Author Topic: When is a time to abandon a site? (Read 8553 times)

melastmohican · « **on:** September 11, 2009, 12:27 »

I uploaded more then 4K of images to FeaturePics, almost no sales. Over 2K to YAYMicro, got 3 sales this year. Now I am over 1K on Cutcaster, no views, no sales. I am loosing my patience. I also stopped actively uploading to Crestock, MostPhotos, BigStockPhoto for above reasons.

PowerDroid · « **Reply #1 on:** September 11, 2009, 12:42 »

I've found most of the sites you list to be pretty worthless, and have stopped uploading to them as well. Exceptions are Crestock, which seems to give me a few nice downloads each time I'm thinking of dropping them, and BigStock, which has been an underperformer compared to the big 5, but still generating a few bucks a day for me. Curious... have your downloads decreased at BigStock or were they never performing well for you?

melastmohican · « **Reply #2 on:** September 11, 2009, 12:56 »

BigStock was always bad for me. I am lucky if I have 1 DL per month. I partially blame myself for that, at the beginning I uploaded a lot of files without IPTC. Then I learned that it's to difficult to handle and asked customer support to remove files waiting in submission queue. I was quite surprised when I learned that it counts toward my acceptance rate. I gave up since I was only able to rebuild it up to 30% because of long review times.

m@m · « **Reply #3 on:** September 11, 2009, 13:17 »

I guess it's different for everyone, at BigStock I get a fairly good amount of sales, and I find that the review time is pretty good, as a matter of fact I get photos reviewed in 2-3 days max...FP used to bring me some sales, but after the bright idea of changing the format, it has become a complete waist of time (they've got till the end of the year with me if things don't change REAL SOOON!), YAY and MP, I won't even waist my time with those guys, Cutdesaster (Cutcaster), I really had some expectations after the "Betta" fiasco, but as Milas mention, no views! and for sure no sales!, I've run out of patience with them so I'm not uploading anymore...and last but not least "CRESTOCK"...what can I say, just saying the name leaves a bad taste in my mouth...

sharpshot · « **Reply #4 on:** September 11, 2009, 13:23 »

FeaturePics is the worst site for me at the moment. I have stopped uploading there. Having my prices reduced and sales decreasing has put me off them. BigStock is steady and worth persisting with but has lost some ground on the top 5 sites. yaymicro is doing well but it is mainly from the 3rd party site sales. Cutcaster sold a few EL's but is taking a long time to get sales going. I will see what happens for the rest of the year. Mostphotos were doing OK but sales stopped a few months ago, I hope they pick up again. I don't upload to crestock any more as I think $0.25 commissions for subs is too low.

It is a gamble uploading to sites outside the top 7 but it works with some. so far I am pleased with yaymicro, panthermedia, rodeo and zymmetrical.

lisafx · « **Reply #5 on:** September 11, 2009, 13:32 »

I agree with Powerdroid. All the sites you listed are not worth bothering with except BigStock, and maybe Crestock. And Crestock is on the borderline, IMO. If I were to drop a site it would be them.

If a site doesn't give me at least one payout a month they aren't worth the time to upload.

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #6 on:** September 11, 2009, 13:38 »

It's supposed to be a business so it shouldn't take too long to determine who is a time waster and who isn't.

Randy McKown · « **Reply #7 on:** September 11, 2009, 13:47 »

here's how you can boost your sales. On FP, for example, you have 4500 images and a quick flip through them looks like if you removed all the similarities your actual portfolio size would be more like 1000-1500. I saw some really nice landscapes in there but they lose their WOW because they are surrounded by tons of the same thing over and over. Be more selective when uploading. You also have a lot of subject matter that is just not high selling concepts. This probably has more to do with your low sales than anything else. Landscapes are great but you need to have more diversity. On your isolated objects you should also make sure the white background is white .. isolated subjects on dirty gray backgrounds will never make you money. Shoot more concepts and work on the artificial lighting and you should see your sales start to increase.

melastmohican · « **Reply #8 on:** September 11, 2009, 14:15 »

Quote from: xposurepro on September 11, 2009, 13:47

here's how you can boost your sales. On FP, for example, you have 4500 images and a quick flip through them looks like if you removed all the similarities your actual portfolio size would be more like 1000-1500. I saw some really nice landscapes in there but they lose their WOW because they are surrounded by tons of the same thing over and over. Be more selective when uploading. You also have a lot of subject matter that is just not high selling concepts. This probably has more to do with your low sales than anything else. Landscapes are great but you need to have more diversity. On your isolated objects you should also make sure the white background is white .. isolated subjects on dirty gray backgrounds will never make you money. Shoot more concepts and work on the artificial lighting and you should see your sales start to increase.

I agree on isolated objects, I am learning how to do this. Before microstock I mostly photographed nature :-) Started with cheap light tent but results we not satisfactory. Since I am hobbyist I started buying some lighting equipment, mostly stuff to put flash away from camera :-)

stockastic · « **Reply #9 on:** September 11, 2009, 14:15 »

I decided to do FT, DT, SS, IS and forget the rest - they're way more trouble than they're worth. Unless things change at StockXpert, I'll drop them next.

Even if I could upload automatically and not have to categorize, or check any agreement boxes, I still feel my images are at risk on these marginal sites which are probably signing on even more screwball "partners".

CutCaster has my best wishes, but no sales or views for my stuff, so I quit submitting a while ago. If I ever get some sales I'll resume.

cascoly · « **Reply #10 on:** September 11, 2009, 15:11 »

i've got portfolios at cut, feature, albumo and yay - the only one that sells ANYthing is yay, and id drop them if it werent so easy to upl. [takes maybe 5' when i'm also doing the other sites]. i've stpped contributing to the others, just not worth the time. FP does sell maybe 1-2 /yr but that's basically nothing.

one new site that may be worth your time is 3d studio http://www.the3dstudio.com/default.aspx?id_affiliate=468058

my first month there they became my 4th best sales - outdoing 123, ft, and istock. part of the reason is prices range from $4-12 and you get 60%. don't need many sales to beat. customers apear to be 3d designers who are ready to spend $100 for a 3d model of a car or tanker, so backgrounds, animals, textures, landscapes, etc seem to interest them too

steve

Moonb007 · « **Reply #11 on:** September 11, 2009, 15:31 »

Like Steve, I am on all those sites. It really depends on what you time is worth. You may never get sales and so your images sit there. I guess you can hope that maybe someday they will improve and you are already in the door, but it could go the other way and they could close shop. To me it only hurts you depending on how much time you spend uploading. When I consider a site dead, I just stop uploading and watch the site...its just as much effort pulling the images down if not more then uploading them.

stockastic · « **Reply #12 on:** September 11, 2009, 15:50 »

I don't want to sound paranoid but I'm seriously worried about what would happen if a site went out of business - as some of these surely will.

When a business is going under, ethics are the first thing to go over the side. There may not be anyone around to clean up the archives and delete all the images - so they end up orphaned on the servers of some be web host company, who has no responsibility for them. Or maybe they go out the door on the hard drives of some used systems being unloaded for quick money. Maybe a "partner" makes a nice cash offer for all those images, which the microstock owners can't refuse, especially if the "partner" promises - Scout's honor - not to sell them illegally, or to move them downstream to one of his "partners." At least not until he's down the street and out of sight.

lisafx · « **Reply #13 on:** September 11, 2009, 16:01 »

Quote from: stockastic on September 11, 2009, 15:50

I don't want to sound paranoid but I'm seriously worried about what would happen if a site went out of business - as some of these surely will.

When a business is going under, ethics are the first thing to go over the side. There may not be anyone around to clean up the archives and delete all the images - so they end up orphaned on the servers of some be web host company, who has no responsibility for them. Or maybe they go out the door on the hard drives of some used systems being unloaded for quick money. Maybe a "partner" makes a nice cash offer for all those images, which the microstock owners can't refuse, especially if the "partner" promises - Scout's honor - not to sell them illegally, or to move them downstream to one of his "partners." At least not until he's down the street and out of sight.

Would be interesting to hear from folks that were on Lucky Oliver and Albumo. From what I understand LO closed shop in a pretty orderly and ethical way. Everyone's images got deleted and everyone got paid. Am I remembering that right?

Albumo there are a lot of horror stories if you search the forums.

Ultimately you have to decide are you doing business with ethical people or not. Usually there are plenty of signs before the actual closure one way or the other.

madelaide · « **Reply #14 on:** September 11, 2009, 16:16 »

First I stopped uploading to many sites because of little or no return. I am always a bit hopeful that one day sites will become less useless, and that was what kept me from removing my portfolio in them.

But now I want to get out of some of them. I tried to get rid of Microstockphoto.com, but they don't reply my emails (twice several months apart) and don't delete my account. Next in my list is Gimmestock. I am also considering closing my account at Stockphotomedia - I haven't sold anything there in over one year.

madelaide · « **Reply #15 on:** September 11, 2009, 16:20 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 11, 2009, 16:01

Would be interesting to hear from folks that were on Lucky Oliver and Albumo. From what I understand LO closed shop in a pretty orderly and ethical way. Everyone's images got deleted and everyone got paid. Am I remembering that right?

No, they paid those who has a certain minimum value. I lost US$6.

I think the worst threat is not knowing what happens to our images. When TotallyPhotos was sold (alledgelly, at least), we were expecting the buyer to set new paths, but we never heard of him and the site simply stopped existing. Did someone took our images?

stockastic · « **Reply #16 on:** September 11, 2009, 16:22 »

I can tell you one thing for sure - I'll never sign up with another site without first checking their procedure for closing an account. And if it requires you to delete images one-by-one, forget it.

But there's no guarantee those procedures will be in effect, when the lights are going out. Companies don't usually announce that they're getting ready to close the doors. Usually they're desperately looking for a white knight with some cash and trying to keep their problems secret so customers don't walk away.

Moonb007 · « **Reply #17 on:** September 14, 2009, 15:53 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 11, 2009, 16:01

Quote from: stockastic on September 11, 2009, 15:50
I don't want to sound paranoid but I'm seriously worried about what would happen if a site went out of business - as some of these surely will.

When a business is going under, ethics are the first thing to go over the side. There may not be anyone around to clean up the archives and delete all the images - so they end up orphaned on the servers of some be web host company, who has no responsibility for them. Or maybe they go out the door on the hard drives of some used systems being unloaded for quick money. Maybe a "partner" makes a nice cash offer for all those images, which the microstock owners can't refuse, especially if the "partner" promises - Scout's honor - not to sell them illegally, or to move them downstream to one of his "partners." At least not until he's down the street and out of sight.

Would be interesting to hear from folks that were on Lucky Oliver and Albumo. From what I understand LO closed shop in a pretty orderly and ethical way. Everyone's images got deleted and everyone got paid. Am I remembering that right?

Albumo there are a lot of horror stories if you search the forums.

Ultimately you have to decide are you doing business with ethical people or not. Usually there are plenty of signs before the actual closure one way or the other.

LO - pull down all the images, but they only gave payouts if you hit the minimum. A lot of people who where not close to that turn their earnings into credits and gave them to others.
Snapvillage - pulled all the images down and then sent everyone's payments that where due.
Albumo - has not stated their doors are closed, they just have gone stagment...meaning your images can still be sold and you not get any of your money.

Basically, you should be careful with start up companies as they might not make it. I don't think it would be worth a company that closes its doors to mass sell the images sense that could lead to lawsuits on the owners personal assest.

lisafx · « **Reply #18 on:** September 14, 2009, 16:03 »

Quote from: Moonb007 on September 14, 2009, 15:53

LO - pull down all the images, but they only gave payouts if you hit the minimum. A lot of people who where not close to that turn their earnings into credits and gave them to others.
Snapvillage - pulled all the images down and then sent everyone's payments that where due.
Albumo - has not stated their doors are closed, they just have gone stagment...meaning your images can still be sold and you not get any of your money.

Basically, you should be careful with start up companies as they might not make it. I don't think it would be worth a company that closes its doors to mass sell the images sense that could lead to lawsuits on the owners personal assest.

Thanks for sharing those experiences. Sounds like Albumo is definitely the worst of the lot, which agrees with what I have heard from others too. It's definitely worse to have the images still available for sale but just no payouts being made.

I agree with you 100%. It is good to be cautious about joining lowest tier or newbie sites.

stockastic · « **Reply #19 on:** September 14, 2009, 16:48 »

Quote from: Moonb007 on September 14, 2009, 15:53

I don't think it would be worth a company that closes its doors to mass sell the images sense that could lead to lawsuits on the owners personal assest.

That is exactly what I fear might happen. When a business is going under, and the owners have a lot of their own money in it, things get crazy. That's when someone comes in with a nice cash offer for a copy of the image archive. Next thing you know the owners have filed bankruptcy, all your images are suddenly available on a new site with a .ru domain, and good luck with those lawsuits.

Reputable designers would not buy from such sources, of course, but they're not the whole market.

cascoly · « **Reply #20 on:** September 14, 2009, 20:59 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 14, 2009, 16:03

... Sounds like Albumo is definitely the worst of the lot, which agrees with what I have heard from others too. It's definitely worse to have the images still available for sale but just no payouts being made.

I agree with you 100%. It is good to be cautious about joining lowest tier or newbie sites.

the eupside is albumo get zero traffic s there arent any 'sales to be worried about -- i got my payout for the initial uploads, which only albumo has thus far risked - actually PAYing contributors for trying a new site. since then, afew sales, but i can't see it hurt sales elsewhere

if you dont try new sites, you're stuck with the competition from millions of others in the big 5-6-7

i do try new sites, but weigh the costs in my time -- right now, 3d studio seems a good decision - for secobd month they're my 3rd best agent - beating ft, 123 is and BigStock - and their upl prcess is much easier.

s

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #21 on:** September 15, 2009, 13:58 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 11, 2009, 16:01

Would be interesting to hear from folks that were on Lucky Oliver and Albumo. From what I understand LO closed shop in a pretty orderly and ethical way. Everyone's images got deleted and everyone got paid. Am I remembering that right?

My understanding is/was ..what has been reported on payouts is correct.. you only got paid if you were above the payout point.. fortunately I was.

On the other hand... I still surf and find my photos out there... linked back to a non-existent LO.

My experience with LO has left me cautious about StockXpert. I am beyond payout now... however, I fully expect to continue sales there... the question is, Should I cash in what I have and hope I hit another payout... or.. should I trust that the 'big boys' will see to it that IF they closed StockXpert, everyone will get all their earnings no matter how small? Tuff question.

=tom

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Author Topic: When is a time to abandon a site? (Read 8553 times)

melastmohican

PowerDroid

melastmohican

m@m

sharpshot

lisafx

PeterChigmaroff

Randy McKown

melastmohican

stockastic

cascoly

Moonb007

stockastic

lisafx

madelaide

madelaide

stockastic

Moonb007

lisafx

stockastic

cascoly

a.k.a.-tom

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