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Author Topic: Got accepted on first try - but is it worth the pain?  (Read 5611 times)

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« on: February 15, 2007, 03:08 »
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Hi all,

I got accepted at istock. Now I'm at all of the "big 5" plus a few of the upcoming ones.

But is istock really worth the pain? There are no FTP uploads. The website upload system does not read the IPTC data of my photos (anyone else got the problem?). The ImageManager software seems cumbersome to use (can't I add 5 photos _at once_) and it doesn't like my IPTC keyword format (it interprets all keywords as a single one).

And I haven't started about the 15 per week limit for non exclusives yet.

Is istock worth all the pain?

Michael


« Reply #1 on: February 15, 2007, 03:15 »
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well that is a good question and i am not sure what the answer is.  They are a pain to upload to, but I also have the highest $/pic/year with them, so perhaps the extra time is worth it.

What is frustrating is uploading a load of photos and spending the time on disambiguating them, only to have them rejected....... perhaps that should teach me to upload better files.

for me, I still upload there, but grumble about it and leave it to the last thing I do.  I know there is lots of people still interested in becoming exclusive with them so they must obviously think that it is worth it.

« Reply #2 on: February 15, 2007, 11:26 »
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Istock is my best seller site for at least a good 50% more then SS.
So my answer is YES.
But I also have a friend who sells a lot better in SS than IS and he complains a lot about low sales.
Theire system is a pain but I guess it worth it if you get the sales.
Also I read about lot of people complaining about low sales.

I guess the best advice is to give it a try. If you can have a very high acceptance ratio and sell well, than I guess it will be good, if not .....

« Reply #3 on: February 15, 2007, 11:40 »
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It's probably worth it. After 10 months there, I have 300 photos online, and they sell ok. I'm more worried about the future though. The last couple of months, DT has been more profitable for me, and they are much easier to deal with.

A golden rule about IS: never ever criticize them at their own forum. You'll be attacked by a swarm of loyal exclusives and inspectors, telling you that IS is the greatest gift to mankind since John Lennon or jeepers creepers, whoever you prefer. Any thread that is critical to whatever IS stands for is routinely closed down.

Just accept their rejections, and resubmit if you find it worthwhile. Actually, they aren't too bad to deal with when it comes to rejections (except for intellectual property, where I've had a few funny cases), and it seems to me that they are looking for photos that are slightly different.

Just my 2c

« Reply #4 on: February 15, 2007, 11:45 »
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I've only been in microstock for a month, and I have least photos with istock (21), compared to dreamstime and fotolia (45ish), but my earnings are much higher with istock than the other two. So it might well be worth the pain...

« Reply #5 on: February 15, 2007, 16:24 »
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Daneel: It is worth the pain to upload to iStock. They're overly picky (just my opinion), are far too slow, and their system is very cumbersome, but sales there make up for it. Kinda.

leaf: You may want to put in only an absolute minimum amount of keywords & categories, then edit the data when and if the image is accepted.
« Last Edit: February 15, 2007, 16:27 by sharply_done »

« Reply #6 on: February 15, 2007, 17:31 »
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In 2007, IS has been my best selling site (in $, thanks not only to an increase in dlds, but also to the new prices).  It was 2nd in December very close to Fotolia (which was 1st thanks to an EL sale).  It is indeed very painful to upload and check the matching keywords (if at least we were able to copy the disambiguation from one image to another...) and acceptance can be a problem, but still, results are very good. 

Regards,
Adelaide

« Reply #7 on: February 16, 2007, 04:17 »
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leaf: You may want to put in only an absolute minimum amount of keywords & categories, then edit the data when and if the image is accepted.

interesting thought - would also mean you only need to disambiguate the accepted ones.

« Reply #8 on: February 16, 2007, 04:19 »
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It's like that with stockxpert. They will review your photos and only after that you need to describe the accepted ones. Very convenient, but I don't know how they handle keyword spaming with that system.

All the best,
Michael

« Reply #9 on: February 16, 2007, 06:19 »
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I would say yes.  Istock is tough on rejections that's true.  But 99 percent of the time, I resubmitted my rejections and they were approved.  Istock is also consistent, you can expect your profits to rise with the number of files you have with them (this is not always true for other sites).  And, funny enough, I am kind of glad that the limit is 15 now--this way I only spend two hours a weeks doing the bloody uploads.  I am not complaining about low quotas anymore because I would never be able to submit more than 20 images per week anyway (given their current system).  Give it a try, it kind of grows on you.  As far as the forum goes, yeah it's not perfect... But you also have to realize that a lot of admins on istock started out as contributors and if you are an exclusive this is the only market place you have for your RF work... 

« Reply #10 on: February 16, 2007, 06:22 »
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Hi!

Well, I'll definitely give it a try. I'm curious how it turnes out. I'm also in the process of adding them to the Microstock Monitor software (see signature and software forum), now that I'm accepted.

All the best,
Michael

« Reply #11 on: February 16, 2007, 22:17 »
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Since I am only 17 I can't submit photos to Istock. It's a big loss because I always read thats where the best money is made at. Meh, 1 year to go.

« Reply #12 on: February 17, 2007, 02:41 »
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Hi Kngkyle,

which agencies allow you to work with them at 17?

Thanks,
Michael

« Reply #13 on: February 17, 2007, 04:19 »
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Since I am only 17 I can't submit photos to Istock. It's a big loss because I always read thats where the best money is made at. Meh, 1 year to go.
 

Boy i didn't know that was the case.

I hope you are submitting to shutterstock.  I think THAT is where most people are making the most money.  Perhaps only though because it is easier to get images on that site.  None the less I am concered with the amount of $$ in my pocket for the 100 pictures I took.

« Reply #14 on: February 17, 2007, 04:51 »
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Hi!

Shutterstock doesn't allow photographers <18 either. There was a thread in their forums recently about that.

All the best,
Michael

« Reply #15 on: February 17, 2007, 09:13 »
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Hi!

Shutterstock doesn't allow photographers <18 either. There was a thread in their forums recently about that.

All the best,
Michael

Well they let me sign up and I already applied once but got declined. I didn't have to show them my ID, just had to put in a credit card to verify myself. Since I don't have one I put in my dads credit card number. (My parents don't have any problems with me doing this).

Daneel I am currently on Fotolia, Dreamstime, StockXpert, 123RF and Bigstockphoto. I will be able to reapply for Shutterstock in roughly 3 days.

« Reply #16 on: February 17, 2007, 12:04 »
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Best luck! They are though to get into but make the most money for me.

All the best,
Michael


 

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