Ha..half way through...I only have one PP for May..

I love the exclusive versus indie argument. I do agree that exclusive content doesn't mean it is quality. In fact overtime once you hit the sales quota you can become an exclusive...there is not review of the quality of your work...the only thing was the acceptance rate had to be at a certain percentage, but with the lax inspections, that is now moot. The reality is there is good exclusive content and bad exclusive content...same as there is good indie content and bad indie content. The collections are an illusion of paying more for quality...not a reality. For a while when Vetta content was well curated, the quality was usually up, but now there is a lot of crap that has deteriorated Vetta.

I agree though, you produce quality work and are willing to put in the effort then you are better off regardless of your label.

Maybe the 1.2 million will go into things such as model releases...a digital model/property release within the app...maybe some editing functionality to remove logos...who knows.

I'm pretty new to Shutterstock. I had some content on there a few years ago and recently started uploading there again as it seems to be a good earner now. I am please with download although royalties are very low, but It is my understanding that is typical at my current level.

Anyway, the stats don't seem to update on my main overview...the download stats page is up to date, but the other seems to take days to update...any logic behind that?

Also, is there anywhere to look at views?

Their best match has been destroyed...I'm not sure if they can get it back at this point. There is a preference for older files and for some reason they group all the same contributors work...and a lot of stuff is not relevant enough for the first pages. They also have so many poorly keyworded files from these"ingestions" which are clearly just added into IS blindly. Not to mention, video search results come up with many dated SD NTSC and PAL files that may of been top knotch in 2005, but just look sad today.

Come on, you know as well as I contributors aren't users in iStock's mind...we are just slave monkeys they throw peanuts two on occasion. They could care less about a contributors user experience.

Quote from: TheBlackRhino on July 15, 2013, 10:23

Quote from: travelwitness on July 15, 2013, 06:41

Just out of interest is there anyone out there considering Symbiostock but is holding back?

If you are hesitant - what would persuade you to start using Symbiostock?

It sounds interesting, but I'm still a little unclear on why I should use it. 

Doesn't PayPal take a small stipend?

It's pretty sweet getting 100% royalties.

Quote from: dingles on July 15, 2013, 13:47

Okay, this is true...I'm talking past performance on IS. smarty pants ;p

Fair enough  

Guess I'm just not in the mood to cut Istock any slack today.  If I see some serious money start to roll in from the PP it should improve my state of mind. 

It's cool, they don't deserve any slack.

Quote from: dingles on July 15, 2013, 10:58

I'm still getting more for my images at iStock than I do at SS. My last two sales at SS were 25 cents...at least the PP at iStock is 28 cent ;P.

So then you've actually been PAID for your PP downloads from the past couple of months?  What's your secret? 

First off, you will eventually earn more than .25 from SS, but only ever .28 from PP.  That is if you can manage to get paid.  I am assuming you've already been paid for your SS earnings from May and June, so in actuality, it's .25/DL from SS, and a big fat goose egg from IS PP.

Okay, this is true...I'm talking past performance on IS. smarty pants ;p

I would, but I am anonymous here for a reason and posting my work will give me away. Call me paranoid . Anyway, I get that they all have their ideal images...I'm just going to take it as my style just isn't for them. Just odd as out of all the agencies, I typically understand the rejections...the ones from Dreamstime seems odd as they are looking for more blown out and filtered images...at least that is what I get from their feedback. If they looks at the historgram on my images they are all carefully balanced. Anyway...no biggie, just wanted to vent a little frustration...especially since they have the longest queue I've experienced so far.

I recently decided to put some of my best sellers on Dreamstime. A lot of them were refused. I find it comical as they are all approved on the other top sites and selling well. I'm just not going to waste my time at Dreasmtime...it took ions for them to inspect and then their notes seems like they want me to over saturate and blowout my images. I guess my work just doesn't fit into what they are looking for.

Time is the only thing holding me back.

I am a multimedia developer so working with it and customizing wouldn't be a big deal for me, but I don't have the time at the moment to commit. I'd imagine I'd have to put a considerable amount of time into it upfront. Probably worth it, but still no time available