Author Topic: Fotolia, Dreamstime, and the rest (Read 7786 times)

Amarofil · « **on:** August 01, 2013, 06:39 »

Hi there,

Just wanted to give my opinion on Fotolia. I use to have my picture with them and I use to sell regularly.
Compared to all the others, I have to admit that they were the most respectful, open and fair in their dealings with me as a contributor. Fair reviews, fair explanation in case of rejection, fair amount of photo sold. I didn't have lot online but I really was well represented.

I can't say the same for some of the other "big ones". I-stock and Shutterstock: unfair reviewing bordering on crap reviewing (images sold on Fotolia or others rejected by them). No or very few sales. Often very arrogant attitude (typical fro those who think they have arrived). Customer service close to incompetence very often. etc..

Dreamstime, while more difficult are also ok. Nice attitude and higher standard for selection. In the low earners, YayMicro is a very nice agency. Good attitude, good customer service, really appreciate the spirit there.

Middle Tier: Bigstock (r.i.p), 123RF: well no comment. I wonder why I ever sent my pictures there. All is wrong with these agencies.

The worst by far: PantherMedia: super arrogant, stupid processes and reviewing. Sold nothing, don't represent you well. Are they still around ?

Now, I stopped "microstocking" because they all sold my pictures too cheap. I am more interested by quality than quantity and it takes a lot of time to have pictures on all these websites while I didn't get a good ROI.

The solution: Sell directly + assignements: more money, time consuming but better ROI.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #1 on:** August 01, 2013, 06:52 »

^
I could say exactly the same as you say substituting the word "Fotolia" in your post with the word "Shutterstock"…

And I am sure that some other user could substitute "Fotolia" with "iStock"
So, did I won something?

Ron · « **Reply #2 on:** August 01, 2013, 06:54 »

Hmmmm, the OP is exactly 180 degrees to my experiences.

Ploink · « **Reply #3 on:** August 01, 2013, 06:58 »

May I ask politely how long you have been with Fotolia?

Because their track record is not exactly stellar when it comes to contributor relations, nor are "fair" and "respectful" the first words that come to most people's minds when they think about FT...

ruxpriencdiam · « **Reply #4 on:** August 01, 2013, 07:01 »

I wonder whet the OP has been smoking?

Cause this just has to be a joke!

Must be new to this.

gillian vann · « **Reply #5 on:** August 01, 2013, 07:07 »

almost feels like a clumsy attempt at damage control following their new policy

fritz · « **Reply #6 on:** August 01, 2013, 07:15 »

Quote from: Ron on August 01, 2013, 06:54

Hmmmm, the OP is exactly 180 degrees to my experiences.

Mine too!

sharpshot · « **Reply #7 on:** August 01, 2013, 11:09 »

It might of been true of FT when they first started. Unfortunately, when sites become big they don't seem to treat their contributors as well as they do when they're trying to establish themselves. FT has to be one of the worst now.

dirkr · « **Reply #8 on:** August 02, 2013, 03:21 »

Either there is another Fotolia out there that I haven't heard of or the theory of parallel universes is right and the OP and I happen to live in different ones...

Red Dove · « **Reply #9 on:** August 02, 2013, 04:15 »

FT has boosted my income of late but they are sloths compared to SS and are just about hanging on to fourth place for me. I am not so easily seduced by their 99.9% acceptance rate of my work.

robhainer · « **Reply #10 on:** August 02, 2013, 10:37 »

I don't know anything about Panthermedia, but the rest of it is 100 percent backwards.

I get most of my rejections from Fotolia. If it's not a photo of a person, it's got a 10 percent chance of approval at best. People photos usually get high approval otherwise, especially studio shots.

Fotolia's rejection reasons are confounding. "Quality issue" could mean a 1,000 things. At least with Shutterstock, you get a pretty good idea of why they rejected an image.

And Bigstock and 123RF? They earn me more than Fotolia. Twice as much now, as a matter of fact. Bigstock is actually fairly responsive and respectful if you have a question or concern.

gbg2000 · « **Reply #11 on:** August 05, 2013, 08:34 »

I actually went ahead and closed my account with Fotolia after several years of frustration. I had about 35% acceptance rate with them on the same photos that would get 75% with iStock and near 90% on SS. It made no sense, having in mind that iStock is usually the most arrogant agency out there (don't get me started on their 'exclusives'). Maybe I shouldn't have closed fotolia, since it still brought a few dollars, but the frustration was too much.

I agree with the OP that the best way is to sell direct and do assignments, but how? The market is over-saturated and I know more than one 'professional' photographers who work in the food service industry.

marthamarks · « **Reply #12 on:** August 05, 2013, 09:49 »

Quote from: robhainer on August 02, 2013, 10:37

If it's not a photo of a person, it's got a 10 percent chance of approval at best.

Wow, Rob, that statement made me feel downright good! FT recently rejected 82% of my initial submission of about 1500 images, none of which was a photo of a person. But that means--ta da!--they accepted a huge 18% of my birds, bugs, beasts, plants, and places.

Could it be that set a record??

robhainer · « **Reply #13 on:** August 05, 2013, 10:03 »

Maybe! Actually, animals -- including good bug macros -- have a decent chance of approval there. Maybe I was a little harsh on that point. Otherwise, it can be really difficult.

But I keep submitting to them what I submit to everyone else. At least they have to spend a few seconds mashing the reject button.

OM · « **Reply #14 on:** August 06, 2013, 19:11 »

Recently Fotolia has accepted everything I've uploaded to them. It's mostly studio work without people but also some outdoors stuff that SS rejected. One thing that seems to apply to my rejects at SS is that when they're rejected for whatever reason, there's no point in fixing those rejects with a note to the reviewer because then they get re-rejected for another reason!

tab62 · « **Reply #15 on:** August 06, 2013, 19:39 »

I wonder if they will get a 'Referral' fee for this advertisement

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #16 on:** August 06, 2013, 19:55 »

Atlantis finally got an Internet connection?

Quote from: dirkr on August 02, 2013, 03:21

Either there is another Fotolia out there that I haven't heard of or the theory of parallel universes is right and the OP and I happen to live in different ones...

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Author Topic: Fotolia, Dreamstime, and the rest (Read 7786 times)

Amarofil

Beppe Grillo

Ron

Ploink

ruxpriencdiam

gillian vann

fritz

sharpshot

dirkr

Red Dove

robhainer

gbg2000

marthamarks

robhainer

OM

tab62

Uncle Pete

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