After thinking a lot about this issue, prompted by the concerns of Yuri and others, I have decided to pursue a strategy for my image uploads. My purpose is to maintain a sustainable income in the medium and long term.
 
The overall objective is to receive for each sale of each image an amount that compensates for the effort to create it, regardless the price for the buyer.
 
I assign three categories for images, depending on the quality and the time effort: basic, medium and high.

My goal is to earn approximately $ 0.30/download basic image, $ 0.80/download medium image and $ 2/download high image.
 
My strategy is the next:
 
ISTOCKPHOTO
Pay Per Download. PDP-only site.
All I can decide here is upload or not upload each image.
It does not interest to me became exclusive because I want to be free to decide about my work.
 
SHUTTERSTOCK
Subscription. SUBS-only site.
Upload only basic images. Try reduce the other images to basic images.
 
DREAMSTIME
SUBS obligatory site
The ratio PPD / SUBS (maximum difference in buyer�s price) is 10 / 1. In this case, the proportion of downloads PPD / SUBS is tolerable for the moment.
Upload all my images.
 
STOCKXPERT
SUBS optional site
Disable the option SUBs and upload all my images.
 
CRESTOCK
SUBS obligatory site
The ratio PPD / SUBS (maximum price difference) is 100 / 1. That means the proportion of downloads PPD / SUBS is very high.
Not upload more pictures.
 
SNAPVILLAGE
SUBS optional site
Disable the option SUBs and upload all the images.
Because I can decide the price of each image, I price at $ 1 my basic images, $ 5 my medium images and $ 10 my high images.
 
FEATUREPICS
PPD only site
Upload all images.
Because I can decide the price of each image, I price at $ 0,5 my basic images, $ 1,5 my medium images and $ 3 my high images.
 
In this way, I attempt to foster fair sites, as they offer cheaper my images to the buyers.
 
Actually I earn about 1,500 dollars a month in microstock. I will continue this strategy for at least 3 months and then value results.

I've had 5000 dls there and never had a sub. so I doubt it.

Quote from: lumina on January 10, 2008, 11:23

FOTOLIA
SUBS obligatory site

Does FT do subscriptions?

Quote from: lumina on January 10, 2008, 11:23

FOTOLIA
PPD only site
I don�t upload images there because the keywords must be in local language, and I don�t want translate it.

What do you mean by that?  I upload to FT in English.  By default www.fotolia.com takes me to br.fotolia.com, but if I click on US Fotolia I am then redirected to the US site.  In fact I think I can even upload in English to the BR site, because when you edit the image there is a choice of language, but I never tried it.

Regards,
Adelaide

Maybe in Brazil. In Europe, fotolia redirect us to our local sites, and, in the national sites, you must write keywords in local language.

Lumina,

I enter FT BR (in portuguese) and click on FT USA at the bottom of the page, and then everything works in English.

I have just tried uploading in the Brazilian site and saying my keywords are in English. Let's see how it works.

Regards,
Adelaide

Lumina,

Sorry to divert from your original post, but I just wanted to confirm that the upload in the Brazilian page with keywords in English worked.  Finding the image in the search tool however is another problem (I guess FT will never correct that...)

Regards,
Adelaide

I'm thinking more and more these days to submit in a way "exclusively" to Istock, Shutterstock and Stockxpert. I know that don't give me any exclusivity advantage because there's no exclusivity given to one particular site.

Dreamstime search engine work mostly whit the acceptance ratio. It was one of the first one where I submit to. Whit totally no experience, I was having 1 on 2 rejected.

Now I don't understand why I put so much time trying to boost my acceptance there, when I got 3 of my perfectly isolated traffic lights rejected for: we have too many of this subject in our database. There's 2 like mine and are a different models.

Fotolia search is still a mystery for me at this time. I edited my keywords order because they was in alphabetical order to make my files more relevent. Since this change I have barely no sales.

123RF have lot less traffic for me than any other site excepting Bigstock and they pay crap. Bigstock pay well, but whit my small portfolio I'm lost in the crowd whit many less buyers.

Finally, I'm planning to put lot less time to upload than shooting (make microstock at part time). Maybe I will upload my files on those sites when I will have time to loose.

That seem to be my future upload strategy and my top three is Istock, Stockxpert and Shutterstock, even if this one is only subscription, I just hope they will raise their prices and listen a lot more the photographers, like Stockxpert do

A question for those who opted to give up a site:

1) Do you delete your images there?
2) If yes, is there any special procedure you take, such as asking the site some sort of email confirmation of the end of the partnership or whatever?

I have stopped (or nearly stopped) submitting to many sites, but I leave my stuff there for the time being (deep inside hoping some miracle happens...).

Regards,
Adelaide

A question for those who opted to give up a site:

1) Do you delete your images there?
2) If yes, is there any special procedure you take, such as asking the site some sort of email confirmation of the end of the partnership or whatever?

I have stopped (or nearly stopped) submitting to many sites, but I leave my stuff there for the time being (deep inside hoping some miracle happens...).

Regards,
Adelaide

Same thing for me, I keep it there and I will wait to have my payment, then maybe I will ask via contact support how I delete them...