MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Dreamstime.com => Topic started by: Cyclone on November 06, 2020, 21:38
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I have been a contributor for the past 15 years or so. I got my payment once when it was at 50.00 minimum. I can't remember.
In the last 10 years I have maybe made 3 dollars!
I have an illness which prevents me from enjoying taking pictures and my portfolio is now obsolete... so I wanted to close my account and move on. I have 42.00 in my account. They won't let me close my account and they won't give me my money! They already made money from me. I know in their terms they don't legally have to but still. I was a member of bigstockphotos and they were kind and let me close my account and I got my royalties and it was at 20.00.
What should I do? Should I give up and let them keep my money? Should I keep my account and wait my entire life to make that 100 dollars? Should I keep emailing them for an answer?
Thanks in advance.
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Sadly this has always been Dreamstime's policy. (payout was never as low as $50, you misremember)
You have several options:
1. Just leave it there, and check on it from time to time to see if you have reached payout.
2. Take possibly expensive legal action to obtain your money and close your account.
3. Create new images to upload to your portfolio and revive it. Re-edit your old photos, make collages, do illustrations.
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I just tried to look up your portfolio on Dreamstime... I guess "cyclone" isn't your name there?
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Hi, Thank you for your reply. this is my portfolio on Dreamstime
https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info (https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info)
chris_s is my portfolio name
Like I said I can't update my portfolio because of an illness. :(
It has been soooo long. at this rate its going to take 50 years and that's not sarcasm. This is making me depressed... I used to enjoy taking photos and this is like salt in a wound.
Thanks again.
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Sadly this has always been Dreamstime's policy. (payout was never as low as $50, you misremember)
I think you are correct, as far as I can remember, it's been $100?
I'm right at the point of thinking do I care about $12 or do I upload more, and wait until 2024? ;D
I have been a contributor for the past 15 years or so.
In the last 10 years I have maybe made 3 dollars!
Will $3 $42 (I missed the actual number, when I read $3 in the last ten years, thanks for the correction) change your life? If not, then close your account, so you have control over your assets, and forget about it.
Ethically you are correct, but apparently DT doesn't care and can't see their way to let people leave. They claim to be a US company, at least the headquarters, which might work in your favor.
Serban Enache
Owner & Co-founder, CEO - Dreamstime
Bucharest, Romania
Looks complicated. Complicated like, at $3 a year, you would have to wait 16 more years?
I'm taking one of alternative paths. Uploading more, hoping to make it to $100 and then say Thank You and Goodbye to Dreamstime.
(https://sd.keepcalms.com/i/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-fish-3.png)
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Chris has $42 in the account. For me, it would be an easy decision if it were just $3 or 5, but I can see your dilemma for $42. I think you are probably just going to be losing that money, unfortunately. As you’ve said, it will likely take you forever to make payout.
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Hi, Thank you for your reply. this is my portfolio on Dreamstime
https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info (https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info)
Oh. Well, with only 34 images, yeah...
I understand how an illness might keep you from taking photographs. However, I notice you are able to post on this forum. You have some abilities. Perhaps you can use them in some way to expand that portfolio.
You might even find a friend who wants to try selling on Dreamstime and give them your account.
That would be something, at least. If they become successful, when they reach payout, they can give you your $42.
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Hi, Thank you for your reply. this is my portfolio on Dreamstime
https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info (https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info)
Oh. Well, with only 34 images, yeah...
You might even find a friend who wants to try selling on Dreamstime and give them your account.
Interesting idea, let me modify that a bit. Sell them the account for $40. Hey there's a plan.
After they pay, remove your images and everyone is happy.
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Thanks everyone for the advice.
Yea I agree I don't have many photos on there. I was making money years ago (more then bigstockphotos) but eventually I was getting less and less sales as the years went by. Some photos were removed because they had been on there so long. They got moved to the free section..I think. I never did reach my goal of being successful with stock photos.
bigstockphotos seems like a great company. Never had any issues with them.
The $42.00 is actually 54.76 Canadian.
I do like your idea but I don't know anyone who would want to do that. Getting the payout probably wouldn't change me life... My illness is a tough thing to talk about. But I think its the right thing for them to do.
Chris
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Thanks everyone for the advice.
Yea I agree I don't have many photos on there. I was making money years ago (more then bigstockphotos) but eventually I was getting less and less sales as the years went by. Some photos were removed because they had been on there so long. They got moved to the free section..I think. I never did reach my goal of being successful with stock photos.
bigstockphotos seems like a great company. Never had any issues with them.
The $42.00 is actually 54.76 Canadian.
I do like your idea but I don't know anyone who would want to do that. Getting the payout probably wouldn't change me life... My illness is a tough thing to talk about. But I think its the right thing for them to do.
Chris
Well it was just a nutty sideways thought and idea, I hope you can work something out. 8)
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I finally got a response from Dreamstime. Still no luck but here is what they said.
Hello Chris,
We understand you want to request payment before reaching the $100 mark. We have been making a one time exception for active contributors during this difficult time. If you uploaded files in the last 30 days, you should write back and we will enable you to request payment.
Please note that we cannot lower the payment threshold as we have the largest number of contributors in stock photography, hence such adjustment would increase the logistics and slow down payments, making the process slower and more expensive for all contributors. Ultimately, a larger portfolio will bring you more sales and you will reach next payment sooner.
Best Regards,
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I finally got a response from Dreamstime. Still no luck but here is what they said.
Hello Chris,
We understand you want to request payment before reaching the $100 mark. We have been making a one time exception for active contributors during this difficult time. If you uploaded files in the last 30 days, you should write back and we will enable you to request payment.
Please note that we cannot lower the payment threshold as we have the largest number of contributors in stock photography, hence such adjustment would increase the logistics and slow down payments, making the process slower and more expensive for all contributors. Ultimately, a larger portfolio will bring you more sales and you will reach next payment sooner.
Best Regards,
So they pretend to do you a favor by saying they allow a one-time request “during this difficult time”, but then they take it away by adding a caveat. What difference does it make if you’ve uploaded in the last 30 days. You earned that money, and “it’s a difficult time.” Tossers.
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They accept most images submitted so why not try to submit some and then ask them to pay you after they have accepted them?
$100 payout is ridiculous. My last payout was May 2018 and at this rate it will take me another six months. I do like Dreamstime but they just don't sell enough. I average two sales per month :-\ Time for me to ditch them also after my next payout.
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I seem to be on a regular "one payout per year" schedule. Ain't much, but then I don't put much time into it either.
I upload batches of images when I have them, and then process them in the DT system over the next several months, as I have time and think of it. Their processing is easy for me, so no big deal.
But it really would be nice to have either a lower threshold for payment or more sales. Not much motivation in $100 per year!
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I average two sales per month :-\ Time for me to ditch them also after my next payout.
why ditch them, it's passive income. At least you are making something.
Their approval process is pretty strict I found. Quite a few images were declined. Maybe I just suck. I'm not sure I have any images to upload... that would be approved. I have a few good photos but they are not good quality(noisy).
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Edit: I just realize payment minimum is 100$ instead of 50$ so my advice will not work.
My advice... maybe illegal, maybe not... i don't know the legal status of what i am going to suggest...
Anyway... my advice, check payment rate per pic and ask a friend to buy some of your pics at DT... once you have your payout then you can give your friend the money back. By using this way you will not get a 43$ earining but maybe 20-25$... better that nothing.
But please, if you do this just check in deep what % you get per sale, i never understand this part in DT.
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Hello sorry for the bump.
This issue still has not been resolved.
Contacted them again but just gave me a copy and paste answers ignoring what I said
I have made only one sale since my last post here
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Hi, Thank you for your reply. this is my portfolio on Dreamstime
https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info (https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info)
Oh. Well, with only 34 images, yeah...
You might even find a friend who wants to try selling on Dreamstime and give them your account.
Interesting idea, let me modify that a bit. Sell them the account for $40. Hey there's a plan.
After they pay, remove your images and everyone is happy.
hehehehe.
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Hi, Thank you for your reply. this is my portfolio on Dreamstime
https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info (https://www.dreamstime.com/chris_s_info)
Oh. Well, with only 34 images, yeah...
You might even find a friend who wants to try selling on Dreamstime and give them your account.
Interesting idea, let me modify that a bit. Sell them the account for $40. Hey there's a plan.
After they pay, remove your images and everyone is happy.
hehehehe.
I don't know if @Cyclone is pulling our leg. Only 34 images? What are the expectations for earnings from 34 images?
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I am definitely not. Why would I do that?
That’s not the point. I was an avid photographer and spent lots of time with the photos that are already on there.
I want my money and close my account..
And some respect
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I am definitely not. Why would I do that?
That’s not the point. I was an avid photographer and spent lots of time with the photos that are already on there.
I want my money and close my account..
And some respect
I don't know what your health problem is, and I do not need to know. But it sounds like something has happened to you recently.
I got pernmanently ill in 2017. I could improve a little, but most important was that I over time learned to live with my illness, shut some of my activities down, and change others, do things in another way - and I am now able to participate in some sort of stock photography again. Health issues have become a part of my portfolio, they were not before. Those things sells on DT. While I was in hospital I never thought I would be able to do that again.
DT is not a pixel peeping agency, and they pay us 35 cents for a subscription, who else does that - except AS if you've been there long enough?
If you can not make new material for DT, then you just need to accept that these conditions were what you signed up for.
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I am definitely not. Why would I do that?
That’s not the point. I was an avid photographer and spent lots of time with the photos that are already on there.
I want my money and close my account..
And some respect
OK I apologize if you thought that someone with only 34 images and nothing new in years, asking for when will they get paid, seemed a little odd. I mean there are people with thousands of images, asking the same question. Yes, unfortunate that you can't create more because of health issues.
The fact that you are up to $42 is a compliment that your images did attract some downloads in the past.
DT has fallen in popularity with buyers. Things are slower now than they were when you first wrote.
I agree with you that a reasonable solution would be, the agency should allow you to close the account and get paid the money they owe you. That's not in the contract but it would be a fair and considerate act on their part. Instead they have all kinds of people, including myself, that have money accumulated that we can't recover.
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So it's been well over a year and not a single sale. Emailed them again. But same answer.
I don't work so it would be nice if I could get payed for the work I put into my photography in the first place!
I will keep trying...
May this be a warning to future photographers to check their policies before submitting!
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I think DT might have a 100% royalty day about once per year - figure out when it is and put it on your calendar and then buy yourself up to $100 and cash out.
Or upload a lot more images that sell, or just write it off.
I agree that 100$ is a bit of a high amount with the rate of sales these days, and they should pay whatever balance remains when you close the account, but this is the way it has been at DT for as long as I can remember, so at least it isn't because they moved the goalposts.
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I think DT might have a 100% royalty day about once per year - figure out when it is and put it on your calendar and then buy yourself up to $100 and cash out.
Or upload a lot more images that sell, or just write it off.
I agree that 100$ is a bit of a high amount with the rate of sales these days, and they should pay whatever balance remains when you close the account, but this is the way it has been at DT for as long as I can remember, so at least it isn't because they moved the goalposts.
If is good year with lot of sun and rain and no snow maybe twice :)
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I think it is possible to use your earnings on Dreamstime to buy photos, not sure though if it works below the $100 threshold. But if yes, you could simply find someone (for example here on the forum) with high-level images and make an arrangement that you buy a few and that person sends you the received amount (minus tax and fees likely). You don't get the full 42$ though, maybe somewhere around 15-20$ only - but it's better than nothing.
You could also wait for the 100% royalty day, as mentioned before, and do this transaction on that day and receive more.
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Thanks for the advice guys. I'm not going to give up lol... bigstock photos was awesome. They closed my account and gave me my few dolars earnings. They had really good customer service.
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I think it is possible to use your earnings on Dreamstime to buy photos, not sure though if it works below the $100 threshold.
I thought I recall someone asking about that on DT's own forum a few years ago. So far, this individual had no sales and was wondering if he could buy his own images from his port. I guess he was so desperate to get sales that he thought it was worth trying this. Regardless, one of the mods said that this wasn't allowed. Though I guess there might be a difference here. This guy had no earnings from Dreamstime. So I'm not sure if it makes a difference if you make earnings from DT or not.
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I upload batches of images when I have them, and then process them in the DT system over the next several months, as I have time and think of it. Their processing is easy for me, so no big deal.
I find the DT uploading process mostly straight forward except for one thing. Their web uploader is really buggy. Uploaded images seem to disappear and I have to start over again. And this could happen a few times.
Now that's with photo files which is frustrating enough. Though last night, I tried using their web uploader to submit video files for the first time and that is a whole new level of frustration.
So many times, the web uploader stops the transfer part way through and I have to start again. And again and again and again. It's morning now and none of my video files have been successfully transferred.
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I'm still suck on this matter.
I am making an average of 50 cents a year. At this rate it's going to take me 50 years to reach payout!
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I'm still suck on this matter.
I am making an average of 50 cents a year. At this rate it's going to take me 50 years to reach payout!
It's not worth the time to upload since the web uploader is really a mess for larger batches although they accept almost everything during 24h.
Have uploaded approx. 600 AI images in january and sold just one for 35 cents.
In the same time I uploaded to Adobe over 1300 AI images and currently I'm making 30 USD / month.
There is also absolutely no pattern on Dreamstime which images you sell. The only pattern I notice is that I sell regularly almost the same amount every year, which leads me to conspiracy theory.
As I said in another thread I believe it's a part of their business model to hold as many contributors as possible below the payout threshold.
If you start to calculate a little bit you will realize there could be some dozens millions from contributors they are probably using for other investments, etc.
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Sorry for your illness. It can be so frustrating.
Even if you can't take photos, can you upload photos that you have on your hard drive? If you made $42 from only 34 images, maybe you can make it to $100 by adding some new ones? Also, you can change the settings so that your unsold photos don't go to the free section. I've had unsold images suddenly sell there so don't let them give yours away.
They also take AI images, perhaps you are well enough to make them?
DT is a frustratingly slow earner. It's a shame that they aren't reading your emails since you are in a unique situation. Good luck.
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really sorry about your situation.
as others have said it will be difficult to get the money. if they have a 100% royalty day, you could ask a friend to buy your content, cash out and give them the money back.
alternatively - are there any images you could use? are you a designer? you could use the 42 dollars to buy needed images on dreamstime.
or maybe somebody you know needs images, you buy them for them and they pay you the 42 dollars.
if you can create ai content on your computer, you can supply both adobe and dreamstime.
for me dreamstime is maybe 5% of adobe, but it is growing very slowly.
last year was 35 dollars, this year 13 so far. with around 2500 files.
i estimate that at 5k files i might make 120 dollars a year..and at 10k perhaps it will be 30 dollars a month.
but it all adds up and if i need 50k files to get a regular 100 dollars a month, why not.
but personally i find the upload very easy, so they get all non people ai content and normal photos and videos.
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Please note that we cannot lower the payment threshold as we have the largest number of contributors in stock photography, hence such adjustment would increase the logistics and slow down payments, making the process slower and more expensive for all contributors.
What a lame excuse from DT. A $100 treshold is insanely high for a low-tier agency and they should suck up the cost. If they can't afford that or make it work logistically, I wonder how they're managing their business.
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Please note that we cannot lower the payment threshold as we have the largest number of contributors in stock photography, hence such adjustment would increase the logistics and slow down payments, making the process slower and more expensive for all contributors.
What a lame excuse from DT. A $100 treshold is insanely high for a low-tier agency and they should suck up the cost. If they can't afford that or make it work logistically, I wonder how they're managing their business.
If they lowered the threshold to $50 they would have about 10,000 requests for the money and then those people would close their accounts. This has nothing to do with processing speed, after that, because no matter what the threshold, it would even out. But the overwhelming number of people between $50 and $100 would certainly bring a heavy number of requests.
The people who run DT are smart and they know that too many contributors would cash out and leave. This is just a way to slow that process and hang on to as many photos as possible.
Some people do cash out a few times a year, my compliments to them for having the right images for DT, to make it work.
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"Some people do cash out a few times a year, my compliments to them for having the right images for DT, to make it work."
I have been wondering about this. The DT sales thread has people who post quite often. Most of them are fully exclusive with DT.
Not sure how much they make, but some of them have very strong sales with a small or a not so great port (IMO). Also quite a bit of editorial sales. I keep undererstimating editorial everywhwere.
There also some well known people with large people ports that have very high sales numbers.
In the end quality always makes money.
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"Some people do cash out a few times a year, my compliments to them for having the right images for DT, to make it work."
I have been wondering about this. The DT sales thread has people who post quite often. Most of them are fully exclusive with DT.
Not sure how much they make, but some of them have very strong sales with a small or a not so great port (IMO). Also quite a bit of editorial sales. I keep undererstimating editorial everywhwere.
There also some well known people with large people ports that have very high sales numbers.
In the end quality always makes money.
I get a payout from Dreamstime (not exclusive) 3-4 times a year.
Approx. 15,000 images, no videos. Rarely sales in the 2 digit range.
Most sales are actually editorials. I wouldn't necessarily attribute it to the quality, but to the topics. I edit a whole range of niches.
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Hi Ralf,
Thank you for the really interesting information.
Editorial did really very well for me on SS, which is the main reason I miss the port a lot and twenty20. Also on istock still regular sales.
Never thought about sending editorial to Dreamstime. Will absolutely do that.
They even have a breaking news section from what I read.
And always, they were the only agency that raised payouts during the pandemic. i think that counts for something.
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Hi Ralf,
Thank you for the really interesting information.
Editorial did really very well for me on SS, which is the main reason I miss the port a lot and twenty20. Also on istock still regular sales.
Never thought about sending editorial to Dreamstime. Will absolutely do that.
They even have a breaking news section from what I read.
And always, they were the only agency that raised payouts during the pandemic. i think that counts for something.
Jasmin, every agency reacts differently to the portfolio.
Because of the editorials, Alamy is probably also doing very well for me in comparison.
But I have completely written off iStock for myself. I only reach the payout limit here every 1-2 years.
It's a shame because of all the upload work, but it doesn't really upset me. It works better for others, so it's down to my port.
I absolutely agree with you that Dreamstime is one of the fairer agencies.
That's why I don't understand all the excitement here, or even hostility.
If you only cash out once in a blue moon, you should just forget about the agency like I did with iStock.
There are more important things to get excited about :)
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All the people that make good money on istock that I know are exclusives. Or at least exclusive with one genre, usually photos.
I have a payout every few months and I am confident it will go back up when I supply them regularly again. All the newer content is selling. Though their bizzarre upload process is really putting me off.
Going through my editorial right now for Dreamstime.
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Anyone having trouble today uploading? Seems like new files can't be processed. I added 23 yesterday with no issues. Didn't want to start another thread for what's hopefully a temporary issue. Thanks.
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But I have completely written off iStock for myself. I only reach the payout limit here every 1-2 years.
It's a shame because of all the upload work, but it doesn't really upset me. It works better for others, so it's down to my port.
That's an amusing point. With the same images for myself, on IS and DT, I cash out once a year, pretty regularly on IS. I'm just making it to $75 on DT, I went back to them, in March of 2018. Five Years, $75! :-X 💩 And DT takes the editorial!
Different images, different results, there's something.
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Anyone having trouble today uploading? Seems like new files can't be processed. I added 23 yesterday with no issues. Didn't want to start another thread for what's hopefully a temporary issue. Thanks.
i now upload only in small batches of 2-4 images. Otherwise it seems to take ages to process files, it is very slow for me.
However, perhaps the total processing time of one long wait with over 20 files versus uploading smaller ones is the same, I don‘t know.
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I don't understand why people waste their time uploading to Dreamstime
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I don't understand why people waste their time uploading to Dreamstime
The upload for already prepared images runs on the side and I wouldn't call it work.
Brings in around 400 dollars a year. If I add the other small agency Deposit, I get a total of $800. I can easily fly to the Canary Islands or pay the electricity bill from here from that amount.
I think that's cool for the small outlay and a nice extra income for a hobby.
I don't understand your question.
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really sorry about your situation.
as others have said it will be difficult to get the money. if they have a 100% royalty day, you could ask a friend to buy your content, cash out and give them the money back.
alternatively - are there any images you could use? are you a designer? you could use the 42 dollars to buy needed images on dreamstime.
or maybe somebody you know needs images, you buy them for them and they pay you the 42 dollars.
if you can create ai content on your computer, you can supply both adobe and dreamstime.
Thanks for your guy's advice.
I suppose I could make AI images but I have no clue where to start. Can you point me to the right direction?
Thanks!
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there is an ai forum here, there are lots of youtube clips how to create ai content and many ai creation software companies have their own discord groups, forums, facebook communities.
There is a learning curve, it took me several months to get familiar.
Adobe has a generativbe ai channel in their discord channel.
I would sign up with maybe midjourney and a stable diffusion company. Adrej mention mage which has. free plan, but also a reasonable plan starting at 8 dollars. I havenÄt tried them, but it looks good.
Also adobe firefly is very easy to use.
For upsizing you will need gigapixel ai from topazlabs.
Just make sure that when you send the files to adobe, to keep the files around 6-8mp to avoid rejections.
i would also recommend to browse the declined files discussion reports to avoid certain mistakes from the start.
I am not aware of a simple 123 step by step guide for stock artists at this point.
But just sign up somewhere or just start with firefly and take it from there.
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But just sign up somewhere or just start with firefly and take it from there.
So I tried FireFly and its pretty cool!
However there is a watermark in the images.
Do I have to pay to use them?
Edit...
Nevermind You have to pay..... using credits
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I have been uploading to Dreamstime for about 2 years. There are very few sales. All sales are $0.35. I wonder if anyone sells at different prices? For example, has anyone sold a photo or video for $5-10-20? While there are different prices and sometimes high prices on other sites, I have never come across this here.
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My average for dreamstime this year is around 77 cents.
I get most sales for 35 cents and sometimes for 2 dollars, sometimes also a special sale for 15 dollars. Videos sell for 3.70 - 10.31
I have around 4700 files.
Longterm I hope to get a payout every three months but at the moment I am happy with one payout a year.
Upload is very easy and they usually sell files that never get a sale on Adobe, so I see it as an easy add on.
It will probably become interesting when I have 30k files...in 10 years or so...
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I don't understand why people waste their time uploading to Dreamstime
Maybe they do understand
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My average for dreamstime this year is around 77 cents.
I get most sales for 35 cents and sometimes for 2 dollars, sometimes also a special sale for 15 dollars. Videos sell for 3.70 - 10.31
I have around 4700 files.
Longterm I hope to get a payout every three months but at the moment I am happy with one payout a year.
Upload is very easy and they usually sell files that never get a sale on Adobe, so I see it as an easy add on.
It will probably become interesting when I have 30k files...in 10 years or so...
Do you think in 10 years Dreamstime would be alive? I have read here, several times, microstock business is downhill! :)
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My average for dreamstime this year is around 77 cents.
I get most sales for 35 cents and sometimes for 2 dollars, sometimes also a special sale for 15 dollars. Videos sell for 3.70 - 10.31
I have around 4700 files.
Longterm I hope to get a payout every three months but at the moment I am happy with one payout a year.
Upload is very easy and they usually sell files that never get a sale on Adobe, so I see it as an easy add on.
It will probably become interesting when I have 30k files...in 10 years or so...
Do you think in 10 years Dreamstime would be alive? I have read here, several times, microstock business is downhill! :)
The fact that they answer questions about why they can't pay at a lower amount, with a claim that the accounting would kill them, makes me read that as, they can't afford to have all the people, that are owed money, request to be paid. How many thousands of people are owed $50? (between $50 and $99 that is) If that could break them?
DT used to be a good middle agency. Reading the case against Google, DT was spending huge sums on advertising, which paid back. Then the sales dropped off and the advertising still had to be paid for. I think DT is hurting, but if they reduce expenses, can hold off.
Less advertising, means less customers, means less sales. Down to what we see as content providers, things aren't doing too well.
Barely ahead of Deposit or Panther in the poll. I'm not too confident that they will last ten years. I'll go with my theory, bottom line, when it costs money and the profits are less than the expenses, DT is a smart operation, they will shut down the site. What worries me, or should, is the contract says, they don't have to pay anyone that isn't owed $100.
Kind of a golden parachute for DT. 50,000 people at $40 would be $2 Million dollars.
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My best advice on Deadtime is: Don't waste your time. End of story
Re will they be there in 10 years. Most likely not. But then whole Human driven Microstock is likely to be extinct in favour of generative AI
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I have been hearing stock is dead since I started in 2005.
And unsplash and all the free files were supposed to be the last coffin.
Now it is nearly 2025 and here we are.
Stock might die if all the gaps in the collections are filled.
As long as literally everything is missing, there is still a lot of money to be made.
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I have been hearing stock is dead since I started in 2005.
And unsplash and all the free files were supposed to be the last coffin.
Now it is nearly 2025 and here we are.
Main difference: There was no generative AI until recently.
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There are billions of free files.
What could be worse than free images?? Just look at flickr how many new free files are uploaded with a cc license every day.
Ai is hard work and takes a lot of time.
I see ai as a great tool to do interesting new things, it expands the creative opportunities.
Even if ai improves, you still need a producer with a clear creative vision and with ideas.
ai is not creative by itself.
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My average for dreamstime this year is around 77 cents.
I get most sales for 35 cents and sometimes for 2 dollars, sometimes also a special sale for 15 dollars. Videos sell for 3.70 - 10.31
I have around 4700 files.
Longterm I hope to get a payout every three months but at the moment I am happy with one payout a year.
Upload is very easy and they usually sell files that never get a sale on Adobe, so I see it as an easy add on.
It will probably become interesting when I have 30k files...in 10 years or so...
I must agree with you sales is very low and I am not sure is worth my time :(
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ai is not creative by itself.
AI is already quite creative. I've seen AI images on Adobe more creative than 90% of human taken photos of same subject, and AI is still in its infancy, bound to get better.
Main point is that end customer, only one that matters, will be able to license (or pirat) AI Generative engine software, then say -using speech recognition- something like "Grand Canyon South Rim, Bright Angel Point Aerial Landscape, Single Person standing admiring Crimson Sunset Sky", and voila - here comes breathtaking, perfectly 'exposed' sharp frame, with no noise etc. There will be no need for human photos, or human contributor AI generated photos. Why bother when customer can do it all by himself, and even if software is pirated just like there are tons of Photoshop pirated copies all over the place, not pay anything at all.
I wish you were right and I was wrong. I am afraid opposite is true.
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Like I said there are billions of free and legally usable images already.
So why are people still buying stock?
Because they want the variety and inspiration.
Sunset over nature is easy to do in ai.
But try old lady doing yoga.
Suddenly you have to decid a million details
alone, in the gym, with a coach, indoors, outdoors, following an app, with a futuristic visor, which yog pose, what kind of lighting - frontal, rembrant, diffise, hair up or down or short hair, a little sweaty and tired, or smooth and meditative, closed eyes?, what kind of clothes, nail polish on hands and feet? which ethnic group, how old exactly, frail looking, overweight…
etc…
to use ai properly you need to understand all the details that make a great imahe and give it vibe.
Otherwise you will just be prompting endlessly or just getting a near identical copy of what millions of others liked.
But browing a stock agency needs no visual media skills, you can just select from millions of choices.
And then maybe use ai to refine the selected image.
I know several people who tried to drop their stock contracts and just use ai, they all reactivated their contracts.
Those who were not trained photographers realized quickly they did not even have the vocabulary to describe what they needed and those that had a media background found browising a library with huge content much, much faster.
The problem not knowing exactly what you want and how to describe it will remain forever, no matter how much ai improves.
As for money the sales come to ports that do very, very detailed research into what is needed, not to those who just produce endless duplicates.
The ai cannot tell you what will sell.
So as long as the agencies have gigantic gaps in their collections, I will have a job.
I am not just selling images, I am selling solutions to questions.
The ai cannot see the question.
But anyone truly convinced stock is over, please organize your business life accordingly and focus your energy on your next project.
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There are billions of free files.
What could be worse than free images?? Just look at flickr how many new free files are uploaded with a cc license every day.
Free images that are stolen? That could be worse.
Free images have no license, even if the claim is CC, there's nothing to protect the user from being sued. Any business wants some assurance that they are paying for a legal use.
AI generates free images that are created by the human that types in the description of what they want. Or would you argue that a photo is not creative, because it's just copying something that's already there, and only a painting, drawing or art, is creative. :)
Microstock is dead and so is DT. Anyone who has been around for ten years, like many claim, has seen the return for the time and effort, drop and drop. Where many made some money, years ago, now it's less and less. The boom is over, the downside and decline, is on and getting worse, faster and faster.
Big 4 (not including Stocky which is realistic and not Microstock and is exclusive): Adobe, Shutterstock, Envato and Pond5. Really? The last three added together don't rate as high as Adobe alone, and some people here say that SS is their best earning stock site.
I have around 4700 files.
...I am happy with one payout a year.
You are smart, work hard, read the market and make many new files, but $100 a year makes you happy and that's success? ???
DT is dead.
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I just restarted uploading 18 months ago. You know yourself it takes time.
The goal is to reach a reliable 400 dollars a year and looking at people writing here that seems very doable.
Several agencies bringing in 2-400 a year and suddenly it is 800-1200 more.
Why should I not take some add on money, for files that you can mass upload while waiting for the bus?
The self generated ai images have no legal protection at all. Only if you buy ai images via Adobe will a company get the legal protection of the Adobe license.
Another reason why many companies feel they cannot safely use ai, the legal limbo is too complicated and still in flux.
We anyway only sell to the people that really need a professional legal license and who value the time of their employees and understand that 5 minutes on a stock site is much faster than an afternoon prompting.
But thank you for the flowers...I am documenting my journey back to a full time income, because so many people have been genuinely concerned think that I am crazy with what I do.
But here we are, roughly two years later and I am already at a part time job level (minimum wage).
Next level will be a minimum wage full time income and then hopefully, maybe in 2026/27, I will be back with a real full time income.
We will see.
I am basing the project on all the empty gaps I see. If I ever have the impression the gaps are filled, I will move on.
But with millions of files missing and with video maybe 1 billion files missing, this job looks pretty endless from my angle.
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I just restarted uploading 18 months ago. You know yourself it takes time.
The goal is to reach a reliable 400 dollars a year and looking at people writing here that seems very doable.
Several agencies bringing in 2-400 a year and suddenly it is 800-1200 more.
You live on Cloud 9 my dear. Microstock is dead. But good luck to you anyways.