Just looking for some feedback from some current Fotolia contributors on this one.  I currently have a port with SS, IS, DT, StockXpert; all with a good degree of sucess (well not so much with StockXpert anymore).
I have about 500-600 good quality images that I can submit to Fotolia, so Im wondering if it would be worth my time or not.  Thoughts?

no. You will take more money from me.

I do well there, others do not. Some say they have a high rejection rate. I get a few rejected here and there but not a lot overall. Also over all they are in my top three always and this month they are in the lead. Hope that helps.

I just made some comments in another thread regarding FT. They seem more appropriate here, so I will copy them, below.

I find FT very frustrating, as they are a relatively decent seller (typically they swap  with DT for the #3 and #4 spots in my monthly revenue chart).

Pros: Decent earnings, fast reviews
Cons: Inconsistent reviews, poor commission rates on largest files, can't edit images once submitted, cumbersome UL process (keyword order, no phrases, categories)

But no one can really answer this question better than yourself. Try them and see; the only cost is your time.

Copy of previous post follows:
I seriously wonder, given the large differences in experiences that people have with FT, whether some accounts are marked as "pass", and others "fail".

I just ran a small test over the last 10 days. I submitted the same 5 photos to all the top agencies. Here were the results:

123: 4 of 5 accepted
BigStock: 5 of 5 accepted
DT: 5 of 5 accepted
FT: 0 of 5 accepted
IS: 5 of 5 accepted
SS: 5 of 5 accepted
StockXpert: 5 of 5 accepted

For 123, the one rejection was "lighting/composition".

For FT, all 5 rejections were for "quality of photo".

It's been my experience, and thus my question for FT, that there is a disconnect between FT reviewers and the rest of the stock sites. My acceptance ratio is 80%-95% on all other sites, but is well below 50% on FT. Are FT's standards so much greater than all the other sites? I don't think so, since I'm sure if I re-submitted those 5 images enough times (which I definitely will not bother doing), eventually they would all get accepted.

So my question, re-phrased, is that something in the review process is broken at FT, and are they going to fix it or not?

Quote from: eppic on October 15, 2009, 16:07
Just looking for some feedback from some current Fotolia contributors on this one.  I currently have a port with SS, IS, DT, StockXpert; all with a good degree of sucess (well not so much with StockXpert anymore).
I have about 500-600 good quality images that I can submit to Fotolia, so Im wondering if it would be worth my time or not.  Thoughts?

Only if you use my referral link, otherwise I'd say No. 

Honestly some people are very happy with FT, some have left and removed their accounts. Some people find the reviews vague and sometimes arbitrary, rejecting files that are accepted at the rest of the big six. Others find good results and sales.

With all that, you'll have to find out for yourself if FT is the place for you. As far as opinions go on this forum, you'll find the widest variation from love to hate of any micro agency. That's about the only thing I can say for sure.

I personally find them frustrating and I get high rejection rates - usually for "quality of the photograph". I have around 350 images active on most of the sites, 255 on iStock because of their restricted upload process, and just 165 on Fotolia, and I think I got most of those in the initial months. I must be doing something they don't like!

Steve

http://www.backyardsilver.com

I have a contributor account there from last year that's still active but I never really did anything with it. Since my port is for the most part established on other sites, I thought about turning my attention to Fotolia, so I guess I'll give it a whirl. 
I'll be a bit on the picky side with what I submit and see how the approval ratio goes.

It probably  depends mostly on what kind of photos you have for upload. I agree with others that rejections are common, UI is hard to use.  They require a lot of patience but I can see a slow and steady growth after 1.5 years. I guess like any other top agencies they do not need more images so they just cherry pick the ones they like. Starting now is much harder than 3 years ago.

I would go for it.
I have been a contributor for almost 3 years and I get steady sales there.
I found it slow at the start but I hung in there and when I  got to 'Bronze' it was every reason to stay.

Quote from: KB on October 15, 2009, 16:35
I just made some comments in another thread regarding FT. They seem more appropriate here, so I will copy them, below.

I find FT very frustrating, as they are a relatively decent seller (typically they swap  with DT for the #3 and #4 spots in my monthly revenue chart).

Pros: Decent earnings, fast reviews
Cons: Inconsistent reviews, poor commission rates on largest files, can't edit images once submitted, cumbersome UL process (keyword order, no phrases, categories)

But no one can really answer this question better than yourself. Try them and see; the only cost is your time.

Copy of previous post follows:
I seriously wonder, given the large differences in experiences that people have with FT, whether some accounts are marked as "pass", and others "fail".

I just ran a small test over the last 10 days. I submitted the same 5 photos to all the top agencies. Here were the results:

123: 4 of 5 accepted
BigStock: 5 of 5 accepted
DT: 5 of 5 accepted
FT: 0 of 5 accepted
IS: 5 of 5 accepted
SS: 5 of 5 accepted
StockXpert: 5 of 5 accepted

For 123, the one rejection was "lighting/composition".

For FT, all 5 rejections were for "quality of photo".

It's been my experience, and thus my question for FT, that there is a disconnect between FT reviewers and the rest of the stock sites. My acceptance ratio is 80%-95% on all other sites, but is well below 50% on FT. Are FT's standards so much greater than all the other sites? I don't think so, since I'm sure if I re-submitted those 5 images enough times (which I definitely will not bother doing), eventually they would all get accepted.

So my question, re-phrased, is that something in the review process is broken at FT, and are they going to fix it or not?

I have a similar problem with FT.

At times, I sit here thinking screw it. Are they worth the trouble.

Of the big 6, they are my second lowest.

My acceptance ratio there is about 25%.

Thank god for SS, sales this month have already doubled for me.. BME 

A.

Make sure you are happy with their 'affiliates/associates' program before taking the leap.

I sell well (for my standards) at FT, however the amount of subscription sales lately is very high.  I haven't uploaded to the micros in months, so I can not say anything about rejections. 

I uploaded an initial 50 images there (bit of a tedious process with the keyword heirarchy etc).  I'll see how that batch goes.  I also resized my images to 3600 pixels on the long side (normally over 4000 pixels) since it seems that the XL size is over 7.8 MP and the next size is like 15MP.

I am exclusive to Fotolia and have consistent sales with generous revenue month to month.  It seems to be getting busier and busier too.  I get a 55% commission on my sales and can charge up to $5 for the extra small sized files (these perks come with rank increases) so I am happy.

Mat

Mat, I am curious and I hope you don't mind answering: what is the % of your sales that are subscriptions?  Not in $, but in number of downloads.

Quote from: madelaide on October 17, 2009, 16:36
Mat, I am curious and I hope you don't mind answering: what is the % of your sales that are subscriptions?  Not in $, but in number of downloads.

Of my most recent 100 sales, 35 were subscriptions. 

Mat

I would say it is definitely worth uploading to Fotolia.  I have seen more growth there in the past year than on any other site I contribute to.  They are consistently either my #2 or #3 earner.  You are definitely leaving money on the table if you don't upload there.

That said,  the reviews can be inconsistent, as mentioned before.  Contributor support is a bit inconsistent too, IMO.  When I have had issues the support responses have varied from extremely helpful to extremely dismissive with everything in between. 

FWIW, though, it's been several months since I had rejections that left me scratching my head, and my last few encounters with customer service have been among the most positive.  Perhaps they have been working to improve in both areas.

Quote from: eppic on October 15, 2009, 16:07
Just looking for some feedback from some current Fotolia contributors on this one.  I currently have a port with SS, IS, DT, StockXpert; all with a good degree of sucess (well not so much with StockXpert anymore).
I have about 500-600 good quality images that I can submit to Fotolia, so Im wondering if it would be worth my time or not.  Thoughts?

No!

Definitely not worth your time. Stay away and even go exclusive with IS!

Quote from: MatHayward on October 17, 2009, 17:16
Of my most recent 100 sales, 35 were subscriptions. 

Last month I had 40% subs, this month almost 70%.

Quote from: madelaide on October 17, 2009, 21:00
Last month I had 40% subs, this month almost 70%.

Of my last 100 sales 43 were sub's. This month my RPI at FT is just over 1 credit __ about the mid-range of the agencies I submit to. It can vary quite a bit from month to month though . If you don't like sub sales then the only real option is exclusivity at IS and/or RM macro.

QuoteDefinitely not worth your time. Stay away and even go exclusive with IS!

I've thought about going exclusive with IS, but I find their requirements too restrictive so I dont see it as a viable option.
I've got 50 images at Fotolia pending now, so I'll see how the review process goes.  Once those have been reviewed I'll submit more as I've found that reviewers dont tend to like extra large batches of images all at once.

Quote from: eppic on October 18, 2009, 00:30

QuoteDefinitely not worth your time. Stay away and even go exclusive with IS!

I've thought about going exclusive with IS, but I find their requirements too restrictive so I dont see it as a viable option.
I've got 50 images at Fotolia pending now, so I'll see how the review process goes.  Once those have been reviewed I'll submit more as I've found that reviewers dont tend to like extra large batches of images all at once.

You are doing the right thing. Everyone should test it for themselves.

I wasn't serious anyway. It was a poor attempt to keep you out of competition 

So I got my first status update emails from Fotolia.  So far 10 accepted, 14 declined due to not reaching a "desired level of aesthetic quality" (whatever that means), and 2 rejected due to "overabundant photo category".
Is there some way I can actually see the ones that were rejected?  I haven't figured out that one yet on Fotolia.
Serving up another 54 images for them tonight.

on the "uploaded files" tab there is blue link at the bottom right of the page giving an option to show rejected files

ah great thanks!