I really need some opinions - is it okay to submit micro images to Alamy ? Can it be justified by the different (and possibly wider) licensing terms ?

I've always restrained myself from joining because I wouldn't want to be that buyer who found the image on a micro site the next day. On the other hand, maybe some buyers are staying with Alamy because they like their service and licensing terms - well aware of all the micro alternatives out there. Maybe they're seeing some professionalism / extra security there that they won't find on the micros - I have no idea.
What do you think, do you have any qualms submitting micro images to Alamy as RF?

It's probably not going to change my opinion on this, but I guess if everyone else is doing it and it's not against the Alamy contributor agreement, I might consider jumping on the bandwagon.

I wanted to make a poll for better "measurement" of opinions, but don't know how to.

ETA: There it was.

I've always had incredibly fast review times at Fotolia. Images are often approved before I finish uploading them to other sites - maybe because they have separate reviewer teams for vectors and photos, and the queue  for vectors is smaller?

Shutterstock, anything from 1-5 days. Latest batch was 1 day

i wrote to one submiter who has similar case, about some recycle sign, and his account was blocked, but he is online, and he told me i can wrote to shutterstock or microstock forum

I'm guessing "Der Grüne Punkt" ? Many people don't realize it's a trademark protected logo

Quote from: ThomasAmby on May 11, 2011, 11:02

I can't login at the moment and I'm using Chrome... Weird

Hi ThomasAmby,

Are you able to login now? If not, you can clear your cache. After clearing the cache, you'll be able to login to your account.


Cheers,
Anglee



 

Hi Anglee,

Yes I am

Thanks

Hi Ryan,

Just replied to your mail. Thanks

I think it's very important that contributor support at any site replies to every single message they receive - even if they don't know the answer, at least say so, it's better than nothing. Please don't make us feel like our messages end up in a black hole.
When I wanted to remove an image a couple of weeks ago, I had timely responses from all agencies but Veer, and I think it's something to be concerned about as apparently many people has had a similar experience. I also once asked about the possibility of replacing existing previews with new ones, and never got a reply.
If it's true that so many people are experiencing the same lack of communication, I don't think it's okay and I can tell that I've always had replies from all other agencies. At some sites it takes a week, at other sites you'll get your response before the day is over, but you'll get your reply sooner or later - at least that's my experience. I find it odd that so many messages as stated in this thread would slip through the cracks at Veer. If the contributor help staff is overwhelmed by questions, it might be a good idea to prioritize hiring more staff to make sure no message ends up unanswered. It hurts the relationship between contributor and agency.
I like Veer a lot, but I don't like how contributor queries are being handled.

Yes, working on two projects at the moment, they usually find me through stock sites.
I think actually making stock would be more profitable for me than custom work, but I see it as a nice way to supplement microstock income and learn to deal with real people.
In my price I usually include unlimited changes until the client is satisfied, and always tell him/her to pay afterwards. So far I've only had positive experiences and no one has kept asking for changes beyond reason, but once that happens I might think of a new strategy. Still a novice at freelancing.

Quote from: ThomasAmby on May 03, 2011, 02:53

I think it's a good thing that the leader of Al Qaeda has been put out of play, but I also have a weird feeling about people celebrating the death of another human being. I'm not saying it wasn't necessary, cause there might have been a good reason to kill Osama, but seeing news reporters with a smile on their face and Americans celebrating in the streets just seems kind of macabre to me, as a public lynching from the 18th century

   I stood out side the WTC on sept 11th and watched the towers fall with 3000 people in them. People actually jumped from the upper floors to death rather than be burned alive. There is no moral equivalence here, just the fact that bin laden was a murderer on a huge scale, and had it coming. If you are lucky enough to be far removed from this event, that's good for you. But don't judge those who were not so lucky.

I'm not judging those of you who happened to be first hand witnesses on sept. 11th. Very sorry you had to see it, and just to set the record straight, I think what happened there was horrible beyond belief; NOT trying to undermine that.

That being said I've always been against death sentence in any form. I was raised to believe that, by my parents and by my country, and it's something I would want to pass on to my own children.. And I don't think a death is something to cheer about, whether it's the death of a hero or a villain, and these are my personal beliefs... But that's another discussion

@ Lisa and click_click: I opened my account less than a month ago and have just about 40 images online so it's too early to tell. I don't get much traffic to my website in general, but I can tell from my cPanel stats that many visitors are being referred from Flickr. It's kind of an experiment and I'm looking for all sorts of traffic right now - be it clients, other illustrators, bloggers, haters or admirers - everything counts Once the site's ripe for targeted traffic I'll look into advertising on Google.

My main intention with the Flickr experiment is of course to get clients for freelance work, but I've also posted referral links on my portfolio page (to get buyers to sign up, not contributors). Dreamstime has the best system, as they keep referrals "in mind" for a month (a cookie is stored telling DT that the buyer came from your site, even if it was 29 days ago) and you get 10% of their purchases for three years. I've had no signups so far, but at Graphic Leftovers I can see that people are actually clicking even though GL is the last site I've listed, so I imagine people are clicking my DT referral link also (first one listed).

Will get back to this thread with results if anything interesting happens

Quote from: Microstock Posts on April 27, 2011, 01:44

I personally like the way Dreamstime show contributor stats.

Me too except that they don't show daily earnings totals which is important to  me.

+1

That is very important.

Shutterstock is the best, but I also like Fotolia's stats where you select a time period and a sorting method (dayly, weekly, monthly, yearly). Easy, fast and totally customizable breakdown of earnings. Another useful tool from Fotolia is the relative rank. I like being able to compare my performance to others. For instance, sales were low the entire past week but my relative rank barely moved, which is an indication of Easter holidays and apparently others were experiencing low sales as well.

I like the site.
I've had several conversations with Poul by telephone and I'm convinced the site will grow and be succesful over time.
One sale so far netting me $17.5 - the money was paid by the end of the month. But they're a brand new startup and I've been with them for only two months.
In my opinion, they're doing the right thing. 50% commission, no payout limit and the unique idea of a platform for custom work. And don't forget the site owner is an illustrator as well. Not just some random web developer looking to squeeze artists.
(For those who may think I'm somehow affiliated with the site as I'm from Denmark, I'm not. I noticed the site by coincidence and asked Poul to join)

Progress so far:

My images are still at Thinkstock. Apparently my account at StockXpert has been cancelled (I get that message when I click  "forgot pass"). That wasn't what I asked for however, and I had a payment of $59.xx pending there, which I doubt I'll ever see. I was planning for that to be my last payment from StockXpert.

The site below still reads 7 closed complaints, so mine hasn't been closed yet:
http://www.bbb.org/calgary/business-reviews/stock-photograph-suppliers/istockphoto-lp-in-calgary-ab-42552

Practically this means they're selling my images and I have no way of receiving due royalties as my StockXpert account is gone - I'm opted out of the PP program at IS. I won't jump to any conclusions, but I hope they will do what's right.

I haven't tried Graphic River, but the 25% does make it unappealing. Also I think the community has an elite feel similar to what I've always felt at IS. Maybe it's just because I don't know better But the 25% is arrogant.