I was independent (2004-8) then exclusive (2008-11) and then independent again. The days of being treated with respect by any agency are long gone, so don't expect anyone to welcome you warmly

You can make decent money, depending on what you have to sell, how big your portfolio is, and in part, whether you have existing accounts at SS and Fotolia (now Adobe Stock) to reactivate. That matters because you can start with a higher commission rate instead of the base. Also, do a search on SS on keywords for a few of your top sellers and take a look at what you'll be competing with. If you don't think your work stacks up, possibly you might have trouble with going independent.

Dreamstime is fading into irrelevance, I'd give DepositPhotos a wide berth (balance of scams and problems to earnings seems wrong). Alamy can work, depending on your portfolio, but I find it much more variable (good months and dry spells). 123rf used to be a decent second tier site, but they're struggling and I think the owners are trying to sell (and they cut royalty rates again recently).

Good luck

Thanks for the detailed response. My portfolio isn�t huge, just 1,500 or so images but I used to generate over $1000 per month back in the day. A few of my images were really big sellers. Now I�m lucky to get $100-200 in a month.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I�m done with iStock. I�ve been with them almost since the beginning and all the tech issues with ESP and the lack of respect from Getty is the last straw.

If I give up my exclusivity and start submitting to Shutterstock and Adobe, will my income be the same as what it was at iStock as an exclusive? Any other sites I should consider?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk