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Author Topic: More trouble then its worth. - big 5 pls READ  (Read 12769 times)

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« on: November 12, 2008, 19:11 »
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Ok... Haven't been able to get a photo accepted by Fotolia since June. - TOAST

Snapvillage is a waste of time - one or two subscription a month. - TOAST

Shutterstock - .66 cents a day but not on weekends - TOAST

so that leaves me with StockXpert, (love them) but they've just been bought by Getty so its iStock in reality. AMALGAMATED TOAST + all I've been getting are subscription sales for .30 lately - so looks like they sold us down the river.

Bigstockphoto has been giving consistent sales lately, but they hold my photos for 90 day. TOO BIG A COMMITMENT TOAST

Dreamstime - good sales but must hold my photos for 6 months - ALMOST MARRIAGE TOAST and no prenup!

So... Look like I'm ready to doane the crown !

Sigh... anyone else fed up lately?



traveler1116

« Reply #1 on: November 12, 2008, 19:18 »
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My sales are good all over except IS.  That's the only site I'm fed up with.  I have had one sale on the last 100 or so images uploaded since the best match change, while these same files have sold hundreds of times elsewhere.  BMEs at 5 sites while IS has had worse month in a year last month and this month might be the worst month in 18 months.  I'm not sure what to say about going exclusive except the best match thread was locked today where it was said by an admin that the best match changes and will change again, this best match has helped exclusives a ton so when it changes exclusives will most likely be the ones hurt.

charlesknox

  • www.charlesknoxphoto.com
« Reply #2 on: November 12, 2008, 19:26 »
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This month is extremely bad. I'm down 90 percent of what i usually get accross the board.

The only one that is alive is DT

Oh and alamy i sold one!  :)

« Reply #3 on: November 12, 2008, 19:56 »
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I have been hanging out to get accepted by Alamy in the hope of decent money. There are a number of other sites like them as well.

As far as snapvillage goes, I was regularly earning about $6 a month. But now I figure $6 gained or lost is not going to change my world, so I have put all my images there up to $50 and do not allow subscription downloads. I will review that after January and see if I have made a wise decision or not.

For me the frustration has been in not be able to get enough photos accepted. Around 2000 images on DT, SS, StockXpert, and IS would be a good return.

But alas, they do not like my stuff.
« Last Edit: November 12, 2008, 19:58 by litifeta »

digiology

« Reply #4 on: November 12, 2008, 20:24 »
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I am with you PenelopeB. I already pulled my port on Yay, MP, SV and more to go. It was a real difficult decision after investing so much time uploading. 

IS has always been good to me so I too may be going for the crown myself. But I still have 4.5 months left to go on DT  :-\

I really want to focus more time on photography and less time on uploading and checking my pennies. I think I can do much better if I committed myself more and just focused on one site.

« Reply #5 on: November 12, 2008, 21:21 »
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I pulled out of SS a couple months ago even though I was on the threshold of "THE BIG RAISE" since I had nearly 500.00 in sales, but I'm tired of their two-bit royalties.  I have some stuff on with SV but since I pulled out of subscription sales I've had no sales; again, pretty much two-bit royalties there too.
IS used ot give me about 70.00/ month in royalties but since August it's been down to about 15.00
I just got accepted to StockXpert and have uploaded 400 images there so far and they've accepted pretty much everything I'm throwing at them.  No sales there as of yet but it's only been a week.
I'm also dabbling with Cutcaster, Panthermedia and Alamy.  Good thing I shoot 14.2MP so I don't have to upsize too much for Alamy.
Either way, it's a crapload of work for a very little bit of money.

bittersweet

« Reply #6 on: November 12, 2008, 23:06 »
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best match has helped exclusives a ton so when it changes exclusives will most likely be the ones hurt.

What about the many exclusives who have reported being severely hurt by the current best match? How is it possible that all of those posts can continue to be overlooked by people who are so intent on this all being ONLY detrimental to non-exclusives?

traveler1116

« Reply #7 on: November 13, 2008, 00:28 »
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I'm not sure how many there were, I saw a few posts but not manyof the ones that said "down 50% overnight".  Most of the exclusives said things like "my new files aren't selling at all, but my old work is doing great".  I don't remember any nonexclusives saying wow BME but I did see a ton of exclusives saying that.  Maybe I missed it but other than a couple people and vector artists, exclusives are doing much better and nonexclusives much worse.  BTW looks like this month will be down 70% since best match changed, following five straight months of BMEs and four straight months before that equaled my BME.  Thats 9 months in a row of steady growth equal to the quality and number of files uploaded now nothing.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2008, 00:56 by traveler1116 »

« Reply #8 on: November 13, 2008, 02:54 »
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SS is making more than 3x my earnings with istock.  StockXpert are selling more subs but my earnings have gone up.  DT increases earnings every month and I have no problem with them having my images for at least 6 months.  The crown is toast at the moment.

lagereek

« Reply #9 on: November 13, 2008, 03:27 »
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Strange!

Im seeing SS, DT, FT and StockXpert  selling extremly well, one of my best months so far.
IS is ofcourse down but that was expected.

« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2008, 03:30 »
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I just wonder how exclusive, exclusive would be if a significant numbers do turn exclusive. For us that is.  ;)

lagereek

« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2008, 03:55 »
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Hi runamock!

You got a point there it wouldnt be too exclusive now, would it? youre reffering to IS excl. arent you?
Well after watching IS for the last three months, personally I think you would need your head examined by Cat-scan, to even think of turning exclusive at IS ( which is a crying shame really), The site is too unstable, too shakey and Ive got a strange feeling that if the Admin dont like you, youre in for a tough ride.

I and two more Scandinavians, we were on the brink of turning exclusive and then came this first best match change where our good sellers just dissapeared, then came the second, the last one where most non-exclusive files, even flame files just vanished.
Thats when they lost their credibillity.
Further more dont listen to all this blarney about Getty taking care and buying everybody etc.
Getty is NOT buying from the loveliness of their heart, theyre buying-up to keep their enemies closer and under control.
Should the sky fall tomorrow they wouldnt give a toss about their Micros, they look after their RM people as always.
Thats their life-blood.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2008, 05:06 by lagereek »

michealo

« Reply #12 on: November 13, 2008, 06:30 »
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Going exclusive tmrw, 6 months of DT lockin are up

bittersweet

« Reply #13 on: November 13, 2008, 07:29 »
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Well after watching IS for the last three months, personally I think you would need your head examined by Cat-scan, to even think of turning exclusive at IS ( which is a crying shame really)

If the general consensus from non-exclusives is that all is rosey for exclusives right now, and that we are all just sitting back and raking in the bucks, I guess I can see the appeal. Some non-exclusives see their personal sales going down the toilet, and hear the same from less than 1% of the others, so extrapolate it out and it must be true for everyone. However that is the problem with basing decisions upon "group think". You might get to the other side and find you might have had a bit of tunnel vision.

lagereek

« Reply #14 on: November 13, 2008, 08:34 »
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whatalife!

Its not only that about exclusivity, thats really a minor, trivial thing, works for some and not for others.

Frankly its just too many problems there, if its not one thing its another. It never stops. All of it started after the dismbaguation  ( what a word )  paving the way for the Getty-CV, which hasnt worked at all ever since and will NEVER work. Gone too far, too much for too long.
Im Gold there you know, only 6K DLs away from Diamond, non-exclusive and Im still getting quite a bit of DLs per day so its not that. Ive simply lost faith in it. If I get it back! Ill be very happy indeed, believe me.

all the best  Christian
« Last Edit: November 13, 2008, 08:36 by lagereek »

bittersweet

« Reply #15 on: November 13, 2008, 08:45 »
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No, I completely understand. I guess I wasn't very clear in my reply, but I agree with you! It seems that some people are deciding to go exclusive because they think it's so bad for them right now, it must be GREAT for exclusives. It's a dangerous assumption to make.

If I wasn't already exclusive, I sure would not be considering it at this moment in time.

lagereek

« Reply #16 on: November 13, 2008, 08:54 »
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No, I completely understand. I guess I wasn't very clear in my reply, but I agree with you! It seems that some people are deciding to go exclusive because they think it's so bad for them right now, it must be GREAT for exclusives. It's a dangerous assumption to make.

If I wasn't already exclusive, I sure would not be considering it at this moment in time.


Totally true!

Its a bit sad though, its such a great idea. Bruce really came up with something astonishing, revolutionized everything and the general concept is great! some of the guys in the Admin are really great. not to speak of the community on the whole.
Its a bit depressing they had to follow this footpath.
« Last Edit: November 13, 2008, 08:56 by lagereek »


« Reply #17 on: November 13, 2008, 11:06 »
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Penny, the only thing clear is that whenever you bring up exclusivity you will get a strong responses.  I am not an exclusive kinda gal, but I can see very strong arguments for it, especially if I was full time at this. 

All the negative about FT aside, I'm surprized more people don't talk about going exclusive with them - especially once they've passed silver.

Now that FT has fixed its search engine I can finally see why many love FT.  For me FT doesn't earn the most each month, (although this month they might) but they certainly sell more individual photos than anyone but SS of course. 

According to the charts  found here http://www.fotolia.com/Info/Pricing#item_8

A Silver contributer earns
1 Small sale = .37
1 Large sale = 1.48

A Silver Exclusive earns
1 Small sale = $1.64
1 Large sale = $6.48

Or am I reading that wrong?  But then again, FT has such a bad history of f**k ups that who could trust them to go exclusive?

« Reply #18 on: November 13, 2008, 13:41 »
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...
All the negative about FT aside, I'm surprized more people don't talk about going exclusive with them - especially once they've passed silver.
...
I've run my numbers on this a few times and have found that FT doesn't have the sales volume to justify exclusivity. Assuming that FT exclusives do not benefit from increased exposure (a la IS exclusives), even as an Emerald I'd be taking a 20%+ pay cut by being exclusive - if my IS sales weren't at an all-time low it'd be more like 40%!
« Last Edit: November 13, 2008, 14:47 by sharply_done »

« Reply #19 on: November 16, 2008, 21:14 »
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I wish you the best of luck. I was exclusive for years but left last month. Once the novelty wears off and you realize that not all exclusives are created equal you may change your mind.

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #20 on: November 16, 2008, 22:46 »
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So what changes have you noticed since you turned in the crown? Downloads drop?

« Reply #21 on: November 17, 2008, 07:55 »
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 I was exclusive for 3 years. I've been independent since mid Oct. Since I left I have gotten more downloads, and those downloads are in bigger sizes. As an exclusive I struggled to get 2 dls a day and often couldn't break $100 a month without an EL. When I did get downloads they would be Dollar Bin or Xsmall images mostly.

4 weeks is to early to really tell true results, but so far I have more dls at SS then I do at IS, counting only the time that I have been independent. This was with a record breaking 9 dls in one day at IS. IS only barely came in as ahead in royalties and I suspect that SS will pass IS this month.

The other thing I noticed is that I no longer care about the favored contributors at IS. It used to matter because, as my only stock agency, it was infuriating that my images wouldn't show up until page 10, while reported spammers continue to be allowed the first pages of any search result. I know of a few that I have personally reported several times yet they are allowed to continue labeling blank pages as "Birth Certificates" and groups of children as "porch", even though my image of a child in a costume that reads "SWAT" across the front was be rejected for using the word "SWAT" as a keyword. Yes, as an exclusive I was getting images rejected for keywords.

I also no longer get upset when I find out that the business card program is broken again, or when I find out that some "exclusives only" deal was really only open to a few hand-picked people. They make a lot of promises to get you be exclusive. The reality is that you get a little more per download and a a stack of free cards from MOO that you can pass around. That's it.

I forgot to add that it only takes a week to get your images rejected as an exclusive. That's another perk you get rejected in one week instead of 2.

« Last Edit: November 17, 2008, 07:57 by azurelaroux »

« Reply #22 on: November 17, 2008, 09:47 »
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I would never have guessed that there are exclusives and exclusives :'(
I don't ever want to be exclusive because I like my independency and as it is my work for a great part I want to be able to sell my images where ever I like. Beginning of this year my earnings were more than 200 a month but last months they have steadily decreased and I''m lucky if I will get 100 this month. At SS things have deteriorated very badly this month while last month was my BME with $ 300+. Things do not look very well!

bittersweet

« Reply #23 on: November 17, 2008, 10:39 »
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^^ bitter much?

« Reply #24 on: November 17, 2008, 10:44 »
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^^ bitter much?

??? - what do you mean? and directed to who?

Besides... I feel better now  - thanks for listening everyone! Bad hair day; we all have them I'm sure?


 

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