Agency Based Discussion > iStockPhoto.com
Is istock exclusive contributor worth it?
Noedelhap:
Why would you want to be exclusive with the scummiest agency in microstock history? They did even worse things than SS. Cutting royalties and treating contributors like dirt. You may not have been around in 2016 when iStock-Getty completely massacred their own reputation and goodwill, but what they did to contributors back then showed their true colors.
Their sales fell off a cliff, they lost their market leader position to Shutterstock and never recovered. So, yeah, good luck.
Jo Ann Snover:
In the current environment, I'd be open to image exclusivity in the right circumstances, but iStock requires contributor exclusivity by media type and that's much, much harder to justify (a) given the current market and (b) given Getty/iStock's abysmal track record.
I was an iStock exclusive for 3 years (but that was a long time ago) and while I can fathom why current exclusives stay (given the crappy choices if they become independent), I can't see why anyone would become an exclusive now.
If you want to have your work on Getty Images you can submit to EyeEm (which is now seeing lots of low value sales via the Getty partnership) or one of the other agencies that submits work to Getty (Westend61, Mint Images, Brand X, Cavan, etc.). But there are so many low-ball royalties with Getty - and no opt out for you - why would you consider them any better than Shutterstock?
I know there's a phrase "any port in a storm" but I couldn't convince myself that Getty is a port
Clair Voyant:
Jo Ann pretty much summed it up.
I am exclusive and remain so for the very good sales volume. Sure, a minority of images sell for a pittance but most images sell for fairly decent coin. I am currently receiving 35% commission, and it is enough to live on, barely. In my situation, I'd be foolish to drop the crown. Being exclusive works well if you can get 15% or more of your images accepted into S+.
That said, my wife submits to multiple agencies and for where she is at in regards to volume produced and sales etc, she'd be foolish to go exclusive as she'd only make 25% commission, and that is not enough to warrant being exclusive.
If I was starting out in stock photography in the current pathetic state of the industry as a whole, I would not go exclusive with any agency.
[email protected]:
Okay, thank you, I still like SS, because it is my best selling bill
--- Quote from: Clair Voyant on August 30, 2020, 17:15 ---Jo Ann pretty much summed it up.
I am exclusive and remain so for the very good sales volume. Sure, a minority of images sell for a pittance but most images sell for fairly decent coin. I am currently receiving 35% commission, and it is enough to live on, barely. In my situation, I'd be foolish to drop the crown. Being exclusive works well if you can get 15% or more of your images accepted into S+.
That said, my wife submits to multiple agencies and for where she is at in regards to volume produced and sales etc, she'd be foolish to go exclusive as she'd only make 25% commission, and that is not enough to warrant being exclusive.
If I was starting out in stock photography in the current pathetic state of the industry as a whole, I would not go exclusive with any agency.
--- End quote ---
StanRohrer:
I went iS exclusive back about 2003. Been exclusive since. 2008 through 2011 I made very good money. From iS I paid about half of 2 kids in private college, all photo gear expenses, and some photo related short vacations. This year I already have 3 months where I've missed the minimum $100 balance to receive a monthly payout. I'm at 30% (well, for now). I can't imagine it being beneficial to a new contributor starting in Exclusive. Albeit the percentages are better than Non-Ex, but you still need to be well into the sales chart to get a useful percentage return. With the number of images now on the site there is very little chance any of your images can become a regular seller - which is very much needed at these low prices. With the percentages changing almost every year, that carrot on the stick is always too far out to attain a new payout percentage level. Changing the levels is how iS and Getty adjust how much money they keep from the sales and how little they give to contributors. It is a hamster wheel with no end and very limited ability for new people to grow in the ranks. Only go exclusive if you have a niche of images already selling very well and you can keep feeding that niche with expected good repeating sales. Even then, the search engine can change and kill your image sales.
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