A completely different set up is OpenCart (free) which, like wordpress, has lots of themes and extensions available for it.  The base theme is capable of selling digital downloads and/or physical items, setting tax for different geo, zones from countries to US states.  Due to the VATMOSS vatmess my stock site is currently closed but I do use OpenCart for my Art and Nail Art site

Good Idea Chromoco - one thing you have maybe missed out is that the even if some are getting low sales the value of those sales is way above that of agencies (depending on the prices chosen by the site owners of course).

Quote from: trek on March 06, 2014, 20:29

I hate this deal.  A good portion of my port is travel and travel editorial related.  Much of my material is subject matter they decided should be given away for free.  Deactivating my port maybe a sound business decision.  Certainly something I'm thinking over.

I see it differently : once your embedded images are clicked 100 or 200 times you could make one sale, the average conversion-rate on e-commerce sites is 0.5% to 1%, photos are a bit harder to sell so maybe you can expect 0.1%

So images could be used 100-200 times for free and you might get one sale out of it ?   

The first words on Ron's post read

"Symbostock must coast for a while"

It looks to me, from what is written there that Leo needs to start earning a living again with his illustrations as Symbiostock is not paying off for him.  He has spent most of the last year or more working on it, not forgetting everyone he has helped setting up their sites and sorting out their site problems - most, if not al,l for free so I imagine he needs some income now.  The wording "Symbiostock must coast for a while" is hardly the same as saying the project is dead.  Normally when Leo writes something he writes quite a bit more so unless he was in a hurry I suspect the original text could have been a bit longer ?

I know how he feels, I have helped quite a few people out with their sites, and done it with pleasure, but when I am doing that I am not doing my own work and being self employed that means a loss.  This is why I have added a line to my signature now 

Ron, you seem to be the only one who saw that message, was that the whole thing?

Flotsam - you mean creating your own site and being able to sell your own images directly to the customer at a price you choose is a waste of time.

Symbiostock exists, it works and it is still in it's early days being barely ten months since the first versions were released for testing.

Potential clients are finding us, if we have what they are looking for they will licence our images, if we don't then they will go elsewhere, simple as that.

If we complain about any of the agencies and what they are doing fair enough, we have no control whatsoever when they change their rules, search algorithms, finagle ways of paying us less etc. for our work.

If we complain about Symbiostock (and only those who are involved in it have any right to do so as far as I am concerned) that is totally different as we are potentially harming our own businesses, so in my opinion it should not be done - anyone remember Gerald Ratner?.  Symbiostock is not some entity where only a few actually make any money out of everyone else's work, we all have exactly the same opportunities, how we choose to use them is up to us.

Those who put in the effort deserve to get more out of it.  Yes, many of us link to Cascoly and/or AJT - but they in return link to every single one of us within the network.  They don't have to, they could be selective but without requiring anything from us in return they choose to spend their money (hosting) and time (listing and coding) their sites to benefit all of us in the network.

Yes, I do feel that only good things should be said about Symbiostock - my site runs using the software freely provided by Leo and links to his site which is my choice,  and it is MY Business.  Anyone who says or does anything against it is potentially harming My Business and I reserve the right to react accordingly

Not seconds maybe but can be done in a few minutes but a non-super advanced photoshop user I would think

I cancelled my account and took payment at similar times a few years ago as waited till I had enough for a payout.  However, earlier last year I discovered some of my images on another site that I had never even heard of, let alone uploaded to.  Eventually discovered it was down to istock/getty and that did take a long time to get them removed and receive a payout as everyone I spoke to or emailed or wrote to denied it was anything to do with them !

I did go though it and answer most of the questions but it wanted more of them  it would not accept it - at least I tried

Mine arrived on Tuesday but I did not have time to take it out until today as it actually stopped raining for a while although it has just started - again!

In front of the flooded field - last time I went down this lane parts of the road were underwater as well


and at the most famous landmark I could think of in this area

Batemans, the home of the late Rudyard Kipling


Many thanks to Amos, Tyler and all involved in sending them out along with the other gifts, very much appreciated.

Go to Appearance, Themes and check the theme itself for updates.  Unless it needs a fresh install then the updates will show there.

If you cannot access it then try and log in and then ask it for a new password

There is not actually a premium version of Symbiostock

There is the base free version then there are plug-ins, including a Professional Plug-in that allows batch editing, twitter, alternative licences and collections