Author Topic: only 20% on Istock? (Read 9633 times)

Peter · « **on:** February 10, 2008, 08:56 »

Hm... I have just read, they pay you only 20% of sale to photographer (for non exclusive images). that is too low. Is it worth uploading to istock?

For example, if I have 1000 images online, can I earn 100$ per month?

sharpshot · « **Reply #1 on:** February 10, 2008, 09:03 »

They sell lots of my images, so it is worth uploading. 20% is annoying but it is better to have 20% of something than nothing.

It is fairly easy to make $100 a month with 1000 good images. There are lots of people making more than that.

It can take a while to get them on the site though, as they have weekly upload limits. I think this could be their downfall in the long term.

vphoto · « **Reply #2 on:** February 10, 2008, 09:14 »

the biggest on FT sale for me was for 5 credits resulting in $1.59, on IS for L size image $2.50.
FT, not IS pays low.

zorki · « **Reply #3 on:** February 10, 2008, 09:56 »

20% is the base royalty for non exclusives. If you go exclusive, you can get up to 40% of royalties depending on your canister level.

Yes, with 1000 high quality images, you can make way more than $100 a month. I have about a third of that and I'm bumping up to that level every month now...

Peter · « **Reply #4 on:** February 10, 2008, 10:17 »

tnx! as soon as I finish my expanding to StockXpert I will start uploading on istock (I hate that small weekly limit), and once I upload most of the photos, I expect 1000$ per month in total (FT+SS+DS+StockXpert+IS).

I am thinking to expand on bigstock, but dont have much time for upload and stuff.... and I dont thing bigstock is such a good earner.... if it is less than 50$ per month, it is not worth it. it takes a lot of time to manage all those sites.....

boy when I remeber when I was exclusive to fotolia!

I was making 100 bucks, and was happy! lol!

anyway, FT is still my best earner, but SS is very close. in mart I think that SS-FT will be 50-50

Tim Markley · « **Reply #5 on:** February 10, 2008, 10:33 »

IS is consistantly my best site with sales and earnings even at the low royalty. i find the weekly upload limit a pain as well.

Michael · « **Reply #6 on:** February 10, 2008, 11:27 »

With 1000 good Photos i make more than 1000.- $ every month at macrostocks like Alamy. And i get 65% there... Here is something wrong....

Kngkyle · « **Reply #7 on:** February 10, 2008, 11:30 »

Quote from: Michael on February 10, 2008, 11:27

With 1000 good Photos i make more than 1000.- $ every month at macrostocks like Alamy. And i get 65% there... Here is something wrong....

I have 40 files at Istockphoto. I make $45+ a month there. At that rate, 1,000 photos would be $1125 a month.

Pixart · « **Reply #8 on:** February 10, 2008, 11:49 »

With their price increase I made $3.19 per image last month in regular sales. This month doesn't look as high, but they sure know how to sell photos at Istock... enough to make most of us forgive the lousy 20%.

Peter · « **Reply #9 on:** February 10, 2008, 11:54 »

Quote from: Kngkyle on February 10, 2008, 11:30

Quote from: Michael on February 10, 2008, 11:27
With 1000 good Photos i make more than 1000.- $ every month at macrostocks like Alamy. And i get 65% there... Here is something wrong....

I have 40 files at Istockphoto. I make $45+ a month there. At that rate, 1,000 photos would be $1125 a month.

whow! I would be happy with 300$ (and 2000 images online)! lol!

fotografer · « **Reply #10 on:** February 10, 2008, 12:03 »

Quote from: Michael on February 10, 2008, 11:27

With 1000 good Photos i make more than 1000.- $ every month at macrostocks like Alamy. And i get 65% there... Here is something wrong....

I make over 2000$ every month with less than a 1000 images at microstock sites so maybe there's nothing wrong.

Michael · « **Reply #11 on:** February 10, 2008, 12:31 »

I think you could make much more. The 1000.- $ i got only at Alamy... this is my best but not my only macro-agency...

fotografer · « **Reply #12 on:** February 10, 2008, 12:43 »

Oh ok I thought you meant altogether from your stock sites. Which RM site would you reccomend to start with? I have being toying with the idea for a while now of every shoot I do for RF doing a few extras just for RM.

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #13 on:** February 10, 2008, 12:51 »

$'s- IS my best site. Pic volume=SS, 2nd in $'s. I am very happy with my DL's vs portfolio size (small folio)... the upload limit is a hassle, but.... I have no regrets joining IS... as has been said... 20% of something is better than 20% of nothing and you only do the work of uploading those selling pix... once.

=tom

maco0708 · « **Reply #14 on:** February 10, 2008, 13:41 »

I think iStock is the #1 earner for most people who match all of these criteria:
1. People who have been in microstock for at least a year.
2. People who do NOT use their upload limit in full.
3. People who do not upload very much (new uploads help in SS but nowhere else).

I fall in this category and if I could get 40% commission as diamond level contributors I would go exclusive. Right now I am bronze so it is not worth it.

I have 260 pics in portfolio and I make between $100 and $200 a month.

yingyang0 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 10, 2008, 13:49 »

Quote from: Kngkyle on February 10, 2008, 11:30

I have 40 files at Istockphoto. I make $45+ a month there. At that rate, 1,000 photos would be $1125 a month.

You must be getting a lot of extended licenses. I see 102 downloads in in the 12 months.

Kngkyle · « **Reply #16 on:** February 10, 2008, 14:32 »

Quote from: yingyang0 on February 10, 2008, 13:49

Quote from: Kngkyle on February 10, 2008, 11:30
I have 40 files at Istockphoto. I make $45+ a month there. At that rate, 1,000 photos would be $1125 a month.
You must be getting a lot of extended licenses. I see 102 downloads in in the 12 months.

I started uploading to IS 4 months ago and average around $1.50/download. Most of my sales come from my illustrations which tend to be downloaded at larger sizes. Not to mention the recent price increase, which has been getting me lots of $2-4 L and XL downloads. I have not gotten a single extended license from IS though.

sharply_done · « **Reply #17 on:** February 10, 2008, 15:51 »

Quote from: Kngkyle on February 10, 2008, 14:32

... I have not gotten a single extended license from IS though.

Yeah, ELs at IS are rare for me, too.

MicrostockGroup Sponsors

Author Topic: only 20% on Istock? (Read 9633 times)

Peter

sharpshot

vphoto

zorki

Peter

Tim Markley

Michael

Kngkyle

Pixart

Peter

fotografer

Michael

fotografer

a.k.a.-tom

maco0708

yingyang0

Kngkyle

sharply_done

Related Topics

Sponsors

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors