MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Bigstock.com => Topic started by: WarrenPrice on May 12, 2009, 18:10
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I am feeling totally inadequate. After nearly a year with BS, I have a grand total of $6 in sales. My portfolio is not large, only recently reaching 130, but surely I should expect more than $6. Is anyone else willing to admit their lack of sales?
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I usually do okay there, but this last week they seem to have fallen off a cliff. Wonder if there was a search engine change or if sales are just off there.
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Some people seem to do terribly there, for some reason. They are almost always my #6 best performing site, though sometimes they will pop up a bit higher. Generally I get about 4% - 6% of my monthly earnings from them.
Last month I had a spectacularly good BME (by over 40% by count, by over 100% by $ -- but I had 2 ELs which certainly impacted the latter a lot).
This month, as Lisa has mentioned, they are doing spectacularly poorly. Through yesterday, with more than 33% of the month gone, I'd earned about 5% of last month's BME, and about 10% of a normal month. :(
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I usually do okay there, but this last week they seem to have fallen off a cliff. Wonder if there was a search engine change or if sales are just off there.
I've also notice a drop in sales, I don't have a big portfolio with them, around 180 pics, but up to maybe a couple of weeks ago the sales where steady, now dead!...also being getting more rejections from them than usual, mind you, photos that are accepted by IS and DT. I hope they don't get weird on us, I really like BigStock.
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they don't sell as much, but i am glad they don't pay 30 cents a dl. for that alone, if i were elsewhere i would have to had sold 100 subs, to earn the same $$$
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I am kind of relieved to see I am not the only one getting this big drop in DL's at BigStock this month. When that happens you always wonder if suddenly their buyers just hate your images.
At least I am in good company it seems.
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they don't sell as much, but i am glad they don't pay 30 cents a dl. for that alone, if i were elsewhere i would have to had sold 100 subs, to earn the same $$$
They're running at 2% of my total and are overall very disappointing.
Btw, and this is important, what do you think the commission percentage is at BigStock?
50% or thereabouts? WRONG __ it can be as low as 20% per sale.
If my memory serves me correct, they started out paying 50% per credit when credits cost $1 or less __ now they pay a fixed 50c per credit although most credits probably cost far more than $1.
Credits in packages of less than 10 actually cost $2.50 a pop __ we get 50c of that so there's the 20% level. We only get the full 50% (which I suspect most of assumed we were earning) on packages of 300 credits which also cost $300.
I feel that BigStock has done a rather sneaky thing there and, because most people don't take too much notice of them, they've managed to slip in under the radar.
I did some number crunching recently and according to my calculations working backwards on known figures BigStock actually has higher annual sales than StockXpert (believe it or not!). They just pay out a heck of a lot less to us.
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Thanks for posting Gostwyck. I had no idea. Not good news at all.
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Wow, thanks gostwyck for letting us know this...no good news at all lisa.
BTW, welcome to MSG Perseus.
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Btw, and this is important, what do you think the commission percentage is at BigStock?
50% or thereabouts? WRONG __ it can be as low as 20% per sale.
Very interesting; I certainly did think they were still paying us 50%. Thanks for posting that.
Even so, though, I note that BigStock continues to be my #1 site based on RPD (rev per DL). Imagine what it would be if they did pay a straight 50% as they used to do.
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Glad I asked the question. I don't feel any better but the info is enlightening.
Not necessarily in a bad way. I don't remember getting less than 50 cents for an image? Not that I've sold very many. :(
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I am kind of relieved to see I am not the only one getting this big drop in DL's at BigStock this month. When that happens you always wonder if suddenly their buyers just hate your images.
At least I am in good company it seems.
No buyer could hate your work lisa, you must have an excellent portfolio by what I have seen.
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Hmm, I get some US$1 and even US$2 per image.
Added: from their FAQ:
How much can I earn?
There is unlimited potential for earning. We pay at this time $0.50 commission per credit spent for standard images. Special licensed images is slightly different. But standard images sell for between 1 and 6 credits, so you earn from 50 centst to $3.00 per download.
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They seem to have some strange search rotation that moves much more slowly than any other site. Last month I had a BME (but still nothing to brag about) and this month it seems they perhaps went out of business. I don't expect much for sales before July.
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They seem to have some strange search rotation that moves much more slowly than any other site. Last month I had a BME (but still nothing to brag about) and this month it seems they perhaps went out of business. I don't expect much for sales before July.
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Why do you say that, pixart?
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Looks like gostwyck is correct.
1 credit can cost $2.50, so we should see some $1.25, Ģ2.50 and $5 sales, if we were getting 50% commission. All we get is 50 cents per credit. I want 50% of the sale price. I would much prefer the buyers went to sites that pay me much more per download. Looks like BigStock is going to lose my new uploads.
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/core.php?showpage=howitworks
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I'm at them since august 08 and still no payout with portfolio around 400+ images.
Disappointing
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Like all the other stock sites, they are getting picky in my opinion. Just had 9 out of 10 images rejected for weird reasons. I am still sitting on a 60% acceptance overall . . . I know, this isn't great, but I am working on it . . . .
E
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Hmmm....
I didn't looked at maths... But, interesting info here!
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Am I the only one getting US$1 and US$2?
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I'm with them since Aug 06 and my total earnings from the very first sale until now is about the same of what I make in one month in SS. And I have over 1000 images in both sites.
It is my lowest earner of the 7 I'm in and I'm not going to upload new images for a while. It's not worth the effort.
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Am I the only one getting US$1 and US$2?
I get those too but a 4 credit image can cost the buyer between $4 and $10, so $2 might only be 20% commission.
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Low sales and irritating cathegories. And above that 7 words minimum for description. Defenitly not worth the extra work as it is now... I also have problems navigating the site. weird layout/menus. I donīt spend much time there though.
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I have several sales for $ 2 most of them are $ 0,5, and some of them are $ 1
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I have about 200 images with them, I think I made payout only 3x since joining them a year and a half ago. Sales definitely have fallen off sharply. It was steady until Feb this year, March not a single download, April 2 dns, May so far none.
Like Madelaide, I have always gotten no less than $0.50 and many times $1/download. In the past I have had a few $3.
Am not sure what is happening to that site, they are probably having a tough time competing with the big ones in this tough economic climate. I have not uploaded any new stuffs for a long time. I would agree uploading has always been tedious i.e. categories/keyword as mentioned by someone. I like the low payout though
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Nice to see everybody can figure out their own way of screwing the contributors. BigStock went unnoticed as they are a low earner.
fotolia does it, BigStock does it, all of them do.. but When I focus on veer like in the other thread, then I am a sinner because I said "let's stop veer in advance, before they get millions of images". I never went in a rant, I just wanted to close the gates to more of the same. The reason I didn't mention other sites like BigStock and fotolia was because they already have millions of images, not because I am loving them!
anyway guys, stop going in a rant against BigStock :D At the end of the day, they still pay better than IS, right? What a good example for all of us! IS?! ;D
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anyway guys, stop going in a rant against BigStock :D At the end of the day, they still pay better than IS, right? What a good example for all of us! IS?! ;D
Not necessarily __ we have no way of knowing what the average payout level is. For all we know it may be little better than 20%.
At least IS can justify the low payout level by all the marketing, etc that really does generate the money. IS are generating more than 20x more income for me with my portfolio than BigStock.
It seems to me with BigStock we have the worst of all worlds __ very low payout percentage with very few sales. The site is generating $M's for it's owners though.
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anyway guys, stop going in a rant against BigStock :D At the end of the day, they still pay better than IS, right? What a good example for all of us! IS?! ;D
Not necessarily __ we have no way of knowing what the average payout level is. For all we know it may be little better than 20%.
At least IS can justify the low payout level by all the marketing, etc that really does generate the money. IS are generating more than 20x more income for me with my portfolio than BigStock.
It seems to me with BigStock we have the worst of all worlds __ very low payout percentage with very few sales. The site is generating $M's for it's owners though.
OMG
Now I understand why I earn 0.5-2$ at BigStock. I though this was slow but the honest site.
I agree with Gostwyck, BigStock is the worst site (ex-aequo with Crestock)
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Out of 500+ images I had one dl of .50 on 4/22. So you can see my sales are not good at the present.
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I've had a $3.00 usd sale and a $0.50usd sale.
But then I'm still in the "thrilled someone found my images among the millions online" stage...
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I have $7 in sales this month with about 180 images, already tied for my BME. I started uploading in January.
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They seem to have some strange search rotation that moves much more slowly than any other site. Last month I had a BME (but still nothing to brag about) and this month it seems they perhaps went out of business. I don't expect much for sales before July.
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Why do you say that, pixart?
Because every good month I've had on BS is followed by 2 weak months, the first of which will is usually 50% of the high month. Lat month was a BME by a couple $ and in May if sales keep at this pace I will drop to 31% of my high on the last rotation.
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Am I the only one getting US$1 and US$2?
I get those too but a 4 credit image can cost the buyer between $4 and $10, so $2 might only be 20% commission.
I see your point now, however this is exactly what it reads in their FAQ - they don't say 50% commission, but 50c per credit. I suppose the 2.50 credit is very rare, maybe even the US$2 credit - these must be very occasional buyers. I believe our commission there is probably on the 30-40%, au pair with FT or above.
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Am I the only one getting US$1 and US$2?
I get those too but a 4 credit image can cost the buyer between $4 and $10, so $2 might only be 20% commission.
I see your point now, however this is exactly what it reads in their FAQ - they don't say 50% commission, but 50c per credit. I suppose the 2.50 credit is very rare, maybe even the US$2 credit - these must be very occasional buyers. I believe our commission there is probably on the 30-40%, au pair with FT or above.
Perharps I am not as involved in the arithmetic of it all. Coming from a different background, I don't pay much attention to anything other then the bottom line. Sure, the %age sounds wonderful if raised to a level we all feel great, but like it or not, you can easily find other sites to contribute if the criterion of a higher percentage or per sale is that vital to you.
In my case, I'd still prefer seeing I earned $1 -2 per download. How much BigStock earns is irrelevant to me, so long as they don't roll over and die.
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Hi all.... I just wanted to take a second to address recent posts here wondering if anything is wrong at BigStockPhoto. Good news - BigStockPhoto is doing great. We are in absolutely no danger, we're financially strong, and to boot, we've seen new all-time record sales figures this year already.
One thing we've always been good at is controlling costs, and we continue to run a very healthy lean, mean organization.
Regarding uploading: we are about to unveil a total overhaul to the image submission user interface and process. It's been long due and we listened to you, and got busy. Uploading and submitting, especially if your images are already meta tagged, will be a breeze.
Regarding the 7 word description requirement we have, you have to understand that without a that description, your image is just a set of keywords - just like thousands of other images. Since you can't stuff your keywords, you need a way to let a person searching know that your image is MOSTLY a photo of a business man in a blue shirt with a coffee cup, for example. Without that short blurb, those critical keywords "business, man, blue, shirt, coffee, cup" don't get any extra weight. But with that phrase, we are able to weight those words a little extra to know that your image is a good result when those keywords are searched. So we feel it's important to enter good keywords, good title, and a good short description that really tells us what the image is.
This helps us deliver your image to the searcher at the right time because not every keyword should have equal weight. Hope that all makes sense.
That said, we are considering making this optional, as we know some people get frustrated with it. But my advice is to include the short description as it helps your image get found when the buyers need it...
As far as some of you seeing lower sales lately: it's incredibly hard to know for sure why you might see a dip, while some other site shows a rise for you. Perhaps we had a lot of really premium images uploaded by some of the most popular contributors this month, and these new images are causing more competition for your portfolio.
The answer for a sales dip would probably be slightly different for each contributor if we could figure it out one contributor at a time... there are so many factors that play into your monthly sales. Don't let your skills stagnate either. Notice how guys like Yuri Arcurs continue to tweak their work, find new verticals to shoot for, etc. The most successful shooters don't sit still and they grow with the market.
All I can say for sure is that traffic is up over the last few months, sales generally strong, and many new features and innovations being unleashed over the coming months. Things look great.
Thanks to all of you for your thoughts, and your contribution to BigStockPhoto.
Best regards,
Tim Donahue
Founder
BigStockPhoto.com
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I'm confused, are we talking with Tim or Dawn? :)
Nevertheless, thanks for the update. It is interesting to know that you use description for relevance. I personally think this is a smart choice.
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How about some statistics? I only know how little downloads I have. How about how little views? At least this would give me info about direction my portfolio is going. Maybe stats per period of time also :-)
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Dawn, is the search rotation going to improve at all with all of these new changes coming to BigStock?...I think that if the search rotation system were to be improved, then maybe sales would be spread out a little better among us, the "regular photographers" and the new group of popular contributors with premium photos that have join the site, in the past month.
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Good news - BigStockPhoto is doing great. We are in absolutely no danger, we're financially strong, and to boot, we've seen new all-time record sales figures this year already.
You are doing great, I suppose that paying us 20% helps.
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At least I am in good company it seems.
Although in general I seem to bad company ;) BigStock was very slow for me too in May. On average 1-2 sales per day, I had a dry spell of 5 days last week between May 5 and 11. Normally half or more of my downloads were from the 10 same images, in a port of 1000+ - then, earlier this year I suddenly started selling newer images too. Since early April, it seems I'm back to default. My bet is they were playing with the search engine. Up till now, May has been a very slow month in general, and BigStock is still alive and kicking - no surprises, no fancy buyouts, moderate but steady sales for years.
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It is interesting to know that you use description for relevance. I personally think this is a smart choice.
They do that already for years. ;)
Dreamstime does it too now, but a little angel just whispered in my ear that DT was the second ::) :P
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Hi all.... I just wanted to take a second to address recent posts here wondering if anything is wrong at BigStockPhoto. Good news - BigStockPhoto is doing great. We are in absolutely no danger, we're financially strong, and to boot, we've seen new all-time record sales figures this year already.
One thing we've always been good at is controlling costs, and we continue to run a very healthy lean, mean organization.
Thanks for the update Tim. I am annoyed though that despite the length of your post you have avoided discussing the important issue of commission percentage and why you have been slowly reducing it over the last couple of years.
When I first signed up to BigStock the commission level was 50%. Full stop. Period. I am not aware of any announcements or emails to contributors indicating that commissions were to be reduced and can now be as little as 20%. Judging by the surprised responses from senior contributors earlier in this thread, when I pointed out what the current payout levels actually are, I clearly wasn't alone.
Why have commissions been lowered and are we to expect our share of the revenue (generated with our work) to be reduced yet further over forthcoming years?
Why can't you be honest and fair to the contributors, that are providing you with a very profitable business, by stating an exact percentage commission like every other agency does on non-subscription sales?
Due to the low % commissions, combined with low sales, I have decided to not waste my time any further by uploading to BigStock. In particular I feel disappointed and annoyed about the sneaky way that commissions have been reduced and I no longer trust the management of BigStock.
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Very slooww almost 700 pics on line and $ 5-10 a month, Crestock with less than 200 pictures is doing better enough said.....
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I agree with gostwyck, the low commissions need to be talked about. The high earning sites can get away with lower commissions because they spend lots on advertising and bring in the buyers but I will have to consider if it is worth continuing with BigStock for less than 50%. What is all the extra money being spent on? If my earnings were improving, then I might agree to taking a lower % but they are not.
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Thanks for the update Tim. Good news on streamlining the upload process.
To be honest, though, the decline of sales and commissions is more of an issue IMO.
I am concerned about the lower % too. My average sale on BigStock nets me 83 cents. That is on the extreme low end of what I get on PPD sites. Only subscription sites are a lower RPI.
I am also very concerned about sales falloff. With over 4500 diverse images I am not one of the small or specialized portfolios that is generally very affected by sales fluctuations. Some of the others posting in this thread are high volume sellers too. To assume this sales drop is just affecting the mid to low level contributors would not be correct.
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I am also very concerned about sales falloff. With over 4500 diverse images I am not one of the small or specialized portfolios that is generally very affected by sales fluctuations. Some of the others posting in this thread are high volume sellers too. To assume this sales drop is just affecting the mid to low level contributors would not be correct.
Same here Lisa...
Patrick H.
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like i said I have a little over 500 images and only two sales this month. It must be my type of images .
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To be honest, though, the decline of sales and commissions is more of an issue IMO.
I am concerned about the lower % too.
Exactly.
Just two years ago BigStock were averaging about 6-7% of my total revenue, neck-and-neck with StockXpert at the time. Nowadays BigStock are down to 2% and fading fast whilst StockXpert has remained unchanged at 7%.
I am increasingly concerned that BigStock is now being run as a get-rich-quick scheme for the owners. Commissions have been lowered by stealth and there's not much evidence of significant investment in the site itself or marketing the library. This apparent short-term greed combined with the less than opaque attitude of the management towards their contributors is a worrying sign IMHO. They haven't even bothered to reply/post in their own forums for weeks. Hmm.
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When I first signed up to BigStock the commission level was 50%. Full stop. Period. I am not aware of any announcements or emails to contributors indicating that commissions were to be reduced and can now be as little as 20%. Judging by the surprised responses from senior contributors earlier in this thread, when I pointed out what the current payout levels actually are, I clearly wasn't alone.
Is that so? I'm on BigStock since August 2005 and I thought it still was 50%. How dit that happen? I didn't see any announcement like from DT when they made a major change (actually improvement) on their commission scheme. :o
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So it seems that BS have being BSing all of us for a long time with commissions, and they still have the guts to come into this forum and brag about how well they're doing and how strong the site is, as Dawn said "One thing we've always been good at is controlling costs, and we continue to run a very healthy lean, mean organization" Yeah! I'll bet, controlling our commissions without letting us know of any change, and making the owners of the site rich. You know what, as gostwyck mention, I also no longer trust the management of BigStock, or their sneaky ways, with that said, I will no longer upload to BigStock (fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!!!). >:(
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Another vote here for "we deserve an explanation". If credit prices have increased, contributors should benefit as well. This is a can of worms.
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When I first signed up to BigStock the commission level was 50%. Full stop. Period. I am not aware of any announcements or emails to contributors indicating that commissions were to be reduced and can now be as little as 20%. Judging by the surprised responses from senior contributors earlier in this thread, when I pointed out what the current payout levels actually are, I clearly wasn't alone.
Is that so? I'm on BigStock since August 2005 and I thought it still was 50%. How dit that happen? I didn't see any announcement like from DT when they made a major change (actually improvement) on their commission scheme. :o
I believe the change took place long ago (over an year), when they changed the price scheme, and I think it was announced. We get 50c per credit, and a credit can cost from $1 to 2.50 (so we make 20 to 50%).
PS: Found it here, on Nov 2007.
http://www.microstockgroup.com/bigstock-com/price-increase!/
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Thanks for that __ I had no idea quite how sneaky they have been.
I've just checked my sales/revenue and in the months before the "price increase" I was averaging 130-148c per sale. Now, like Lisa, I'm down to 84c per sale.
Try it yourself and see how much of that substantial price increase to the customers actually ended up in your back-bin. For me it turned out to be about a 40% pay cut.
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My images sell between .50 and 1.00 each,once in a while I get a 2.00 sale
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I didn't start tracking RPD before Feb/08, so I don't have my numbers before the changes (unless I go dig it in their site), but my numbers range from 82c to $1.32, depending on the month, and they were about the same in Feb/08 as they were last month.
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I think they took advantage of the fact that nobody really cares about bigstock.
If this had happened on one of the bigger sites, everyone would be up in arms.
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I think they took advantage of the fact that nobody really cares about bigstock. If this had happened on one of the bigger sites, everyone would be up in arms.
Well, if I am not wrong, before they introduced that change, images were costing $1 or $2 and we got 50%. After the change, prices went up but our $ was not reduced (a very big difference compared to FT). I mean, an image that costed $1 and gave us 50c was still giving us 50c. At the same time, images sold at larger sizes were giving us $2 or even $3, choices that were not available before. They may have reduced our %, but not the earnings per image.
Ok, things could have been different, but I don't think it is outrageous.
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Hi Guys,
Most of the downloads are from $1 credits; therefore, you are getting 50% commission for almost every download.
Also, another thing to keep in mind is that marketing costs have skyrocketed over the years. Just placing an ad on Google these days can cost over $2 for one click. It is very competitive.
Most of you know, we are always very fair and we want you to succeed as well. We feel great when you make money -- we love the fact that we can help people make money with their hobby and it pays some of your bills.
I admit we haven't been very good at communicating on the forums. Our business is fairly good size and it takes many hours to maintain and build it. But you know, if you have any major concerns about BigStock you can always write to us directly.
Thanks guys,
Dawn
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Most of you know, we are always very fair and we want you to succeed as well. We feel great when you make money -- we love the fact that we can help people make money with their hobby and it pays some of your bills.
Thanks guys,
Dawn
Perhaps we have spotted a problem. I have been a working professional photographer since 1979. I do not think I am the only professional selling images in microstock. Perhaps you should reconsider that "hobby" position.
Warren
www.warrenpricephotography.com
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Interesting thread. I haven't submitted to BigStock and based on what I see here I don't intend to.
The microstocks seemt to think that the commission really should be 0%, and that they'll get there eventually. You all know the old story about how to boil a frog - if you turn up the heat slowly enough he never jumps out of the pot.
"Crowdsourcing" and "fair to contributors" are apparently incompatible ideas.
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Most of you know, we are always very fair and we want you to succeed as well. We feel great when you make money -- we love the fact that we can help people make money with their hobby and it pays some of your bills.
Thanks guys,
Dawn
Perhaps we have spotted a problem. I have been a working professional photographer since 1979. I do not think I am the only professional selling images in microstock. Perhaps you should reconsider that "hobby" position.
Warren
www.warrenpricephotography.com
That makes two of us Warren, I've been on all aspects of microstock/photography for over 26+, and have made a very good living at it, so I would hardly consider what I do a hobby. Dawn you may be referring to someone else, and not to the group of professionals on this forum...and BTW NO!!! you have not been very good at communicating, regardless how much time it takes running BigStock, other sites make it a point to stay in touch and communicate with their contributors for better or worst, what makes BigStock special?
Enough BSPlease...
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Most of the downloads are from $1 credits; therefore, you are getting 50% commission for almost every download.
Just checked my latest 30 sales at BigStock: 20 of them are 1$. That makes the 0.50$ sales (with 50%) a minority of 33%.
Hence, the RPD on BigStock was around 0.83$, roughly half of the 1.67$ with competitor DT last April.
There is also the continuing mystery surrounding the origin of sales on affiliate sites, which are not indicated as such.
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Most of the downloads are from $1 credits; therefore, you are getting 50% commission for almost every download.
If this is the case, then why not change your commission scheme to pay out 50% always.
It would not be a great loss for you (as you claim we already get 50% for almost every download) and you would immediately stop the ongoing discussion here and have full support of all photographers here. Sounds like a smart move to me.
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I agree, 50% would give us a small earnings rise and as it looks like most of us haven't been able to increase earnings with BigStock, it might keep us motivated to stay with the site. I like BigStock but it does take time to upload there compared to other sites and I am in this to make money.
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Thanks for the update Tim. Good news on streamlining the upload process.
Which made you the top Weekly Featured Photographer on BigStock :P
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My total sales at BigStock doubled yesterday ... I had a $2 and 2 $3 sales. Don't know what I did right but I hope to keep doing it. ;D
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That brief rush of enthusiasm was snuffed out. It was an "invalid transaction." The hard part to understand, after their recalculation, is that I owe Big Stock two dollars!!!!!
I guess with that calculator,, it doesn't matter what percentage we are getting. It's their calculator. >:(
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Warren, as the old saying goes, "It's mind over matter, they don't mind, we don't matter" ;)...that's a good trick though, they got you all excited over a supposed sale, probably excited enough to make you upload a couple of more pictures to their site, then take it back...I've to try that one sometime. ;)
Edited: BTW, I just checked my stats, and realized that I have made more money on 2 low earners sites in the past four months, with less downloads, that I've on BigStock. ???
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Hmm, I had 19 transactions (2$ each) yesterday now listed as Adjustment (Invalid Transaction). ???
As WarrenPrice noted, it brings decent chaos in that earnings page... :)
I just sent them email...
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I just sent them email...
me too
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My daughter just had $6 removed due to invalid transactions.
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Hmm, I had 19 transactions (2$ each) yesterday now listed as Adjustment (Invalid Transaction). ???
As WarrenPrice noted, it brings decent chaos in that earnings page... :)
I just sent them email...
Just imagine how much more you could have lost if they were paying you more than 20%!
When they're paying such a piffling commission they really should be absorbing the cost of invalid transactions.
Seems like we're getting the very worst of all worlds at BigStock. I'm not uploading any more images to them until we get a fairer deal.
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Hmm, I had 19 transactions (2$ each) yesterday now listed as Adjustment (Invalid Transaction). ???
As WarrenPrice noted, it brings decent chaos in that earnings page... :)
I just sent them email...
Just imagine how much more you could have lost if they were paying you more than 20%!
When they're paying such a piffling commission they really should be absorbing the cost of invalid transactions.
Seems like we're getting the very worst of all worlds at BigStock. I'm not uploading any more images to them until we get a fairer deal.
20%? When did we figure out the commission rate was only 20%?
I thought it averaged "close to 50%"?
All I know for sure is that BigStock has the highest RPD of any site I contribute to (due, undoubtedly, to their lack of sub sales). So I find it hard to complain, regardless of what % we are earning.
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well, you guys can be glad to discuss about downloads at BigStock...I haven't had anyone at all
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/search/photographer/makeanotherme/ (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/search/photographer/makeanotherme/)
Well, I don't have many uploads and I am only online since April...BUT...I decided to upload to other sites aswell and they've been doing very well in the same amount of time....by the way, another disappointment is canstock ...they keep telling you "your portfolio is so small, we have over 1 million images here"...so what...shutterstock has almost 7 millions and I get downloads as hell...or at dreamstime I got a few downloads so far and several hundred views...and canstock...my most popular images have 2 views...
nearly the same with bigstock....
That's how I am doing at bigstock
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Thanks for the update Tim. Good news on streamlining the upload process.
Which made you the top Weekly Featured Photographer on BigStock :P
Gee, thanks for noticing :)
Unfortunately you omitted the rest of that post, which was critical of BigStock.
If they made me featured photographer it obviously wasn't for brown nosing:
To be honest, though, the decline of sales and commissions is more of an issue IMO.
I am concerned about the lower % too. My average sale on BigStock nets me 83 cents. That is on the extreme low end of what I get on PPD sites. Only subscription sites are a lower RPI.
I am also very concerned about sales falloff. With over 4500 diverse images I am not one of the small or specialized portfolios that is generally very affected by sales fluctuations. Some of the others posting in this thread are high volume sellers too. To assume this sales drop is just affecting the mid to low level contributors would not be correct.
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...........we love the fact that we can help people make money with their hobby and it pays some of your bills.
Are you saying you only want people who do this for a hobby to submit their content on your site, or was it a deliberate insult to the many people who do this for a living, the majority of which are paying your bills.
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I usually do okay there, but this last week they seem to have fallen off a cliff. Wonder if there was a search engine change or if sales are just off there.
:(
Yes, after 6 of May. my sales stop! why? I have never experienced this before..
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Yes Lisa!
This seems a strange sort of agency, one minute, good, next minute, dead.
Maybe I should reconsider this one before uploading too much.
best.
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Yes Lisa!
This seems a strange sort of agency, one minute, good, next minute, dead.
Maybe I should reconsider this one before uploading too much.
best.
Bigstock is mystery for sure. You get good reviewers for a couple months until when they are desperate for uploads, they employ this atilla style "this is a snapshot" reviewer. I find it crazy there because the review time was dead slow for months but there was no insulting "This is a snapshot" rejection. Then everyone disappear and they beg for upload saying "quick review time now", but you get atilla to insult you for your snapshots .
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...........we love the fact that we can help people make money with their hobby and it pays some of your bills.
Are you saying you only want people who do this for a hobby to submit their content on your site, or was it a deliberate insult to the many people who do this for a living, the majority of which are paying your bills.
Bigstock is mystery for sure. You get good reviewers for a couple months until when they are desperate for uploads, they employ this atilla style "this is a snapshot" reviewer. I find it crazy there because the review time was dead slow for months but there was no insulting "This is a snapshot" rejection. Then everyone disappear and they beg for upload saying "quick review time now", but you get atilla to insult you for your snapshots .
Sounds like a bad case of contradiction here-
Commentary 1 - Dawn Donahue: BigStock welcomes hobbyist to submit
Commentary 2 - puravida: BigStock rejects images with "This is a Snapshot".
So what's the real deal? BigStock, what do you really want ?
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Of all the microstock sites I submit to, BigStock has been the most consistent from day 1. They aren't my best earning site each month, but they offer a good amount of consistent sales.
I also like the fact that there isn't a lot of drama there. No best match shakeups, rude admins, etc. They are just a consistently good agency, month after month.
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Of all the microstock sites I submit to, BigStock has been the most consistent from day 1. They aren't my best earning site each month, but they offer a good amount of consistent sales.
I also like the fact that there isn't a lot of drama there. No best match shakeups, rude admins, etc. They are just a consistently good agency, month after month.
Agree on that. BigStock is slow moving like a snail, but yes, Supports Liz and Joseph are always responsive. Sales could be better, though... but sometimes I feel BigStock aren't doing enough to get to #1. Not sure if it
s because they don't want to or they can't.
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I started with BigStock 2 years and 9 months ago and I have not regretted it for one minute.
1,325 sales from 657 different images with an average of .88+ per sale.
I get a paycheck from BigStock Every month.
Do they ever do things that I do not like? Yes! I bitch and complane and in the next breath brag about them. I will stick with them regardless.
When I ask for my monthly check, I usually get it with 24 - 48 hours. (They are not broke and pay their bills promptly. A very healthy sign.)
-Larry
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Larry,
do they offer any exclusivity incentives?
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Larry,
do they offer any exclusivity incentives?
NO! But, if they did that before I added other sites to my name. i would have gone exclusive with them. too late now. ;D
-Larry
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Larry,
do they offer any exclusivity incentives?
Larry, Are you the guy that emailed me about the Item on FP?
NO! But, if they did that before I added other sites to my name. i would have gone exclusive with them. too late now. ;D
-Larry
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NO! But, if they did that before I added other sites to my name. i would have gone exclusive with them. too late now. ;D
-Larry
you're joking aren't you Larry?
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I do great with BS. I have consistant sales and get .50 to 2.00 on them. I've always done well with BS. Some people do well with them while others don't...it's the same with Fotolia...I've got the same stuff on all my stock's and I hardly sell anything on Fotolia. I think it depends on your style, but I personally have had good luck with BS from day 1 and I don't consider myself as having a huge portfolio.
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I am doing good at BigStock, and will continue to support them because a.) They actually care about the contributor (check out their new upload interface) as opposed to IStock who could care less how long it takes to upload through their god-awful interface, and b.) They have the nicest employees who actually seem to care, which is very rare
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NO! But, if they did that before I added other sites to my name. i would have gone exclusive with them. too late now. ;D
-Larry
you're joking aren't you Larry?
Not a joke!
I was with them (BigStock) only for about 2 years, then they started the "snapshot" insults and I started looking at other sites and started uploading to them. I did let them know that I took it as an insult and not just a rejection reason. The word "snapshot" was to stay, I was told. .... so I left.
After a long wait I went back onto BigStock when others said the "Snapshot" insults had stopped. That was several months ago and everything is going fine now.
The best news is BigStock outsells (in dollars earned for me!) all the other sites combined that I am on. Has been and still is.
To any site CEO reading this: Reviewers can make or break you. .... your choice.
My 2 cents.
-Larry
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I made huge mistake, asked them to delete around 1000 files. Now I will spend rest of my life building up acceptance rate there :-) This of course translates to no sales there. I am not even sure why I am trying to rebuild my reputation there? I must be masochist.
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I must be masochist.
You must :o
Just had a look. 8 sales on June 8, one for 3$. Just 4 sales since then, all of my top 4 photos there, always the same. It's a nice and quiet site that gives a good and steady side income.
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I really like BS. Consistent sales, regular payouts, I fly past the payout limit every month, and I have always found their reviewers fair. I have about a 93% acceptance rate. Could be higher but early on I tried some shots that I knew were not perfect, but thought could sneak past. ;)
They gave me lost of good advice in the early days. You only have to ask! They are very responsive to queries.
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like i said I have a little over 500 images and only two sales this month. It must be my type of images .
Same!
With 400 images in my portfolio , a have only 2 $ this month...
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The only good thing about Big, other than that Liz and Joseph are superb Support people, is that you don't get paid 30 cents for a dl. But the sales are sllllooooow.
And sometimes, they have a reviewer that is "weird" , who calls everything he/she sees a snapshot. (rejection: THIS IS A SNAPSHOT).
Other than that, it is a wonderful site to contribute
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The only good thing about Big, other than that Liz and Joseph are superb Support people, is that you don't get paid 30 cents for a dl. But the sales are sllllooooow.
And sometimes, they have a reviewer that is "weird" , who calls everything he/she sees a snapshot. (rejection: THIS IS A SNAPSHOT).
Other than that, it is a wonderful site to contribute
Fast or Sloooooow Sales at BigStock depend on what the subject is that your selling.
Mine is GOLF, SNOW SPORTS, REAL ESTATE, CITY OF MILWAUKEE, STATE OF WISCONSIN, for my images, BigStock outsells in dollars and in the number of dl's than ALL the other sites I am on put together. That's right, ALL of them. For the last 90 days BigStock is about 25 DL's and $30.00 ahead of all the rest put together.
I know I have knocked BigStock many times when they had it coming to them, but I will also step up to the plate and defend them when they are in the right. I still think it is the best site to work with.
-Larry
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I'm also a big fan of BigStock :)
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The only good thing about Big, other than that Liz and Joseph are superb Support people, is that you don't get paid 30 cents for a dl.
Totally agree with you Tan, on the great support people there, and in addition to Liz and Joseph, I get the feeling Dawn and Tim and still very hands-on. BigStock are one of the few sites that have retained the same attitude of service and responsiveness that they had when they started out.
I do wish sales were better, but at least they aren't spiraling down the drain, like they are at 123.
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Earnings are about half of what I used to have thee one year ago - a bit worse than other sites.
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In perpetual slow decline for the last couple of years for me. They've gone from averaging 7% of my total earnings in May 2007 to about 2.5% in May 2009 (and that was a relatively good month). They are projected to drop below 2% this month despite having recently uploaded several hundred new images.
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BigStock is dead to me this month... ::)
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They are projected to drop below 2% this month despite having recently uploaded several hundred new images.
I just had a look at my rejects. After years of almost 100% acceptance, to my surprise, they rejected an image as non-stockworthy that was accepted everywhere and that sold several times there. No sweat, but if they (or their new reviewers) keep doing that, I'm out of there too, at least as to uploading. I get plenty of sales of images 3-4 years old, none recent. It must be a major glitch in their search engine. Not uploading any more won't make any difference.
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I seem to have completely missed this thread... I guess its a product of the "who cares about BS" strategy that they have been using to keep away from controversy. I recall a change to prices for credits some time ago, but was also still under the impression that we were earning 50%.
With over 2300 images online there, I normally make a payout each month, but often that's not really certain either. This month is looking particularly poor.
Personally I find the "hobby" remarks particularly insulting. While there are obviously people who do this as a hobby, I'm willing to bet that the bulk of the money they earn comes from professional photographers.
For the time being I'll put my uploads there on hold and see how things develop.
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Sales are very few for me these days at BigStock.
Sad to say, it's presently my worst performing site.
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My sales at BigStock have picked up quite a bit this week. Unfortunately payouts seem to be running a bit slow.
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My sales at BigStock have picked up quite a bit this week. Unfortunately payouts seem to be running a bit slow.
Here also...
Very good for summer slowdown on BigStock...
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very quiet for me. I earnt more on featurepics last month (just :)
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Very bad.
I'm in my 'deleting mood'. Crestock, Canstock, 123rf and videos at FT are gone. BigStock is next on my list.
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Me too. :)
My sales at BigStock have picked up quite a bit this week.
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Very bad.
I'm in my 'deleting mood'. Crestock, Canstock, 123rf and videos at FT are gone. BigStock is next on my list.
wow rene, crash and burn month for you ,I suppose. Or just late Spring Cleaning?
Out of curiousity, so , which sites are you left with to contribute?
As for sales, I made only a buck last month, but I suppose that would be like getting 4 sub dls with other sites. I guess it's summer !
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BigStock doing bad for me this month just one download ,123rf which has been my best selling site this month with dreamtime next .
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BigStock is a steady low earner for me. I had zero sales in 123RF however.
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wow rene, crash and burn month for you ,I suppose. Or just late Spring Cleaning?
Out of curiousity, so , which sites are you left with to contribute?
This is my feeling too, Tan. There are lots of times I get aggravated with low sales, or site policies, or slow payouts, but if I dropped every site that causes me trouble I would be left with only DT and SS.
Not enough earnings on those two by themselves to justify my stock efforts.
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wow rene, crash and burn month for you ,I suppose. Or just late Spring Cleaning?
Out of curiousity, so , which sites are you left with to contribute?
IS, SS, DT, FT (only photos), StockXpert (only photos), Pond5
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I've earned exactly 15 $ since my beginning at Nov. 2008 ;D
So i decided to quit. If anybody needs 7,50 $ for first payout, let me know. Iīll buy your images (maybe you buy some pics at IS, DT from me ;))
If my payout is at "0", iīll close my account.
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My sales at BigStock used to be very flat, but slightly increased in the last months. When my portfolio was below 1000pix average sales were at $15/month level, now my portfolio has passed 1000 threshold and the sales are above $20/month.
Indeed not high at all for that size of portfolio, so they are among the last in my upload list - i.e. I upload there rarely, only when have some spare time.
My BigStock sales used to be in line (or even behind) 123rf, however 123rf went down in 2009 so I will probably stop uploading there. While BigStock is low it shows at least some improvement...
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I just can't seem to sell many photos on BigStock. I have about 100 files and have earned a whopping $6.50 so far. Its been a very frustrating site for me! I've even tried uploading batches of 10 every couple of weeks for exposure and still its just one big BUST for me!
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It's not just you. Sales there aren't good.
BigStock and 123 are sites to upload to if you have a lot of time and low expectations. If your time is limited or you are easily discouraged you might want to stick to IS, SS, DT, and FOT. They are proven sellers.
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100 files is not a lot if you want to generate regular income from BIgStock. 1000+ is more like it. Illustrations sell well there.
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Did anybody recieve more then 50 $ at bigstock ? I upload more then 300 Graphics in the last two month I sell nothing Why it get such a big score with 3.2 on Up Comming Stockportal on Microstock Groub ?
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Yes I make between 100 and 150$ a month with them.
Did anybody recieve more then 50 $ at bigstock ? I upload more then 300 Graphics in the last two month I sell nothing Why it get such a big score with 3.2 on Up Comming Stockportal on Microstock Groub ?
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I love BigStock, just sent in for another cashout. They are steady peformers.
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for my images, BigStock outsells in dollars and in the number of dl's than ALL the other sites I am on put together. That's right, ALL of them. For the last 90 days BigStock is about 25 DL's and $30.00 ahead of all the rest put together.
-Larry
You must be on really bad sites Larry ;)
Your port is great, there is no way BigStock can be the best website saleswise. They maybe great people, but the sales aren't the greatest. You have 2000 something photos on BigStock, and 500 something on dreamstime. If you upload the rest of your port to dreamstime, they will make much more than BigStock.
And what about IS, SS, StockXpert, FT? You must join them as well, Than you will see that BigStock is at best 6th best site saleswise. At best!
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Humm I just donīt understand why I dosent have one sale. Even just one will show something is going on at BigStock. But zero sells show me just a dead side with many uploder and less buyer.
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Humm I just donīt understand why I dosent have one sale. Even just one will show something is going on at BigStock. But zero sells show me just a dead side with many uploder and less buyer.
I just checked your portfolio on BigStock. Your correct you have no sales ...... BUT you have no images to sell either. Put some photos on BigStock and I am sure the sales will come.
-Larry
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for my images, BigStock outsells in dollars and in the number of dl's than ALL the other sites I am on put together. That's right, ALL of them. For the last 90 days BigStock is about 25 DL's and $30.00 ahead of all the rest put together.
-Larry
You must be on really bad sites Larry ;)
Your port is great, there is no way BigStock can be the best website saleswise. They maybe great people, but the sales aren't the greatest. You have 2000 something photos on BigStock, and 500 something on dreamstime. If you upload the rest of your port to dreamstime, they will make much more than BigStock.
And what about IS, SS, StockXpert, FT? You must join them as well, Than you will see that BigStock is at best 6th best site saleswise. At best!
Hi CIDEPIX
I tried uploading all of my 2,400 images to DT but they reject like crazy. So everytime they reject a batch of images I went through my portfolio and deleted images similar to them and did not try to upload any of them just to get another rejection. I am now uploading currant images to DT and still can get only a 70% approval rate. And as for the other sites you mentioned. I upload to one or two sites at a time, I am on 4 sites now and will add more later.
BigStock is still my Number one in sales dollars.
-Larry
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Put SS and IS ahead of the others Larry!
Pick your best 10 for SS' initial application and you will be selling them like hot cakes ;)
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Downloads were slow during June and July for me, but now they are starting to pick up. BS is a small but steady earner for me, and it's still worth my time to keep uploading. I'm also very happy with the way they treat their contributors. :)
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Larry,
I know you are a big supporter and are doing well there. If I were doing as well, I would be a huge supporter too. I'm just wondering, what is your secret.
I've been there just over a year now and have accumulated only $10.50. I have just over 200 images; not a lot, I realize, but with just 113 images at 123rf I have reached $15.98 in just two months. I have 3 months and 155 images at StockXpert and just over $10. Dreamstime is averaging an image a day now with 225 images. Cutcaster is doing nothing now but I did get a payout before it died.
Many, if not most, of my images are the same across all the sites. What is it that I need to do to sell images at BigStock?
And, I'm not being a smarta$$, Larry. I really would like some insight.
Thanks,
PS: actually, cutcaster is selling only editorial stuff for me. is that the kind of discovery I need to make at BigStock?
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Larry,
I know you are a big supporter and are doing well there. If I were doing as well, I would be a huge supporter too. I'm just wondering, what is your secret.
I've been there just over a year now and have accumulated only $10.50. I have just over 200 images; not a lot, I realize, but with just 113 images at 123rf I have reached $15.98 in just two months. I have 3 months and 155 images at StockXpert and just over $10. Dreamstime is averaging an image a day now with 225 images. Cutcaster is doing nothing now but I did get a payout before it died.
Many, if not most, of my images are the same across all the sites. What is it that I need to do to sell images at BigStock?
And, I'm not being a smarta$$, Larry. I really would like some insight.
Thanks,
PS: actually, cutcaster is selling only editorial stuff for me. is that the kind of discovery I need to make at BigStock?
Warrenprice,
I took a look at your port (every image) and for the most part I see nothing wrong with it as you have a good variety and shot well. But do you have sports where you live? How about big fancy houses with long paved driveways? Kids playing and being just kids? etc.
Take a slow walk through my BigStock port and see what sells for me. Most importantly what does not sell. ;D
Keep on shooting, sales will come.
-Larry
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Put SS and IS ahead of the others Larry!
Pick your best 10 for SS' initial application and you will be selling them like hot cakes ;)
cidepix , there is only one diff about BigStock.
BigStock pays us a higher end commission than IS and SS.
what I am saying is that if you take the number of dls larry gets with BigStock and apply it to IS or SS,
he will be earning much less than with BigStock.
I earn as much with BigStock as I earn with FT, or StockXpert or DT. Only that I have far more dls at the other sites because the end commission is so little .
So, I don't really think getting to IS and SS is a solution if you are successful with BigStock. Their buyers are certainly different from that of IS and SS or even DT. And you get paid more per dl than the Big 6.
That, plus the way Lisa and Joseph of Support treat us, makes it why people like Larry and me
prefer to be with BigStock than go begging for SS with their silly application system .
We are not that much of a sucker for punishment just to be with SS ... wait for their month to month application . Sorry but we have better things to do than go begging to the beast.
Maybe Larry has a different reason . But this is mine.
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Put SS and IS ahead of the others Larry!
Pick your best 10 for SS' initial application and you will be selling them like hot cakes ;)
cidepix , there is only one diff about BigStock.
BigStock pays us a higher end commission than IS and SS.
You think so?!
BigStock actually pays you %20.
Check for how much they sell the credit packages. You are in for a rude awakening perseus. :)
Sure you get %50 of 1 credit. But they charge customers a ridiculous $2.50 per credit.
Good morning sir! ;D
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Put SS and IS ahead of the others Larry!
Pick your best 10 for SS' initial application and you will be selling them like hot cakes ;)
cidepix , there is only one diff about BigStock.
BigStock pays us a higher end commission than IS and SS.
You think so?!
BigStock actually pays you %20.
Check for how much they sell the credit packages. You are in for a rude awakening perseus. :)
Sure you get %50 of 1 credit. But they charge customers a ridiculous $2.50 per credit.
Good morning sir! ;D
Prices for BigStock image sales as quoted from their home page:
Image Pricing:Image pricing is flexible and our prices are the lowest in the industry based on the quality and file size you receive:
First you purchase image credits. With these credits you can download images - larger image cost more, smaller images cost less:
Smaller images, 900x675 px = 1 credit
Medium images, 1600x1200 px = 2 credits
Large images, 2800x1800 px = 4 credits
Extra large images, 3800x2900 px = 6 credits
Image Credits Cost Your Price Per Credit
1 $2.50 $2.50
10 $20 $2.00
20 $35 $1.75
30 $45 $1.50
100 $140 $1.40
300 $300 $1.00
As you can see very clearly that only a very few persons would buy one credit for $2.50. Most serious buyers would buy 300 credits at a dollar each and the photographer gets a full 50% commission on those sales.
Go ahead and list all the other sites price packages and commission rates here to compare.
Yes, I get more downloads at other places but more DOLLARS per month at BigStock. ... and to me that is the only figure that counts. The money you can put in the bank. Additionally image views mean nothing and pay nothing.
Furthermore I also will not jump through hoops and submit images for some pimple face kid to decide if I am good enough to be on their site. I just flat refuse. I have not tried once and I NEVER will.
-Larry.
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Larry, Larry ;)
1 to 10 credits = $2.50
You can bet many people get this option, because they don't want to waste more money than $25 on BigStock. I have a friend who buys from dreamstime regularly but instead of getting too many credits at once, he never buys credits and makes the customer pay for the credit in the beginning of every project. So every time it is a small purchase.
And big companies you say?! They don't bother to shop from BigStock anyway.
And I don't want to put the numbers here about IS and SS. You are burning your money by not putting your images on these sites. Trust me. If you had the same number of images on IS and SS you would make about 30 times more on IS than BigStock. This is not a joke.
With a few images less than BigStock, istockphoto makes 30 times more than BigStock for me.
Yup! At least 30 times more Larry! This is serious. You have money to burn! And SS will be 15 to 20 times better than BigStock. And when your images are freshly uploaded you can maybe buy a car from 2200 images on SS in the first month!
I don't know why are you waiting for? Don't waste your time to stand for BigStock :) I want your goodness!
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Agree, both SS and IS are certainly worth a try.
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Furthermore I also will not jump through hoops and submit images for some pimple face kid to decide if I am good enough to be on their site. I just flat refuse. I have not tried once and I NEVER will.
-Larry.
rofl, well spoken Mr. Larry.
I too, although maybe not as senior as gentleman Larry nor esteemed or successful with BigStock, still, as Mr Larry so well stated, I would prefer to pass on the hoops with the some condescendig pimple faced kid telling me to try again in a month ( and again..and again.. according to consensus on this forum..). until he/she passes me 7/10 with my application so I can have the shameful dis-honour of feeding the SS beast.
If monthly income is the issue, I'd rather push shopping carts or even panhandle, lol.
No thanks, I'll rather stick it out with BigStock .
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Humm I just donīt understand why I dosent have one sale. Even just one will show something is going on at BigStock. But zero sells show me just a dead side with many uploder and less buyer.
I just checked your portfolio on BigStock. Your correct you have no sales ...... BUT you have no images to sell either. Put some photos on BigStock and I am sure the sales will come.
-Larry
hehehe - true!
anyway, also for me bigstock is a superlow seller. i am uploading on 9 sites at the moment. BigStock is definitely the first one i would skip (my port has about 500 pics)...
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After 3 years I've deleted my portfolio. It was a big mistake to wait so long. 20% commissions are unacceptable for almost no selling site.
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They're my #6 or #7 income producer, so I certainly don't spend much time on them.
But:
o Their UL procedure is relatively painless.
o NO SUBS!
o 2nd highest average RPD (due to NO SUBS! ;D )
o Usually (not always) consistent reviews
o Good customer service
I'm not going to drop them any time soon, but I would like to seem them sell more (but not if it means adding subs).
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@Larry~
I am very impressed with your ability to sell your photos at Bigstock. I've just struggled there. I have over 100 images there, but only have earned $6.50 over the past year. I'm very frustrated with myself and ability to sell photos there.
Could you take a peak at my portfolio and maybe give me some insight as to where I'm going wrong with Bigstock?
I'd really appreciate it much. Its so hard to be motivated to upload pictures there when week after week I check my account and no sales! :(
Is Bigstock a site where you must constantly continue to upload files to get old files looked at?
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I'm surprised you aren't doing better than that...you have many nice photos in your port.
I do know that it took me well over 100 images when I first started to see the sales rolling in. The only advice I can offer is to keep shooting and uploading. I notice you have many animal photos and many underwater photos. They are great, but perhaps you just picked a subject that doesn't do well here.
Try diversifying your photos a little more, that may help. My two cents worth.
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@Larry~
I am very impressed with your ability to sell your photos at Bigstock. I've just struggled there. I have over 100 images there, but only have earned $6.50 over the past year. I'm very frustrated with myself and ability to sell photos there.
Could you take a peak at my portfolio and maybe give me some insight as to where I'm going wrong with Bigstock?
I'd really appreciate it much. Its so hard to be motivated to upload pictures there when week after week I check my account and no sales! :(
Is Bigstock a site where you must constantly continue to upload files to get old files looked at?
Your house shots: Are cropped too tight. Leave room to show the yard and driveway.
Pets: Everyone loves them but no one buys them. (Like flowers)
Now add about 1 or 2,000 more images for steady sales. This is a numbers game!
Sales update for me: Dreamstime is now in the lead with only 1/5 the number of images as BigStock. Last month DT sold twice as many shots and earned twice as much money.
Good luck and keep on shootin'
-Larry
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Larry ~ Thanks for your time and for looking over my BigStock portfolio. I will definitely heed your advice. I have some more residential home photos I can upload. I'll see if I can do better on the crop to include more of the landscaping.
As for the pet photos, I would like to dispel the misnomer surrounding these type of photos, actually they DO sell quite well on my other Microstock Sites. In fact, with only 30 images in my portfolio on Istock I sold an extended license on a dog photo, just as one example. (Trust me, I wouldn't have so many shots if they weren't selling somewhere ;)). I guess BigStock is just not the place for them.
Thanks for your honesty and constructive criticism. I will try and put my nose to the grindstone and upload more images. Its just been hard to get motivated because it seems like a lot of work for little reward so far. BUT... I plan to hang in there. ;D
Thanks Again!
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BigStock is a slow but steady seller for me. Over the years I've made about the same in BigStock as in CanStockPhoto and 123 combined. This year CanStockPhoto is high above them because of the Fotosearch sales, but overall I am happy with BigStock (and they have not conceded to subs!).
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BigStock is a slow but steady seller for me. Over the years I've made about the same in BigStock as in CanStockPhoto and 123 combined. This year CanStockPhoto is high above them because of the Fotosearch sales, but overall I am happy with BigStock (and they have not conceded to subs!).
I have to agree...it is a slow but steady machine with sales from $.50 to $2.50 per DL. And Larry is correct, regardless of web site, you're going to need more than 100 photos to make an impact. I only have around 600 (this is not what I do for a living...I actually BUY everybody elses photos for web and print work...so if you guys really want to know how buyers think/where they purchase from/what they are willing to pay-I have the skinny) but they seem to have a slow-but-steady traction. I don't even mind that they bumped their payout to $50...still lower than most.
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OK Anonymous- You said you know what the skinny is on "how, where and what buyers will pay". What is the skinny? I really would like to know.
Thanks Smiling Jack
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I second that! What's the skinny.... please DO tell! Please tell us "how, where and what buyers will pay" we are all ears. Everyone here, I'm sure, would seriously want to know this valuable information.
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I second that! What's the skinny.... please DO tell! Please tell us "how, where and what buyers will pay" we are all ears. Everyone here, I'm sure, would seriously want to know this valuable information.
Okay...(hoping I'm not highjacking the thread)
I work for 2 companies...one is a Fortune 1000, the other I own. I do all kinds of design - web, print, trade shows, etc. I (we) have never purchased a subscription (thusly, we've never used anything from SS). While 50% of the images we purchase have been from IS, the other 1/2 of the time they're purchased elsewhere (even with their large inventory, IS doesn't have everything). I also purchase from 123, BS, Scanstock, CS, and pretty much any site that has what the client needs. I am not near as concerned with the "technical" quality of the shot (I'm quite able to use Photoshop to fix stuff) as I am the dynamic aesthic. Give me something that makes me laugh, cry, scratch my head...anything that makes me look twice. Since I pass the cost on to the client (with a slight markup), I will pay $1.00 to $100...if the image is right, price is not an issue. Only on rarest occasions have we had to use RM photos...RF inventories are so large that you can (almost) always find what you need without ponying up $$$.
I've also done a large amount of work for "entertainment" establishments (billboards, magazine ads, interior wall artwork, stages). A lot of MS sites do not carry these types of images for whatever moral reasons, thusly I HAVE to go to other sites to obtain them - In January, some lucky photogs had a VERY nice month (we purchased about $4000 worth of images to be used in the entry way of a new club in the Caribbean)...
Summary:
1. buyers will pay pretty much whatever is needed
2. in my 15 years of design, I've never purchased a photo of flowers, people shaking hands, or a globe...i DO buy images that strike an emotion..ANY emotion. And I LOVE series photos - a good but varied series can make all the difference when designing an ad campaign...I like fisheye closeups of mean-nasty dogs, erotic lingerie, strange looking people, strange locations, etc.
3. don't go exclusive as I have no loyalty to any one MS site...everyone i work with has no loyalty to any one MS site. We DO have loyalty to our clients and will go wherever to obtain the images that will make their campaign/ad work.
4. variety - shoot different stuff. I never know one week from the next what I'm going to need
5. In 2008, we spent just under $22,000 on stock and 90% of the photos purchased were not "typical" stock photography. So the next time you get one of those lovely "not suitable for stock", "type of photograph", "not what we're looking for" rejection, submit it to another site because SOMEBODY will have use for it.
So get out there and shoot some stuff I can use -QUICK! :)
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^^^ Thanks for that anonymous. A good read and very interesting __ that has to be worth a Heart!
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Anonymous, I agree with what you say because, apart of sounding knowledgable in these issues they make perfect sense. I always wondered why I sell what I sell at Alamy and this is just the answer.
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Thanks anonymous, I feel constrained by microstock and I hope to branch out more in the future. Do you look at sites like mostphotos and alamy that don't judge an image on its suitability for stock? I really like some of the images the micros would reject.
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Back on subject, BigStock has been dissapointing lately. I hope they get back to previous levels of sales. Perhaps buyers have gone to the big sites in the economic slow down? I have seen an increase in earnings from the five sites above BigStock.
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anon - great post about a buyer's choices
can you expand a bit on HOW you find images? do you use keywords or categories? do you use concepts or descriptors? how might t vary from project t project?
s
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Thanks for the skinny Anonymous.
Smiling Jack
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lately my sales have gone down by 50% ,which were never great anyway.but I still keep uploading.But I don't like the new upload system it is far too complicated even worse than before. it is a very time consuming process I am not sure if it is worth uploading any more?????
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Thanks anonymous, I feel constrained by microstock and I hope to branch out more in the future. Do you look at sites like mostphotos and alamy that don't judge an image on its suitability for stock? I really like some of the images the micros would reject.
I DO look at both mostphotos and alamy. Mostphotos however is a more difficult "search" because of the silly voting system (glad it's gone). I don't frequent Alamy very much but it has supplied a few images that I didn't find elsewhere.
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anon - great post about a buyer's choices
can you expand a bit on HOW you find images? do you use keywords or categories? do you use concepts or descriptors? how might t vary from project t project?
s
I only search by keywords...have never searched by catagory. Generally the searches are pretty direct - just did a project for NASCAR...I needed a ground level photo of the front end of the car, so I searched "NASCAR, front" and found what I needed. For a chain "gentleman's club" project I searched "stripper, female, dancer". It's really pretty straight forward so when tagging your images, less is more. I'm beginning to practice what I preach as well :)
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@anon~ thanks for your insight and the "skinny" its very useful to see Microstock through the buyers eyes.
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@anon~ thanks for your insight and the "skinny" its very useful to see Microstock through the buyers eyes.
my pleasure...I was a buyer for many years before i was a contributor.
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Add my thanks to the rest, anonymous. Really great information you have shared with us. :)
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Been with them since April last year. 75 images, $27.50 ($24.50 because of purchases). I was looking forward to finally getting the 30 bucks, it's the only site out of the 4 big ones that I'm with, that I haven't reached payout. Then the payout increases to $50 :(. Maybe I'll just use my balance for more purchases.
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I am feeling totally inadequate. After nearly a year with BS, I have a grand total of $6 in sales. My portfolio is not large, only recently reaching 130, but surely I should expect more than $6. Is anyone else willing to admit their lack of sales?
Same here! A year at BS, 354 online and an amazing $17,-- earned so far! I'm allowed to upload 10 images every batch :'(
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Currently they are bad for me. The only two worst are CanStockPhoto and 123RF. Even The3dStudio is outperforming them 3-1 and I've been there for less than a month. I hope these new changes are good, since I like them.
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.....and BS doesn't give you much chance to expand your portfolio: I can upload 10 files at once and get these rejections on files that were accepted elsewhere:
We have enough of this subject already...sorry. More unique images will help your images stand out from the crowd.
Low interest subject: Probably little demand/selling potential for this image. Try for more marketable shots. thanks.
That brings down your approval ratio too!
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With just 15 images my first sale came 8/4. ($1.00) I need to upload more. I'm willing to stick with them.
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BigStock is only a few bucks a month for me as well, but my port there untilrecently was only around 150. Lately I've been busy uploading more from my port and should have more like 500 soon and I'll see how it goes.
All my master images are properly Titled with description and keywords and their uploading process is quite simple, so what the heck.
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BigStock is a slow but steady seller for me. Over the years I've made about the same in BigStock as in CanStockPhoto and 123 combined. This year CanStockPhoto is high above them because of the Fotosearch sales, but overall I am happy with BigStock (and they have not conceded to subs!).
Pretty much the same for me, but they have completely stalled in Oct. Worst start in over a year. Most other sites pretty well on track. I hope what I'm hearing isn't the sound of all those people jumping on the bandwagon.
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I had steady sales on BigStock until the announcement. I haven't had a sale since then.
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I had steady sales on BigStock until the announcement. I haven't had a sale since then.
Me too!
Something strange happens with microstock this fall...
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Am new to MS but a long time RM and Macro RF shooter...taking the plunge to see how it works. After 3 weeks and 260 pretty decent images online images no sales at BigStock...but 284 downloads on Shutterstock, sales on Veer, iStock, Dreamstime, 123, Photospin...all with the same images...if this keeps up then after 3 months I'll pull the plug on BigStock...unless SS give them the kiss of life now they own it.
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^^^ Some of my photos on the sites have taken six months to start selling but then they sell well. The search on some sites is biased towards new images and on others it can take months for them to get going.
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I had 2 sales in two days earlier this week; quite a flurry of activity for BigStock. All is quiet now though.