Author Topic: Is it worth it? (Read 5755 times)

Freezingpictures · « **on:** March 10, 2015, 17:02 »

Hi guys, I have not been on here in a long time. Also, I have not submitted to microstock in a very long time. Microstock started my career as a photographer. Now I have a photography studio and a part time employee. We are doing mostly wedding photography but recently started to work in other areas of photography too. Despite the lack of uploading I still earn a chunk of money every month from microstock. I am quite surprised actually how well it is still going.

So my question is, is it still worth submitting? Do you still get a reasonable amount of downloads from new images?
There used to be a trick to get your new images to the front at SS, when customers searching for the newest images. It went like this: You uploaded one image. Shortly before this image got reviewed, you submitted the rest of the batch. Is that still working?

Thanks!

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #1 on:** March 10, 2015, 17:11 »

The return on effort is a fraction of what it once was. So in your position, it's probably better to find some other revenue source.

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #2 on:** March 10, 2015, 17:20 »

Quote from: Freezingpictures on March 10, 2015, 17:02

. It went like this: You uploaded one image. Shortly before this image got reviewed, you submitted the rest of the batch. Is that still working?

Thanks!

Yes

Cider Apple · « **Reply #3 on:** March 10, 2015, 17:27 »

Just one question...
How do you know when that first image will be reviewed?

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #4 on:** March 10, 2015, 18:13 »

Quote from: Cider Apple on March 10, 2015, 17:27

Just one question...
How do you know when that first image will be reviewed?

You dont

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #5 on:** March 10, 2015, 18:54 »

Blast from the past. Welcome back. I was just looking through some old posts and saw so many people that no longer come here.

Probably depends, but my peak was a couple years ago and things have dropped off a cliff since then. Plus I've been reading through posts of people saying that have hundreds or thousands of images at various sites and are making $10 per month. No offense intended, but I can't imagine that being worth the huge amount of time to create, keyword, submit and deal with rejections. So, to answer your question, I'd say from what I've seen lately, probably not. I haven't submitted anything new in over a year. Not worth it.

stockastic · « **Reply #6 on:** March 10, 2015, 20:27 »

I'd say no, there are far better things you could do with your time and talent than continue to help companies like SS get richer in exchange for token payments. It's not just that there's insufficient return today - it's that the future is guaranteed to be just like the present, only worse. We will never get an increase from these agencies and our sales will only decline as their archives grow.

Many people have given up on it over the last year and no longer post here. So I think the responses will contain a disproportionate number from eternal optimists who will say "yes" no matter what. In some cases these are very energetic people who will simply say you need to take more photos, improve your quality, find new subjects etc. More power to them. I've moved on.

PixelBytes · « **Reply #7 on:** March 10, 2015, 20:56 »

If you are doing well in your other business, and still getting decent returns from microstock, good for you. I continue to upload even tho my sales drop like a rock for the past 3 years. I thought if I stopped to upload they would be even worse. Your post makes me think I might stop and just collect the residual income. Not worth the effort.

I will say that for the passed year I have not spent much time, money or planning. Just uploading simple cheap to produce stuff. This business has gone to the dogs.

Hobostocker · « **Reply #8 on:** March 11, 2015, 00:10 »

Quote from: PixelBytes on March 10, 2015, 20:56

Just uploading simple cheap to produce stuff. This business has gone to the dogs.

they asked for it and since there's little ROI the agencies will get exactly what they pay for ... images worth 1-2$ and nothing else, or people dumping some leftovers from studio shoots and assignments.

whenever i search something on a micro agency i see the best shots are usually from 5-6 years ago.

Monkeyman · « **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2015, 10:04 »

I wouldn't recommend anyone to join this business today. It's dead.

But if you're already making a living as a photographer I suppose you could make a few extra dollars from microstock. It doesn't take that much time to upload if you stick to the big sites only.

Freezingpictures · « **Reply #10 on:** March 12, 2015, 16:43 »

Thank you all!!

PixelBytes · « **Reply #11 on:** March 12, 2015, 17:14 »

Quote from: Hobostocker on March 11, 2015, 00:10

Quote from: PixelBytes on March 10, 2015, 20:56
Just uploading simple cheap to produce stuff. This business has gone to the dogs.

they asked for it and since there's little ROI the agencies will get exactly what they pay for ... images worth 1-2$ and nothing else, or people dumping some leftovers from studio shoots and assignments.

whenever i search something on a micro agency i see the best shots are usually from 5-6 years ago.

Makes sense. 5 to 6 years ago was when the full timers were making the most ROI.

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: Is it worth it? (Read 5755 times)

Freezingpictures

BaldricksTrousers

Semmick Photo

Cider Apple

Semmick Photo

PaulieWalnuts

stockastic

PixelBytes

Hobostocker

Monkeyman

Freezingpictures

PixelBytes

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors