Just got paid today on my request from Aug 17, so it took one week, which is normal for the past few months.

My recent payments...

Requested July 7, paid July 13
Requested July 18, paid July 22
Requested Aug 1, paid Aug 8
Requested Aug 17, paid Aug 24

OK, so it's too early to judge, agreed.  But I've already decided Veer is superior to Crestock.  I may drop a site soon, and it's far more likely to be Crestock, which I think is pretty useless.  I've made more in a month on Veer than in a year on Crestock, and I think once it really starts getting promoted, it could give 123 and BigStock a run for their money.

I still don't think this is something anyone should be losing sleep over.  I might lose $30 of commissions that are owed to me if BigStockPhotos goes under?  It's the end of the world!  I won't be able to treat my family to McDonald's tomorrow.

Seriously, consider the silver lining if BigStock does call it quits (even if they fly to Bermuda with all the $30 payouts they owe us)... the few people who regularly bought from them would have to switch to another service, say SS or IS or StockXpert or DT or FT, etc... sites I'm much more fond of than BigStock.

But if this happens and everyone wants to start a class-action lawsuit against the owners of a defunct BigStock, count me in... though my portion of the legal fees would probably eat up my entire $30!

The trend in agencies "screwing" contributors is a textbook example of supply and demand.  The supply of contributors is growing so uncontrollably that it makes sense for an agency to take a survey of the competitive landscape and lower commissions, payouts, and generally put the squeeze on "suppliers" as long as the market allows it. Frankly if I were them I'd be doing the same thing.  It's up to each individual contributor to decide his/her tolerance for negative changes and get out when the time is right for him/her.  But no one is forcing you to stick around if you don't like how you're being treated.  Enough of the vicitm mentality.  If you can't make microstock work for you under current conditions, then you'll be weeded out and only the strongest will survive.  But if the agencies go too far and their most valued contributors start dropping, they will surely reverse course.  This is how the free market works, boys and girls... if you don't have the stomach for it, you should consider getting off the ride.

I can't believe anyone is this concerned over a few bucks.  You'll get the money, but it will just take a bit longer.  If your argument that it will take you forever to get there, you should reevaluate whether the return from submitting to BigStock -- even microstock in general -- is worth your time and energy.

how do you know how many $$ you have?  did you look at each and every image and add them up?

I was waiting for the sales stat page to go live, but lost patience.  It took about ten minutes to go through each page and jot down the sales... I have 21 pages total.  Annoying, but since I was pleased with the results, I guess it was worth it.  But I certainly won't be doing it again anytime soon.

My CanStockPhoto experience is very strange.  It was dormant for a very long time, then starting around May or June I got a run of $19.80 sales, about 6 or 7 in a month, sprinkled in with a bunch of $.30 or $1.00 sales.  Now the activity has all but dried up again... quiet for the past several weeks with just the occasional tiny sale.  I wonder if they had invested in some advertising around June or so that boosted our downloads in early summer.  Anyone else notice the same thing, only to see their CanStockPhoto sales dry up lately?

Hmm... just looked over my daily results and don't see it.

What's your portfolio size?  I'm guessing the larger it is, the less likely you'll notice wild swings, unless they're tied to something hitting the whole market like a holiday, summer, etc... but those would hit all the sites, not just certain ones.

My port is about 546 pics, so I'm getting the typical predictably unpredictable fluxuations you'd expect of a smallish portfolio.  Hoping the downturn I've seen across all sites over the past month or so is just the summer slump.  August has been especially lousy (down about 20% from July)... someone mentioned that much of Europe takes most of the month off.  I recently discovered that my Shutterstock downloads were about 35% US and 65% outside US, so this might make sense.

I think it's time for another look at Veer, since it's been up a while.

I wanted to compare my performance there vs. the other sites this month, so I went through the ridiculous exercise of going through each page in my port and jotting down my numbers (the sales stat page better come quick!).  Didn't track views, just sales.  Anyway, here's how I've done so far...

Images online: 418
Rejections: 82
Purchases: 21
Revenue: $26.95

That makes Veer #8 of 9 sites for me (Crestock, as always, dead last).  How about everyone else?

Has anyone had better luck getting batches approved lately?  My last two batches got whacked with the "images too similar" stick, all at once.  Many were pretty unique with nothing else similar in the batch or my overall port.  Pretty clear that it's very hit and miss there right now.  I either get a lenient reviewer who will let 30 images in with no problem, or a grump who will reject 30 at once without, it seems, really looking at them.  I want to upload more, since I think the results are at least promising, but refuse to until they figure out what they're doing in terms of approvals.

Also, out of curiosity, do you track return per image (RPI)?  I'm finding that to be an effective way to identify trends.  As you add to your portfolio, you would expect your revenue to go up, but only if your return per image holds steady.  

I track a daily and monthly RPI.  I had been holding steady at about $.11 daily RPI, allowing me to predict my revenue growth as I added new images, but that has taken a hit these past few months, knocking me down to about $.085 RPI today.  Not sure what to think about how the next several months will go.

Without a crystal ball, I guess the best plan is to just keep steadily uploading!

Hello all!

This is my first post here.  I've been reading for a few months, finding lots of insightful information, and figured it was time to "enter the fray."

I've been uploading to several microstock sites since late in 08, and it's been a fun, rewarding experience.  Every month until July 09 has been a "BME."  I've been steadily uploading about 50-60 images a month, with the goal of 2 a day, so I imagine that helps keep the portfolio fresh and my pics  near the top if the buyer is searching by newest first.  (It's worth noting that I've been striving to create a diverse portfolio, mixing up my subject matter so I'm not cannibalizing my own sales.)

So things were going great until July hit, and my growth stopped.  No complaints... July was flat to June, which I guess I expected.  But then August rolls in and my downloads are taking an even bigger hit.

Since I have yet to go through an entire 12-month cycle, I'm wondering if this is common, or if this is an indication that my "beginner's growth" is running out. 

Please share your:

1. Best months
2. Worst months
3. Did you have a "beginner's growth" period that noticeably tailed off after a number of months, and if so, after how many months did it happen?

Thanks!