MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => Featurepics.com => Topic started by: shannonmrush on February 09, 2006, 11:42

Title: FeaturePics.com
Post by: shannonmrush on February 09, 2006, 11:42
Has anyone else looked at featurepics.com at all? 

I submitted some last night - it was kind of fun because the reviewer was reviewing as I submitted.  Anyway, you set your own price and you are paid 70%.  I set all of mine to $1.  There seems to be quite a bit of traffic there, but it may just be other photographers coming over from MicroStockForum where they're featured this week.

One thing I thought was strange - other photographers were setting prices at like $30+ for royalty free use rights.  It doesn't seem to me that any buyer would pay this amount when they can go to the other sites and pay a much lower price and have such a larger collection to choose from.  Am I missing something?


Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on February 09, 2006, 13:01
I haven't heard ofthem.. but will check them out.

a link for those wanting a link
www.featurepics.com (http://www.featurepics.com)

Yeah i dunno if there would be much sales for $30 images when they are beside a $1.00, or on other sites for $1.00. I do know however that alamy sells RF images for $250-$500.. and the quality is the same as many micro stock shots.  I am not sure why people would go to alamy.  I guess it is what people are used to or where they can find what they are looking for.  People probably have their favorite places to shop.....

but that still doesn't explain why a $30 image would sell on a site that is usually selling for $1.00

However.. after all that is said.
I have priced my 'print' images on fotolia for $2.00, and I think i am glad i have done so.  I have gotten quite a few $2.00 sales there.  My thought was that if people want the image $1.00 or $2.00 isn't going to make a differance at all.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on February 09, 2006, 13:09
It looks a little slow there... or like they don't have very many pics.. but if someone has some images there, I would be interested in hearing how it is going. 
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on February 09, 2006, 13:17
after a little more checking....

on the flip side, one thing that I think is a good idea, that other micros haven't done, is an image collection.  This seems like a good idea.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: uploaderz on February 11, 2006, 06:09
I would be interested in hearing if you get any downloads from there.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: andersph on February 14, 2006, 16:24
I have never heard of them, but I don't think I'll waste my time there... it doesn't look to promising yet.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: shannonmrush on February 23, 2006, 21:58
I would be interested in hearing if you get any downloads from there.

Hey, I finally got a dl from featurepics!   ;D
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on February 24, 2006, 02:40
How many uploads do you have there? How much did you earn from the download?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: shannonmrush on February 24, 2006, 11:07
I have about 40 there, and I earned $0.70 from the dl.  I priced everything at $1.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on February 26, 2006, 04:16
Well I suppose it is promising to see SOME action... although it isn't enough to convince me to upload yet.

I believe a rep. from Featurepics.com signed up on the message group last week.  I wonder if she will poke her head in and say hi?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: S. on February 27, 2006, 15:29
i've just uploaded some photos here at featurepics, they have accepted them all....but sometimes seems that they have some problem with the site... for example when i click "WHERE ARE MY IMAGES" it appear "You have no published images yet." but sometimes it shows my published images correctly

have you got similar problem?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com Errors
Post by: Striker77s on February 27, 2006, 20:43
Yes I get the same errors and problems.  It says I don't have any published images when I do.  I recently uploaded a batch of about 30 images and despite their promise on their homepage about being able to use IPTC metadata none of the keywords transferred with the pictures.  That feature makes all the difference in the world so I've been slow to re-enter it online.  Especially since their website is flaky, slow and stops repsonding many times. 

I sent an e-mail to customer service and I'll post it if I get a response.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on March 01, 2006, 00:42
Well I sent off an e-mail to featurepics.  I never did get a reply but the next day the keywords and descriptions were all there and ready to go.  I've only been with Featurepics for a few weeks and have gotten 2 downloads from about 20 pics.  The one thing nice about them is you get 70% and you can set the price of your own images.  There website is still a little hokey but I think that will improve with a little bit of time.  I think they are off to a great start.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 01, 2006, 01:40
Are you selling your images for $1.00 or how much have you set your price?  Congrats on the sales.  :)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on March 01, 2006, 12:28
I sell my images for $2-$3.  I figured if they are willing to pay $1, $3 isn't that much more.  Especially since many other pictures are set above $50.  So for each download I get $2.10 which the equivilent of 10 downloads at iStockPhoto.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 01, 2006, 12:44
That sounds like a good pricing plan.
I agree quite a bit that if they are willing to pay $1.00, they are willing to pay $3.00.  I have my non-web images at fotolia all listed at $2.00 and have gotten quite a few $2.00 sales (66 cents for me)

Well it might be worth checking out featurepics.... I guess I will ponder it, or perhaps upload 100 or so and see how they perform.  I would be interested to know if you get any more downloads.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: shannonmrush on March 02, 2006, 00:35
Since there seems to be interest in the activity levels at this site I thought I'd mention I got another dl from featurepics.com today...
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 02, 2006, 10:23
Well I checked them out yesterday, and tried to upload a few photos and lost patience.  it is takes a little bit of time selecting catagories, with the page reloading every time you click something.... not my cup of tea.  I think I will hold off again for a while. :S
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: S. on March 04, 2006, 07:00
i've send a mail to featurepics and they have reply to me that on monday or tuesdey they will change the category selection system! it's great!  ;)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: S. on March 06, 2006, 04:30
they have just setup a new category selection system....but at the moment i didn't have any image to upload and test it... let me know how it works ;)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Kerioak on March 26, 2006, 10:00
I joined a few days ago, uploading is easy, reviews are fast and I have had my first sale of which I earn 70% .  The page does reload between each catagory you select but it does not take long.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 26, 2006, 12:09
Are we allowed to post referals?

If so can someone post one for feature pics if they have a system and I can send them some Scotland photos.

Also referrals for Scanstockphoto, Gimmestock would be welcome.

Thanks

Steve
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on March 26, 2006, 14:52
Featurepics is one of my top producing sites.  I signed up at the end of Feburary and during the course of March I uploaded about 170 images.  They have accepted most of them and I've earned $13.30 during that time with 6 downloads.  I've gotten many more downloads from other sites but I priced my images at $4.00 so I get $2.80 from every download.  That adds up much faster than $.20 or even $.50.  Their customer service is the best around and are very helpful.  If you don't want to bother categorizing your images they will do it for you at the moment.  They just released their ftp uploading so adding images is quite easy.  I'm very happy with them so far.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on March 26, 2006, 14:54
They don't have a referal system at the moment.  They are considering it and may implement one soon.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 26, 2006, 16:18
and yes it is allowed to put referal links in the forums
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Kerioak on March 27, 2006, 03:44
They are going to implement one soon, but you could always go in via http://www.FeaturePics.com/index030106.aspx my link if you wish  - this way you can see what they offer in the way of home pages for their photographers :)

I understand that they have just added a "referred by" in their registration form as well.  This is a growing company that responds fast to customer requests

Kerioak
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: CJPhoto on March 27, 2006, 06:39
I currently have 6 downloads from FeaturePic's as  well but my prices are set at $1 so revenue is not much.  I think once I start getting more downloads, I will start increasing the price.

I have also noted with them that they accept anything.  Has anyone had any rejections yet??
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 27, 2006, 08:01
Sounds like a place to sign up then especially if they are not sooo fussy.

I had a big scan-fest of lots of 6 x 4 photos from trips around the USA, I corrected them for noise etc but have got most of them refused by agencies for being soft or having dof issues with the exception of 123rf who took them all.

So it wold be nice to have them somewhere else after all that hassle.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 27, 2006, 08:13
Just signed up.

Hey why did nobody mention they accept anything bigger than 600 x 800. This is excellent as the only other site that i know of that are interested in such sizes is Big Stock. Though i have yet to try.

So now finally i can display photos from trips abroad where i was squeezing photos onto the memory card.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: CJPhoto on March 27, 2006, 10:05
i guess because most people dont have photos that small.  However I can see how it could be helpful if you have lots of old photos.  My first camera was a 5mp and I have always taken on highest setting as I never saw the point in having a low res photo.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 27, 2006, 10:20
My first camera was a 2mp pixel I bought it in Hawaii with a 256 meg card whilst on holiday and took everything at 1024 x 768 DOH!!

Well at least my pictures from that trip and others have a chance to be seen and sold.

I notice at the bottom of the FeaturePics page it reads

"unique images found nowhere else in the world"

So the photos are exclusive to them or just a catchy line?? I didn't see that anywhere else on that site, not a problem for small pictures.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Greg Boiarsky on March 27, 2006, 14:06
I just spoke on the phone with one of the site owners for FeaturePics.  He's a great guy and says they're looking for lots more good photos.  It would be nice to see this site grow--competition's a good thing.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 27, 2006, 14:12
I keep hearing good things about feature pics, but I am still digging in my heals for some reason.... the upload process is allright, but still seems a bid finiky, filling in all those fields, and having to click back to the main 'waiting' photos page after each page... not a problem if I was only going to upload 10 images, but 100's or 1000's a few seconds per image makes a differance...

I guess i am not sure it would be worth the time spent yet... if the downloads are there.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: CJPhoto on March 27, 2006, 14:43
I agree, there are lots of things they could do to make it quicker, like having some feilds set to the last used setting - ie photo, royalty free, price and the name, it puts the name of the file beside the file it needs to go in (that might be an issue with using pixvue).
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 28, 2006, 16:53
Be wary of their galleries wizard I thought it was similar to can Stock's just arranging a group of thumbnail but instead it groups six photos together and then lets anyone right click and get your picture 412 x 550 for free. Ok too small to do anything with but still a bit annoying. I suppose not so bad if its a big image so people will be willing to pay for the full size version.

At the moment I am just uploading foreign pictures too small for everywhere else, they only have 10,000 images so plenty of room for additions. I had a few clicks but no downloads yet.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Freezingpictures on March 29, 2006, 18:37
I really like featurepics, I have no sales yet, since I am uploaded only 3 days ago, but the pricing ist great! And it is much faster then even Shutterstock, through the search for the categories. I would prefer it much over the other websites, if the sales starts to come.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 30, 2006, 01:52
Well I have given them a full review of what i think of their upload page.. I hope they take it to heart and make some changes, and I would like to upload to them, but don't find it worth it with their upload as it is now.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: S. on March 30, 2006, 04:02
i've just got my 3rd download from featurepics ('ve got a portfolio of 31 images froma bout 1 month)

all my images are priced 1$
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on March 30, 2006, 04:20
nice to hear.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 31, 2006, 02:22
Just had my first sale of a photo of NZ 1024 x 768 for $2 so I should be able to sell my 8mp photos for a few bucks and I very impressed by my 70% cut.

One problem I noticed at the moment they send you a cheque when you reach $50, which for any non-US photographers is very bad as I doubt we will see anything after the bank takes it handling fee for converting to local currency.

I have just e-mailed them regarding introducing Paypal, moneybooker or at the very least sending a bigger cheque.

Will let y'all know of their reponse.

Definately seems the site to watch.

Steve 

Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: CJPhoto on March 31, 2006, 02:37
they do paypal.

Go to Change profile and there is a spot at the bottom to put your address for paypal.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on March 31, 2006, 02:43
Quote
We are using PayPal (and MoneyBookers) transactions. You can update your profile and add your PayPal address. We are going clear it with next release.
We have been busy installing our new server, and tomorrow or the next day, you will see it on the site;

I don't who was quicker CJphoto or Featurepics, very refreshing to have such fast feedback from a micro stock
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 06, 2006, 08:10
I got an email from feature pics saying that they are going to make the upload process better (use the object name as the image name, and have the default price and image licensing boxes default value taken from your last image).  Additionaly they will have a button to 'edit next image' instaed of just taking you back to the unedited images ages.

sounds like good things are in store. (they said they were hoping to make the changes this weekend)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on April 06, 2006, 09:46
leaf did you finally give in an decide to submit to featurepics?

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 06, 2006, 15:15
not yet, but if they make the changes they said they were going to make, I will give in to at least uploading a few hundred pics and see how they go :)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Elena on April 09, 2006, 00:42
I think you can try now...
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Greg Boiarsky on April 09, 2006, 09:00
First sale--made seventy cents.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Kiya on April 09, 2006, 09:30
I've had 3 downloads so far.  All the same pic?  Really like the site.  Anxious to see it grow.
Title: I think you can try now...
Post by: Elena on April 09, 2006, 12:21
Sorry, I forgot to mention that we were following Leaf's specifications  for the new submission process.
Really appreciated...
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Freezingpictures on April 10, 2006, 00:21
2 DL's on fp. Nice since one dl was 5$.
Title: Re: I think you can try now...
Post by: leaf on April 13, 2006, 15:01
Sorry, I forgot to mention that we were following Leaf's specifications  for the new submission process.
Really appreciated...


Thanks Elena, I am going to upload some images pronto :)  It looks really good and is very little effort to get images onto the site. 

Do you have any input on how to price images ?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 13, 2006, 15:25
one more question.

Is it possible to upload to feature pics with a regular ftp program, or do i have to use the web browser one? 
The web browser format seems to work fine (however only with Internet Explorer, Firefox had an error) but it makes browsing the net extremely slow while images are uploading.  Using an ftp program, the browser is still able to run at a decent speed.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Elena on April 13, 2006, 15:33
Regarding prices:
We have sold images from 10 cents up to $50, so it is very hard to say the criteria visitors are using when decide to buy an image.
We have a page with our statistic
http://www.featurepics.com/Stat/Stat.aspx,
and it will be much more useful when we have serious traffic and stable sales.
$1-$5 range definitely works; $5-$15 works for artistic images.
Again, we are learning with you.
Thank you!
PS! I love "Spell Check" button on "Post reply" screen...:)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on April 13, 2006, 15:35
Yes leaf you can use a regular ftp program.  Instead of giving everyone a unique ftp account they give everyone a unique folder.  Just right click on the "Click here to open a FTP window" and copy the shortcut.  That will give you your FTP folder.  I have used WS FTP Pro from the beginning without any problems.  Hope that helps.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Elena on April 13, 2006, 15:47
Firefox/Filezilla (Netscape family) and our Microsoft environment are in disagreement somewhere :).
We should find what is going on...
(ftp is the simplest protocol I had deal with, but I couldn't understand Filezilla's commands - OK, it is another story)

FTP clients - may be we should make a list of recommended programs. We will be back to this subject.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Elena on April 13, 2006, 15:52
Striker77s - Thank you! You are always in the right place/ time:)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 13, 2006, 16:09
i second that, thanks striker
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on April 13, 2006, 18:17
Well I would say I was in the wrong place last week.  I haven't been posting lately because while installing a laminate floor in my home about 10 days ago I cut about 1.5 cm off my middle finger with a table saw.  Ouch.  :o  So typing has become quite difficult, but I am glad I could help.

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 14, 2006, 05:52
ouch...  :o that can't feel good
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: CJPhoto on April 14, 2006, 14:33
Sticker - but did it make a good stock photo???

Elana - on the my Earnings page, how about the photo reference number linking to the photo.  I have no idea what photo number 67865 is (I made up the number but you get the pint).  NO rus but just something for the techies to think about when they think everything is sorted.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Elena on April 17, 2006, 19:10
Oops. I am sorry to hear about the accident....
Hope you feel much better now. Elena
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Elena on April 17, 2006, 19:14
CJ, please check your earnings page. All references should be there. Let me know if this solution works for you.
Still feel very bad about Stricker77s....
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: CJPhoto on April 18, 2006, 02:56
Elana - My bad. ;) 

I am sure the references were not links before but they definately are now.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 18, 2006, 03:47
is your ftp program still working strikker?  I am trying to use filezilla and it connects fine, but when i try and upload images I get an error. :S
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 18, 2006, 03:59
allright I guess I answered my own question.

I tried using the filezilla and connected but couldn't upload without errors
i tried using an old version of ws_ftp (a free one) but it didn't work
and now i downloaded a trial version of the new ws_ftp and it seems to be working.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 18, 2006, 04:07
allright, nothing like have a conversation with myself :)  I have a question for strikker though,

which version of ws_ftp do you use?  and did you have to purchase it or is there some free version that they offer.  I couldn't find anything that had more than a 30 trial.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 18, 2006, 08:25
ok, a question for Elena now.

What do you want us to do if we have more than one model release for an image?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on April 18, 2006, 10:03
I use the WS_FTP_Pro version.  I haven't tried anything else but someone else had the same problem and I think they got it working.  You could possible ask them what they use.  It is on FeaturePics forum
http://www.talkmicro.com/viewtopic.php?t=191&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=e0d346e8f5a6a249f0e253c7b94c844a

I haven't used it for a few weeks but I plan on using it tonight.  I have some great new pictures of some wacko who cut off part of his middle finger. :)  It works with IE so I can't imagine it not working with any generic FTP software.  Very strange.  I used the freeware AceFTP before I switched to WS_FTP_Pro, it was an excellant program for being free.  The only reason I switched was the need to be able to scheduled FTP uploads.
http://software.visicommedia.com/en/products/aceftpfreeware/

If I haven't uninstalled it already maybe I'll try it to, and give a report.

Hope that helps,

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 18, 2006, 10:33
thanks for the reply strikker.  I got it working with ws_ftp
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on April 30, 2006, 15:07
well i recieved my first sale on feature pics today :) (with around 250 images online)

still debating about if it is worth my time there, but they have made the upload process very quick, and listen to our feedback, which makes me want to see the site grow.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: ichiro17 on May 01, 2006, 16:33
I have about 40 photos up and I get a lot of views - One has 15 or so and its been up for a week only...which for me is pretty good - but no downloads.  Does this seem to be the same for anyone else?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Striker77s on May 01, 2006, 16:47
Ichiro

I think you are getting a little impatient.  ;) , but don't we all.  With about 200 images I was getting about 1 sale a week at $4 last month.  This month I only got two sales.  So with 40 images you should expect less than 1 sale a month at FP.  But it also depends heavily upon how much you priced them and how sellable your images are.  I just don't want you to get discouraged.  Keep taking pictures and uploading them.  Set a goal to upload 10 20 or 30 images a week.  What ever works for you and concentrate on building your portfolio.  Once you have 200 - 400 images then worry about which site will bring in the maximum amount and will work for you.  By looking at April's sales, upload to the top 5 or so.  Then go from there. 

Good luck and keep taking pictures,

Mark
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: 3pod on November 12, 2006, 11:50
Hey guys. I was thinking of joining FeaturePics.com .. Anyone making good sales there ?
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on November 12, 2006, 12:34
it's pretty slow there i think.  Good comissions, but perhaps they don't have much left for advertising....
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: snem on November 13, 2006, 04:52
Can you post a little statistic of your sale? just for an idea. thanks
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: leaf on November 13, 2006, 05:41
429 images
18 sales since april
42.50 in earnings
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: 3pod on November 14, 2006, 00:32
429 images
18 sales since April
42.50 in earnings

Well... it's nothing fancy but it's still more money than a couple of agencies I'm submitting to... ;)
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: fintastique on November 14, 2006, 06:13
The main reason for submitting to FP would be to set up an online shop the lazy way (as you can set the price and pay 70%) no worrying about credit card transactions or bad downloads thats why they are getting 30%
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: dbvirago on November 14, 2006, 11:03
WooHoo. Just got my monthly sale at FP. Always a shock. Really wish sales would take off there. The ability to price everyting should be a plus, but not enough sales to see any trends.
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: madelaide on November 14, 2006, 19:06
I had one sale there today. I had three sales there in October, so I was quite hopeful sales would finally pick up.  But overall, I'm doing better there than at CanStockPhoto...

Regards,
Adelaide
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: Egypix on December 14, 2006, 03:29
frist month for me was good, all time (7 downloads) , last 3 month or maybe more!! no sale at all.

http://www.featurepics.com/Image/MyImages.aspx?itype=0
Title: Re: FeaturePics.com
Post by: takestock on December 14, 2006, 03:57
2 sales in 2 months

Commisions put revenue ahead of others.