To me, it starts to look like we have a Big 2. My Fotolia earnings are only a 1/6 of what I get from Shutterstock (They were almost even sometime in history!)

Here is my current situation:

Big 2:
Shutterstock
iStock

Middle Tier:
Fotolia
Dreamstime
Veer
123rf

Low Earners:
The rest

So, do YOU still feel we have a "Big 4" ?

my earnings on DT are more than double FT, I'd vote for a big 3

SS
IS
DT

Interestingly this month Canstock is my highest earner this month due to a number of fotosearch sales but leave them in the low earners as they have earnt about 3% of my total microstock earnings in the last 3 years

regarding the poll on the right are people earning more at depositphoto than at bigstock,canstock and veer ?

I reported last month that iStock had fallen to fifth place in my sales rankings.  So, as of July's figures, my 'big two' would be:

1. Shutterstock
2. Dreamstime

123RF have gained a lot of ground for me, and I'm delighted to see from the chart on the right here (at the time of writing) that they're only  0.1 points away from equalling FT, and I hope to see them move up into the 'big four' soon.

I don't have a problem with a 'big four', I just want to see the agencies who pay fair commissions and treat their contributors respectfully at the top of the tree.

I think I'm one of the few who is still having great sales at FT.  

Here's how the sites rank for me, with approximate percentages of total earnings:

TOP TIER:
SS - 28% (approx 100 sales/day)
FT - 21% (80)
IS - 18% (30)
DT - 14% (20)

MID TIER:
CAN - 6.5% (10)
BigStock - 4% (10)
123 - 3.5% (10)
DEP - 3.5% (10)

BOTTOM TIER:
GL - .8% (0-1)
SF - .5% (1)
VEER - .1% (0-1)
CRE - .005% (0)

AFter today I had to revise my position, it's now the Big One. I agree

Partner Program
Your files will continue to be sold on iStockphoto, and will also be made available on Getty Images partner sites, such as Thinkstock and Photos.com. As a non-exclusive contributor, all of your files will now automatically be included in the Partner Program.

When I was averaging $1.65 a download on IS, that kept them equal with SS. (SS at 25c a download but many more licenses) If that changes to 28c a download on IS, the earnings equality has just been ended. I'll be making about $5 a month at IS with the new ASA. That means serious consideration to abandoning the sinking ship while I can. Just about ready to make some changes on SS and should be moving up to higher commissions, but that doesn't matter, 3 cents isn't a huge deal breaker.

I don't mind the PP or the subs, but if they are converting all my files to cheap subs, then the sales on IS, which are diminishing already, will soon be non-existant. What's the use. I have the same files and some others left over from StockXpert days, now what will happen to those, since many are dupes. I drop IS and StockXpert, that removes me from ThinkStock, it won't make a dent in my earnings because those two have been in serious decline for a year now.

Right now I agreed and I'm in the Wait and see mode. Possibly dropping IS in Dec. I don't like to make hasty decisions or claiming my mind is made up, but that's the way I'm leaning after all the trouble of getting files onto their site. If sales improve, then I'll be forced to contiue. If sales continue to tank, there's not much to lose by leaving IS.

With all that, there's the Big One - Feed The Beast... as the way of the future.