Author Topic: Not very understandable rejection message - Dreamstime (Read 13253 times)

Beppe Grillo · « **on:** March 17, 2013, 06:57 »

I have got a rejection (with possibility of resubmit) on Dreamstime with the following message:

"- You already have several very similar images in your portfolio or approved within this batch. If approved, these files will compete against each other for downloads thus diluting your sales"

I don't understand well, and for what I can understand I am not sure that I agree with this.

If I have similar, but not the same, images I will give to the customer more possibility to buy.
If the customer wants to buy 1 image and there is 1 image he will buy this one.
It the customer wants to buy 1 image and has the choice between 3 images he will be satisfied because he has more choice, and maybe he could be interested to buy more than one image then.
If i I sell 1 photo 3 times and if I sell 3 photos 1 time what is the difference? (and I could even sell 3 photos 3 times…)

And btw what is their criterions to decide which one of the similar images will sell better?

JPSDK · « **Reply #1 on:** March 17, 2013, 07:21 »

you are not the only one.

Dreamstime does that.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #2 on:** March 17, 2013, 07:34 »

I am not sure, but maybe it is a question of rank.
If you sell 1 image more times your rank will be higher
If you sell more images 1 time your rank will not change

?

rimglow · « **Reply #3 on:** March 17, 2013, 07:36 »

You are not alone! Nobody, I mean nobody, understands this rejection, for all the reasons you explained. It is the biggest flaw in Dreamstime. It has been suggested that this kind of rejection is automated, not from your image, but from identical descriptions, and/or keywords. Quite possibly your image was never actually viewed.

Here's what I do to get around this kind of rejection. When you submit, make sure your titles and descriptions are all different. It doesn't matter what you call it or how you describe it. Eliminate any keywords that actually describe the image. Use only generic keywords. (object, landscape, still life, macro, color, ingredient, etc.)

Once accepted, go back and properly name and describe the photo. Then add all the normal and relevant keywords. By then, it will be too late to be rejected. It's ridiculous that Dreamstime makes contributors go through this, but it does work.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #4 on:** March 17, 2013, 07:52 »

^
I cannot imagine to do such a work on Dreamstime for an upload of 150 images that I will probably sell less than $ 1

JPSDK · « **Reply #5 on:** March 17, 2013, 07:58 »

That is right.
You should time you effords, and not waste time on strange ideosyncracies of strange agencies.

If they want to do business in a certain way, they are free to do so.
maybe its smart, maybe its not.
As a photographer you should seek out the agencies and acceptance barriers that suit your sales best.

ShadySue · « **Reply #6 on:** March 17, 2013, 08:00 »

That's one of the main complaints I have read about DT:
http://www.microstockgroup.com/dreamstime-com/dt%27s-official-policy-on-%27similars%27
but also:
http://www.microstockgroup.com/dreamstime-com/change-in-similars-policy
Seems to be pretty random.

rimglow · « **Reply #7 on:** March 17, 2013, 08:04 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on March 17, 2013, 07:52

^
I cannot imagine to do such a work on Dreamstime for an upload of 150 images that I will probably sell less than $ 1

If you are trying to upload 150 images from the same photoshoot, you might want to consider moving on to a different subject.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2013, 08:37 »

^
It is not the same photo of the same subject, they are different photos of different subjects, but about one theme.
A kind of collection if you prefer.
(Imagine 150 coffee cups all different… they still are coffee cups, but…

)

------
And thank you ShadySue for the links

Pauws99 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 17, 2013, 09:19 »

Worrying about rejections is a recipe for insanity forget it and get on with the next shoot

sharpshot · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2013, 10:43 »

I think the rejection should sometimes read:-
"We've picked one of your images that may or may not be the most interesting to buyers but even though any sensible person would think the others are nothing like it, we're rejecting them. We're ignoring the fact that this is going to annoy you, make you less likely to carry on uploading new images and is a huge waste of your time. Even though its almost impossible to tell what buyers want, we've made that choice for them and they wont see any alternatives that might be much more appropriate for their project. If you do have any boring dull landscapes that will never make any money, we're far more likely to accept those than your more commercial images that would probably sell well."

rimglow · « **Reply #11 on:** March 17, 2013, 10:50 »

Dreamstime - we offer less choices than the other stock sites!

stockastic · « **Reply #12 on:** March 17, 2013, 12:25 »

Translation: "In the interest of reducing reviewing time - which costs us money - we're rejecting most of your images right off the top and accepting only the one that someone thinks might generate the most sales. "

tab62 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 17, 2013, 12:29 »

very much the norm on DT. I had one shot that was a poor image of a rare coin (Taken last year) that I redid and removed my older photo before submitting the newer one (no sales and a few views) and guess what? Yeap, got the same rejection now I don't even have one photo of this coin within my portfolio.

cascoly · « **Reply #14 on:** March 17, 2013, 12:37 »

for all its failings, YAY is far worse -- they issue 'too many similars' rejections even when there are absolutely NO other images (or titles) in the portfolio even remotely similar! no response to multiple requests for clarification

luissantos84 · « **Reply #15 on:** March 17, 2013, 12:43 »

Quote from: cascoly on March 17, 2013, 12:37

for all its failings, YAY is far worse -- they issue 'too many similars' rejections even when there are absolutely NO other images (or titles) in the portfolio even remotely similar! no response to multiple requests for clarification

how is it worse if you have 7k vs 4k at DT? or are you talking about earnings? or just last week rejections?

RacePhoto · « **Reply #16 on:** March 17, 2013, 23:33 »

Quote from: rimglow on March 17, 2013, 10:50

Dreamstime - we offer less choices than the other stock sites!

Too many options and choices confuse buyers, we are forced to limit the collection to what one reviewers opinion and subjectivity decides is best.

Also this will solve the problem for artists trying to decide what to upload. We will decide for you based on our narrow opinion and save you all that thinking.

This is for your own good...

The policy is essentially part of the "Ministry of Truth" theory from 1984.

true freedom - freedom of choice, speech, religion, etc. - means you have too many choices and are thus a slave to all the possibilities available to you, and to those who provide them for you. by limiting the choices you have you are actually "free" from being a "slave".

See how that works? DT is looking out for not only us, but the buyers as well. They free us from the responsibility of too many choices.

sharpshot · « **Reply #17 on:** March 18, 2013, 02:25 »

I forgot the part about how their acceptance rate effects search placement. So I have to guess what the inspector is likely to accept or I'll ruin my acceptance rate and my images will get worse search placement. My solution is to hardly ever upload anything but I can't see how that's good for DT or my earnings.

If they switched to accepting a lot more images but marking the ones they think aren't commercial for automatic removal after a year, they would get more uploads and buyers could decide if an image is what they want or not. That's a simple solution that should give DT a real boost. If they don't change something soon, I think it will be too late. SS is just going to carry on making more money for contributors and more of us will think it isn't worth the effort to upload to sites like DT. I hope that doesn't happen, as I like having several sites with good earnings.

gillian vann · « **Reply #18 on:** March 18, 2013, 04:12 »

but what is also mystifying is if you do a random search you can easily find ports that are chock o block with similars (and dumb ones too).

The funniest one is when they reject them all for being too similar to each other, and none get through.

In that case I just wait a few months and submit one or two again, if I can be bothered.

(I also had this exact thing happen today with Fotolia)

Perry · « **Reply #19 on:** March 18, 2013, 07:00 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on March 17, 2013, 06:57

"If approved, these files will compete against each other for downloads thus diluting your sales"

They should include checkboxes:
Do you care if your files compete against eachother?
( ) Yes
( ) No

ShadySue · « **Reply #20 on:** March 18, 2013, 07:34 »

Forgive the ignorance - does DT have a system whereby files get a bonus when they reach certain sales points?
Otherwise, if someone buys my file Aa or file Ab, I get the money, DT gets the money, and the buyer had a choice.

disorderly · « **Reply #21 on:** March 18, 2013, 07:52 »

Sue, Files at DT reach different levels based on the number of sales, which changes their price for non-subscription downloads. You'll find the details at http://www.dreamstime.com/sellimages.

ShadySue · « **Reply #22 on:** March 18, 2013, 12:09 »

Quote from: disorderly on March 18, 2013, 07:52

Sue, Files at DT reach different levels based on the number of sales, which changes their price for non-subscription downloads. You'll find the details at http://www.dreamstime.com/sellimages.

Thanks, I can see the logic in that.
It doesn't necessarily serve the buyer best, though.

sharpshot · « **Reply #23 on:** March 20, 2013, 03:15 »

I wonder if there's a viscous circle going on? It looks like subs sales make pay per download prices higher and make more buyers switch to using subs. Unlike some of the other subs sites that accept almost everything I upload, DT have the similars restriction that stops subs buyers buying licenses for many more images than they use. That's not bad for DT, as they make more money if subs buyers don't download as much as they could. Its disastrous for us, as we're losing the nice pay per download commissions and getting less subs sales than we would if the buyers could access our full portfolio.

CommuniCat · « **Reply #24 on:** May 15, 2013, 10:37 »

Serban - do you read this forum at all?

Do you guys get the concept of how designers actually work? How long is it going to take before someone realises that designers actually like and want similars!

Let's say you have a brochure to produce, and you find one appropriate image to use on the cover. Let's say it's a picture of a business person standing in a forest with a hard hat.

Great, you have a cover picture for your brochure. Now what about the other pages?

On other agencies the designer will find the same businessman. The forest is the same, the lighting is the same. Only this time his hard hat is in his hand. Then his hand is on his chin. No, wait, there is a better one, he is scratching his head, thinking. That's perfect for the second inside page. Then more "similars". Now of a new model, a woman perhaps, doing the same thing in the same forest.

"Yipee!" thinks the designer. "There are a whole lot of "similars" upon which we can build our client's brand and campain. Similars we can use on the website too - not the same, but similars which have brand association. Let's download the whole lot," they say.

Just not from DT, because, there is only one or two of a series of 20 that DT will actually accept. So they download all the images, or a lot of "similars". Contributors know designers like to do this, because we sell at other agencies where downloads of batches of similars happens frequently.

Your daft "similars" policy is costing you and your contrbutors $$$. Worse, you are limiting your product offering to customers - who can always go somewhere else to get all the images (cheaper) from a series you have been offered, but refuse to make available.

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Author Topic: Not very understandable rejection message - Dreamstime (Read 13253 times)

Beppe Grillo

JPSDK

Beppe Grillo

rimglow

Beppe Grillo

JPSDK

ShadySue

rimglow

Beppe Grillo

Pauws99

sharpshot

rimglow

stockastic

tab62

cascoly

luissantos84

RacePhoto

sharpshot

gillian vann

Perry

ShadySue

disorderly

ShadySue

sharpshot

CommuniCat

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