My Dreamstime sales in 2024 are consistent with past years.  I usually make pay out in 2 months.  At this time, I have approximately 8100 photos.  My secret is to keep posting.  Dreamstime makes it extremely easy to upload.  Also, they accept most of my photos.  I have a 98% acceptance rate.

My best assumption is that they have not gotten around to it yet.  My hometown on New Jersey is not in the Getty vocabulary, but most of the surrounding towns are. 

I remember, for a long time, Getty did not have "Wildwood" in their search.  This is a major summer tourist destination on the Jersey Shore and includes Wildwood, North Wildwood, Wildwood Crest as part of "The Wildwoods."  Then, one day, it appeared.  The same thing happened with my original childhood hometown of Babylon, New York.  The search would only bring up the ancient city.  Now the NY town appears.

If the location of the shoot is not available in the search, I always include it in the title or description.  The search engine will find it, as will the all important Google search engine.

Getty makes adjustments on their keyword searches.  However, I do not know the process on getting certain words and locations added

You're having a much better 2031 than I am.  Here is my earning report:

"all totaled, it was a pretty good month, I only had to pay the agencies $500 for the privilege of selling my photos."

As I stated in a previous thread, my RPD has decreased, but not as dramatic as others have seen.  I reasoned my better fortune was due to the On Demand photos faring better than in the past.  Like everyone else, the subs are down.

As we are now two weeks in, I wanted to see where I stand, and if the law of averages caught up to me:

Jan 2020 - 0.63 RPD
Feb 2020 - 0.77 RPD
Mar 2020 - 0.69 RPD
Apr 2020 - 0.72 RPD
May 2020 - 0.55 RPD
Jun 2020 - 0.57 RPD

While I'm doing better than last month, I am still down when compared to the other months of 2020.  Also, May was one of my worst months on SS in about 2 years. 

Just for laughs (because, otherwise I'd cry), I looked at June 2019's RPD.  Sure enough, I was getting about 0.75 RPD.  My RPD is down almost 1/3 compared to last year.

I have stopped uploading to SS on 6/1.  My next step may be to disable my portfolio

My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.75

Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.65

Current reduction in RPD:
12% (Level 4)

Some comment here:
To date, while I have seen a reduction in overall sales, it is not as dramatic as others have experienced.  Also, I was having a piss poor 2020 especially April and May.  My RPD from January through May 2020 was $0.63, and April and May alone was $0.60.  So I have actually seen an improvement in 2020.

I have seen an increase in RPD for my "on demand" photos.  Previously, I was getting a flat $2.70.  Now I am averaging $3.31.

Granted, a sample size of four days is very small and my RPD may be the result of luck.  The law of averages may catch up to me by the end of the month.

So, while I am not disabling my account at this time, I have stopped uploading.  Though, prior to June, I had severely cut back on my uploading because of SS's insane rejection rate. 

I will recheck again at the end of the month and make my decision on whether to close my account. 

Yup, happened to me too.  After getting five sales for $0.36 today, I got one sale for $0.14 and another for $0.10.

Good bye Shutterstock

I've kept uploading to DT, even though they were not a big earner for me.  The upload process was so easy, it was effortless to keep a portfolio.  Also, although they had a $100 threshold, I could cash out as soon as I reached the amount.  I did not have to wait for the threshold AND the end of the month.

In the last six months, DT exploded for me (relatively speaking).  Four of the last six months were my BME's.  Since I put a halt on uploading to SS, DT will be getting more exclusive photos.

Thank you DT for treating your contributors better.

When I saw my earnings, my first reaction ws "Holy Mother of God, that's horrible."

Time has not healed that wound.

This is my worst month in more than two years, and I even  had some COVID-19 related sales.

A better month than expected for me.  With Coronavirus, and my horrible month on SS, I was expecting another bad month here.  The bad news: March 2020 was less than March 2019.  The so-so news: March 2020 was less than $10 off of March 2019.  The better news: this was my best month in five months. 

I am still nervous about April.  The first half of March for me on SS was much better than the second half.  Now April on SS is looking like my worst month in almost two years. 

Shockingly, I had my best month ever on DT in March 2020.  More shocking, it followed 2 consecutive BME's on DT.  April, while OK (for DT), is projected to be lowest month in 5 months. 

All right, it is getting ridiculous.  I just had a photo of the US Capitol rejected.  Not for noise or focus, but because I did not include a property release.  I have never needed a release for an exterior shot of the Capitol. 

And besides, who do I get to sign the release from?  I am a US taxpayer, therefore, I am technically an owner.  Can I sign the release?

istock is also rejecting editorial photos related to coronavirus. 

I had submitted several photos of people wearing face masks.  In my caption, I said they were attempting to prevent the spread of coronavirus, flu, virus, disease, etc.  Istock told me to remove all references to coronavirus in my captions, as we cannot assume the motivation for wearing the masks.

That is understandable, as, legally, the subjects could sue, stating the photograph suggests they are at risk, or even contracted the virus, without evidence to the point.

However, I also posted a photo of a closed playground, stating it was closed due to COVID 19.  Despite the fact that, in the photograph, I included a sign stating the playground was closed due to COVID 19, I was told to remove all references to COVID 19 and coronavirus.

I have been doing pretty well this month on SS. 

For me, SS has been declining for the last four months straight, though January 2020 was less than $1 below December 2019.  This followed six months of increasing sales.

At the pace I am at now, I should end my losing streak and go over January 2020's sales.  However, I doubt I will reach February 2019's sales, as it was one of my BMEs.

Third month in a row of decreasing payout.  Also, this December is approximately 25% off of December 2018.  Not a good trend.

SS has been very low to start the year.  However, this is typical.  Traditionally, for some unknown reason, sales are slow the first half of the month, but usually pick up towards the end of the month.  This week has been very good, though still not enough to make up for the lousy beginning of the month

About average for me.  Best month in about 4 months, but lower than last October.

I am not currently with Depositphotos, but, like you, I am considering it. 

As for the other minnow agencies, here is my view:

Dreamstime Pros
--Extremely easy upload process - they take 80 keywords rather the customary 50.  Also, each word is separated, so you do not have to duplicate such as "New," "York" and "New York."  This enables me to add more fringe keywords and use US and UK spellings (color and colour).
--Sales are OK, but I go into this knowing it is a low earner.  However, I have scored some $10+ sales (far the exception rather than the rule)
--They accept almost anything.  When IS or SS rejects a photo for content (sporting events, public artwork) DT will usually accept

Dreamstime Cons
--Only uploading drawback: you have to select three categories.  Really?  Three?
--Sales are just OK  35 cents for subscription
--The $100 payout takes a long time.  I have 4000+ photos there and I had to wait two and a half months to reach $100.
--Public website could use updating

123rf Pros
--Extremely easy upload process
--No limit on keywords. 
--No categories to choose, except country of photo
--Sales are OK
--$50 threshold for payout

123rf Cons
--You can wait forever for the staff to review your photos.  There are topics on this board where people wait for months for the review.  I currently have 73 files in cue that have been there over 6 months
--Don't complain about the review time.  The times I did, I went from a 90% approval rate to a 75% rejection rate.
--Their judging is sporadic.  I have had photos rejected, only to repost (with no changes) and have them accepted
--Sales are OK, but, for me, lower than DT.  I will wait about 2 months for a $50 payout with 3000+ photos
--Public website could use updating

I've been with AGE since 2010.  They were my best sellers when I started out, making $200 per month with less than 1000 photos.  Then, sometime around 2014 it came to a grinding halt.  Now I have close to 3000 photos, but make 1 or 2 sales.  The money is better per sale (average $20 persale), but the sales are fewer.  If I make 2 sales per month, that is good.  Though in 2018, I sold a photo that appeared in a national auto ad and netted $1000!!!  Crazy, is that they could have bought the same photo on SS or IS or DT for much less.

I still contribute, as the upload process is a breeze, just copy and paste into their ftp.  Their acceptance practice is...odd.  When I started out, they accepted over 90% of my work.  Now, I'll be lucky is they take 33%.  And they don't give a reason for the rejection.  IDK if the quality is bad or if they are oversaturated in a subject.  I would like to know so that I don't upload similars, or re-examine my photo, as it may be a correctable mistake.

Thanks Jo Ann,

I'll do the adult release with my daughter.  The worst the agencies can do is reject it, forcing me to send in a minor release

I was looking at some photos of my kids from a few years ago.  There were some that would make for good stock photography.  As their parent, the release should not be a problem, as I or my wife would sign.

However, my oldest just turned 19. 

So my question is, would I still need a minor release, as she was under 18 in the photo, or a regular adult release, as she is over 18 now?

Thank you

For me, Dreamstime is one of the easiest to upload.  Probably the only reason why I stay with them as they are one of my lower earners.  The fact that they give you 80 keyword minimum rather than 50 means less editing and less deciding which of two keywords to need to discard.  Also, DT does not use duplicate words.  I dont have to include "redwood," "tree" and "redwood tree."

I don't go through their ftp, I just upload through the website with photos that have been pre-populated with keywords in their meta data. 

I use my iphone and DSLR for stock photos.  My DSLR takes better photos, but I like my iphone if I need to be a little more discrete, like in a store or market.  I can make a decent photo of fruit or other products quickly and easily.

My iphone has limitations.  It is too noisy to make decent twilight photos.  And, if I have to zoom, I just forego the photo, as it will also be too noisy. 

I did OK in 2018, up approximately 20% from 2017, though my portfolio there is smaller (1778 images).

As someone posted before, we wold all do better if they approved submitted images.  I have some waiting in the funnel for almost a year.  BTW, the last time I sent them a friendly reminder about my pending photos, I went from a 90% approval rating to a 75% rejection rate. 

Psst...You didn't hear this from me.  Just have one of your friends sign it.  I have never been asked to prove they witnessed the signature.  I often have my wife sign as a witness

mine returned after about an hour

Just posted a few minutes before you.  I went from 4000+ to 31.  I looked on the Shutterstock forum.  Others are having a problem too.  No news from Shutterstock though