On my eighth initial-10 submission, I was finally accepted as a photographer at SS.  I've been selling videos there for a few years, and sales have always been sparse.  The initial ten seemed to be a moving target - previously accepted photos got rejected.  After being accepted, I began uploading.  Inspection happened within hours, and of course, there were (and still are) the seemingly irrational and illogical rejections, but of the photos that were approved and accepted, I began to see sales within an hour.  By that evening, I had five photo sales and one video sale.  This morning, I awoke to more sales overnight, totaling 13.  One photo even sold twice!  I've never had that kind of volume on any site, ever!  I'm on istock (video only), DT, FT, CanStockPhoto, BS, CutCaster, PantherMedia, and others.  My first day on SS has outpaced them all.  I hope it continues!  Of course, at a measley 33 cents per download, I need to do some serious volume, but one of the sales netted $2.48 for me.  Way to go SS!   

Agree!  its hard to fault SS on anything right now.

0.33$ from start?? it isn´t 0.25$??

forget! you had footage before

Congratulations!  SS has always been a good source of instant gratification, but with sales booming there now, it is even better! 

Good for you!

Welcome to the wonderful world of Shutterstock 

Congratulations!
After seen thier review time and how quickly files fall into database. i am in shock 

YES  SHUTTERSTOCK ROCKS!!!  My TOP site...  and sales are so good!

It's definitely a good feeling on ss once you get in. All those sales pouring in. Congrats, i've seen you write a few times about trying to get in as a photographer. Glad you finally made it.

Totally OT: @ Microstock Posts, every time I see your avatar picture I have to smile.  What an undignified position you have captured your poor cat in.  Very funny! 

Quote from: lisafx on May 12, 2011, 20:00
Totally OT: @ Microstock Posts, every time I see your avatar picture I have to smile.  What an undignified position you have captured your poor cat in.  Very funny! 

Lol. Lisa, I laugh at this cat so much everyday. It's just Homer Simpson in cat form.

Have a closer look.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/asianimages/art/6743062-cat-sitting-on-a-matress

Quote from: Microstock Posts on May 12, 2011, 20:43
Lol. Lisa, I laugh at this cat so much everyday. It's just Homer Simpson in cat form.

Have a closer look.
http://www.redbubble.com/people/asianimages/art/6743062-cat-sitting-on-a-matress

ROFL!  Hilarious!  Homer Simpson - I believe it

You don't have her on any of the stock sites, do you?  If so, would you PM me a link? 

Congratulation! Shutterstock is the best, I love it (and this month one of my work is selected for the home page, great honor for me and...happiness!) 
I sold in a day on SS more than Fotolia in seven months (I'm thinking to go away from Fotolia...).

W Shuttestock!!!!

never enjoyed soccer but SS is now my club!

Congrats and wish you continuous sales.
SS is the place for sales - the place to be!

SS is a great site. They put new stuff in prominent positions mixed in with top sellers. This is very motivating and keeps you wanting to upload more.... And that is the key, feed the beast and you will have volume DLs.

I would stagger my uploads x amount per week, this way you always have recently uploaded images and you will have good placement, and if your images sell right away you will stay in that ranking.

Congratulations on being accepted and wish you lots of DLs.

I continue to be very impressed with Shutterstock, and it just keeps getting better!  Every day has seen downloads in the double-digits, with the exception of Sunday, and I just got an extended download which netted $28.00 for me.  I've never seen anything even close to this kind of action on any other site, and it's so far ahead of the other sites that they're not even worth my time!

Quote from: csproductions on May 16, 2011, 15:41
I continue to be very impressed with Shutterstock, and it just keeps getting better!  Every day has seen downloads in the double-digits, with the exception of Sunday, and I just got an extended download which netted $28.00 for me.  I've never seen anything even close to this kind of action on any other site, and it's so far ahead of the other sites that they're not even worth my time!

Not to rain on your parade, but what your are experiencing now is the socalled "Shutterstock honeymoon". New files get a boost in the search alogrithm at SS and new contributors get another boost on top of that - so in the first six to eight weeks after being accepted your files are selling like hotcakes.

After that the "new contributor" bonus will be gone and you'll have to upload - feed the beast - to have continous sales. That being said, in five years in Microstock, SS has never failed to produce at least 1/3 of my MS income - which makes them a very good site in my book.

Again, not to ruin your enthusiasm, just don't extrapolate current sales three years into the future and hold off ordering those Ferraris just a bit 

Just got some good shots rejected for "lighting". Yes, they had some shadows, without shadows everything looks flat, but that's how they seem to like it.

Congrats!  My fave SS moment was submitting one night before bed and waking up to a newly approved file with an extended license sale. 

Quote from: Pixart on May 16, 2011, 20:27
Congrats!  My fave Shutterstock moment was submitting one night before bed and waking up to a newly approved file with an extended license sale. 

My least favorite was this afternoon; when I thought I had it all figured out and then had 100% rejections.   

2 Els and some credit sales today, $75. A good day at SS :-) Been with them for years, they are still my best and fav site.

Quote from: Stu99 on May 16, 2011, 23:59
2 Els and some credit sales today, $75. A good day at Shutterstock :-) Been with them for years, they are still my best and fav site.

We're in whole-hearted agreement, Stu.  Sales are great.  And, there is the source of my frustration.  I have to get them accepted to get them sold.   

I had a good weekend, getting 7 out of twelve accepted.  I had fish for dinner yesterday; took a picture of it and uploaded to SS.  It was accepted last night and sold this afternoon.  I got over confident; an additional seven uploads from last night were rejected in mass this afternoon.  Same setup; same lighting.  I just don't get it.   

Quote from: Stu99 on May 16, 2011, 23:59
2 Els and some credit sales today, $75. A good day at Shutterstock :-) Been with them for years, they are still my best and fav site.

$75 would be a good MONTH for me  but got my 1st EL there today and pleased with that

I expected rejections because, although I may be new to Shutterstock, this ain't my first rodeo.  I've had entire batches rejected for the lighting/shadows issue, and the majority of others accepted, using the same lighting setup with the same subjects (model headshots).  I'll be the first to agree that the inspection process seems to be lacking any rational thought or following any predictable pattern, which makes it impossible for us to shoot anything specifically according to Shutterstock standards.  The primary reason I still upload to other sites is to get all of my material available somewhere.  (I have the highest acceptance rates at CanStockPhoto and Alamy.)  However, I now have the distinct pleasure of a new morning routine - entering sales from the day before into my personal database.  So notwithstanding the need for improvement in the inspection process, Shutterstock is still leaving all other sites in its dust.  

(BTW - Warren:  that's "en masse."  Just thought you'd like to know.   )

EDIT:  My acceptance rate at CanStockPhoto just took a nose dive.  I got a message from them a while back instructing me to avoid putting model's names in keywords "for privacy reasons."  The models are working every day to get their name and face in front of as many eyeballs as possible, and anyone with half a brain knows that.  But since it's their site and they make the rules, I comply and delete the model's names (it's uploaded with the IPTC info.)  I recently forgot to do that with a batch, and instead of allowing me the opportunity to edit and resubmit, they summarily rejected them.  And since the site is performing poorly anyway (for me), I'll probably just stop uploading to it altogether.  So Alamy takes the lead for highest acceptance rate for me.