I agree with your comments about the three agencies.

IS performs much better than FT and DT and is more fair and consistent in reviews. Seems that FT and DT have developed some "moody" review standards lately. Even though the images are selling ok, they are increasingly rejecting decent images and making me feel I am wasting my time by contributing to them.

But, my freedom is also important, it pains me to limit myself with one agency, it may limit my vision and creativity.

If istock represents 2/3 of your earnings consistently, I would say that exclusivity isn't a bad idea. I have always said that this is a simple numbers game, and exclusivity should only be done when the math works out. For me, the magic number to go exclusive at istock is 60% monthly earnings consistently, and I doubt I'll ever get to that point so it's not for me. But at over 60%, like you are, I would probably do it.

I noticed StockXpert wasn't on your list. Any reason? They are a big earner for me lately.

I think the biggest thing for you to think about in making this decision is that nothing stays the same in the microstock world - at least not for long.

At various times one site or another will change its search algorithm (iStock's not the only one to have messed with Best Match, Relevance or whatever the name is) and files that have sold well suddenly stop selling (and others obviously pick up that slack if the site is doing well). When your portfolio is all relatively new, you benefit from a bias in favor of new files that most of the sites have in the default search placement choices.

Sites have had various hiccups in their web site leaving things down or limping for a while (iStock and Fotolia come to mind). Remember all the hoo-ha over the introduction of the controlled vocabulary and Fotolia's V2 introduction?

When you have portfolios across more than one site, these various snafus are unpleasant and an inconvenience, but they don't become a catastrophe in the way they do if the problem is at the only site you sell through.

You haven't been selling stock (through the micropayment sites) for all that long. You might want to wait a bit before deciding that a good few months at iStock means you'll go exclusive there.

Not RF, but you can still sell Editiorial and RM on Alamy and Photoshelter, correct?

Yes, you can sell RM.  However, you cannot sell your rejected files anywhere at all. 

Why not? Where does it say that?

Quote from: Nazdravie on January 10, 2008, 12:48

Not RF, but you can still sell Editiorial and RM on Alamy and Photoshelter, correct?

Yes, you can sell RM.  However, you cannot sell your rejected files anywhere at all. 
(Does that include selling them as RM, I wonder??)

You can't sell rejected files, but how many files truly end up as "No Resubmit" rejects?  Almost all of my "Can Resubmit" files have been accepted anyway so my true overall rejection rate is fairly low. 

From IS"The Contract does not require exclusivity for:
Rights-Managed images with other organizations"

This all or nothing is one of the biggest problem with IS exclusivity. Some of our biggest earners on other sites are rejections from IS.

Also to say you can't RM images they rejected just seems wrong, next they are going to want rights to your first born.

Quote from: digitalfood on January 10, 2008, 15:55

...Also to say you can't RM images they rejected just seems wrong...

That's pretty lame. They rejected them, meaning they didn't want them. How do they retain any right to what you do with those images if they opted not to take them? I wonder if there's some weird legalese in the upload terms.

I think the way I have heard it explained before is the artist/photographer as a whole is exclusive to IS, it's not just the images being exclusive.  I don't agree with it, but that is how they see it.  Their ballpark, their rules I guess.

What do you think is a realistic expectation of earnings from that size of portfolio growing at 20 images a month exclusively at iStock?

One of the advantages of going exclusive at IS is the higher upload limit (correct me if i'm wrong, i'm not exclusive there!)

So if you don't plan to upload more than 20/month, you are loosing one of the advantage, don't you think?

I would personnaly try StockXpert and SS before thinking of going exclusive anywhere.  That way you may have a more precise view of earnings you could have with your photos.

Speaking of earnings, I would expect between 100 and 150 dl's per month for a portfolio of the size of yours, and with the sales of SS and StockXpert.  Of course these figures can vary widely based on your type of photos but I guess that you can use these figures.

Claude

The stupidity of IS Exclusive program is that it is the only agency that demands that the artist should be exclusive, when the usual is that images are the ones to be exclusive (you usually cannot sell similars on other sites under those terms).  You don�t see "Corbis exclusive artist" or "Jupiter exclusive artist"... You usually see "images exclusive" whoever...

So you end up being a RF prisoner of IS for an extra 10%... NO WAY!

And about what to expect from microstock... You should consider it a part of your stock business and not the business.  Prepare to work hard, to define your style, to build a portfolio, to see sales go up and down according to season and to seek other venues for selling images beyond RF.  It is a wild ride that, despite all advices that you can receive, you have to figure out for yourself after a while...

better search placement?
I dont think so, the best match has to my opinion nothing to do with exclusivity at IS,, it is not the interest of the client. However nobody knows for sure of course....
As to become exclusive, I have been thinking doing t my self. IS has always been where I got the highest earnings (have about 2700 pictures there as well as ST, FT, DT), however they are very unconsistans, and the situtaion is changing very much, believe me or not over the last 6 weeeks, Fotolia is the best  to me ! and this has never happend before, there are oviously things changing in the business, I would be more cautious than ever before making such decision. But to be honest I regularely consider it , but so far it wounldt be a good business to me.
jean

I do think so. The search placement is debatable but there are plenty of exclusives who feel their images had immediate better placement after becoming exclusive. How would you explain immediate increases of earnings of 50-100% or more when they may have only jumped a canister level in commission (25%?)?  IS gives exclusives the edge with everything. Why not search placement too?

As non exclusive it is my advantage to make you think it is not the case....
anyway who knows....
jean