You might try 123. They take editorial and commercial images and the upload process is much simpler than others (no categories). They are not fast sellers for us (and like BigStock, we have up and down streaks with them) but they are generally good earners. DT is the site with which I'm least impressed but I do get occasional sales that make it seem worth it. And their sub royalties are high relative to where newbies get started on other sites.

Yeah I think they only go by # of sales. Which is completely useless of course if you're also doing video.

That assumes that ranking matters. I find it interesting to know my ranking and to see it fluctuate but I'd rather just see more $$ coming in than be ranked highly.

Quote from: Stock Wife on June 01, 2016, 19:12

Very few but some. I sell more on 123 than on Fotolia. There are three price tiers you can choose.

I wouldn't mess with 123 unless you also sell photos or vectors. The video sales go a long way to bump up ranking.

I can't find anything about uploading video on their site. Are commission percentages the same as given by your rank for photos?
And how much "points" do you receive for video downloads?
To sell video, can you just start uploading if you're already a photo contributor or is there some kind of separate application / approval step to start selling video?

I can't expand as much as I'd like. I don't actually know the systematic 'points' you earn for selling video. They have a list for how may points you get toward ranking for various photo sales but I haven't seen such a list for video.

Like other sites, 123 has a tiered royalty system (easy enough to find on their site) where you get a higher percentage royalty based on your prior sales. At 123 (like at BS), the tier is based on most recent 12 months of sales. Video sales count A LOT toward these rankings. I've never done the math, but I think they contribute 100+ points in many cases. So the few video sales that we get (we've had no return problems yet) help us keep at a higher royalty tier for our photos. We are a small time seller, really, in regards to both photos and videos, so we are only at Tier 2 on 123 but our video sales got us there faster and are helping us push to Tier 3.

Very few but some. I sell more on 123 than on Fotolia. There are three price tiers you can choose.

I wouldn't mess with 123 unless you also sell photos or vectors. The video sales go a long way to bump up ranking.

I was wondering the same thing

It was late, then I got busy with another project then i felt bad it was so late.  I can still start it if there is interest.

I'm not good with programming but I do stats for a living. If you'd like help compiling the data that come in, let me know.

Hi everyone-

What data do you find most important to track and what systems or software do you use to do your tracking?

Right now we are tracking info at the file level (where each file is accepted, where it sells and for how much, year photo taken, session/trip/type of photo, etc). As our port grows, my little excel file is starting to get pushed to its limits.

Curious what others think is important to know and if you have any database management systems you like/think are worth learning.

My take on the language was that the content would not automatically be handed over to iStock- that it would be up to the contributor to put the content on IS.

Other key places to upload videos are 123 and SS. They don't sell frequently but because you are a new contributor, video sales make a massive difference in getting you up the pay-scale ladder. Many of the commenters here have been around long enough that they are not in the bottom ranks. You probably still are. It's only a few cents per sale (often) but it adds up, in both $$ and pride.

I'd also note that I have sales of editorial images on SS, DT, 123, and BS. If they are images you already have for sale at IS (so can't be RM), definitely upload them across the board.

We have the same thing happening. A few weeks back, IS sent out a message saying they would be compensating contributors for subscription sales that were happening for more than .28 cents. They said they would not be linking those funds up to the specific images because 'they are unable to do so.' It's ridiculous to me the number of things IS is 'unable to do' but that's a whole different thread. I'm assuming the mystery funds are related to this process. You could also check their forum where I'm sure people are discussing this.

These are probably being rejected from the free section. The option to have your images considered for free section may have been changed (checked or unchecked) without you realizing it. When you are doing your next uploads, make sure to check on that.

We uploaded the first part of our portfolio to Deposit and then I started reading about all the dis-rest and frustration over their partner programs. I decided to pause uploading there and just leave our initial port online. We have 655 images there and some videos. We have never sold a video there and make $5 or less per month from deposit. So you're not missing out on much.

I'd give 123RF a go. They are slipping a little these days but their review process (if long) is also easy (no categories) and it's feasible to jump up a level or two without an industrial-sized portfolio. Note that I don't have vectors in the port yet so I am speaking from photo & video experience.

Fotolia (like IS and SS) doesn't have different subscription rates based on image size. The royalty you receive is based on the price the buyers are paying per subscription credit. So your buyer of 27 cent photos has a large sub package (or better deal) than the buyer of the 80 cent sub sale. You'll see good variability as the rates are 33 percent if coming from Adobe and whatever your currently royalty rate is if sold through Fotolia. Some subs can be several dollars.

And yes, 50 credits = 50 dollars (or euros, depending on how you signed up)

No change for me. Tootles along.  Number 3 (just)(almost 4). Same as it always has been. Pretty much as on the right.
Loads of 29c sales or thereabouts.  Need a lot of them to make real money.
The odd 12.50 is rare and as good as it gets.

My husband is the stock producer and I am by trade a researcher. Your question got me thinking about the variability in our earnings from each site. Because we are still new, earnings totals are still heavily influenced by increasing portfolio sizes. So I compared the standard deviation of RPI  per month on each of the sites. Sure enough, SS has more variability (.07 cents is the standard deviation) compared to Fotolia (.02 cents is the SD). This difference is likely caused by many of the sentiments shared in this thread and is, most specifically, related to your comment about the odd higher sales. SS has more variability because of the extreme sales whereas Fotolia's income is more certain. I can better predict my income in a given month for Fotolia than I can for SS.

I hope someone enjoys the nerd rant and am happy to explain if anyone is more curious about the implications of my dorky analyses.

These statistics aside, I'd like to say that we, too, have seen a pretty big increase in sales on Fotolia since August, with our RPI per month nearly doubling from pre-August to August. September is on track to be better than August.