I'm going to agree with Disorderly.
July was a great month for me at 123. June wasn't bad either.
Well done the agency, whatever you're doing, it's working. At least in my case
Your commission is fair, the site is easy to deal with, and I wish you best of luck. 
Up you go guys, on to number 4

Hi Jsnover,
unfortunately for me the 15% (exclusive 25%) commission at IStock is what matters most. I can't quite accept it regardless of the net. Speaking of net, I'm not sure what to do with the odd 0.7 cent / 0.9 cent sale at IStock. Dreamstime is doing better in my case. But we're all different

Hi Pseudo,
I like DT's admins more than the admins at IStock, or Fotolia or even SS (SS admins are good though, I like them too).
I remember you had a few arguments on DT's forums and I understand why you might feel differently.

Hi Lirch,
I'm thinking of going exclusive myself. One day, if I live long enough And that's a big 'if'
And I'm curious, since uploading, reviewing, 60% commission, search engine, consistent sales, site stability, good customer service and so on are not considered 'strong points' in your view, what other factors are?
I'm curious and willing to learn ...  

The stamp is good Dave, truly good.
They've made a mistake, it should not have been rejected.
And I absolutely agree. The blue version should outsell the coloured version.
They made a mistake. Try again, it looks simple but the stamp is a good illustration and it will sell.
Try again

A slider? With dots? Why dots?
And once again IStock complicates things unnecessarily. Or perhaps, in this case at least, they want it this way. Confusing.

Why not simple price ranges, like everybody else? 
Not even selecting by collections would do it. What about new buyers, (designers or not), for whom buttons like 'Exclude Agency', 'Exclude Vetta' don't mean a thing?

Price ranges are the best solution, simple, easy to follow and suit everyone.
But of course, they won't do it.
Which is fine by me.

Hi Stockmarketer,

'The quality threshold of IStock is set higher than all the other sites' - you say, and I have to agree.
Absolutely true.
Except there's a catch.
It only applies to independent files.
There is plenty of crap on IStock, and by plenty I mean thousands and thousands of images. The vast majority of those questionable files come from exclusive contributors.
Not only newbies, bronze level, but also golds and diamonds. Thousands of images.
Submitted today, to SS, or Fotolia or even Dreamstime those files would not eveb come close to acceptance. Guaranteed.

There is a difference between the way IStock reviews independent versus exclusive files.
And it's understandable.

And I still stand by my point - perform any search, on IS and SS. Compare quality. Equal results, or even, at times, better on SS.
Plus, a lot more variety and a faster search.
Not to mention prices.
All in all, a better experience. Designers are not stupid. They know what to go for.

Hi Louis,
no, you shouldn't be doing any collages, (unless the images call for such a composition), and you're absolutely right to be annoyed.
I'm not sure where this 'make collages' story comes from (a request from a confused buyer perhaps), but it's not right and you shouldn't be doing it.
I'm not a designer (I work for a small print house) and although we have thousands of images on our hard drives, there's barely a collage or two (Yuri's I believe). I like to have full control over the way I position my images, and more often than not collages don't fit the bill.
We don't really buy them
Don't do it

I like Dreamstime a lot and I can only hope they'll change their minds about this 'make collages' affair soon enough
That's before they upset most of you.

Warren,
angry? vindictive?
Not at all ...
Is this how I came out?
I apologise, I never intended to upset you.
I actually like you very much Warren. Lovely sense of humour and beautiful port  
And now I'm just going to leave it at that

I'll have to disagree, Warren.
I'm sorry
Let's make this point clear - no agency is perfect. Period.
Some show a lot of arrogance, some less than that and some none at all.  
When it comes to arrogance, (and not only), IStock is the worst.
What makes IStock's arrogance even more irrititating is that is based on past achievements. They're a bunch of 'have beens' living in the past.
They're not the best agency anymore, but they still think and act as if they were.

And when it comes to Dreamstime, I'm sorry to say, but you're blinded by personal matters. There's something going on between you and Achilles (and has been for some time), and you can't seem to be able to let it go.
What stops you from moving on? Is it arrogance? Pride?
Let it go Warren, free yourself.
Dreamstime is not a bad agency and thery're certainly not half as arrogant as IStock.
Can you honestly tell me how many times have you seen KKThompson or Jon Oringer engaging in conversations with contributors? Any contributor - exclusive or not.
Not many.
Achilles does that all the time.
Now whether you like the man or not is another matter. I personally have never spoken to him, or to anyone at Dreamstime, but I like the fact that he's there, approachable to all of us.
It's not arrogance, it's a good thing and makes Dreamstime a bit more special.  
Let personal matters go, whatever he told you, at least he took the time to reply.
Try that with KK Thompson at IStock.
See how far you get.

Keep smiling Warren, makes you a pleasure to read and be around

Hi Sharpshot,
You're not alone, I was thinking about it too.
And I feel like a fool. It's only a handful of us who have deleted ports / stopped uploading since the changes anyway. Clearly we're too small fish to make any difference.
While back in January I deleted my port, (almost) everyone else kept on filling their weekly quotas like there was no tomorrow. Newbies, golds, diamonds and above, everyone rushed in.  
There was no deleting of images, no slowdown in uploading; there wasn't even a selective upload plan - give your best images to the other sites, let IStock have the rest. Do something.
There 'are' ways to fight Getty without having to sacrifice your first born.
But it never worked.
The reason?
Newbies - well, they're newbies and thrilled with every sale.
Established, important contributors, photographers who have a say and can actually make a difference, are all somehow struggling for survival. Every one of them. They have families. Large families. And mortgages. And taxes. And children. And education fees and expensive medical bills. It's a tough world out there and without IStock they will all be homeless.
Can't bear the thought.

So what are you to do Sharpshot?
Go ahead and start uploading. No two ways about it.
Try Thinkstock as well (I'm serious; apparently people sell hundreds of licences a month on ThinkStock alone), try Photo+ too and take advantage of every opportunity IStock opens to you.
It's only fair, thank you for trying your best to help us all, and good luck

I've been thinking about it too. And I've got a very good reason. It's not an excuse, it's real. I'm very, very ill and I need every cent.
But I can't do it. It's impossible; trust me, I tried.
IStock's BS (and upload page), make me sicker than the medical treatment I have to endure right now.
There's something about that site. I can't even look at it without feeling nauseous.  
On moral grounds, on principles and not for the life of me (literally).
I can't upload to IStock.
But the best of luck to you, thank you for everything you tried to do and get busy selling

CThoman,
sorry, we're not seeing things in the same way
We're looking at different sets of values.
Dreamstime below Istock? On a list of favourites?
Everything about IStock (from my point of view) is worse, or a lot worse than Dreamstime.
This is what I'm looking for in a site.
Uploading.
Reviewing.
Commission.
Customer service.
Search engine.
Site stability.
Buyer friendly.
Accessability, open policy, contact with HQ.
A happy, friendly community is a bonus.

Generosiy is also much appreciated (remember the 100% day? and 110 for exclusives? They paid their exclusives from their own pockets. And they paid us, indies too. That's generous in my view, and I'm grateful).

On every single one of those points IStock fails.

Regarding sales, mine are much higher at Dreamstime - has always been the case.
But I know that in your case things are a lot different and I understand that you might be feeling differently.

As Stockastic put it - to each his own

I stopped uploading as soon as the announcement was made.
I pulled my port before the changes took place.

And I am absolutely going to take all the time needed to let all my customers (friends, family and everyone I know included), know that IStock should be avoided like the plague.
Like the plague.
Compared to the other sites IStock prices are too high, their images are in now way special or unique anymore, the multitude of collections, crowns, canisters, exclusive, only somewhat exclusive, part exclusive, independent, partners and so on, are bewildering to say the least, their search engine never works and their customer services are slow and unhelpful.
They also happen to pay the lowest commission in the industry.
And have the crappiest upload system.
Of course, but of course I'm going to bad mouth them.
I have been doing it for months and until they come to their senses, I'll never stop.
No designer should buy at IStock anymore. There is no practical reason for them to do so.

To the OP - can you not at least delete some of your clips? Or stop uploading? Are you really in danger of starvation if you do so?

I'm down to 11 images in my IStock port, it's not going to affect me, but I'm curious, where do you see those stats?
Since the introduction of Sexy F5 I've never even touched my contributor page. The scrolling drives me crazy, up the walls.
Where is that info? Where do you see your RC?
Can anyone help? I'm curious
Thank you,

UPDATE : Never mind, found it!

Impaler,
Gostwyck is a very successful contributor. He makes a lot of money with IStock. Most probably a lot more than you do, keep in mind he's an independent. It's difficult for him to delete his port right away.
Not to worry though!
He can't do it, but I can! I'm deleting my images as we speak.

Hope your day is brighter now and you feel a bit better ...