It was nice to see that photographer's payout helped her through "Ike."  I really didn't think people were earning that much already through Cutcaster!  I'd love to see her portfolio.

I've been toying with the idea of uploading to Cutcaster but so far haven't.  The reason?  I've looked through some portolios and have been horrified at the low technical quality that's been accepted.  I've only been doing microstock for about a year in my spare time and have been trained through the SS and IS "school of hard knocks."  Now I know what to look for and I'm my own worst critic.  I can't even look at a friend's photos anymore for fear they'll ask me "what I think."  (well, your white balance is off, the focus is soft and the composition is not very interesting.)  I'm in no way proclaiming to be a great photographer- far from it, but I'm always looking to improve and use rejections as a stepping stone.

So- back to the original dilemma.  I really love John's attitude and the way he's running things over there.  On the other hand, how can a site that offers lower quality for more $$$ compete with sites that have a high standard for less $$$?  But then you hear a story like "Fern" so obviously something is selling there...plus I joined Photoshelter about a month ago (may she rest in peace) so I'm still reeling from that one and wondering if it's worth my time to try another new site, especially with the above mentioned problems.

I really need someone to shed a fresh perspective on this.  Any thoughts?

Well, like most things in life, decision is on you. Only you can decide what to do. Someone will tell you to upload there, and someone will tell you not to upload. I uploaded there all my photos for next reasons:
1. Different agencies have different criteria about accepting photos. I have very good results with some agencies known as "easy" when accepting photos is in question. I sell there photos rejected from some agencies that have strict rules about reviewing photos.
2. John has great attitude and he answered on every my question in minutes, so he deserved my support. I think, if he continues this way he will make huge success.
3. I love to give a chance to newcomers because many times in my life someone gave me a chance too.

These are my reasons... again, you have to decide yourself

Very nice reply, whitechild!  It's always helpful to get a fresh perspective. 

I give them a fair chance like the others. Who knows what buyers want. most all my work are isolated images . i just closed my accounts on a couple of sites because they weren't selling any of my images. So I'll stay with Cutcaster for awhile before i make a decision.

As whitechild has pointed out, Cutcaster has a great customer service, and that alone is a good reason for me to give them a fair chance.

You rule, Whitechild!
I am a stock photographer for 3 months now and I am uploading to Top 6 + Cutcaster, because:
1) I really like John's attitude
2) I think there must be some kind of change in the microstock market and Cutcaster is a fresh perspective
3) There customer service is great

Regards,
Zdravko

I got a long way to go and I promise not to disappoint.  I am in it for the long haul and thank you guys for the support so far. 

I hope you will join us TreeofLife and you trust us to protect, promote and sell your work.

The positive vibes are coming through the computer!
Thanks everyone for your responses.

"I love to give a chance to newcomers because many times in my life someone gave me a chance too"

Whitechild, what you said here really struck a chord with me.  So true, so true.  You all are winning me over and I think I will give it a go.

John, thanks for your personal response.  I admire you for your positive attitude and your continuous involvement in your endeavor.  Much success to you! 

Today all my photos have price of 20 $...
Does anyone know why!?

My price option is : Cutcaster algorithm...

Maybe it's the same glitch that is preventing me from even viewing the site today.  I get an error that says "Internet Explorer cannot open the site www.cutcaster.com   Operation aborted."

Weird...it worked fine yesterday!

I have no problem opening cutcaster.com all day long.

20$ is the starting price, if you choose cutcaster algorithm. All my photos were 20$ the first day they were uploaded. It will change in time.

Quote from: TreeOfLife on September 18, 2008, 20:34
Maybe it's the same glitch that is preventing me from even viewing the site today.  I get an error that says "Internet Explorer cannot open the site www.cutcaster.com   Operation aborted."

Weird...it worked fine yesterday!

I have been getting the same failure and error message all day when I try http://www.cutcaster.com/. And this morning I got an email from Cutcaster saying that I got a sale there (my first). Hope it's not an error!

Yeah that was fixed.  Had to clean up some of the javascript on the homepage which was giving an error.  Sorry about that.  You won't see that again.

Also to address the quality issue :-)

We have only been open since April (beta) and I can guarantee you that when IS and SS started they weren't signing up Yuri, Andres, Ron C. or whoever else was selling thousands of images at the time. Istock was Bruce and his buddies. 

If you have been to the site recently you will see that the quality has drastically improved as we get more and more traction.  Ron C. just joined and his 16,000 impressive images will help improve the quality of our database and we will work as hard as we can to generate him more money than he makes on any other site and do the same for anyone else that joins us in this fight.  It's a dream now but we all have to start somewhere. We know we are nothing without great content and members that believe in our site and want to work with us.

We are young.  We are hungry.  We are listening. And we are improving.  Now we just need you guys and the quality will go way up like it is doing now.   Take a look at the browse page.

http://www.cutcaster.com/search/browse

It's improving every day and so are we with your help.

I signed up with Cutcaster after John contacted me directly and asked me to check it out. That is something that no one has ever done with me before, and I figured that alone made it worth my time. Sure it's an unproven site, and generally I avoid newcomers, but the fact that John seems to have such dedication and drive to make the site succeed and gets so personally involved in building Cutcaster's roster of talent makes me believe that taking a chance on Cutcaster is nothing like taking a chance on some of the many other new sites that don't put as much into it as John has. I'm not saying that anyone else should or shouldn't sign up. That's up to you guys. I just happen to have had a good experience with Cutcaster so far, and I am inclined to believe that we may see this site sticking around for a while, possibly even shaking things up a bit in the list of top microstock sites at some point.

Sharing pretty much the same experience as you guys with Cutcaster. John's dedication is unbelievable. Hell, he even answers to mails on the run. Not sure he sleeps at all;)

Keep up the great work, Cutcaster.

Quote from: domencolja on September 19, 2008, 09:19
Sharing pretty much the same experience as you guys with Cutcaster. John's dedication is unbelievable. Hell, he even answers to mails on the run. Not sure he sleeps at all;)

Keep up the great work, Cutcaster.

The same with me. Sometimes I feel that we don't send mail to each other because it looks more like a live chat.

) His Blackberry skills are amazing.

p.s.: John, calm down, man!;)
p.p.s.: Whitechild, pička mu materina, dober je!;)

Quote from: domencolja on September 19, 2008, 11:34
) His Blackberry skills are amazing.

p.s.: John, calm down, man!;)
p.p.s.: Whitechild, pička mu materina, dober je!;)

Hahaha, good one domencolja 

Quote from: domencolja on September 19, 2008, 11:34
p.p.s.: Whitechild, pička mu materina, dober je!;)

Hahaha.  I said when I started and made a pledge to always be available and not hide behind a PO box or [email protected] email. 

You can see that pledge on the contact us page at Cutcaster.  http://www.cutcaster.com/info/contact

If you guys are going to trust me with your hard work, I am going to be there to provide feedback and work my butt off to sell your images.

John, I believe that your attitude is what differentiates your site from the rest. I really believe Cutcaster will make it big.

I'm gonna try out cutcaster as well.  I had high hopes with Photoshelter, but that all went south.  I really don't want to go back to Microstock; especially Shutterstock with their two bit (literally) commission.  Ive got several
hundred good images, so as I have the time Ill see how things go over there.

I am here to help Eppic so let me know if you need it.  my email is john at cutcaster dot com. 

Anyone care to comment about how they're doing on Cutcaster?  It's a new site but doesn't seem to be going anywhere; perhaps it's still too early----visions of Un-Lucky Oliver come to mind.....