MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Bigstock.com => Topic started by: shutterdrop on December 12, 2007, 13:18
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I recently join Bigstock and am uploading stock images. The slow approval process is a drag.
I am interested to know how sales are and if it worth my time? I have about fifty image up at this time and more pending.
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For me...just playing around 2 month....almost nothing. Dissapointed comparing to other stocks....
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Its my 6th best selling site. I make around $70 a month there.
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I had my first Microstock sale with BigStock so I have a soft spot for them.
Out of 12 sites it's in 5th place overall for earnings for me. Everybody's earnings are different but SS and IS make up over 80% of my earnings. I made more so far today at SS then I made the whole month of November at BigStock (with half the amount of images at SS).
I would like to see BigStock grow because I like the site and they're pushing prices upward.
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BS is usually slightly better than FT for me. They have a low-payout, $30, so you do get frequent payouts. Their credits have gone up recently as well, so overall incomes with them should improve. They still have a long way to catch up to the top three but a site worth giving attention to.
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1 n two months
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Bigstock is one of the most reliable sites as far as earnings go. They are always in my top five or six, and the earnings increase from month to month.
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I like Bigstock. It was the first agency I started selling through. Almost all my images get accepted, and it is my 4th best earner.
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Well last month was my BME there, but that isn't saying much. It only gets me about 2-4% of my total earnings.
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slow but steady.. I too like BigStock. I have a high acceptance rate and I have always found the folks to be extremely friendly and helpful!! I have had cashouts there, not frequently, but I have no reason to leave. In fact I uploaded a dozen more pix there last night. I think BigStock has my largest 'folio. I can always count on sales there. 8)=tom
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I make $30+ per month on BigStock with 1400+ images there. It's a third tier site, and I would be very surprised to hear that anyone earns a significant amount using it.
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Slow, steady, reliable trickle of sales, it was my first site I submitted to and my approval ratio is close to 100%, so I stay, for the moment. SY
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a slow trickle of sales. Around $100/month on a few thousand images.
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Interesting, leaf. with your 2700 pics you get $100 per month, I get with 240 pics $10 a month. Now we all know what Bigstock is all about ...
vphoto
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I make $30+ per month on BigStock with 1400+ images there. It's a third tier site, and I would be very surprised to hear that anyone earns a significant amount using it.
In general, BigStock is slow-ish for me, but last Christmas and again this November, they are selling like crazy. Last month they topped $300 per month and were my top earning site!
They've never been #1 in the earnings tally, but good Christmas sales and the price increase worked wonders. I have about 1500 images there.
This month they're running #2 (not far behind SS) but I don't expect that to last beyond the holiday season. We'll see how the coming year goes - how the price increase works out over time.
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I make $30+ per month on BigStock with 1400+ images there. It's a third tier site, and I would be very surprised to hear that anyone earns a significant amount using it.
I remember andresr mention he makes $500 a month there. That's a significant amount to me :)
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He also mentioned recently on SS that he sells between 12-16 percent of his portfolio per day... I think he has about 8500 photos on SS so that's between 300 and 400 $ sales per day. He makes more in 2 days at SS than BS in one month. Pretty incredible. It would take me 20 years to produce that many photos.
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I make US$12-17 a month there, with less than 400 images (I guess). Not a big earner, but constant, and the US$30 payouts are a treat.
Regards,
Adelaide
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We make almost exactly the same on FT, StockXpert and BS, but sell a completely different group of photos on each site. The three together make about 24% of our earnings.
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I make $30+ per month on BigStock with 1400+ images there. It's a third tier site, and I would be very surprised to hear that anyone earns a significant amount using it.
Nothing significant, but most people are surprised to read that they outsell DT for me. Seven months of earnings, and they are my #3 earner well behind IS and SS. This month, they are #3 again so far. Well ahead of DT, StockXpert and FT.
Why? I don't know. Perhaps because they accept so many images, that I have a larger presence there? For whatever reason my images work there.
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I like Bigstock. It was the first agency I started selling through. Almost all my images get accepted, and it is my 4th best earner.
That says it all and it's exactly the same for me. It was my very first site to submit, and I always get very friendly replies there. Sales are not the top of the bill, around rank #4-5 or so, but they are stable and reliable. They had some glitches now and then in the past, but most were addressed. Last but not least, they are run by an entrepreneur couple, not by some huge anonymous company. Just call it a soft spot of mine.
Sure it's very worthwhile to upload to BigStock!
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Thanks to everyone for their input.
The high rate of acception of images is a great concern. Too many similar images seem to clutter the site.
What got my attention was recently 17 images accepted of the same ugly baby. Maybe 3 or 4 and that would still be overkill.
I will continue to submit images and give it more time to determine if it is the Bigstock or a Big Sock.
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Bigstock is declining according to compete.com stats. Which is not a surprise giving the web site design, 10 GB limit to files sizes. Still $3 sales count.
vhpoto
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BigStock was my first stock site. For that reason alone I will always have a soft spot for them I suppose ...
That being said, I am now at 36 approved images and still awaiting my first download from them. Since then ... I've been approved at:
2nd Approved Site: Fotolia (FT)
3rd Approved Site: Crestock
4th Approved Site: 123rf
Here are the few observations from being a competitive and market research analyst by profession and a newbie to uploading stock photography ...
my # of views on my 17 images on DT have blown away the # of views on the 36 images at BigStock even though the BigStock images had a good month on DT. This tells me that the traffic at DT is much higher than BigStock ...
my 1st sale has come from DT not BigStock
my approval % is around 23% on BigStock. This was locked in lower than my other sites due
to my learning curve about what works for stock and what does not. Its been my goal of improving my submissions each week.
I'm on my 5th application at Istock
I'm on my 3rd attempt at shutterstock
BigStock requires more data input to upload to its site than several other sites. I use this to my advantage by often uploading new material there first, so that I have the most complete copy of data there (title, description, keywords etc.) Their keyword dialog box retains the commas which are needed at other sites after cut-n-pastes. They also keep track of all rejections. DT's list is only 7days long. This is a benefit to BigStock when I want to find data for an image that's been rejected, that I think will work on a different site.
Anyway ...
I hope some of this information might be of some use to someone.
Mark
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Just steadily ticking along to almost first payout.
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my # of views on my 17 images on DT have blown away the # of views on the 36 images at BigStock even though the BigStock images had a good month on DT. This tells me that the traffic at DT is much higher than BigStock ...
Mark forget the views some of my images only get viewed a few times before they get bought. Also I have an image at dt that has been looked at
over 700 times with only 4 downloads
BigStock requires more data input to upload to its site than several other sites. I use this to my advantage by often uploading new material there first, so that I have the most complete copy of data there (title, description, keywords etc.) Their keyword dialog box retains the commas which are needed at other sites after cut-n-pastes. They also keep track of all rejections. DT's list is only 7days long. This is a benefit to BigStock when I want to find data for an image that's been rejected, that I think will work on a different site.
Are you not placing your file info on the images before you upload? It sounds like you are not correct me if I'm wrong.
Jorge
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Jorge,
hmmmmmmmmm .... no I've been using the web form upload, then input title, description, and keywords on their website.
I recently am experimenting with FTP with "filezilla" for the first time. However, my digital noise reduction software does not currently retain IPTC metadata until I upgrade it.
Please share with me:
#1 What work do you do offline?
#2 Does it depend on the site or can you "cookie-cutter" the process across sites (ex. using FTP)
#3 What tool do you use?
Anyone else who wants to answer those questions as well ... please feel free as I need all of the help I can get :)
I do understand that the view traffic is not necessarily a viable gauge, but lacking anything else ... its all I have to look at until I start to get some sales.
For example, I know that with someones spamming keywords that are not relevant, they can increase their view traffic, however, if its not what the designer was looking for its a waste of time and they might even get reported.
Mark
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Hi Mark not much time to reply now but I will tell you this I do all my work as far as image details off line.
1. Photoshop: file info- input title description keywords- save image
also I don't use noise reduction what I do is reduce image size to
lessen the possible noise rejections
2 afterwards I upload to SS for spelling check, its easier than getting dictionary!
3 Upload to the Rest of the sites I am on
4 I do small batches say 5 max becuase of SS
5 Because all info is coming with images very little needs to be done on
the actual site.
6 I don't use filezilla because of the small amount of images that I submitt at a time.
Hope someone with more experience writes more so I can also learn but this is what I have picked up in the year and a half.
Jorge
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Just short of my first payout.
Slow but steady is how I would describe.
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hmmmmmmmmm .... no I've been using the web form upload, then input title, description, and keywords on their website.
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You are making a very big mistake by assigning title, description, and keywords after uploading. About the worst thing you can do is upload an image, fill in the title, description, and keyword fields, then copy and paste the info from there when you upload the image to another site. Although it may seem easy and efficient to you now, you will find that you have created a monster when your portfolio is larger and you want to upload to a new site.
Being new to this game, you may want to consider modifying your workflow to filling in these fields, waiting a day before revisiting them, and finally uploading. The information you supply is your only selling tool, and it's critical that you develop good habits and sensibility if you want to maximize your sales.
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hmmmmmmmmm .... no I've been using the web form upload, then input title, description, and keywords on their website.
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You are making a very big mistake by assigning title, description, and keywords after uploading. About the worst thing you can do is upload an image, fill in the title, description, and keyword fields, then copy and paste the info from there when you upload the image to another site. Although it may seem easy and efficient to you now, you will find that you have created a monster when your portfolio is larger and you want to upload to a new site.
Being new to this game, you may want to consider modifying your workflow to filling in these fields, waiting a day before revisiting them, and finally uploading. The information you supply is your only selling tool, and it's critical that you develop good habits and sensibility if you want to maximize your sales.
Maybe it's easy to find how, but I don't have much time to try it myself. So I find most of my answer in different forums. Do there is a way to put the info after saving it, whitout saving again the whole file itself? Who can introduce more artifacts.
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There are many programs available to do this - which one you use is a matter of personal preference more than anything else. There have been a number of threads about this; like you I'm too lazy to look them up. (grin)
Some people use IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com/), I use MS Photo Info (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/photoinfo.mspx).
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I make $30+ per month on BigStock with 1400+ images there. It's a third tier site, and I would be very surprised to hear that anyone earns a significant amount using it.
In general, BigStock is slow-ish for me, but last Christmas and again this November, they are selling like crazy. Last month they topped $300 per month and were my top earning site!
They've never been #1 in the earnings tally, but good Christmas sales and the price increase worked wonders. I have about 1500 images there.
This month they're running #2 (not far behind SS) but I don't expect that to last beyond the holiday season. We'll see how the coming year goes - how the price increase works out over time.
oh, I've been really pleased with sales the last 8 weeks or so, I hoped the big increase in earnings was hear to stay :(
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hmmmmmmmmm .... no I've been using the web form upload, then input title, description, and keywords on their website.
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You are making a very big mistake by assigning title, description, and keywords after uploading. About the worst thing you can do is upload an image, fill in the title, description, and keyword fields, then copy and paste the info from there when you upload the image to another site. Although it may seem easy and efficient to you now, you will find that you have created a monster when your portfolio is larger and you want to upload to a new site.
Being new to this game, you may want to consider modifying your workflow to filling in these fields, waiting a day before revisiting them, and finally uploading. The information you supply is your only selling tool, and it's critical that you develop good habits and sensibility if you want to maximize your sales.
Sharply,
I can very much see you point, and I am BIG on developing the proper methodology and processes from the start. However, now that you've pointed this out ...
What is the process?
I thought I had developed a good process (defined for critique as follows)
#1 Upload new images to BigStock after its been "Post-processed" and run through Neat Image (I have to upgrade so that I can retain "metadata"). I post to BigStock first since they require the most: title, description, categories, releases, and keywords. By doing this to BigStock first then I am able to cut-n-paste into the forms on the other sites.
I would agree completely that if data could be put into the images only once and then upload to the various sites, that would be preferred ... however, my current camera requires all of my post-processing efforts to get my images approved.
Perhaps I can try putting in metadata after it has been run through Neat Image ... then re-save and then upload.
Now if one of these programs that your referring to allows for the input of keywords, what about categories that seem to be different on all sites?
Thanks for you help ....
Mark
What about the software that comes with the Canon cameras or Vista itself?
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Perhaps I can try putting in metadata after it has been run through Neat Image ... then re-save and then upload.
That is the way to do it. I use PixVue but I don't think it is available any more, so Irfan View might be a better option. There doesn't seem to be any re-saving jpeg degradation problems, it is just the text that is saved.
I uploaded my first 100 photos the way you have done it and I had to go back to enter the data in to the files later, as it would have been a time consuming pain to cut and paste 100 times to 5 other sites.
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I also awaiting my upgrade information from Neat Image (which is amazing by the way and I have no affiliation with them). After the updgrade I will not lose meta data after I save with them ... but I will give what you guys are saying a try.
So if I enter the keywords through one of these programs ... then I don't have to enterthem in the upload forms on the sites? Is using FTP the only way to make this method work?
So after the upload goes to the site with metadata attached, what work remains using this method ... any?
Mark
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Mark, like Sharply I use Microsoft's Photo Info to load the IPTC data (title, description, keywords).
This is the last step in the workflow process for me. The data is stored in the image so when you upload it, the site automatically grabs the data and fills it in the appropriate fields. Then all you usually need to do is confirm the data showed up okay, pick categories and you're done.
Every site has a different process though.
Paul
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Thank you both. This is very helpful information.
Thanks guys I'll give it a shot and let you know how the streamlining efforts work out!
Mark
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You can also enter the metadata using Photoshop (Ctrl+Alt+I), which is useful as well. The only thing you should normally have to do after uploading is select categories and model releases.
A technique I sometimes use for helping with keyword generation is to edit a random image on IS. I copy and paste keywords from the image I'm currently working on, then use their CV to explore posible keywords. Give it a try once you get accepted there!
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One thing I will add Mark is to try to use Neatimage when needed only, and not as part of your workflow. You lose information every time you run Noise reduction software, even good software like Ninja and Neat.
Better to make sure your exposures are proper, so that noise is eliminated or reduced to the bare minimum. I find in high contrast images, I'm going to find a little noise in the dark areas even with my EOS 30D at 100 ISO. So I just highlight those affected areas, and run noise reduction in those spots only.
If noise reduction is run on an entire image, the image tends to get a "plastic" look to it.
My work flow tends to go something like this:
1. Import Raw images into Photoshop CS2
2. Levels and or Curves/Saturation routines to get the look I am after
3. Consider sharpening in spots which need it. Most times nothing is done.
4. Clean up - this could be noise reduction time if needed. For isolation work this part of the work flow tends to be the longest. Eliminate any copyrighted material.
5. Keyword
6. One last once-over at 100% to find anything I missed
7. Save PSD, Convert to 8-bit, Save to JPG at Max quality
8. Upload
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Thanks again for all of the help guys.
I have recently made several improvements to my efforts:
# Upgraded my version of Neat Image (now I can save my metadata if noise reduction is necessary)
# Downloaded Microsoft's photo info for windows explorer.
# Editing all metadata ONLY ONCE prior to FTP or form upload later adding only verifying and adding categories or model releases. I am now doing once what I was doing multiple times before. Thanks Sharply and everyone else who put it bluntly or otherwise ! I am here to learn :)
# and perhaps most importantly gave myself a minimal upgrade in equipment until I go full blown DSLR in May. I am now testing Canon's new Powershot SX100 with IS. So far its been amazing for its price :)
Mark
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I recently had my first sale on BigStock.
Here's the link for those who are interested:
http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739 (http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739)
Ironically, I had what I considered better cropped versions of this photo, but it was this original version that was approved and sold.
Mark
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Congrats on the sale!
Sometimes success comes from the least expect image in a series! It makes me wonder if I know how to pick the good ones! :D
Regards,
Adelaide
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I recently had my first sale on BigStock.
Here's the link for those who are interested:
[url]http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739[/url] ([url]http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739[/url])
Ironically, I had what I considered better cropped versions of this photo, but it was this original version that was approved and sold.
Mark
Yeah I have a bunch of houses that are just plain yet sell well. Hey Mark are
you based in Miami or just came down to visit us?
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I recently had my first sale on BigStock.
Here's the link for those who are interested:
[url]http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739[/url] ([url]http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739[/url])
Ironically, I had what I considered better cropped versions of this photo, but it was this original version that was approved and sold.
Mark
Yeah I have a bunch of houses that are just plain yet sell well. Hey Mark are
you based in Miami or just came down to visit us?
Jorge
Nawwww ... I was just down there for the first time for a conference. I left a blizzard in Denver to arrive to that beautiful weather in Coconut Grove at the time. I'm in Washington now due to a transfer with work.
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I recently had my first sale on BigStock.
Here's the link for those who are interested:
[url]http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739[/url] ([url]http://www.bigstockphoto.com/photo/view/2332739[/url])
Ironically, I had what I considered better cropped versions of this photo, but it was this original version that was approved and sold.
Mark
Yeah I have a bunch of houses that are just plain yet sell well. Hey Mark are
you based in Miami or just came down to visit us?
Jorge
Nawwww ... I was just down there for the first time for a conference. I left a blizzard in Denver to arrive to that beautiful weather in Coconut Grove at the time. I'm in Washington now due to a transfer with work.
Ok, just thought we could get together and go shooting ;D
and yes bigstock accepts and sells things most other sites don't.
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I've uploaded about 200 images to them in the last month and have made 50$ with them. So will get some more images uploaded, unlike Crestock which has made me 50c in the same time scale with nearly as many images.
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I don't know why my sales are so low at Bigstock, you said 200 pictures and 50$, for me it's 600 pictures and only 40$ since july.
Do you manage your portfolio or other functions I missed on the site to promote your images?
Because I don't manage any gallery at this time, just uploading and that's all!
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Do you manage your portfolio or other functions I missed on the site to promote your images?
Trust me, if you saw his/her portfolio, you would know why she/he sells so well.
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I trust you Sharply, but I don't find it even by searching with photograph names.
But this don't explain why I don't sell on bigstock and I'm selling well at other sites, even on 123rf.
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Thanks Sharply, :)
I won't do so well proportionately when I get the rest of my portfolio up because the ones that I have up are my best selllers on other sites.
I prefer to remain anonymous here as I can be more open about what I say here than I can on the forums of the places that I upload to. Also if I do well anywhere I can give figures on various threads without seeming like I'm showing off as there would be no point in showing off if nobody knows who I am (except Sharply) :)
@ smithore, The problems that you are having on BS are the same as I am having at Crestock, 50c in a month and I'm sure that there are others making money there. Maybe some portfolios are more suited to one site than another. Good luck anyway.
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Bigstock is OK, with ocassional payouts. Not slow enough to quit spending time there.
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BS used to do better than FT for me (which isn't saying much), but I seem to have somehow vanished. Is it just me, or is it an extremely bad month at Bigstock?
Did the price change hurt them? I had a pitiful December there too, and wasn't that when the new price kicked in. Price change hasn't appeared to hurt Istock!
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It has been an average month for me with BS. The price change doesn't seem to have made a difference. I do much better there than with 123rf.
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December was not good there (but really nowhere else either). January has rebounded pretty well (2 - 3 dl's a day) with the increased commisions.
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Since I started this thread I have 12 DL. Not many but the pay is better than other agencies.
The number of visitors is frighten low but they are buyers.
I like BigStock style and I hope they keeps moving up. Just maybe the cheap agencies will have start paying better.
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I like BigStock but sales have tanked to where I'm considering not uploading anymore.
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a little bit slow but sales are going up!
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a little bit slow but sales are going up!
same for me
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a little bit slow but sales are going up!
same for me
Definitely not a great seller, but for this month, it is doing better than Istock! $9 on BigStock whereas I have only had $3 on IS! I don't think I am uploading the right images to Istock, but at 15 a week, I am working slowly through the hundreds of images I already have on all the other sites, so maybe I will come across something that will sell eventually! ::)
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After having my first sale at BigStock in December, I followed that up with ZERO sales for all of January. I closed out January with 74 approved images at BigStock with another 13 pending.
In contrast to BigStock for January ... I had Best Month Evers (BMEs) at:
DT (32 images)
FT (32 images)
123rf (115 images)
Mark
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Bigstock does ok for me, I like the low payout as well. The site is an easy upload with ok returns.
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Last four days, my BS downloads have suddently doubled (or trippled on one day) compared to my usual. Thursday, I made almos twice as much on BS than IS (usually the other way around).
Anybody else, or am I just experiencing a fluke?
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consistent growth over time coupled with high acceptance rates
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BS = #2 best earner
Cranky MIZ
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Last four days, my BS downloads have suddently doubled (or trippled on one day) compared to my usual. Thursday, I made almos twice as much on BS than IS (usually the other way around).
Anybody else, or am I just experiencing a fluke?
Funny, my sales dropped on BigStock on Thursday and Fri. Could be a search engine tweak or just ebb and flow.
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always good for a couple of payouts a month...accept the majority of my submissions. I've even purchased images from them that I couldn't find elsewhere.
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always good for a couple of payouts a month...accept the majority of my submissions. I've even purchased images from them that I couldn't find elsewhere.
ditto
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BigStock is a slow but steady earner for me... maybe my #4 overall.
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Same as maunger for me.
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slow but steady. sad truth is, all sales totaled on all my other agencies together, do not equal what I do on either SS or IS. Go figure.
8)=tom
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slow but steady. sad truth is, all sales totaled on all my other agencies together, do not equal what I do on either SS or IS. Go figure.
8)=tom
This is true for all but the elite.
Earnings from DT only begin to count for something when you have a lot of level 3/4/5 images. Once you hit Emerald level (10k+ sales) on FT you can significantly raise your pricing. Until you reach those levels you'll have to be satisfied with three-figure monthly earnings from those agencies. It's a fair guess that only the supra-elite are pulling four-figure dollar amounts from any of the other places just yet.
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slow but steady. sad truth is, all sales totaled on all my other agencies together, do not equal what I do on either SS or IS. Go figure.
8)=tom
This is true for all but the elite.
Earnings from DT only begin to count for something when you have a lot of level 3/4/5 images. Once you hit Emerald level (10k+ sales) on FT you can significantly raise your pricing. Until you reach those levels you'll have to be satisfied with three-figure monthly earnings from those agencies. It's a fair guess that only the supra-elite are pulling four-figure dollar amounts from any of the other places just yet.
I hear ya, sharply_done.....i've got a loooooooooooooooong way to go then... :D
With the my new 5D I will be focusing on expanding my Alamy 'folio. Hopefully, the bucks will pick up there. 8)=tom
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for me it isn't doing great, but it's ok. Similar to Fotolia and to 123rf. Much better than crestock or featurepics (or LO).
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1) Irfanview does not re-save the photo. Adding keywords and data is non-destructive. You can change it over and over and it does nothing to the photo.
2) No matter what you use, keyword/metadata should be done LAST. Otherwise it can possibly get lost or truncated.
3) IrfanView is Free! ;D (you are allowed to send money if you want)
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No sales there for May but I tied a BME at BigStock in April.
Mark
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I've been at BigStock since around mid-2005 and am seriously considering pulling all my images from the site. BigStock's always been the lowest earner (I submit also to SS and 123RF on a regular basis), but I kept submitting there to see if things changed. Among the 3, they had the highest acceptance rate and lowest requirements too in terms of resolution so I was able to submit some good shots that would make other agencies, but whose only failing was resolution.
Sales tend to be very slow. Reviews take a good 3-4 weeks with some weeks having uploading disabled entirely across the whole site. Service very poor when questions are asked via support as well (as a photographer, and for buyers I've referred). The uploading process is also a bit of a chore in comparison to other sites as well (biggest gripe: 7 word description makes me stuff descriptions for simple objects).
On top of that, the most recent batch of 24 I've submitted to agencies had a pretty high acceptance rate (~20/24) to all except BigStock, which accepted a dismal 4 out of 24. The rejection reasons I find quite questionable too, among them:
"Dull, lifeless color: Colors are dull or lackluster. Sometimes this can be fixed using some saturation boost in Photoshop."
for the Papuan Frogmouth bird species, whose plumage is dull brown (camouflage) and artificially making the plumage rich is a mis-representation. Some others involved blur rejections because the backgrounds of macro photos were not in focus (even though the subject is perfectly sharp). Previous rejections made perfect sense, even if I disagreed with them but these are simply ridiculous. So this, in addition to the above things (as much as I don't like removing work I've put so much effort on) it's looking like it's not worth it anymore.
The only issue I have now with pulling my gallery is whether BigStock will actually follow through. I left the site at one point in the past and requested deletion (due to their past licensing issues), but came back 6 months later to find out that they kept all of my photos on and ignored the request. That worked out well enough for me since I felt like giving them another chance after they were changed.
Those are my experiences with how successful BigStock has been, though I know others have had better luck. Has anyone else had similar experiences with them? Or anyone want to try to convince me that there's cause behind these sudden reviewing changes?
And that's the end of that BigStock rant. Thinking about giving the other big 6's that I haven't tried a go with re-invested time. =)
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for me it isn't doing great, but it's ok. Similar to Fotolia and to 123rf. Much better than crestock or featurepics (or LO).
Same here. I get a slow, small, but steady income from them.
I agree they have some daft rejection reasons. I submitted an image of the sun behind clouds with rays spreading out in a beautiful fan and a huge, distant flock of birds across one side.
The rejected it. Reason, "... sky full of sensor dust."
I can't be bothered to argue (or zap every bird. I'm a conservationist). The image does moderately well on other sites.
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Unfortunately, I have to agree with Joyce.
I've been having the same kind of rejections - blur for the background of macro shots or images making use of DOF, exposure problems (?) for anything that has not a pure white background, although isolation on white was not at all my intention in the first place and the most ridiculous one, model release required for a box of chocolates (!).
I stopped uploading for about 3 months and the sales stopped too. Then I decided to give it another try and out of 20 images, 5 were rejected with the above reasons.
I give up, I won't even bother to send an e-mail about that silly MR rejection. I will stick with IS and DT.
Except for the fact that they should really work on the dusty interface, one thing that really bugs me is how they process the thumbnails for preview. The compression is awful and any image that has red or purple color palette simply scares the buyers away.
So, until I see some kind of improvement, I won't upload anymore to BigStock.
Good luck to the rest of you! :)
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Sales are slow enough for me at the moment.
Re. Rejections - I don't have too many complaints.
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Those are my experiences with how successful BigStock has been, though I know others have had better luck. Has anyone else had similar experiences with them? Or anyone want to try to convince me that there's cause behind these sudden reviewing changes?
I wouldn't pull images based on senseless rejection of one batch of images. That has happened to me on every site at one time or another - most recently istock.
When that happens it is virtually always a newbie reviewer who is too heavy handed with the rejection button. Try sitemailing their support and asking for Dawn to take another look at the images.
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I receive steady sales from BigStockPhoto. The only concern I have is that, unlike most other sites, I cannot seem to grow income there. My BME was 9 months ago with a much smaller portfolio.
But income is income, and BigStockPhoto delivers. They tend to comprise 6% of my overall earnings from the Big 7.
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Steady but not spectacular results, I like their low payout number of $30.00.
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I recently join Bigstock and am uploading stock images. The slow approval process is a drag.
I am interested to know how sales are and if it worth my time? I have about fifty image up at this time and more pending.
Back to the original posting:
Yes, you can sell on BigStock other places may be better but with my 2,000 plus images on BigStock for 2 plus years I have about 50 - 75 DL's a month ranging in price from .50 to 15.00 each.
Lots of photos is the answer on nearly any site.
-Larry
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i just started with BigStock , fotolia, crestock about 4 months ago, and my portfolio is small. worse, i am not your typical microstock photographer, so i shoot what i want. naturally, i don't expect to be making lots of money like say, lisafx,pixart,etc... as my photos are quite niche.
but to date BigStock has sold as much for me as StockXpert and DST, all neck to neck with sales. and i am happy with these 3 sites.
but one thing i noticed about BigStock, they are slow starters, as my sales are from images from my earliest upload. so maybe their promo is a little laidback, but as i said, all three sites sold as much for me.
different images though.
another thing, i have to mentioned, BigStock will delete your images after 90 days. i just had to delete 3 of my travel photos, and joseph from BigStock responded to me within 24 hours.
so credit to BigStock for that. good luck.
UPDATED:
sorry, it should have read "within 48 hours". and this morning, i checked my portfolio with BigStock ... 81 images yesterday, now 79
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I also have a steady result with BigStock. Not brilliant, but good, and the low payout is a treat.
Regards,
Adelaide
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I had a BME there in June ;D
- Mark
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Or anyone want to try to convince me that there's cause behind these sudden reviewing changes?
He who can't be named with a white beard needs new glasses?
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He who can't be named with a white beard needs new glasses?
Heh ... Volderind.
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I have heard that reviewers of the snake persuasion psychically sense noise and such even at thumbnail size.
Thus they never have to review at full or even mid size.
So you see "he who can not be named" does not need to see.
He who can't be named with a white beard needs new glasses?
Heh ... Volderind.
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wicked. just logged in after being motivated after seeing this thread. I just got a $20 sale so earnings for July so far $33
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Very slow starter for me since I joined last March. For April, May and June, mostly seasonal graphic sales. In July there have been more regular photo sales. Seems to be fairly consistent but sporadic and it looks like StockXpert and RF123 will pass BigStock in sales eventually.
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I recently join Bigstock and am uploading stock images. The slow approval process is a drag.
I am interested to know how sales are and if it worth my time? I have about fifty image up at this time and more pending.
Back to the original question!
Yes, you can make money on BigStock. But with any site the more you have the more you will get. That is if they are mostly stock selling shots.
Most of my images on BigStock are general subjects, golf, nature, landscape, agriculture, realestate, and with 2000 plus of them I have about 50-90 DL's a month. Every month.
If you have a handful of images like 100 or 200 do not expect too much on any site.
Hope I helped with your question.
-Larry
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Bigstock is a good steady site with a low payout threshold.