Congratulations - Dont forget to give us updates on how they go.

officially per the site it is 67%.  I thought it was higher (circa 80%) but I had a couple of months with big knock backs so maybe that is about right.

leaf/CJPhoto:

I agree about SS being expensive if you only need one photo, but the original poster stated that they were editorial images.  Thus he has a quandary.

That is why I suggested Featurepics.  they do Editorial (dont they??both RM and RF) and as they accept most photos, he should be able to get most of his Flickr portfolio up.  He can then control the price and gets 70% commission.  This is why featurepics is the best site to refer people to when they know the photo they want.

YOu shouldn't direct them to Shutterstock as unless they have a subscription, it is an expensive option for them.  Get your shots on Featurepics and then they can buy a one off from there.  Plus you get 70%.

Featurepics accept most things so you shoud be able to get them up quickly.

[How is that for service - three people replying all at the same time!]

I'll continue to upload just because is not very time consuming and hopefully in a few years I'll sell one or two 

  Do you upload one by one or do they have a quick method?

Congratulations on the sale!

In regard to whether anyone is getting payouts, the answer is yes. Please go back and read Bryan's blog post:
http://www.luckyoliver.com/blog/169/another_fantastic_week

Some people (who are at LO) get payouts in less than a week at some sites.  So the fact they have paid out to two isn't anything special.  Others are waiting for Paypal but he makes no mention that they are actually working on it.  It isn't as if setting up a paypal account is difficult.

I am still there and haven't lost my patience yet but we can only do so much for no reward.

I am in the position you were yesterday re sales.

Anyone made the weekly top 50 recently?  How many DL's do you need.

Interesting that they have increased the minimum payout.  I assume there is still a change it will go up at the end of the month. The subscription royalty is calulated by total income from subscriptons/total DL * 50%.

I noticed btw., that when clicking on the istock link at the MS site, and making a search, one of my photos came up, and I'm not exclusive. That means that there's something to gain for all of us at that end of the deal (unless there's some hidden, reduced profit when sold through the MS-link).

The link on that page is to the actual istock page. 

I think the "exclusive only" are "clipart" actually in the office program.  ie. MS chooses some photos, pays $75 and every MSOffice user can then use them free for personal use without leaving office.

Does anyone one know of the other stock sites that are on that link above?.

McPhoto anyone?

Hijacking a thread but was is there no MSPhoto.  Bill gates owns Microsoft and Corbis,  Corbis doesn't have a microstock agency.  Are they collecting marketing data from this new deal with IS?

Bateleur - extreme views but I think what iStock has been doing has shown why we should try to resist the sitation that hatman12 forsees.

Interesting thoughts. 

What you say is correct for the Bricks and mortor world.  However, this is the internet and might be different.  I am not saying it will be but the internet provides a very low cost shop front that even if sales aren't great, the big agencies cant push you out of business.

Another issue I have, not with your rational but your outcome is that you say we will need to go exclusive with an agency.  The problem is which one.  What if you pick one which is then forced out of business.  Getting your photos onto the front shelf of another agency will take a long time, in the meantime you will also be put out of business.

My opinion is the the internet is big enough for more than a few agencies.  With my current split of income (see the results thread), it would not make sense for me to go exclusive, even if myh % did double.  Some others seem more reliant on SS but I think this is a short term thing while their photos are new there and they slowly get there photos recongnised on other agencies.

This will be interest to see play out over the next 5-10 years.  Luckily this is not my main source of income though it would be great if I could retire off it 

So for 35-50% of $75, you give Microsoft or whoever the right to re-sell your image for whatever amount they want. Is that correct? With the marketing clout of MS, they should easily be able to sell each photo 1,000 times plus. For a couple of dollars each? I can see why this is a good deal for MS.

The photographer's cut just went down to 3%   

My take is that microsoft will be a reseller and you will get a cut of each sale.  That is in theory only as users will get free use if for non commercial purposes (whos going to pay when you get it free from microsoft).  Looks like istock are giving more free images to bloggers etc (ie. non commerical).

Only applies to exclusives so I am not really to fussed.  Hopefully it will drive more traffic to the site.