FAA - The Largest Art Site in the World?

[Lizard]

Now its working before it didnt get me to that page Maybe Im wrong but I think I did all same as now...

anyway thanks for your help again....

[ShadySue]

Now its working before it didnt get me to that page Maybe Im wrong but I think I did all same as now...

anyway thanks for your help again....

IIRC, you have to hit the blue arrow at the bottom of the page. I think if you hit one of the other ones, it doesn't work. There was definitely some 'oddness' at the beginning which I noticed.

[stockastic]

There's no review, no rejections, no restrictions.  But, no sales either :-)

not very accurate, sure you and me a few other but the recent sold doesn't show that, many stock contributors (Elena, Sandra as a few examples) have many sales too

I have 140 images up there and the only views I get are from occasional 'bots.

So far it's just like RedBubble, except it costs $30 

YMMV.   

[etienjones]

There's no review, no rejections, no restrictions.  But, no sales either :-)

not very accurate, sure you and me a few other but the recent sold doesn't show that, many stock contributors (Elena, Sandra as a few examples) have many sales too

I have 140 images up there and the only views I get are from occasional 'bots.

So far it's just like RedBubble, except it costs $30 

YMMV.

Exactly.
The Pyschology of selling over the Internet - doesn't it feel good when we get Views!!
With 230 images I have 190 non bot views . . . .  in about 2 months.  It feels so good, but . . .
Reality = -$30/no sales

[sharpshot]

488 views, -$30 for me as well.  Still early days but not encouraging.  I should of checked the shipping costs before joining.  Most of my photos are of the UK and I don't think anyone from the UK will pay their shipping costs.  Can't think of a reason why they wouldn't have a printer in Europe to cut shipping costs.  I think it wont be long before another site sees the huge flaw in their business and takes over for the places that FAA can't compete in with their shipping prices.

FAA seems to of proved that there is a market for selling prints online, it appears they sell a lot in the US and are doing better than sites like Red Bubble but I think they need a Fine Art Europe and all the other continents or they're only going to be for the US and countries that don't have big shipping fees.

[Smithore]

I've just started yesterday to upload some stuff and also paid the 30$, just try for one year and see what will happen.
I'm also in Europe, but I think American people like landscapes from other countries, no?? And many subjects are not depending from specific countries, like nature landscapes and sceneries, animals, abstract...

[Sadstock]

I'm thinking about "sponsoring" some search terms.  It says in exchange for their additional promotion of my images, I need to post links to my sponsored search somewhere on the internet and let FAA know where it is.  I don't have a webpage where I'm promoting my work and don't really want one. 

My question is where are people posting these links?

[rimglow]

I'm thinking about "sponsoring" some search terms.  It says in exchange for their additional promotion of my images, I need to post links to my sponsored search somewhere on the internet and let FAA know where it is.  I don't have a webpage where I'm promoting my work and don't really want one. 

My question is where are people posting these links?

Open a blog using Wordpress. It's free. Here's what I'm using: http://rimglow.wordpress.com

[stockastic]

I should of checked the shipping costs before joining.

Even for domestic (US) shipment, the cost is a killer and like you, I didn't even think of that when I signed up.  At these prices, I can't even tell my friends about the site, it would be embarrassing.  To be fair, FAA aggressively defends their shipping charges as being in line with similar services, so  I guess the whole idea of online sales of framed prints is a bit of a fantasy.

But I like my fantasy, so I'll  let them charge me the $30 and give it a year before I face reality. 

[stockastic]

The $30 also gets you a "fully customizable artist web site" .  It's a big letdown because all you can really do is change some colors and fonts and add a banner - otherwise it's identical to your FAA page with lots of unused junk and clutter, and some embarassingly ditsy text.

There has to be something better.  Does SmugMug have keyword search and significant marketing to buyers, or it purely a fulfillment site for your own marketing?

[landbysea]

I should of checked the shipping costs before joining.

Even for domestic (US) shipment, the cost is a killer and like you, I didn't even think of that when I signed up.  At these prices, I can't even tell my friends about the site, it would be embarrassing.  To be fair, FAA aggressively defends their shipping charges as being in line with similar services, so  I guess the whole idea of online sales of framed prints is a bit of a fantasy.

But I like my fantasy, so I'll  let them charge me the $30 and give it a year before I face reality.

My first sales came a few weeks after joining last July. Someone in Australia bought 3 prints shipped in a tube. I have sold a few framed prints since then as well as many unframed. I can see how international shipping could kill framed sales but Americans buy all kinds of art, and that is a big market right there.

[Sadstock]

Just found a bunch of weird bot visits today for about 15 of my images overnight.  First a visit from NY, NY then 13 to 21 minutes later a visit from Guangzhou, China.  Why would an image be cataloged twice by the same bot system half way around the world within 20 minutes?  If they want to mirror the data, wouldn't make more sense for them to visit once then share the data with the mirror? 

[tab62]

I saved the $30 by just submitting to CreStock which I have no sales...

[stockastic]

The only rational way to think of FAA is as a "hobby farm". 

Over 4 milllion "works" for sale,  no inspection, no quality standards.  The thing that most affects your search ranking is past sales, and there's no boost for new contributors like there is on (some) microstock sites, so as time goes by, newbies are just buried deeper and deeper.

You can boost your ranking by winning contests, getting comments, or getting featured in groups, but it's open to anyone - like, maybe, your friends and relatives - and it too often seems like the winner of a contest is a very unexceptional photo with a suspiciously large number of votes.   

Keyword search is the only way your needles would ever be found in this haystack.  Typical searches  would seem to be "Michael Jackson", "beautiful sunset", "funny cat", "classic car" and "mystical pony".

They tell you over and over: you have to market yourself outside of FAA.   And like many people I freely admit I have no clue how to do that.  So, it's a hobby farm - a way to get myself to process a lot of photos, and get them ready for sale, in case some opportunity comes along.

[jatrax]

The only rational way to think of FAA is as a "hobby farm". 

Perhaps but I find it forces me to think in different ways.  Shooting for stock (especially microstock) I think trains you to shoot bland, evenly lit images.  I've looked at some of my older images and find them more 'creative' than what I've shot the last couple of years.  MS is a brutal training ground and I have adapted so I get most things accepted.  But that does not make those images particularly creative.

But on FAA regular 'stock' images do not sell, or only rarely.  There must be enough creativity in the image for someone to hang it on the wall.  Dark shadows or edgy lighting are just fine, it allows you to do things that would never get accept on MS sites.

That said there are a number of artists whose work seems to do fine in both stock and on FAA, but I freely acknowledge they are far better photographers than I am.

[ShadySue]

Totally agree with jatrax.
On a different note, clicking on any of my images in the main site is giving a '502 Bad Gateway' error message this morning. My own 'fully customisable' site is OK, but that will never be found randomly - AFAICS, it's just a web address for giving out to people or putting in links.

Also agree with stockastic - looks like the contests are just a measure of how many facebook 'friends' you have (I have 3, and I wouldn't go crawling to them or anyone else to ask them to vote for me.) I thought that email we got about his wife's fitness DVD was totally irrelevant to selling images on FAA. If my real life friends and family wanted a photo, I'd print it out for them and leave them to get it mounted and framed, if they wanted. Expecting them to pay FAA prices would be a rapid way to end a friendship

BTW, anyone know how to make a live link in the description? I must be missing something, because I can't get an HTML or UBB link to work, nor even their own link they give you for posting in blogs etc. I have some files I've uploaded with quotes, but also without quotes, and I'd like to be able to link them, since the search function is so random. Particularly from the 'quotation' images to the ones without the quotes.

[sharpshot]

555 views now and zero sales.  Hope I get one sometime, as I've lost motivation to upload more.  There's too much to do that does make me some money.

[stockastic]

While many of the contests are bogus, some of the groups are (IMHO) run by people with good taste, and I've had a little success there.   I've calculated that I should get a sale in roughly 2,082 years. 

[nailiaschwarz]

I started with FAA at the end of 2010. I think it takes a year or so until you start to see any sales.

I had 3 sales in 2011, 38 in 2012, and 9 in 2013 so far.

I do not participate in contests, I am not a member of any group, and I do no marketing at all, except the automated Facebook post of new images.

You really need patience (and some pictures people would hang on their wall , it's not Upload-and-sell-instanly like Shutterstock �

[steheap]

Hi Nailia

You have some very nice "arty" shots on FAA! Do you find that your flowers sell best? It definitely isn't as easy as uploading your standard stock photos and hoping for the best!

Steve

[nailiaschwarz]

Hi Steve,

I sold a few flowers there, but most sales are from Still-Life images.

Here are a few examples of pictures that sold several times:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/cat-and-sunflowers-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/simple-things--sisyphos-01-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/simple-things-12-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/bad-weather-02-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-encounter-nailia-schwarz.html

But on other print sites, flowers are about 50% of sales, I think it depends on the audience - you never really know what will sell before it sells

Nailia

[luissantos84]

Hi Steve,

I sold a few flowers there, but most sales are from Still-Life images.

Here are a few examples of pictures that sold several times:

http://fineartamerica.com/featured/cat-and-sunflowers-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/simple-things--sisyphos-01-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/simple-things-12-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/bad-weather-02-nailia-schwarz.html
http://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-encounter-nailia-schwarz.html

But on other print sites, flowers are about 50% of sales, I think it depends on the audience - you never really know what will sell before it sells

Nailia

you should have kept that for yourself

[steheap]

Interesting! Those pieces of old worn wood have paid for themselves many times over!

Nicely composed and photographed!

Steve

[ShadySue]

Hi Steve,

I sold a few flowers there, but most sales are from Still-Life images.
...
Nailia

Naila, these are such super, imaginative images.
Hopefully you'll get many more sales.

[Snufkin]

Hi Steve,

I sold a few flowers there, but most sales are from Still-Life images.
...
Nailia

Naila, these are such super, imaginative images.
Hopefully you'll get many more sales.

Yes. Also the technical execution is brilliant. Excellent.