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Messages - NCHANT
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1
« on: September 11, 2014, 17:31 »
1 dollar to 4 dollar is 300% increase. Without your figures the percentage tells us little. But congratulations on the results.
I wasn't going to give monetary values, but I'm talking a few hundred a month now 
Thats what I mean, you went from 50 dollar to 200 dollar. Great result, but not hard to accomplish. Try going from 500 to 2000.
Try more than 200 500 to 2000 isn't a reality for me - yet. Who know what will happen over the next year or so. I have tried going through other stock sites as well, but uploading to multiple sites is an absolute PITA, and for little reward with all the time spent uploading. Shutterstock was doing well for me, but I'd rather have less downloads for higher royalties. Also keeping to one site is just right for me
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« on: September 11, 2014, 04:16 »
1 dollar to 4 dollar is 300% increase. Without your figures the percentage tells us little. But congratulations on the results.
I wasn't going to give monetary values, but I'm talking a few hundred a month now
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« on: September 10, 2014, 19:57 »
Just an update, I know it's still the honeymoon period  and iStock has some big changes coming over the next few days, but going exclusive has changed my income drastically. Last month was my BME, nearly 300% increase from the month before. And this month is starting off pretty * good as well. Be interesting to see what the new changes to iStock credits will do, who knows, might be better or worse we will soon find out.
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« on: August 14, 2014, 16:11 »
Awesome, thanks everyone for keeping this thread constructive, and yes fascinating reading for me as a newbie, thanks I was happy to get a hundred bucks in my pocket a month, but now my goal is to get a couple hundred, and so far my expectations have been rewarded, and then some. The way I see it, let's say someone's out there looking for a photo of a 'road' to use in their layout, there's thousands of road images out there so someone will definitely be making a sale sooner or later, regardless if one of our images is available or not. I would like my image to be available for that sale. otherwise I wouldn't have a chance. And then there's the new standards, as a buyer as well as a contributor, sometimes you just don't need that top notch $3000 shot, but a nice simple $20 image that does the job it's intended for. It will also be retouched, cropped, scaled etc etc so the end product isn't usually the same. But looking at the trends, these 'lower quality' images are selling like pancakes, why not get in the game? it's a buyers world at the end of the day. I sold a shot of GRASS the other day and made $20, they could have easily gone and shot it but no, they'd rather spend a total of $80 for some grass. 
5
« on: August 14, 2014, 05:16 »
Thanks Sue, to be honest it was Flickr that has given me the boost to try this out, and it's not my day job so I don't need to rely on the income anyway. I'm not hiding either, so everything here is honest and me, so I apologise if I come across the wrong way. Feel free to have a look at some of my work that isn't/won't all be available on iStock: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikeymack/
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« on: August 14, 2014, 04:53 »
Fair enough, but still, gotta take it as it goes and so far it's worked out a great gamble. And yes, I am an Art Director. On another note, BoBoBolinski, I see you are an illustrator, does iStock accept gradient mesh illustrations? I haven't checked criteria yet but I have a ton of vectors from over the years that could work, like this: http://www.creativeduck.blogspot.co.nz/2011/05/apple-illustrator-mesh-tool.html
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« on: August 14, 2014, 04:25 »
Hey I feel good, so what? If it works for me then sweet, works for other people too. No need to put a downer on everything, so many people complain, I feel it's good to add a positive note to it. But then people like you come along and try to steal it away? Come on man, that's not fair. Let us small folk enjoy our wins, even if it only lasts a short while. We're all here to try selling stock and I've learned a shitload since I started thanks to people, kinda, like you. Now I see myself as a better photographer and can go out and shoot what I see, and how I see it. People are buying it, end result is win win. Cheer up and have a beer
8
« on: August 14, 2014, 02:22 »
Just an update on this, glad I wend exclusive have been exclusive for 7 days now, had 14 downloads which netted me more than the whole of last month if it stays like this then I will reach payout each week, which is more than I expected.
Excellent
You should curb your enthusiasm NCHANT... Unless you don't mind to suddenly get extremely disappointed. 
He's still there in the IS forums boasting about his success...
How's it working out for you since dropping the crown? I've just gone exclusive and earned more in 6 days than I did last month! And I have only been exclusive for 6 days
Seriously? Am I not allowed to be happy with a decision in life when it's paying off? All this doom and gloom everyone talks about and I get flamed for being positive  * can never win I guess.
It is just that when a hobbyist comes along and sings praise to IS over their meager earnings that are not indicative of the reality all of us are facing... well, don't expect us to do a group hug with you. Take your beer money and enjoy it but don't bang the gong of success in our face. These are hard working people who are seeing years of effort and expense shrivel up and fade away.
Your seven days of exclusive bliss is a false reality.
Nothing wrong with being happy with a boost of income, other peoples earnings going down is not my problem and never will be. Not after a group hug but sounds like you need one, no need to be so sour, if it's not working out then choose a different career! I'm not in this game to earn a living, but to buy more gear with the money coming in - hell I just bought a new lens today, woop woop for me! Oh sorry, didn't mean to rub that in. I'm not just singing praise for IS, just answering my own questions on my original post. My current DL rate is averaging just over a DL a day, has anyone experienced the DL rate climb? Yes my DL rate has climbed.Has going exclusive increased your royalties to offset losing PP sales? So far so very good.How fast are the review rates? Mine are currently around 7 days  From 2 hours to 2 days.How will going exclusive effect my 1000 files already for sale on iStock? They have now gone up in price, and having S+ files is a bonus.If you were contributing to Shutterstock as well, was it worth going exclusive? For me it definitely has, although SS was a good earner, I don;t need it anymore.Maybe you old timers won't find this thread useful - but new guys like me might.
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« on: August 14, 2014, 00:32 »
10
« on: August 13, 2014, 18:51 »
Acceptance rate at iStock means nothing nowadays. They take whatever crappy image you upload, except when there is a copyright issue. So, no reason to be proud about a high acceptance rate (I don't mean to be rude, but that's the ugly truth!).
Fair point well taken, before the new standards came in I had an 80% acceptance rate 
I bit the bullet and going to try exclusive for a while, fingers crossed it works out. The time-saving factor alone will have the wife happy, so that will make me happy too I'm not in this game professionally and don't expect to make a living wage out of it, just a bit of fun at the end of the day
The oldest images in your port seem to be mid 2013 - after the end of standards at IS
That's not the point of this thread  I do however remember being in the the midst of the change when I was accepted as a contributor. My images may suck as people are implying by the new standards vs old, but they are working for me and that's what I wanted to find out by going exclusive.
11
« on: August 13, 2014, 03:50 »
Haha yes, I have been a stock buyer (I work in advertising) for 7 or so years, only contributed since June/July last year (check photo dates if you want). So yes, I am still a fresh contributor Here's how this year is going so far: 
12
« on: August 12, 2014, 21:10 »
Just an update on this, glad I wend exclusive have been exclusive for 7 days now, had 14 downloads which netted me more than the whole of last month if it stays like this then I will reach payout each week, which is more than I expected. Excellent
13
« on: August 05, 2014, 22:11 »
Acceptance rate at iStock means nothing nowadays. They take whatever crappy image you upload, except when there is a copyright issue. So, no reason to be proud about a high acceptance rate (I don't mean to be rude, but that's the ugly truth!).
Fair point well taken, before the new standards came in I had an 80% acceptance rate I bit the bullet and going to try exclusive for a while, fingers crossed it works out. The time-saving factor alone will have the wife happy, so that will make me happy too I'm not in this game professionally and don't expect to make a living wage out of it, just a bit of fun at the end of the day
14
« on: August 02, 2014, 05:56 »
This is a contributor with 385 images and between 300 and 400 sales. If 5 sales a month seems good to you (it isn't) then I guess exclusivity might be for you too
The OP is in the same-ish boat with 1000 images and around 25 sales a month...
http://www.istockphoto.com/user_view.php?id=2411778
Honestly, just read the July thread and notice the only happy people are the ones who are going from 0 dls a day to 1.
Seems I'm doing better than most of those people, although I think their earnings would be better
15
« on: August 01, 2014, 23:14 »
Thanks guys, interesting points raised!
I'm still a relative newbie in selling stock and it will only ever be a hobby/sideline/lunch (and lens) money thing for me. My sales are increasing about 30% a month now on IS which is great, maybe I experiment with exclusive and see how it goes, and just sign off Shutterstock other libraries for me aren't doing as well and it's a pain having to upload to 6 or so sites so they will be shut down anyway...
If it fails, then I just keep with Getty (started with the Flickr initiative), iStock and Shutterstock.
16
« on: August 01, 2014, 20:01 »
Hey guys, I have been contributing to iStock for 12 months now and reached over 250 downloads (95% acceptance rate) and considering going exclusive, but have a few questions: Maybe people who have just recently gone exclusive can help: My current DL rate is averaging just over a DL a day, has anyone experienced the DL rate climb? Has going exclusive increased your royalties to offset losing PP sales? How fast are the review rates? Mine are currently around 7 days How will going exclusive effect my 1000 files already for sale on iStock? If you were contributing to Shutterstock as well, was it worth going exclusive? My main reason for going exclusive is to save time uploading to just 1 site (and another for RM images) and also the higher royalty rates, but just not sure if it would be worth it just yet? I have been contributing to SS for 6 weeks now and just about to get my first payout, so deactivating my files will be pretty straight forward with no loss. Cheers
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