I have 39 images online on istock and all of my best sellers that sell every single day NOT only on Shutterstock are on there. I started uploading 6 months ago and did not upload more because I really don't like there uploading system.

But... not even a single view on some of them! Istock is supposed to be the second best but why does it not feel like that? I have images that sell 1 to 3 times a day on Shutterstock. Most of them sold within 12 hours and I have all of them on istock. I know not all sites sell the same but I just don't get it with istock. Even 123rf and deposit gives me more sales on the same images than istock. I have one image that earned me $145 on Dreamstime alone in just 6 months and sells on Deposit about every other day but ZERO sales on istock. It got rejected on Shutterstock because they did not accept it as editorial but I think it would have sold great there also. Another image that sells an average of 9 times a week is on there for months! But only 1 view and not a single sale. I'm at $71,46 now in 6 months time. I am not removing my port since it will bring money in the long run but it's not what I expected from istock.

Is it to hard to get in as a newcomer on istock? At all the other sites your images get found and it feels like they don't discriminate if you are new. So can you only sell at istock if you are exclusive or an older member? Are there other new members that also have low sales there?

Would like to know from others. I don't really care since Shutterstock, Fotolia and Dreamstime are great for me. But would like to know if it's just me.

Since September last year, the Best Match has changed and new files lose position very quickly. In previous times, the best match took huge swings, you won some, you lost some, but if you read threads here and over there you'll find that most people are finding that new uploads sink fast and never recover from there.
A quick search among a semi-random selection (not really random, I had to have heard of them, so they post on the forums there or here) of diamonds and even black diamonds show that most of them have very few sales in their most recent uploads, e.g. in their last 200 sorted by age. That never used to happen.
Plus there is a boost to exclusive files, in many but not all cases.
So essentially new entrants have very little chance to break through nowadays, though doubtless the fanboy will be along shortly to point out newbies with hundreds of sales.

I think you might have some unrealistic expectations. I never saw any sales until I got 100 online, and I never saw consistent, decent sales until after I had 500 online. And that was in istocck's heyday. Think about it...how many million images are on istock? You have 39. What are the odds? Off hand, I'd say the odds of someone seeing your image are about the same odds as you winning the lottery. I don't mean to be mean, but that is just the reality and the numbers.

Quote from: Mactrunk on May 07, 2013, 17:19

I have 39 images online on istock and all of my best sellers that sell every single day NOT only on Shutterstock are on there. I started uploading 6 months ago and did not upload more because I really don't like there uploading system.

Would like to know from others. I don't really care since Shutterstock, Fotolia and Dreamstime are great for me. But would like to know if it's just me.

Ok you have 39 images up in six months and you don't care.   With that work ethic and level of devotion what do you expect?

I'm sure the OP, like the rest of us, has to ask, "What's the point?" if new uploads aren't selling.
I have not one sale of a file currently on site and uploaded after December 8th.
In addition I deactivated c100 files uploaded between October and February because they hadn't sold, and directed many of them to RM.
I never expect to be a stellar seller; but I see no reason other than best match why my sales have not continued slow-but-steadily. And what is more important, as noted above, I'm by no means the only one reporting this, even in the 'big-sales' genres.
Unlike Cathy, I had a sale, back in 2006, of my second-uploaded file the day after it went 'searchable'. However, it did take 1000 files until I achieved good sales, then a shoot down of sales but a raise in $$; now the fall in sales isn't even being balanced by the $$.

All that said, the queue is currently 229068, so either a lot of Pollyannas don't believe the figures, or perhaps backstage deals have been struck (? I have no idea). Plus all the big image factories, of course, who also may (or may not) have had deals to upload all their back catalogue of files, which will, moving forward, tend to swamp newbies in the popular genres.

I know 39 is not much. But the are all proven images that sell great. So it would not matter if I have 39 or 39 plus 200 crappy images. Fotolia  and Shutterstock sell good images within days. But this does not seem the same on istock.

Quote from: Mactrunk on May 07, 2013, 17:19

I have 39 images online on istock and all of my best sellers that sell every single day NOT only on Shutterstock are on there. I started uploading 6 months ago and did not upload more because I really don't like there uploading system.

Would like to know from others. I don't really care since Shutterstock, Fotolia and Dreamstime are great for me. But would like to know if it's just me.

Ok you have 39 images up in six months and you don't care.   With that work ethic and level of devotion what do you expect?

I think you misunderstood what I ment. Yes I don't care that istock does not sell for me. But this does not mean I have a bad atitude towards stock. There are many contributors disliking sales on several websites and even saying they want to remove their port from there because of low sales. So they 'dont care' about that site. As long as the other sites are selling yes. I dont care. But my atitude towars istock is not going to give me more sales. The point I'm trying to make here is if new images have a change at istock. I think not if I compare good selling images with istock sales. When I left Dreamstime excusive my best sellers there also sold very good at other sites right from the start so I expected the same with istock. I had 80 images at Shutterstock in the beginning. Not much also but they started selling from day one.

Note for example this post, from a Diamond Exclusive with 10181 files in his port and >170,000  sales:
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=353223&messageid=6883599
in which he says, inter alia:
"The way uploads just disappear in the best match means it's just too risky to submit my work here."

Quote from: Pinocchio on May 07, 2013, 19:23

I have a very, very small portfolio at iStock, so I can't speak with great authority, but I encourage you to hang in there, it's probably very rare but I know you can get sales with a small portfolio - not a lot, but it sounds to me all you want right now is one or two, so I wish you all the best.

Regards

Right! You get my point! Even 1 or 2 a week would be nice. But at this point I don't know if it is even worth uploading there. But I will upload more to see if it will make a change.

Well, one or two a week is probably ambitious, two to three a month somewhat more realistic in my experience.

I think you should also take note of ShadySue's post late yesterday about the vagaries of the Best Match; that has been the source of an ongoing parade of complaints.  At the moment the iS forum is little more than a ghost town, and many contributors have announced they will not be uploading until something changes for the better.  The April sales thread reads like a disaster report, but it's mercifully short.  My guess is that many, many contributors are working on plan B - with very good cause.

I am not uploading there at the moment, and don't expect to resume until there's a sustained change in their business ethics.  Between site problems (Best Match is only one of them), the Google Drive "deal" and other blunders, iS have done themselves a lot of damage; sad, because I learned a lot there.

Regards

In the very same thread quoted by ShadySue, Lobo says "There is an advantage for exclusive images in Best Match. That hasn't changed."

[wheenge deleted!]

"even though there upload system is crap. "

FYI, John ... Many contributors who upload a lot to istock use DeepMeta to expedite the process .... makes it a lot faster, easier ... and you can add thumbnails to other images..... helps in cross-selling....

Views have been way down for everyone, not just newbies. But viewers don't go to the file page as much now,as you can add to lightboxes and purchase just from the preview. So on my files from the last 6 months there are some with no views or only a couple. There is a trend now to see sales matching closely to views. For example I have a file with 2 sales and only 3 views.  So don't be discouraged by views, people can see your images in the search results. As mentioned files tend to sleep more on istock . On subscription sites people are more likely to buy right away rather then wait until they really need it. To have photos ready and not upload is a waste. It should not take much time to copy keywords and descriptions into Deep -meta, disambiguate a few terms and hit upload.