Its been 2 weeks since my last counting the pics exercise last times figures in brackets

1 istock� � � � � � � � �869,361 (841,114) increase 28,247
2 Shutterstock� � � �844,093 (814,122) increase 29,971
3 Fotolia� � � � � � � � 839,339 (779,565) increase 59,774�

4 Dreamstime� � � � �450,000+ (430,000+) increase 20,000+
5 Big Stock Photo� �392,000 (379,000+)� increase 13,000+
6 123 rf� � � � � � � � 300,000+ (300,000+)
7 Can Stock Photo� 224,032 (217,000) increase 7,032

8 Stockphotomedia 62,485 (60,449) increase 2,036
9 Stockxpert� � � � � ??

So if this trend continues, iS and SS increasing by 30,000 and FT by 60,000 in the same period 2 week period FT should break the million mark FIRST in 5-6 weeks, anyway we will have to wait and see.

Istock threw it away with their 30 photos a week limit for newbies obviously they want quality not quantity.

Madelaide,

Yes I notice that 123 extracts a jpeg from the eps file which looks pretty crap.

Stockphotmedia insists on a zipped file so i have actually uploaded files of only 2-10 k.

Thanks for the info, signed up with gimmestock but gave up on them weeks ago never signed up with Crestock may give them a go.

So do you find that the JPEGS sell better than the eps files? and do SS accept them as JPEGs when their origin as a eps file is obvious?

Anyway will see what shutterstock think.

I suppose none of the agencies are happy submitting both types of file. As eps does have the advantage on SS there there aren't as many so it would take longer to get buried in the new images.

Thanks again

I heard a rumour somewhere about extended licences at SS at $20 - or was I dreaming.

well anyway $3.99 sure beats a quarter.

Photovan

No sarcasm intended - sorry for any offence.

I must admit it has been months since I have visited the FT forum

I actually found the FT used to bury lots of useful info on their blog page which most people only saw when their site was down. So i was happy to see some info I had been wonderimg about but hadn't actually gone to the trouble of looking for.

I had a very rough batch with acceptance with FT but better recently, hang in there

Photovan,

I am impressed with your insight into the inner workings of Fotolia - have you actually been reading their blog?

If so do you know how their referrals system works?

Good to hear just in case I receive a credit card sale

The UK limits are �500 a month or �1,500 a year for a Paypal personnal account

Does anyone know the limits for Moneybookers? Those lucky Americans who can get paid by cheque.

This should be my 100 post so I a full member - yeah!

jlye,

Thanks managed to log into the premier account and removed bank details and added them to personal account

One question do you transfer funds from premier to personal to get the cash?

If so do you just get the initial deductions when the funds are received at your premier account and no further deductions for the second transfer?

thanks again

Certainly easier than setting up an online bank account from stratch, my current account is a ye olde one so I was looking at the UK online banks who wanted to know what I was earning which is not much at the present time.

Finally I have earned enough cash for payouts from DT StockXpert and FT.

So I requested payment on friday and received the payments over the weekend.

I noticed FT have a much more favourable exchange rate than paypal 1.77 cf 1.89 US dollar to sterling.

then I tried to transfer the money - houston we have a problem.

I have two paypal accounts one a premier account for accepting credit card payments when I occassionally sell something on eBay (and have deductions)

and a personal account for micro stock payments so paypal wouldn't take their 20p + 2% nibble.

Of course now when I try to transfer the funds to my bank account I find out that a bank account can only be linked to one paypal account for security reasons.

If I transfer the funds to my premier paypal account will those greedy ****ers take another bite? Obviously I can use this money for buying things online but i was rather hoping to use it to buy food and pay some of my rent.

I think i will be setting up a Moneybookers account at least Alamy are based in the UK and they will send me a cheque in hard currency.

I flunked the first test with SS so second time round I selected ten photos that had been accepted and were selling at iStock and it seemed to work, not actually my top ten as some were similar so I tweaked it.

If its good enough for iStock it should pass the SS test

Good luck with that as they do bring in some money a pity about the once a month payouts.

I think the key sometimes with SS is the key words if you have a good photo with a wide range of keywords it doesn't get buried quite so quickly.

Been with them less than 3 weeks but already I have seen a sharp drop in sales as I didn't submit anything last week

Been uploading files to the usual suspects over the weekend with minor problems with reading IPTC data but i have the text file open so no biggie.

Can stock works fine with pixvue

Kiya have you tried any other programs it maybe an issue between ACDSee Pro and can stock?

For those that still be waiting for approval from StockXpert remember they don't send you azn e-mail you have to check your StockXpert site internal mail.

don't suppose they are giving a bigger percentage 

off to the Isle of Skye for a week so no more posts until I return.