On the forum I read various opinions about websites for selling photos. I am curious what do you think about this site www.bestartstock.com ? I will be thankful for your feedback and any comments.

Thanks Sean. Yes it's mine. Some spelling errors ? I work hard to improve it. Minimal content? Yes, but you can add something.

I haven't looked but unfortunately I read your site name as 'be start stock' (?!) rather than 'best art stock'.

I'm not sure if you're trying to encourage others to contribute images to your site, but offering 40% isn't likely to entice many, especially as the site is new and you haven't mentioned anything about marketing.

It looks unfinished to me. For your artist profile, for example, Tabs for Blog, Testimonials and Friends say "Not found" or have no content. Same with Comments on image pages. I'd also question the inclusion of these types of community features unless you wanted to try and build another 500px or EyeEm (and I can't see why you want to take them on).

I was not able to find pricing information - how much does a credit cost, for example - without creating an account. You need to make all that basic information available to anyone who wants to check the site out.

In browsing for images, the continuous loading is slow and prevents you from easily getting to menu items at the bottom of the page - including important things like Buy Credits and Buy Subscription.

The watermark is very distracting on the thumbnails - not sure why you would use one on such a small image.

You have a buyer agreement and a customer agreement - the latter is the license and the former appears to be an explanation (which is pretty confusing) about when you need extended vs. standard license. The seller agreement has virtually no information that a contributor would want to know.

Where are you hoping to go with this?

I'm not sure if you're trying to encourage others to contribute images to your site, but offering 40% isn't likely to entice many, especially as the site is new and you haven't mentioned anything about marketing.

At the current stage I am more interested in buyers, not sellers. Although it is also important to have a larger offer.

It looks unfinished to me. For your artist profile, for example, Tabs for Blog, Testimonials and Friends say "Not found" or have no content. Same with Comments on image pages. I'd also question the inclusion of these types of community features unless you wanted to try and build another 500px or EyeEm (and I can't see why you want to take them on).

Tabs of comments and Tell a Friends are finished, but there is only one user and that's why it looks like this.
Facebook or Pinrest sharing probably can be, not everyone has to use it.

I was not able to find pricing information - how much does a credit cost, for example - without creating an account. You need to make all that basic information available to anyone who wants to check the site out.
In browsing for images, the continuous loading is slow and prevents you from easily getting to menu items at the bottom of the page - including important things like Buy Credits and Buy Subscription.

You're right, purchase prices are important and should be more readable. Because the more credits you buy, the less you pay for the one credit and finally for the picture.

The watermark is very distracting on the thumbnails - not sure why you would use one on such a small image.

At the moment, the only watermark I can do. Maybe it should be more transparent?

You have a buyer agreement and a customer agreement - the latter is the license and the former appears to be an explanation (which is pretty confusing) about when you need extended vs. standard license. The seller agreement has virtually no information that a contributor would want to know.

I need a week to change it, thanks for your attention

Where are you hoping to go with this?

Global ?

Thanks for your review.

Pros: the site is simple to navigate and it is fast
Cons: I don't know if it's just me, but the big glaringly red letters "30% OFF", "EARN UP TO 40%" are a bit of a turn off. They are bordering on gaudy and read as "fire sale" to contributors and "untrusted spammy source" to potential buyers. I would find another solution, more aesthetically pleasing and even perhaps less obvious.

I thought it would be an eye-catching incentive for buyers. That is why letters have a white border to make them more readable. Maybe I should change the color?

I would also ask a native English speaker to take a good look at how naturally the entire site reads.

Yes, I know, it will be necessary. I already had that attention. In principle, this is a multilingual site and will be a lot of work. Currently, I try to French, German and Polish. I already have the most important titles in many languages, but with a google translator.

I want to make a small place for myself in a web. Why do people send photos to photo banks that already have millions of them?

The site is a big huh? for me, sorry. Why the focus on sports and "letters?" Are you looking for buyers or contributors? What's the price you're offering a discount on? It's all a bit discombobulated.

I think the watermark is off-putting as well. Redesign it and make it more transparent.

Thanks for the opinion. It is true that there is still a lot ahead of me. I've been working on this project for over three months. The reviews will help me a lot.
I have a problem with the watermark, it must be universal. Since I have different image formats in my offer, it must include all of them. That is why there are also watermarks on the perimeter (pictures of picture frames), which destroy the whole picture. I do not know whether to change the watermark theme - font. In any case, I will make him more transparent. I can also leave it centrally, but then it will not cover some of the pictures. In this case, these images in a small resolution will be free. I do not know if I can go for it?

My webpage is not yet final, as you can see. I put it in operation in August so that it could crawl and be visible on the web. That's why I put it on the forum to gather the opinion of professionals in this industry. And I'm grateful that you want to share your opinions with me.

Yes, my intention was to place here in the site the double name: Be Start Stock and Best Art Stock, by default Be Start (Photo) Stock. I do not know if it worked out well?

Be Start Stock means nothing really, and is just confusing.
Best Art Stock might work if you were selling Arty images, but you're not.

I know your feeling... opening your own stock photo market place and earning millions BUT... It's not as easy as you think.. It's not about buying a domain name and installing a template.

That's what I know, because when I delivered my website and entered the address of this site in the search engine, it was not there. I needed a month of work to make this website live on the internet.

I am saying that because 10 years ago I wanted to make my own marktletplace I called it fotomina and I spent like $4000 buying a stupid code for my website.

Maybe you were not persistent? It's like with Photostok, you probably know that you have to load photos every day despite the monthly income of 5 dollars. And after a few years you can achieve success, of course photography geniuses will achieve it much earlier.

- What makes your website special ? Why should someone leave shutterstock or any other marketplace and buy from you ? why sould I -as an artist- contribute my photos to your website?

In my website there are special prices for buyers (visible in Site Info tab) and special percentages for sellers. I do not want to pick up customers for other agencies, I want to fill up them.

No... The sloppy web design doesn't inspire confidence.  You might entice buyers, but not experienced contributors.

I have a personal prejudice against web pages that move around while I'm trying to look at them.  Keep it simple, so you can keep the code tight.  The submitters' side should be designed to look good and work well on a desktop computer, no matter how you plan to market the other side.

If your platform isn't solid, too many things could go wrong.  You don't want to frustrate your contributors, or confuse your buyers.

The "business" part of owning a microstock site is complicated, and you'll need a very good bookkeeper.

Maybe start out with just a site for yourself and a couple of friends.  Or just a specific topic.  Keep it small until you get the hang of it.  Don't issue a general solicitation for contributors until you know you have the whole process smooth. 

As well as being prepared for not much happening, think about what you will do if a lot starts happening. Will you be able to expand rapidly, without glitches?  Will your data storage costs rise faster than your income?

There's a lot to think about.