response to my initial application and I'm not sure I can be bothered now.
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My experience with exclusivity is with Getty and for me it works ok. But I don't have any experience with microstock and just have a dozen photos with Alamy which has never sold. So for me Stocksy makes perfect sense.
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Is it worth giving exclusive images to Stocksy instead of uploading to all the micros and alamy? Their sales would have to be good to make me want to join. I never got a response to my initial application and I'm not sure I can be bothered now.
That entirely depends on your portfolio and what you enjoy. For me, it works, and sales are good. I have never had any desire to spend all that time uploading my work to different sites, though.
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I have 97 files on stocksy. Last month I earned around 220 dollars with 6 sales, including one extended license. Even without the extended license stocksy always outperforms all other agencies considering my tiny port and not very "typical" stock content. Canīt begin to imagine how much the people with thousands of files are making.
So yes, financially they are absolutely worth it. I think if someone wants to live fulltime from stock photography, then stocksy is probably by far one of the best options right now.
However, stocksy is not a generalist, like Masterfile, or Corbis or Getty. They are a very niche, themed collection. They do what they do exceptionally well, but it is highly specialized and I doubt that stocksy style content if placed in other agencies or "environments" would sell this well. Mine certainly wouldnīt. Maybe the content from the superstars, who will sell wherever they go, but not me.
The quality of the editing and how they all make it work together is a key part in the success of stocksy. So you cannot just upload what you want, it has to make sense overall. And if the editors decline images or a series, it is not a commercial decision, i.e. the file or the series can make you a lot of money, you just have to find a different home for it. It simply wasnīt what they needed.
It is a more personal atmosphere, small group of people compared to the other places, more direct interaction with the editors and the art guidance they give you what the customers want for the niche.
I am very grateful to be part of the project, so I can certainly recommend applying if the style they focus on interests you. And you donīt have to do only stocksy, some people seem to be 100% involved, others mix stocksy with other agencies and other styles. Since I personally love to experiment, I see stocksy as a fascinating learning experience, because the quality is so high and so many talented artists are there. And yes the money is very good, so i am trying to increase my portfolio after spending a year doing mostly video and smartphonestock. But I have to really work hard and become a much better photographer to live up to the stocksy level.
Beautiful collection, I love browsing it, feels like going on a holiday.
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Unfortunately I was refused.
I hope that in future it may be opportunities to apply again :)
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Unfortunately I was refused.
I hope that in future it may be opportunities to apply again :)
If you got responce to your Call to artist 2015 application would you mind to share when you send your portfolio for review? I applied on 07.07 and haven't heard back yet.
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I have 97 files on stocksy. Last month I earned around 220 dollars with 6 sales, including one extended license. Even without the extended license stocksy always outperforms all other agencies considering my tiny port and not very "typical" stock content. Canīt begin to imagine how much the people with thousands of files are making.
So yes, financially they are absolutely worth it. I think if someone wants to live fulltime from stock photography, then stocksy is probably by far one of the best options right now.
However, stocksy is not a generalist, like Masterfile, or Corbis or Getty. They are a very niche, themed collection. They do what they do exceptionally well, but it is highly specialized and I doubt that stocksy style content if placed in other agencies or "environments" would sell this well. Mine certainly wouldnīt. Maybe the content from the superstars, who will sell wherever they go, but not me.
The quality of the editing and how they all make it work together is a key part in the success of stocksy. So you cannot just upload what you want, it has to make sense overall. And if the editors decline images or a series, it is not a commercial decision, i.e. the file or the series can make you a lot of money, you just have to find a different home for it. It simply wasnīt what they needed.
It is a more personal atmosphere, small group of people compared to the other places, more direct interaction with the editors and the art guidance they give you what the customers want for the niche.
I am very grateful to be part of the project, so I can certainly recommend applying if the style they focus on interests you. And you donīt have to do only stocksy, some people seem to be 100% involved, others mix stocksy with other agencies and other styles. Since I personally love to experiment, I see stocksy as a fascinating learning experience, because the quality is so high and so many talented artists are there. And yes the money is very good, so i am trying to increase my portfolio after spending a year doing mostly video and smartphonestock. But I have to really work hard and become a much better photographer to live up to the stocksy level.
Beautiful collection, I love browsing it, feels like going on a holiday.
Thanks for the info, I will apply again when I get a bunch of photos that I think fit their style. If they reject me, then alamy can have them :)
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Nothing against Alamy, but maybe have a look at the many other themed niche agencies? Or a generalist macro site? Or 500pix?
On msg we donīt really discuss all the smaller places, but there are a huge number of more personal and small agencies out there. Maybe have a look at the partner lists for the generalist macro agencies.
I think having one or two specilaist agencies like stockfood,tetra images, or even Offset is a very useful add on if you do stock fulltime.
It is a very different experience working with a highly edited niche collection. Sometimes frustrating, but the challenge makes you stronger ;)
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Unfortunately I was refused.
I hope that in future it may be opportunities to apply again :)
If you got responce to your Call to artist 2015 application would you mind to share when you send your portfolio for review? I applied on 07.07 and haven't heard back yet.
On the same time like you.
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+1 on Cobalt. I earn more from Stocksy than all the other micros combined. It's a great group of photographers, editors and support staff. Very small community. That said it is not for everyone. Editing is very tight. There is a very distinct vibe the editors are looking for.
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=...
On the same time like you.
Thank you.
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Got refused again... Not very sure what the stocksy look is that they want. Guess will have to build more images of that sort and try again
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Got refused again... Not very sure what the stocksy look is that they want. Guess will have to build more images of that sort and try again
Sorry to hear. What is looked for now in new members is filling "holes" in the collection and not more work that duplicates existing members work. That might be the best strategy for getting accepted. Look for areas that are not well covered and try and direct your work into those areas.
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I have 97 files on stocksy. Last month I earned around 220 dollars with 6 sales, including one extended license. Even without the extended license stocksy always outperforms all other agencies considering my tiny port and not very "typical" stock content. Canīt begin to imagine how much the people with thousands of files are making.
So yes, financially they are absolutely worth it. I think if someone wants to live fulltime from stock photography, then stocksy is probably by far one of the best options right now.
However, stocksy is not a generalist, like Masterfile, or Corbis or Getty. They are a very niche...
thx for the insight. like pixelbytes once said, i too did not show much interest in ...
stocksy ... because not sure what they are looking for or looks like my port is not their niche
offset.. because they initially told "ss contributors need not apply"
tetra image and stockfood ... hmm, first time i heard of this here. many thanks for the direction.
yes, i think we have to look at canva, stocksy, etc in a different way we look at generalist micro sites.
i am not sure what alamy is these days.
last thing, i like to know what rating stocksy is to the right of leaf's page here.
is it not showing because they don't rate well???
so far, only you have said anything about earnings.
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last thing, i like to know what rating stocksy is to the right of leaf's page here.
is it not showing because they don't rate well???
so far, only you have said anything about earnings.
I can't tell how exactly these numbers are calculated. But some assumptions why sites like Stocksy are unlikely to score well:
- Many of the photographers on Stocksy are unlikely to be active on MSG because they only supply Stocksy, or only supply Stocksy and other premium sites
- Some of the photographers on Stocksy have been active on MSG at the start but were met with the typical negativity around here
- Some photographers (and I fall into this category) have stopped filling in their monthly data here because it is becoming more and more meaningless
My personal experience with Stocksy sales is very well. The RPI I see is higher than for my microstock images. I also like that I don't get any royalties below $5. And I like it to see that for example in August Stocksy has a sale on Medium sizes - the Medium files are being offered for $20 instead of $25. But the discount is fully covered by "the agency" (which again is owned by us), so I still get my $12.50 for each sale. And the sale seems to work pretty well because I didn't have a Small sale so far this month.
And in June I had an Extended License sale which made me $225. Basically a single sale that made more money than my 3,000 images I have on iStock made with credit sales, subscription sales plus partner program combined.
It is hard to compare the sales with microstock sites, though. With microstock, I can easily shoot a set of 50 images in an afternoon at home and they are most likely accepted, some of them will sell and some of them won't. With Stocksy I personally have not found a way to spend an afternoon at home and come up with Stocksy-worthy images. I do have an idea where, when and how to shoot images that Stocksy accepts these days, though.
Most of these things are valid not only for Stocksy but also for my macrostock images. Though with them I see a lot of smaller sales (the typical <$1 sales everyone gets from Getty and Corbis) but the upper range makes nice returns as well.
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last thing, i like to know what rating stocksy is to the right of leaf's page here.
is it not showing because they don't rate well???
so far, only you have said anything about earnings.
I doubt very many Stocksy members fill out the polls. (I don't - I don't even know how.)
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I mailed them today because I thought I was accepted and they forgot to tell me (They open up for preparing while waiting apparently). Anyway, I got a mail back saying it could take a couple of months before I got the answer.
Now I can see that others have been denied! Does that mean that some gets denied right away and others gets in a "pool" of maybes?
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And in June I had an Extended License sale which made me $225. Basically a single sale that made more money than my 3,000 images I have on iStock made with credit sales, subscription sales plus partner program combined.
thx 4 the insight. 3000 imgs earning what per month... say versus shutterstock. $225 single sale versus shutterstock $102 sounds pretty good too.
naturally, the idea of not earning less than $5 is appealing too.
but the mad accountant like to just look at the bottom line...
as someone once said, (was it uncle pete???) i really don't look at anything except
what i get at the end of the month.
i was hoping for just that??? compared to shutterstock, as that is the horizon we are comparing with for now. or as you mentioned istock...
is stocksy in the 40% like istock,
or 8 % like alamy.
if it's consistently 86% which is low for shutterstock, it would be an incentive to start
designing for stocksy.
but we already saw so many superstars that are no longer in the sky after being flash in the pan for 2-3 years who too claim to make greatly for their small but selective contributos.
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In Lee's interview with Stocksy's CEO she says that their top photographers are now making $100,000 per annum:
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html (http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html)
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i was hoping for just that??? compared to shutterstock, as that is the horizon we are comparing with for now. or as you mentioned istock...
is stocksy in the 40% like istock,
or 8 % like alamy.
There is no way to make any useful comparison like you do across the microstock agencies because within microstock you just put more or less the same images everywhere. As far as I know that's even true for Alamy (I'm not on there). Whereas all files on Stocksy United are exclusively there.
So the percentage will differ extremely between photographers because someone like me has a portfolio size of 300 on Stocksy while 3,000 on microstock. Others have a more equal share. And some may only have 100 on Stocksy and 10,000 in micro. So there is no way to do this.
But as I also said before: My RPI is higher on Stocksy than on the microstock sites combined. I still make more money from the 3,000 files I have in microstock than I make with the 300 on Stocksy, though, which I don't find surprising. My highest RPI this is year is coming from macrostock, though I have a tiny portfolio on there.
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Now I can see that others have been denied! Does that mean that some gets denied right away and others gets in a "pool" of maybes?
I'm still waiting for a reply too and I was wondering the same: if there is a "maybe" waiting list. Still I wish I had read what was needed prior to submitting my application...
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Now I can see that others have been denied! Does that mean that some gets denied right away and others gets in a "pool" of maybes?
I'm still waiting for a reply too and I was wondering the same: if there is a "maybe" waiting list. Still I wish I had read what was needed prior to submitting my application...
Every one is different. The editors take their time to research applicants before deciding.
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I applied back in 2013 and got rejected 2 weeks after submitting my application :) So not getting rejected in the first possible moment seems like a small improvement. Though I agree no conclusion could be drawn from it:)
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Cobalt... if i were you i will upload more photos to stocky!!
You are lucky to be in stocksy, today apply is very dificult with common candid photos.
do not waste your opportunity to work with the fairest agency.
I heard that they will close inactive user accounts.
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I am trying to upload more, but I donīt always have the right level of quality for them. Itīs a very high quality site and I am not a top level producer. Maybe I should just send them everything and let their editors decide, but I also donīt want to waste their time, it is a very small team.
I also now do a lot of smartphonestock, which really doesīt work with the very beautiful stocksy aesthetics. I live in the ugly and dirty city and not the great outdoors or on an organic farm or something similar. Nature and beautiful surroundings is something I see on holidays. I do go to a Nature reserve several times a year and always try to do something for stocksy by the sea. But I donīt live there, unfortunately.
The talk about inactive accounts I think refers to people who donīt upload at all. I am sure they would let me know if they were concerned. They wonīt just close your account without talking to you.
I have uploaded much more than the 97 files of course...but the files they decline sell elsewhere, so it really isnīt a problem.
My other issue is that the people I work with are not on stocksy, or have been rejected, so I donīt have anyone here that I could team up with. And I like working with the people I know, so unless one of them makes it into stocksy at a later date, I could only travel to other cities to organize shootings. So whatever content we produce together will have to go elsewhere, either micros or a macro were we are both a member.
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Is it worth giving exclusive images to Stocksy instead of uploading to all the micros and alamy? Their sales would have to be good to make me want to join. I never got a response to my initial application and I'm not sure I can be bothered now.
nope, very low sales... and they pretty much from the start denied to ever have any "utility type" pics like stuff / people on white, as if they wanted to ensure the sales stay low. weird
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The two active stocksy contributors who i know have a rpi of 1,5- 1.8 dollars per image and month, average download around 12 $.
Stocksy ...Open more your doors!!
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Well, I send objects on white to both macro and micro, it is still the most useful image type for designers and sells and sells and sells for many years.
But stocksy is a niche agency not a generalist. So if you have a still life shoot where you do something for stocksy, then you have to send the design elements images elsewhere.
I donīt know why there is this fear of the color white. They take everything on wood or on solid black.
But it is their choice and they sell well, so maybe focussing on wood backgrounds and black and grey works for them.
It isnīt a problem, what they donīt like can make money somewhere else. It is just that the customer canīt find everything in one place, but if the stocksy customers wanted that, they would probably go to getty or corbis.
stocksy is niche, it is their biggest strength and also their biggest disadvantage. But they are very successful and there are many other niche agencies out there that are doing very well.
So for the customer the advantage that they can mix and match anything from that niche seems to be what they want.
As an artist you just have to find several niche agencies or stick to the generalists. stocksy is not a version of photoshelter. So it doesīt have to change, instead you just need to find a few more agencies to work with.
Just look at how many agencies the stocksy artists work with, you find them all over the macro world, offset,getty and also many micros.
For me as a single artist, not a studio, this means my portfolios will grow very slowly everywhere. But I simply cannot generate hundreds of files a month.
I would love to work with only one marketplace, it really is so much easier, but after all that happened I also donīt want to be dependent on a single site ever again. My portfolios will grow, but slowly. And I know that my work sells, so I just have to find the right home for it.
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I donīt know why there is this fear of the color white. They take everything on wood or on solid black.
There is no fear of white - images shot on white are accepted on Stocksy - just it looks different. Not bright textureless white, but neutral white. Shadows allowed. But why would they accept "on white" in the typical microstock manner - it exists a million times, is sold for cheaper than what Stocksy's prices are - so how could they argue that buyers pay more for image styles they can get on the micros.
Anyways, I've said it several times - Stocksy is performing well for me. With now close to identical portfolio sizes Stocksy "out-earns" SS 4:1 (and SS is my strongest microstock agency; Stocksy out earns FT 30:1 for instance)
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white has absolutely nothing to do with microstock. Repeating that doesnīt make it true. Just look at all the macro agencies that sell on white for hundreds of dollars including offset. Working with white has been around long before microstock existed.
It is extremly useful for designers and sells for years and years and years.
That is why it is a very strange decision, because they accept all other solid colours, solid pink,black etc...without shadows.
the micros also have millions of images on wood, on black, people outdoors and beautiful food and landscape photography.
You can find anything stocksy or any macro or niche agency has cheaper elsewhere. The difference is the time spent in going over a huge pool of files.
the editing for that specific look is very good. But I also donīt understand why anyone compares stocksy to the micros, because stocksy is a professional macro agency, I donīt see any amateur content there. The competition for stocksy is getty,offset,corbis,masterfile,tetra,blend etc...which is where you see a lot of stocksy artists contributing.
It is not a crowd sourced, community driven plattform with thousands of people from everywhere on all levels of photo expertise.
But all agencies have great artists, no agency has a monopoly on them.
ETA: your files on stocksy have hardly any competition, so by comparison with 50 million images on SS your files are outselling stocksy in that environment. In absolute money at the moment stocksy has the advantage. I hope it stays like this for you, but you are obviously doing very,very well on SS and your files are holding up against all the competition. Congratulations.
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Hi Everybody,
I plan to apply to Stocksy. I'd appreciate some feedback on this portfolio -- what I should throw out, etc?
https://flic.kr/s/aHskiCcQTk (https://flic.kr/s/aHskiCcQTk)
Currently I just shoot video, but on a few recent shoots I brought my DSLR to catch some stills too. I also included some travel & family shots.
Thanks!
Mark
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I think its a mistake judging an agency by their size or income. No agency will ever come close to the Getty and Shutterstock levels of revenue, simple as that.
Agencies like Stocksy, Arcangel, Blend and many more fill a gap in the market. They provide quality and niched content for a specific market and doing it rather well I suppose.
Magnum is an example, today it's but a shadow of its glorious past and working with them is more of an honor then even thinking in terms of money.
Said above, they do not want a flood of people dumping all sorts of portfolios or they would lose their identity.
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white has absolutely nothing to do with microstock. Repeating that doesnīt make it true. Just look at all the macro agencies that sell on white for hundreds of dollars including offset. Working with white has been around long before microstock existed.
It is extremly useful for designers and sells for years and years and years.
That is why it is a very strange decision, because they accept all other solid colours, solid pink,black etc...without shadows.
the micros also have millions of images on wood, on black, people outdoors and beautiful food and landscape photography.
You can find anything stocksy or any macro or niche agency has cheaper elsewhere. The difference is the time spent in going over a huge pool of files.
the editing for that specific look is very good. But I also donīt understand why anyone compares stocksy to the micros, because stocksy is a professional macro agency, I donīt see any amateur content there. The competition for stocksy is getty,offset,corbis,masterfile,tetra,blend etc...which is where you see a lot of stocksy artists contributing.
It is not a crowd sourced, community driven plattform with thousands of people from everywhere on all levels of photo expertise.
But all agencies have great artists, no agency has a monopoly on them.
ETA: your files on stocksy have hardly any competition, so by comparison with 50 million images on SS your files are outselling stocksy in that environment. In absolute money at the moment stocksy has the advantage. I hope it stays like this for you, but you are obviously doing very,very well on SS and your files are holding up against all the competition. Congratulations.
This is just my guess. Pictures with solid white background are very useful to designers because they can easily be clipped out and used in conjunction with other design elements to make a new design. So this is more like clip art. I guess other colors don't really convey clip art as much as white. Maybe stocksy doesn't want to sell clip art and want to sell photos that stand on their own as a whole image with maybe subtle text overlay. This way the image is still the prominent portion of the design rather than an add on. This might be the message that stocksy is saying to their customers.
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Hi Everybody, two posts up ^^ I asked for a portfolio review for my Stocksy application. No feedback yet, so It occurred to me that this is not the appropriate thread, or it's a case of "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all."
Either way, I want to improve and I'm fine with brutal criticism, shall I start an independent thread, maybe there's a different venue? Thanks Mark
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Hi Everybody, two posts up ^^ I asked for a portfolio review for my Stocksy application. No feedback yet, so It occurred to me that this is not the appropriate thread, or it's a case of "if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all."
Either way, I want to improve and I'm fine with brutal criticism, shall I start an independent thread, maybe there's a different venue? Thanks Mark
Cut down what you're showing. People looking directly at the camera probably aren't good, as in this image https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772995849/in/album-72157657468527289/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772995849/in/album-72157657468527289/) focus is missed too. Add a watermark. Some of your people shots (candid ones) are good but the VW toy, bridge with grass, metro station aren't so great. For me the best are business man in hotel, bouzouki player, and eggs.
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... and watch the lighting like this: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772995029/in/album-72157657468527289/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772995029/in/album-72157657468527289/)
That looks like 2002 iStock... :)
Eye level shots of random things probably won't work too well: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20959753315/in/album-72157657468527289/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20959753315/in/album-72157657468527289/)
I think this one nails it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772999789/in/album-72157657468527289/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772999789/in/album-72157657468527289/) Subject-wise, anyways. The vignette is too much.
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I think this one nails it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772999789/in/album-72157657468527289/ (https://www.flickr.com/photos/98445126@N02/20772999789/in/album-72157657468527289/) Subject-wise, anyways. The vignette is too much.
The noise reduction and super blown highlights probably make it unusable except in small sizes.
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Tickstock & Sean - Thank you for your input! It helps me see where I need to improve. Cheers, Mark
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Well ... I allready apply, I am in the "hands of stocksy curator gods" :D
But, to all Stocksy contributors, please give me your oppinion/criticism to my selection
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nphotospt/albums/72157655947776632 (https://www.flickr.com/photos/nphotospt/albums/72157655947776632)
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I got rejected. Maybe I'll try again after 2-3 years:)
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I'd love to work with Stocksy. Hope I get in.
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Anyone else still waiting to hear back from Stocksy for 2015 CTA? The wait is nuts. I applied in June and still nothing. Am I the only one???
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They sent out rejections almost in the same week. So no news is good news mostly
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I applied a few months back and just got the email this past week that I didn't get in.
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Anyone else still waiting to hear back from Stocksy for 2015 CTA? The wait is nuts. I applied in June and still nothing. Am I the only one???
You are not alone. I tried last year and got rejected 2-3 weeks later. Now I'm waiting... I applied in June like you. It's not good :D
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I got some friends on the books at Stocksy and Offset, been there since the very start and with large portfolios. They always seem to complain about a complete lack of sales?
Personally I don't know? haven't really looked at these agencies or their content.
anybody here that have sales with them?
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I got some friends on the books at Stocksy and Offset, been there since the very start and with large portfolios. They always seem to complain about a complete lack of sales?
Personally I don't know? haven't really looked at these agencies or their content.
anybody here that have sales with them?
"We have members making full time incomes, with a handful already doing six figures."
http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html (http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html)
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I got some friends on the books at Stocksy and Offset, been there since the very start and with large portfolios. They always seem to complain about a complete lack of sales?
Personally I don't know? haven't really looked at these agencies or their content.
anybody here that have sales with them?
"We have members making full time incomes, with a handful already doing six figures."
[url]http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html[/url])
Oh well thats not a bad figure. Now I understand why many posters here wish to join. Although looking at some of the ports here I don't think its the Stocksy criteria.
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I have around 100 files and have sales (nearly) every month. I try not to imagine what the high profile people are making ;). Of course they often invest heavily in their production, sometimes working in larger teams, so returns are well deserved.
But for photos I think stocksy is one of the best options out there.
There might be some portfolios that focus more on art than "useful for the customer". These will have less downloads than the more commercial artists, but this is normal everywhere. A lot of images look great on walls, but wonīt sell the next pizza or insurance. But these artists usually know that and have other income and donīt depend on stock.
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Yes ^^ and thats the only way to do it. I do a lot of freelance shoots for advertising-agencies and designers and the ideas one gets when working with these people are quite incredible. Very often I rearrange and re-shoot the entire concept, at my own expense and its just perfect for the rights-managed industry.
I got curious so I looked at some of the stocksy content and as I thought it promotes hip and trendy material, well I went through all that back in the early 2000 just to find out that the buying novelty only last for a couple of years. Lots of time and effort involved, gone to waste.
Anyway I wish some people here good luck with their applications.
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Best agency I've been with in years. :)
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Does anyone know if the June call to artists is still open? Is it just 1 call a year?
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Thanks for the feedback everyone. Sounds like they are taking their time. Good to know that others are still waiting. I guess no news is good news. My last name starts with a V so maybe it's alphabetical...maybe not. I'm really hoping to get in. There's a lot of talent there.
Do we know if they have accepted anyone for 2015 yet? Maybe they are doing it all at once.
Does anyone know if the June call to artists is still open? Is it just 1 call a year?
- look like it's still open.
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I got some friends on the books at Stocksy and Offset, been there since the very start and with large portfolios. They always seem to complain about a complete lack of sales?
Personally I don't know? haven't really looked at these agencies or their content.
anybody here that have sales with them?
"We have members making full time incomes, with a handful already doing six figures."
[url]http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html[/url] ([url]http://www.microstockdiaries.com/interview-with-stocksy-united-ceo-brianna-wettlaufer.html[/url])
Is this the Sean Lock from istock back in the day? I definitely remember looking up to you in the pre Getty days of istock before they killed the community. Cheers!
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Yeah, "back in the day" - that's me :)
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Somebody knows if there are any plans in the recent future to accept editorial images ?
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Somebody knows if there are any plans in the recent future to accept editorial images ?
Afaik, there are no plans to do editorial .
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Somebody knows if there are any plans in the recent future to accept editorial images ?
Afaik, there are no plans to do editorial .
Thank you Sean for the fast answer. Hope some day this might change.....I really like Stocksy alot and would love to be a part there someday but right now editorial is a big and ever growing income as an Istock/Getty photographer
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So..I'm still waiting, and it's been almost 4 months since I applied. I'm starting to think
I wont get any response at all. They said it can took 1-3 months for them to respond, but I have nothing yet. Has anyone had this happen before?
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So..I'm still waiting, and it's been almost 4 months since I applied. I'm starting to think
I wont get any response at all. They said it can took 1-3 months for them to respond, but I have nothing yet. Has anyone had this happen before?
Yup, still waiting too. Your not alone my friend :)
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The Call to Artists for 2015 just opened: https://twitter.com/StocksyUnited/status/618155280631754752
looking at the most active sites, stocksy has by far the best images. imho.
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I'm not with them, not even applied, but I think it is not te fairest, but the only fair agency to contibutors. I wish them luck.
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Sean Locke-- and others who've been accepted into Stocksy I've applied and I want to know how to interpret what I'm seeing. I have not received an email accepting or rejecting my app...but I can access the user profile page, choose my payment settings, and agree to the member agreement. (although clicking "accept" is a dead link.) These are things that I would think are only accessible to accepted photographers. Is it possible that I popped in to this member's area while admin is setting up my profile, but I've not been notified yet?
Or am I reading too much into this, and any buyer can see this "member" area even though they're not contributors?
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I'm not sure. Nick's very quick on support, so you could open a ticket. Buyers can set up profiles, and I believe they become "members", but I don't know about the payment thing.
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Sean Locke-- and others who've been accepted into Stocksy I've applied and I want to know how to interpret what I'm seeing. I have not received an email accepting or rejecting my app...but I can access the user profile page, choose my payment settings, and agree to the member agreement. (although clicking "accept" is a dead link.) These are things that I would think are only accessible to accepted photographers. Is it possible that I popped in to this member's area while admin is setting up my profile, but I've not been notified yet?
Or am I reading too much into this, and any buyer can see this "member" area even though they're not contributors?
For what it's worth. I can do the same thing. Thought it was odd as well but haven't been accepted or rejected as of yet.
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anybody here that have sales with them?
Yes.
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Still waiting... :D :o
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate? I have images with the micros and separately with Getty and my acceptance with the micros has always been very good. Acceptance of images with Getty, via their Moments collection, very hit and miss, sometimes great, often not so much. For every ten images you send Stocksy, how many do they accept? Just average or estimate would be great.
Thanks
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate? I have images with the micros and separately with Getty and my acceptance with the micros has always been very good. Acceptance of images with Getty, via their Moments collection, very hit and miss, sometimes great, often not so much. For every ten images you send Stocksy, how many do they accept? Just average or estimate would be great.
Thanks
The answers to this question are going to be so subjective I'm not sure they will help you. It entirely depends on how selective you are with your uploads.
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate? I have images with the micros and separately with Getty and my acceptance with the micros has always been very good. Acceptance of images with Getty, via their Moments collection, very hit and miss, sometimes great, often not so much. For every ten images you send Stocksy, how many do they accept? Just average or estimate would be great.
Thanks
The answers to this question are going to be so subjective I'm not sure they will help you. It entirely depends on how selective you are with your uploads.
lol, i think what stock shooter is trying to ask is whether stocksy also hire atilla and her mass-rejection children from ss 8)
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate? I have images with the micros and separately with Getty and my acceptance with the micros has always been very good. Acceptance of images with Getty, via their Moments collection, very hit and miss, sometimes great, often not so much. For every ten images you send Stocksy, how many do they accept? Just average or estimate would be great.
Thanks
For most series, probably about 85% for me. A few series have been completely or majority declined, which then go elsewhere.
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate?
For most series, probably about 85% for me. A few series have been completely or majority declined, which then go elsewhere.
wow, completely/majority declined??? from even sjlocke??? that's atilla 's kind of slaughter 8)
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate? I have images with the micros and separately with Getty and my acceptance with the micros has always been very good. Acceptance of images with Getty, via their Moments collection, very hit and miss, sometimes great, often not so much. For every ten images you send Stocksy, how many do they accept? Just average or estimate would be great.
Thanks
I'm sitting at right around 95% acceptance.....which means I'm being too selective in what I upload and not experimenting enough....tough to build a portfolio very quickly with that approach.
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My acceptance rate is around 50-60%. Which is fine, especially if they decline the whole series, because then I can keep all files together when I place them elsewhere.
You can also talk to the inspection team and ask their advice directly if you want to, they really are very supportive. It is a small and cozy community.
Always keep in mind that stocksy is a style based collection with a specialized look, files that don't fit with them can make a lot of money elsewhere, especially when you put them into other macrostock collections with higher prices.
Stocksy is not photoshelter, if you want a self publishing portfolio you have to build it elsewhere.
I will probably be trying that next year sometime as well, I really would like to have a place that is all my own. But will my files sell, if they are not in an edited collection? I donīt know.
Some artist seem to shoot only for stocksy, others upload to many different agencies.
But sales, at least for photos, are very good on stocksy, even a tiny portfolio can earn more than a large portfolio elsewhere.
So I always recommend applying there, you really canīt lose. There is also a lot to learn as well, if you are not yet a superstar photographer, that by itself is worth very much, at least for me.
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Just out of curiosity, for those of you who are Stocksy photographers, what is your image acceptance rate?
For most series, probably about 85% for me. A few series have been completely or majority declined, which then go elsewhere.
wow, completely/majority declined??? from even sjlocke??? that's atilla 's kind of slaughter 8)
Not really because for those rejections the reason most likely is not "out of focus" or "too much noise" but "these look to much like generic stock and not enough authentic to fit in our collection". That's a whole different story. And Sean was the hero in shooting generic stock, so I'd bet he had to make quite some changes to the way he shoots (and directs his models) to make it work for Stocksy.
My personal acceptance is around 50%. It varies heavily because I haven't really found "my Stocksy style" yet. I upload a diverse range of images, not really a lot of shoots planned for Stocksy. It's a good match because it sometimes is a place for images that don't really fit anywhere else. And if I upload three similar images and get two rejected, I assume I will still get most of the sales I would have gotten with all three versions as there is not all that much of a competition for images that are somewhat unique in a collection of less than half a million.
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wow, completely/majority declined??? from even sjlocke??? that's atilla 's kind of slaughter 8)
Not really because for those rejections the reason most likely is not "out of focus" or "too much noise" but "these look to much like generic stock and not enough authentic to fit in our collection". That's a whole different story. And Sean was the hero in shooting generic stock, so I'd bet he had to make quite some changes to the way he shoots (and directs his models) to make it work for Stocksy.
My personal acceptance is around 50%. It varies heavily because I haven't really found "my Stocksy style" yet. I upload a diverse range of images, not really a lot of shoots planned for Stocksy. It's a good match because it sometimes is a place for images that don't really fit anywhere else. And if I upload three similar images and get two rejected, I assume I will still get most of the sales I would have gotten with all three versions as there is not all that much of a competition for images that are somewhat unique in a collection of less than half a million.
ok, yes, i should have been more precise in my comment. if it was not those typical renegade OOF absurdity , and is those "not Stocksy kind of work we're looking for", then it is not as bad as i think it is.
yes, too, sjl is our micro type hero like yuri and there is a difference in micro and other types of commercial photography, or even artsy stuff or w eugene smith /man ray/ ansel adams eternal master works. i am sure our great cartier-bresson would have gotten 100% not in focus where we want it to be rejections, and eugene smith and man ray would get the poor lighting rejections from ss 8)
...not to mention david hamilton (100% noise rejection) ;D ;D ;D
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Hi,
I'm totally new here but I've been reading this thread for months... I applied to Stocksy in July, and still no news. I was OK with that (since honestly I don't think I have a chance) but I just noticed that they visited last month the website I submitted (it's a website I made just for the application and has zero traffic, just me and now two other visitors with stocksy.com as referral). And now that I know that... I'm a little anxious. Do they have a huge rejection mail queue? Ar they considering my application? (even if I get rejected that would be very encouraging)
I know this questions are probably without answers... but I think I just needed to say something, to someone in a similar situation, and I know there ar a lot of people here without nails because of the waiting :)
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There's no way I am going to apply again if they aren't giving people the courtesy of a response. I don't like waiting for news that never comes. There's so many other places to sell my images, if they can't treat people that have taken the time to apply with a bit of respect, I wont waste time on them.
I've no idea if they received my first application, I presume they did and they didn't want me but with no communication, its impossible to know that for sure. That doesn't give me any motivation to go through the process again. Even the old agencies used to send out a generic rejection letter, that wasn't nice but was much better than nothing.
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There's no way I am going to apply again if they aren't giving people the courtesy of a response. I don't like waiting for news that never comes. There's so many other places to sell my images, if they can't treat people that have taken the time to apply with a bit of respect, I wont waste time on them.
I've no idea if they received my first application, I presume they did and they didn't want me but with no communication, its impossible to know that for sure. That doesn't give me any motivation to go through the process again. Even the old agencies used to send out a generic rejection letter, that wasn't nice but was much better than nothing.
I always get responses from them fast and friendly. Did you try message to the support?:
http://www.stocksy.com/service/support (http://www.stocksy.com/service/support)
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Do they have a huge rejection mail queue? Ar they considering my application?
Yes! It is taking some time, but everyone will get a response.
https://twitter.com/StocksyUnited/status/661782979291824128
https://twitter.com/StocksyUnited/status/646021893657640961
https://twitter.com/camrocker/status/648535037445566464
etc
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I've been looking for a stock home for my higher end dragons.
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Yes! It is taking some time, but everyone will get a response.
https://twitter.com/StocksyUnited/status/661782979291824128
https://twitter.com/StocksyUnited/status/646021893657640961
https://twitter.com/camrocker/status/648535037445566464
etc
thanks for the info! it is very much appreciated :)
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Two of my friends applied after me and they got rejection email within a month, and I still didn't get any response. The more I'm waiting the more I'm confused...really.
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I applied in July of last year and was accepted in December. It was a painful wait but it was worth it. Hang in there!
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Two of my friends applied after me and they got rejection email within a month, and I still didn't get any response. The more I'm waiting the more I'm confused...really.
https://twitter.com/camrocker/status/648535037445566464
If your still waiting to hear about your application at @StocksyUnited you might be on our shortlist. Be sure to update your portfolios!
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Tnx jen and sketchyt :) Maybe waiting is a good sign ;D
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Tnx jen and sketchyt :) Maybe waiting is a good sign ;D
To me last year was not :(
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Tnx jen and sketchyt :) Maybe waiting is a good sign ;D
To me last year was not :(
Oh, I'm so sorry :(
How long did you wait? Have you applied again this year?
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Tnx jen and sketchyt :) Maybe waiting is a good sign ;D
To me last year was not :(
Oh, I'm so sorry :(
How long did you wait? Have you applied again this year?
I don't remember, but was around November last year, this year was faster rejected. I'll apply again, because i like them very much.
They try to arrange a photo puzzle where every photographer to bring specific content(piece of the puzzle) which to not be in competition to the others part of the puzzle. All this puzzle parts have to build the amazing image of Stocksy with great unique content. But there is a big problem with this, because after acceptance almost every photographer starts to upload different content. Since I shoot everything what i like i have less chance to be accepted, although in this days i have a very intelligent approach of image selection for every agency.
Good luck!
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You can be the best night bats photographer and best in your niche...with different content... but when you are acecepted in stocksy, at the end, you need take Lifestyle photos for earn money because is stock.
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You can be the best night bats photographer and best in your niche...with different content... but when you are acecepted in stocksy, at the end, you need take Lifestyle photos for earn money because is stock.
Absolutely agree, but this overall can work fine for every particular photographer or every distribution agency not for Stocksy as it must be comprehensive and diverse in order to attract more final clients.
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Hi all, do you think I still could apply if my works have never been published (I only have my microstock portfolios online)? Or I shouldn't even bother?
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Good to hear that you guys are selling images on Stocksy, by the look of it though you are only selling each image once. Yes you get a couple of hundred dollars, but unless that images sells many more times how will it cover your ROI, if you shot a model and had to hire equipment or a studio. Does not really matter that you got a couple of hundred dollars for a one off sale infact if you look at it like that it is a bit of a rip off.
I should think thet stocksy makes you exclusive and certainly the client will want exclusivity.
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Good to hear that you guys are selling images on Stocksy, by the look of it though you are only selling each image once. Yes you get a couple of hundred dollars, but unless that images sells many more times how will it cover your ROI, if you shot a model and had to hire equipment or a studio. Does not really matter that you got a couple of hundred dollars for a one off sale infact if you look at it like that it is a bit of a rip off.
I should think thet stocksy makes you exclusive and certainly the client will want exclusivity.
Why would you think we only sell a file once? Personally, I have many sales on numerous popular files, and I am sure this is the norm not the exception.
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The files sell multiple times, like any other RF file ( unless a market freeze EL is bought).
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Good to hear that you guys are selling images on Stocksy, by the look of it though you are only selling each image once. Yes you get a couple of hundred dollars, but unless that images sells many more times how will it cover your ROI, if you shot a model and had to hire equipment or a studio. Does not really matter that you got a couple of hundred dollars for a one off sale infact if you look at it like that it is a bit of a rip off.
I should think thet stocksy makes you exclusive and certainly the client will want exclusivity.
Stocksy requires images exclusivity, not photographers. I'm with Stocksy for 1.5 years, my top sellers sold more than 20 times.
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Hi all, do you think I still could apply if my works have never been published (I only have my microstock portfolios online)? Or I shouldn't even bother?
It's RF, so whether the works have been published or not; it doesn't matter. Once images uploaded to Stocksy, you have to make the same images and sister images are not on other sites.
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Good to hear that you guys are selling images on Stocksy, by the look of it though you are only selling each image once. Yes you get a couple of hundred dollars, but unless that images sells many more times how will it cover your ROI, if you shot a model and had to hire equipment or a studio. Does not really matter that you got a couple of hundred dollars for a one off sale infact if you look at it like that it is a bit of a rip off.
I should think thet stocksy makes you exclusive and certainly the client will want exclusivity.
Some sell once (so far), some sell multiple times, some haven't sold, yet. Just like any other agency. However, 33 cents per sale doesn't happen at Stocksy. Let's just say the investment in a shoot is well worth it.
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i know people with near to 2 dollars of RPI for image. (3000 photos 5000 dollars per month)
Try it with all micro sites.
Stocksy works well but is too hard be in today.
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I should think thet stocksy makes you exclusive and certainly the client will want exclusivity.
The client does not necessarily want exclusivity. But Stocksy can offer it at a special price (usually in the thousands) because the images are exclusively with them. It's an additional offer that most microstock sites can not offer. If the client is willing to pay for that, a single image sale will make you more than a thousand subscription downloads on Shutterstock, and that's probably a rare sight these days.
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Good to hear that you guys are selling images on Stocksy, by the look of it though you are only selling each image once. Yes you get a couple of hundred dollars, but unless that images sells many more times how will it cover your ROI, if you shot a model and had to hire equipment or a studio. Does not really matter that you got a couple of hundred dollars for a one off sale infact if you look at it like that it is a bit of a rip off.
I should think thet stocksy makes you exclusive and certainly the client will want exclusivity.
Haha, why would you assume each image has only sold once?
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Ok, am I the only one still waiting??? Is this normal?
It's been 6 months now..
Btw. Happy new year :D
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Ok, am I the only one still waiting??? Is this normal?
1. No
2. Yes
:)
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Still waiting as well. I know Stocksy has an awesome collective and I'd love to be a part of but at this point I can't help but think the wait time and lack of communication may be reflective of wider issues with the agency.
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Still waiting as well. I know Stocksy has an awesome collective and I'd love to be a part of but at this point I can't help but think the wait time and lack of communication may be reflective of wider issues with the agency.
I think you would be better to think of it as the time are care that is given to selecting new members. Any wider issues are strictly imaginary. Stocksy is thriving.
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I've actually just joined this site so this is my first post.
Does anyone else have an interview with Stocksy? I didn't know they did this, but they contacted me saying they liked my portfolio and wanted to schedule an interview.
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I've actually just joined this site so this is my first post.
Does anyone else have an interview with Stocksy? I didn't know they did this, but they contacted me saying they liked my portfolio and wanted to schedule an interview.
Good luck! ( This shows why it takes so long :) )
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Some things to keep in mind in you're looking to join:
http://www.creativebloq.com/photography/10-trends-2016-11618690 (http://www.creativebloq.com/photography/10-trends-2016-11618690)
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How does the application for stocksy look once Call to artists is opened?
Do applicants have to submit images, or just show their portfolios they have elsewhere?
Also I gues stocksy would not be interested in travel photography, what do you think?
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How does the application for stocksy look once Call to artists is opened?
Do applicants have to submit images, or just show their portfolios they have elsewhere?
Also I gues stocksy would not be interested in travel photography, what do you think?
Nice travel port!
Someone just mentionned in another thread that travel and landscape don't do too well on Stocksy unlike lifestyle.
As for submission, they require a link to your portfolio, like flickr or a gallery on your own website.
My last and only submission was rejected (travel as well, but I'm not a pro :) ), I will try again in summer ::)
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Someone just mentionned in another thread that travel and landscape don't do too well on Stocksy unlike lifestyle.
Do you mean in the application process or in the Stocksy market?
In their call to artists they list the subjects they need, and "Diverse ethnicities and cultures" is the first one.
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Someone just mentionned in another thread that travel and landscape don't do too well on Stocksy unlike lifestyle.
Do you mean in the application process or in the Stocksy market?
In their call to artists they list the subjects they need, and "Diverse ethnicities and cultures" is the first one.
I meant sales in the Stocksy market.. Didn't mean to discourage anyone anyway
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Quote from: monduran on Today at 17:31
Quote
Someone just mentionned in another thread that travel and landscape don't do too well on Stocksy unlike lifestyle.
Do you mean in the application process or in the Stocksy market?
In their call to artists they list the subjects they need, and "Diverse ethnicities and cultures" is the first one.
I meant sales in the Stocksy market.. Didn't mean to discourage anyone anyway
Oh... OK, I just needed clarification, never thought you were trying to discourage anyone :)
I was rejected last year too, after a long waiting (6 months). I submitted mostly lifestyle images, too similar to what they already have. So I was thinking on applying again this year with something completely different like some travel photography from a couple of places I don't see very well represented in their collection.
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Quote from: monduran on Today at 17:31
Quote
Someone just mentionned in another thread that travel and landscape don't do too well on Stocksy unlike lifestyle.
Do you mean in the application process or in the Stocksy market?
In their call to artists they list the subjects they need, and "Diverse ethnicities and cultures" is the first one.
I meant sales in the Stocksy market.. Didn't mean to discourage anyone anyway
Oh... OK, I just needed clarification, never thought you were trying to discourage anyone :)
I was rejected last year too, after a long waiting (6 months). I submitted mostly lifestyle images, too similar to what they already have. So I was thinking on applying again this year with something completely different like some travel photography from a couple of places I don't see very well represented in their collection.
The more I think about what they want the more I'm confused, so I think the best you can do is to just be you and shoot what you really love because when you force things, nothing good can come out of it.
Ps.
I'm still waiting for their response and it's been 9 months now so I guess I'll end up applying to new call to artist 2016 ;D ;D