R.I.P. We need a better explanation of the new royalty guidelines for vectors thread. You've been going since September and were never really answered.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=252412&page=25#post5647842

If Pixmac is no longer a partner of Dreamstime, Fotolia or Big Stock... why are 147 of my images still there?  Kinda curious.... do they have other "partners"?

I was curious about this as well. The number of images I have on there didn't seem to correspond with any agency. Also when flipping through my images, I noticed there were a lot without previews. I didn't know if some of these were eliminated, but the server hadn't updated yet.

Wow. That's scary. It's a shame these things have to be fixed instead of never happening in the first place.

Och, Sean, just when I was getting all psyched up to be your long-distance apprentice. 

You haven't seen his infommercial late at night for how to make money in micros? 

Wow! This thread got long. Out of all the things happening in micro now, whether or not some guy may or may not be bending "the spirit" of the exclusive rules is pretty far from my mind.

Someone start a site that only takes 40% of the final sale price, doesn't offer subs and then they could be talking about "rolling in the dough". Sounds a great deal like Alamy but they aren't micro and don't sell the same type of product that most people here are producing.

A new micro site that only takes 40%, for exclusives for example, would have a flood of contributors that would take that instead of 25-38 cents, or the 15% and up on IS, or whatever the rest are handing out to keep the starving artists from quitting, at the bare minimum.

I think my only question is, if it's so easy and there's so much profit to be had, why hasn't someone done it?

Graphic Leftovers? OK, so it is only 52% instead of 60%.

... and looky-look what it got you with istock and microstock in general 

...A fairly decent chunk of money, a large portfolio, improved skill in my field, and some financial stability. Yeah, that stuff sucks. 

Also, since when do printers give things away for free? My printers always wanted to charge for even thinking about making a change.

Cthoman, your site looks great.  I am glad it is working out for you.  Did you use Clustershot to set it up or did you do the web development yourself? 

I am really becoming motivated to have my own site, but nobody seems to be willing to divulge any information on how they set up their sites.  I can go to GoDaddy or someplace and start from scratch using a wysiwyg, but I really need an interface specifically designed to display and sell images. 

Not to mention that I don't want to get hit with massive charges for data storage or transfer.  I had checked out Photoshelter, but their storage rates were extremely high if you have a decent sized portfolio. 

Thanks. No, it's KTools Photostore. There was thread here about it:

http://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/so-i-made-a-microstock-site-for-me/

I signed up for a Clustershot store, but realized they didn't do Vectors. I thought it looked like a pretty good solution, but not being able to sell eps versions was a deal breaker for me.

I keep hearing all of the analysts saying having your own site is the way to go. "The future". I'm not buying it unless some new innovative method is developed for connecting buyers with contributors. In my experience, all of the people who have contacted me directly want freebies. Buyers use stock agencies. Freebie hunters use Flickr and Google. There are exceptions of course but it's rare. Every once in a while you hear about someone on Flickr making a sale.

Why would anyone want to do stock as a hobby? Flickr is a hobby. Stock is a business. But it seems to be turning into a "supplemental income" business. Commission cuts, competition, oversupply, economy, and hitting the growth wall all seem to be slamming contributors pretty hard right now.

If you build it, they will come. Kidding (sort of). If you have a site that has content and is relatively search engine friendly, people will find it. My site has only been open a few months, and guess who is leading the pack this month? ME!

I can't say this will last or improve or that other people will have the same results, but who knows. Especially, if you don't even make an effort. Do some research about SEO, web design, marketing etc. You don't have to be an expert, just motivated. Most of us know more about selling our work than any other agency does. Why? Because it is our work and we are actually paying attention to what sells and what doesn't. If I think 100 images of parrots in tuxedos are what people want, then I don't need rejections for "too many" parrots in tuxedos. I also have sold at many different price points, so I have some idea of what buyers want to buy my files for.

My quest isn't to become a multi-million dollar corporation. I just want to make a living off the work I do. If I have to do a little extra hard work now to make that more viable in the future, then I'm going to suck it up and do it. If nothing else, I can strive to have better customer support than istock, lately. 

If you are not exclusive and made 37.000 RC or more, but less than 120.000, then 18% is correct.

Unless, you're an illustrator, then it's 17%. Joy! 

The new royalty structure is live, and in typical istock fashion, it's not working properly.

Way to go, istock.

 

Fingers crossed hoping for bank error in my favor.