Agency Based Discussion > iStockPhoto.com

Quest to quit Istock - need honest opinions and experiences

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Sunnygirl:
How all of you istock quitters are doing, after a year or so?

I'm asking because I have been hating them for years... but still, getting files to upload only to one agency that still pays something every month (used to be four digits, now it's just to pay the bills) is kind of viable. It doesn't hurt at least.

I understand they are shady, greedy, no live stats, nothing to boost your desire to work.

BUT, seeing the poll results on this site kind of explains why many big players and lots of people still remain with them - exclusives reported 108.8 points in earnings. If you combine almost all other agencies, you will get to the same number, slightly higher. Meaning, you'll have to work hard to just catch up with what istock excl. alone made for you.

So I'm heavily reluctant at what to do. Seeing what SS and Alamy have been doing lately (changing models, owners etc.), I'm not at all sure if the grass is greener at the other side anymore. Except for maybe not holding all eggs in the one basket and having a live stat?

What did you do with all those MReleases? There's a ton of mind-killing bureaucracy work if they don't accept EasyReleases or past istock ones. What to do with old releases when trying to upload those files to new agencies? Some models aren't even available anymore to sign anything new.

tätarätä:
It is years ago that i canceled exclusivity at istock. Since i keyword in LRC it was easy to upload my portfolio at other micros. I must admit that i shoot mostly food. So there is no MR or PR needed.
About the earnings. There was not much difference between istock exclusivity and delivering the big five.
Its just more work. Nowadays there should be an advantage at istock exclusivity. There ist no upload limit at the micros. At istock signature collection there is some selection that prevent flooding the collection.

JaenStock:
Dont quit.

everest:
be careful. I am in a similar position than you. With over 20k assets at Istock and many E+ files going free would only make sense if you fit in a place like Stocksy with premium content. On the other side Adobe is still ok (still but you saw the free pictures move and as a public traded company the backslash will come at some point when their stock growth stalls, it is the name of the beast in nearly all public traded companies). Shutterstock, to much overflow getting a nice search position with images is nearly mission impossible nowadays. ig you are an ultra volume producer it might work out. All the others not worth it IMHO (not Alamy not Dreamstime not Deposit.......time lost for sinking agencies that might not be even here in 3 years).

So if you produce very high end images maybe yes if not think two times or three times before doing the jump.
Video is another story. I think staying exclusive with video is a really bad deal, Getty/Istock are far from being leaders in this sector and it would not surprise me if they let it go at some point as they did with RM and audio, go indy in video it will give you better rewards I think.

Shuttershock:
I. certainly don't have as large a library as yourselves but on a non-exclusive basis with 3500 images, istock always pays me more money than Adobe and of course now, shutterstock......or any other agency, unless I get that rare Alamy big sale.

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