The OP doesn't specify what constitutes a big portfolio but here are my numbers:

With 826 files on IS, my largest port
IS � 48%
SS � 18%
DT � 15%
StockXpert � 12%
BigStock � 7%

I am VERY surprised that IS makes up that much of my income. Last year it was around 35%. Wow. I either have to stay independent and get my butt in gear with the other sites, or throw in the towel and go exclusive with IS!

I had an offer like this, but was asking much, much more than $300 to disable one of my bestsellers. Turned out the client couldn't or didn't want to pay the price.

But to confirm, yes, the license begins when the client buys and you must disable it for sale on every RF site. Whatever sold prior to that date is irrelevant.

This also means you can never sell the photo RF again, period. So when you think about selling with the SR-EL license, you should consider how much money you think you might be losing over the photo's lifetime in order to come up with a selling price. I asked many questions when I first received the email from DT about this, and that was how the SR-EL license was explained to me. The explanation for the SR-EL license in the contributors agreement is very brief and leaves a lot of answers out.

Also, the price that DT puts on the license is based on what DT thinks sales may be on their site only. If you are independent and sell that photo on multiple sites, you should consider how much TOTAL money you will lose on the photo. But that ends up pricing the SR-EL license too high for most DT buyers to want to pay. So, to me, it's kind of a useless license unless you are exclusive to DT.

I, too, am sorry to see StockXpert go. I did fairly well there over the past 3 years.

The greater the number of significant contributors who remain independent the better the chances we all have of maintaining conditions and slowing the process of one or two agencies getting overly powerful.

And this is precisely the reason why I have dragged my feet for so long about going exclusive. Sure, monetarily the deal looks good now to switch to IS. But let's suppose a good majority of people do that. Down the road, Getty (or whoever owns it) will be able to name their own ticket and treat their contributors however they choose. By then, all of the other competitors will have failed for lack of good content. There won't be any quitting IS and going back to being independent. There won't be a choice. And I believe that's Getty's battle plan.

It is NEVER good to have one company with so much power and control.

It's kind of like Wal-mart, the mega-giant. Sure, I shop there now and again, but I don't want to buy everything there...I want a choice. IS is moving towards leaving contributors no choice.

Yes and before you panic

I don't really see anyone panicking here, I just see a lot of questions being raised, a lot of speculation, and a lot of good food for thought.

Over on the IS forums, the Exclusives are concerned that they'll lose out because, given that the non-exclusive images are just as good as the Exclusive ones, the buyers will always take the cheaper (non-exclusive) file over the Exclusive one, assuming it'll work just as well for them.

I'm not sure why the Exclusives are worried about that...buyers will have to find the cheaper photos before they can buy them and I gotta believe they aren't going to be easy to find. Do you see a sort by price on IS?

I know I've read a lot on this whole business over the past week and can't recall...will non-exclusive photos be totally separated out from exclusives now? If so, then I see why they're worried. If we are all still in one hopper, then my first statement applies.

There is a lot to digest in all of this, and I won't pretend to have the answers to any of the big questions. All I know is that there are a lot of factors in play here, too many to draw any real conclusions from just yet.

I agree. I am in the group that makes about 35% of my income from istock. While I am considering exclusivity, not being anyways near diamond means that my decision could swing either way, based on what happens to independents at istock.

I've made three sales in 4 months, so I pulled my photos. My reject rate was almost the same as my accept rate. I just don't think they're buying what I'm selling, on Veer anyway. Other sites seem to be holding their own.

I have been in graphic design for 30+ years. It has changed drastically in the last 10 years and it wouldn't surprise me to see graphic designers turn into dinosaurs. Photography, I believe, will be around forever. The technology will change, but I think as a art form, it will always require the human element and therefore will be in demand forever. Microstock, not so sure about.

And use a little Unsharp Mask, especially if you shoot raw.

I would use Unsharp Mask very cautiously. Depending on your camera, you might already have a noise issue and sharpening only makes it worse. Other than that, I agree with the comments above.

 

It must be very variable, just like review times.

I agree. I have not seen any difference in StockXpert...review times, payments or downloads. They seem to be working just the same for me.

But then requesting minimum payout is way different than requesting $10 grand, like Lisa probably does every two weeks! 

I think if I had some strategy

I don't know how anybody could have a strategy dealing with microstock. It's a freakin rollercoaster.