I heard from a Mexican iStocker friend that the best match takes into consideration the searcher's location. He showed a screen shot of his portfolio on a his computer in Mexico, and a lot of his Mexican folklore imagery was near the top. On a screen in the US, it was not.

Could this be?

Yes it can, this is one of the best match upgrades IS made last week.

I indeed seem to have a similar but not identical pattern.
I see a massive rise in european buys, and a small drop in american purchases.
I hope this is permenant.
IS new location based best match at work proly.

But since my numbers aren't big enough, only 13 sales on an average working day, I am not sure of the validity of my data.

Paintings are prohibited.

What a loser !!!

OT: Why is the minimum polling time set to 3 minutes ?

I think you forgot Adobe Camera Raw in the options, no ?
Thats what we use...
We also use DXO for landscape CA.

We were promised something big and special when vetta was taken away from us back in september, but this is definitely not we bargained for. It is especially insulting to video contributors where in one scenario a regular sale earns more for the artist than the equivalent vetta sale, or in another scenario where the artist gets $3 more and istock gets $50 dollars more per sale. In our case with vectors the examples aren't as flagrant, however they still exist... for example for any contributor gold and above a 25 or 30 credit file nets almost the same or more than a vetta 40 credit file.

What this all boils down to is this - istock is proposing a 25-33% cut in royalties to vector and video artists and this is our way of saying no thanks.   

I don't think this is intended for "normal" users like yourself. one must really have a low IQ to opt-in such a program.
I think its a way to pump up prices for contributors of the getty family, like the deal they have with contributor which all of there files are "agency collection"

Quote from: aeonf on March 22, 2011, 07:26

Quote from: ShadySue on March 22, 2011, 05:07

Quote from: aeonf on March 22, 2011, 03:35

Could some one please explain me what makes illustration Vetta different from photo Vetta ?
Why so much negativity against it with illustration but not against it regarding photos ?

When photo Vetta was introduced, the deal for producers was much better, then having lured us in, they shafted us.

Yes i know this, but now its the same deal for illustration and photo vetta. so why not rebel against photo vetta as well

You can start it, if you like - I'm banned.

I am just a little puppy... less then 10 vettas and maybe 2 which sell from
time to time.
If the big dogs initiate such a move I will surely join.

Could some one please explain me what makes illustration Vetta different from photo Vetta ?
Why so much negativity against it with illustration but not against it regarding photos ?

I think it's a great idea!
Here is another one:
If possible, how about creating a similar site or integrating into the existing one an RM section so us
who have crowns can also join ?

Use the myUploads_fixes script listed here: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=297012&page=1

It will add the left column back in if missing.

I think they should give you a salary.
I guess Canadians CAN'T really code...

Quote from: Elenathewise on March 13, 2011, 20:11

Had enough of Russia?;-)
Return per image per month - 1-2 dollars on average, unless you do only highly conceptual shots and then it could be up to 5-7.

Thanks Elena;  I still love Russia and photographing the wildlife here but it is a very difficult environment to work in, difficult to get around and near the animals, and difficult for an American with all the border patrol checks, security checks, registration issues, et al.  Nevertheless, major reason for return is to seek treatment for my eyes and digestion.  I am yearn for American food and Mexican food; neither is available here in Far East Russia.

Elena, $1-2/image; is that per month.  I assume so; with a port. of roughly 10,000 images, one could be looking at 120K per year; I understand there are many cost involved but that is still respectable.

For others that may be reading, here is my return for wildlife images.  Approx. 1000 images across all sites (except IS, only 30 images on IS); return is approx $300/month or roughly $0.30 per image/month.  The market for wildlife is a bit less so I am not disappointed with these results; especially considering the clothing styles and other considerations do not change for wildlife; they pretty much wear the same clothes year to year; so hopefully the images will keep a constant sales rate year to year.

I think any business plan that takes into consideration 1$-2$ RPI is wrong. I am not saying there aren't people who don't achieve this but it is well above average as you can see for yourself in this un-official and unscientific survey.
When you make a business plan you take into account the most probable outcome, in your case be it 30c. If you get more than that, well that's a bonus. (You should also consider what will happen if you're RPI will drop! will you be able to sustain yourself)
In addition if I where you I would invest time and effort in trying to upload more to IS. Even with all of the negative feedback, for that vast majority of people here they seem to always be in the top 3 earners.
Not submitting to them is a mistake IMO.
Your assumption that if you have 10x port size you will make 10x money is wrong. The rule of diminishing returns applies here. In addition in large portfolios there is always self-cannibalization of your own work.
IMH you should not worry much about statistics and numbers. Do what you are GOOD at and do what you LIKE DOING. Think of MS as a business (think Yuri) and start submitting like crazy (yes also to IS).
Quality and quantity is the name of the game, do this and the $$$ will follow.  It's working for us so far...