When I started, I applied and uploaded to every site that let me in.  I didn't (and still don't) see the logic of just starting with one, gathering data, and doing all your homework before you decide where to sign up next... why not be selling everywhere you can during that time? 

Sure, your particular port might sell 1X at site A, 2X at site B, and 3X at site C, but where's the logic in leaving out site A, unless your numbers are so low that it doesn't justify the effort in uploading (I recently made that decision on CRE and VEER). 

So my advice: send to every agency (at least the 7 that matter, and to me those are SS, IS, DT, FT, BigStock, CAN, 123) and if you determine some aren't worth the effort, axe them.

But then how come this wasn't a problem before?

Could it be that FT's (and other agencies for that matter) needs have changed over time?  When you originally submitted shots in the same subjects, they were accepted because they were needed.  Now your skills have advanced and your shots may be better, but FT might have decided that they are oversaturated in those topics and they (rightly or wrongly) feel they have more supply than their customers will ever demand.

My own experience with FT has been unchanged for the past 15 months or so... they've consistently accepted about 90-95% of my uploads... but then, they might just feel that they're not quite saturated in my core subjects just yet... but I imagine that day is certainly coming.

Definitely a spike in sales for March.  I've done $58 this month, mostly thanks to an extended license sale on March 8.

Total port size is 479, though I haven't uploaded there in about 6 months.  If the current sales continue, I may start up again, but I still have a bad taste in my month from the inconsistent bulk rejections... one group of pics passes with no problems, but a similar batch gets thrown out entirely for not being what they're looking for. 

Are you saying you got 500 through that web interface? Or did they give you FTP access?

I emailed them to ask for FTP access, just as they suggest on their site, and got it within a few hours.

I went back this morning expecting I'd have to do something to formally submit them, but I saw they were (almost) all approved.

Couldn't be easier!

it is the age of the images that cause the decline.

I know what you're saying... but unless an image looks dated, why should its age cause its decline?   I know, you mean that competition for a given image will increase over time, and that will drive down its sales.  But if you have the best image (for a given search) today, and it somehow manages to still be the best image in three years, I can't see a buyer saying "that's three years old, I can't buy that."   (We can probably agree that the age effect likely has less impact on illustrations, where you don't have to worry about things like a model's clothes or computer equipment looking dated.)

I know I'm still a rookie at this, and can't dispute the experience of those who have been at this a long time.  I'm sure I'll eventually see the effects that gostwyck is describing.  They just haven't happened yet.  (My top sellers today are two of my oldest pics -- 14 months old, and I'm in my 15 month at this.)

I'm in month 15 and have not hit the wall.  It's been slow and steady growth, outpacing the goals I set for myself when I began.  I see no signs of growth slowing down yet... in fact my RPI today is higher than it was in month 5 or month 10.  That's the key factor to watch... if your RPI is consistent, you can expect every additional image to earn a certain amount and can forecast growth, but if RPI decreases, you're simply replacing old images that no longer sell with new images that hopefully will.   My strategy for avoiding "the wall" is to constantly find new subjects and don't duplicate what I've already done.  If you oversaturate a subject, you'll simply steal sales from yourself.  But if you upload quality images to many different in-demand subjects, I think you can put off the flattening of growth for some time.  It's worked for me so far, anyway.

@ Tom, I am on 7 sites, down from 9 after dropping Crestock and Veer.  But the only ones that produce any kind of steady returns are the top 4.   

+1.  Exact same answer.

I hated it at first, but now I don't see it as much worse than the previous system.

But I'm finding a glitch... about 5 to 10% of the time, when I select an image to edit, the screen goes darker while it loads the data, and I get the spinning wheel forever.  I'll reload the page and try the same image again with the same results.  Not sure if it's something in my meta data that is triggering the glitch, but it seems to only happen on certain images.  Anyone else seeing this?

Why is this a new vs. old contributor argument?  Looks like it's simply based on acceptance ratio.  Mine has been around 90% since I started contributing at DT just over a year ago, so it applies to me.  Of course, I only submit 2 or 3 a day, so it won't affect me.  I see this as a good thing.

My OD downloads for Mar 1 - 12 are a bit higher than I had Feb 1 -12.

Thought it would be interesting to have a thread in which we share trends we have noticed as we track our ports.

It's hard to see trends if you have a small port.  But as my port has grown, I've seen consistent trends emerge and thought I'd share them to see if you spot the same trends in your port.  Some if it is common sense stuff... others, chalk them up to "interesting observations."

(Of course, there are anomalies like EL sales that can throw everything off, but the bigger your port and overall sales, the less wildly an EL or two will throw off your numbers.)

- Sunday is worst day of week for sales   -   I know, DUH!   I used to think it was a toss-up between Sat and Sun, but as my port has grown and overall sales reached a certain level, I now see it as a rule... Sun is typically about 20% lower than Sat... at least, for me.)

- Friday is worst weekday  -  For a while I thought Mondays were also slow, but with the previous two Mondays each reaching BDE levels, I now see Mon - Thurs as about equal in sales, and Fri about 25% lower than the weekday average.

- The weekend begins around noon ET on Friday  -  I've seen this each Friday for the last few months... Friday mornings are a bit weaker than other weekdays, then there's a pronounced falloff in activity after about noon (ET time in the eastern US).

- "Siesta time" each weekday from about 1 to 3 pm ET  -  I guess I'm really showing how worn down my F5 key is!  I think there's a definite fall-off in buying activity during the early afternoon hours.  North American workers don't really take siestas, so maybe it's just extended lunches?  But I routinely see things pick up in late afternoon and slowly taper off.

- Buying slows/stops around 8 pm ET.  I'll still see some sales at night, but I definitely see the faucet shutting off right around 8 pm.  This could be the west coast of the US calling it a day at 5 pm their time.

Do you see the same trends?  What else do you see?

For me, CanStockPhoto is 3x my 123 total this month.

BigStock has been stagnant but seems to be picking up a bit of steam since the redesign.

Maybe this is an isolated case.  Just checked my last several months of uploads and I've had 1 rejection out of about 150 submissions.  Slightly better success rate than I'm having at most the other sites...  I've always had the impression that 123's standards are a bit looser than the others.