Some sites (e.g. Shutterstock) pay a tiny commission for every new photographer you enrol. Is it worth it?

On the one hand, you're getting paid a little bit for other people's sales.

On the other hand you may be increasing the competition for yourself.

Then again, you may refer people, they get excited about it, but then get rejected, which could bounce back on you if you're friendly with them (e.g "You told me about this great site and encouraged me to join, and they've told me to 'get lost'. What sort of a friend are you?")

So, are referrals worth it? Any experiences with this, or views on it?

I have had one sale with them (for 16 images accepted so far) so I'm hanging on in. You never know ...

Yeah, I started submitting to Crestock, too. They seem to have a hellishly tough acceptance policy and I get a huge rejection rate.

It does bug me when they say (for a rejection) that  ... 'The creative content did not accord with our standards. We invite you to address these concerns. ' But then they don't say what their creative standards are so that I can 'address them'.

I mean ...  what are 'creative standards', anyway? The whole thing's hugely subjective.

Anyone else any experience with Crestock?

Hi all. I'm a newbie here, but I've been submitting to microstock sites since the beginning of the year.

Up until June my highest earning site was iStock, but for the past two months Shutterstock's pulled ahead.

Mind you, I've been submitting to them regularly. As I understand it, the way Shutterstock is set up, if you don't keep submitting your income falls off quite sharply. It's something to do with the way they highlight new images, I believe.

(Edited to remove typos)