New credits will be more than $2?  Hell, they've got to cost more than $5, otherwise everyone holding old credits is boned.

Exactly. This is the one piece of crucial missing information.

There's a slim chance (a very slim chance) that this could be a positive thing if the new flat rate means a higher RPD.

Vetta files have been pushed down the best match search for some time now, so much so that I've been sending images that I think qualify to RM rather than have them languish unseen at iStock. On the other hand, they do seem to be much more reasonable with putting images into S+ (and therefore in E+ on Getty) than before.

Overall, sales numbers are so low that all this will make little difference to Exclusives. The era of the full time exclusive iStock photographer is over.

Experiences like this are always interesting and relevant to read, not to mention extremely useful and encouraging to others going through the same process.

Great report - thanks for sharing!

No, it's only up to the 18th so far.

Well you've got to declare your earnings no matter how little, so you'll have to fill in a tax return and you can add all your expenses to get them deducted.

I operate as a sole trader - I can't quite see the advantage of being a ltd. company with all the paperwork and declarations that involves until your earnings are so substantial they make it bearable. There are some financial advantages, but it depends on how happy you are with the extra admin overhead - I prefer to keep it simple, but each to their own.

You don't have to register for VAT even if you go over the minimum threshold (40k? or something) for royalties from an overseas agency according to my accountant.

I'm a black diamond and after 9 years full-time with IS I'm now looking for a job. I've had two dramatic drops in income level this year along with a steady downward trend. By April next year I'll be lucky to be earning anything.

Don't despair - one of my friends with good work has got his dollar per image per month rate back over $1 (which I think is a reasonable target) a few months after quitting exclusivity by uploading mainly to SS and a few others.

I think there is light at the end of the exclusivity tunnel if you can survive the initial drop in earnings.

You're right about iStock though, the trend is tapering to zero or bumping just above it.

I must be out of touch - I thought Mike Ledray was the King of Microstock.

He's 'king something for sure.

Hmm, I get stuff rejected all the time.

Quote from: fotoVoyager on June 11, 2014, 10:00

A badge with my name on it and a teenage supervisor telling me how to do a very simple job.

And then, very quickly being jobless again. . .

We're all doomed to be serfs of neo-liberal capitalist Barons one way or another, taking photos, flipping burgers, wiping bottoms. People in the West will revolt eventually, but not in my lifetime I expect.

It does feel like you're on a carousel with different groups brought forward and others pushed back.

This could just be people seeing patterns where there's only chaos, desperately looking for some explanation.

I don't do searches to check how best match responds, I can tell from my sales when they've turned exclusives 'off'. The fluctuation is too great and the date / image collection sold is too regularly grouped for it to be random.

I think it's a click-view payment rather than a download of some kind.

I sold 10% of the number of images I did last time we had a 100% day.

That's not good.

Congratulations to Stocksy and its contributors.

Glad there's an agency that's working with artists in this way, keep it up!