I started uploading to microstock sites end of 2006 (dreamstime)/March 2007 (shutterstock,istock etc -> see links down below). So far, I have just a small portfolio (200+ images). As a beginner, I�m quite happy with the results, ($400 September revenue, which was BME).

Actually, whether or not it is worth uploading to German sites is a BIG question for me, so I�m also very interested in feedback from others(hello, any more Germans out there?).

Over the last couple of month I hesitantly started to upload some images (20-40) to 3 German sites (digitalstock.de, shotshop.com, panthermedia.net) as a test. So far, I have a couple of dl, so at least they are doing some business.

Why am I hesitant?
1) small market (just the German speaking countries)
2) obviously slightly different requirements compared to the leading international sites
3) additional work/pain regarding keywording, you have to support two languages (I never imagined how bothering it could be to find the right keywords in my own language after getting used to the "usual" English terms, it�s kind of strange)
4) due to the small market (-> 1), will they survive in this competitive business?
5) OK, IF you sell an image it�s nearly like an EL at  the international sites - but if I look at the view counts, they are pretty low. So I wonder if my dl are just luck - or can you generate consistent revenue?

-> ArtmannWitte, how many images do you have at IS/SS (there is no link to your portfolios)?

-> to all (Germans)
So is it worth the extra time and effort - your experience/results? Any other German sites that you can recommend regarding revenue?

Suggestions are very much appreciated.

Regards, Manfred

German sites:
http://www.panthermedia.net
http://www.digitalstock.de
http://www.shotshop.com

Hi guys,

I just submit to Panthermedia, I think that is the German agency which is most successful, if not tell me otherwise. I get a few sales every month in the average. But very unpredictable. Sometimes just one or two sales, sometimes 5-7 sales. But the price is higher. This month it is not the first time it beat Fotolia in earnings, where I have much more images. However only my best images get downloads. Stockxpert, Dreamstime, Shutterstock and iStock are doing better than panthermedia. I hope they will offer their website in English soon, that would be great.

Hi there,

thank you for your feedback and information!

In the future I will add my revenue at the German sites in the monthly "earnings breakdown" thread. Maybe you (and other Germans, or is it just the 4 of us here?) can join me in doing that, so we will have at least some numbers to compare it to the international sites.

Regards,

Manfred

I have a lot of images on Shotshop as I was contacted by the owner and asked to send pictures on CD. They did all the keywording in German for me. Had some good sales figures at the beginning but it's slowed dramatically now. Haven't sent them anything for a while but if you are interested, it might be worth emailing them as they do speak English.

There's also Sodapix (http://www.sodapix.com/) based in Switzerland, with the site in German and English.

I haven't sold anything with them yet, but they carry some interesting and unusual stuff.

How about when we refer people to a site we don't put in our referral link ...

I think it is a bit rude actually.

As far as I can tell Shotshop doesn't have a referral program.
The site seems quite promising, I uploaded two pictures this month, and yesterday, after being just 1 week online, one of them was sold and 15 EUR will be transferred to my account at the end of March.

The same picture was rejected by digitalstock.de. I have a slightly bigger port on Panthermedia, but no sales there yet (joined them also this month).

One thing about shotshop: they have only a German version, and categorization is done in several steps, so those contributors who know German have an advantage.