Other Microstock Agencies

A little posting on my experiences with other stock sites i haven't mentioned very much, if at all, to date.

Yaymicro:

A nice clean looking site. Haven't had any problems with them and their upload process is smooth and easy. No sales but after getting over 50 images approved i am starting to get more views. AR 100% so far.

3DStudio:

Sells 3D images as well as 2D, textures, stock illustrations and photos. Uploading has been fine and their method is for your image to become 'live' and viewable as soon as it's uploaded where it has the status of 'editorial only' until it is reviewed and, if good enough, will then go into the 'RF - can be used commercially' category.

No sales there yet but a massive amount of views (over 4000) so there is certainly a lot of activity there. AR 100% to date.

Featurepics:

A nice site. Friendly communications and a healthy number of views per image. No sales to date but 100% AR.

ScandinavianStockPhoto:

I haven't had any problems here but i think their site needs a little fine tuning. It looks a bit simple and lacks character. Their FAQ only contains 5 questions/answers and views per image are few and far between. I will continue to upload images though as it's an easy process. AR currently 100%.

StockphotoPro:

All i can say about SPP is that i submitted my initial 10 images (to be accepted as a contributor) upon registering on the 27th Jan this year and its now 14th March and they are still pending review. Doesn't inspire confidence.

The site looks and feels ok although there are pages such as 'my images' in the 'quick links' menu that are extremely slow to load for some reason. We are talking minutes. (In fact i timed it at 3mins 31secs for the page to load.) Perhaps it doesn't like Firefox but as other pages are generally ok i am assuming for now it's down to the site and not my imac or browser choice.
I'll post an update if/when my images are ever approved/rejected.

ShutterFarm:

I have views on SF although no sales to date but my main problem with them is that their system doesn't automatically read meta data therefore i have to manually type in title, description and keywords (up to 20 max). This is very annoying and time consuming as well as leaving open the possibility of making a typing mistake. This happened recently and for the life of me i couldn't figure out how to edit the title (where the error was) so emailed SF via their online form to find out how to do so. I also asked when they would support automated EXIF/IPTC data retrieval. That was a good week ago and no reply from them as yet.
I'll continue to upload for now but they are currently way down the list of priority sites to add to.

ImageStoreUK:

Having problems with this site. Getting logged out every time i try to edit an image (after submitting and getting an initial four sample illustrations approved.) I think their site is a bit 'wonky' but i have emailed them for advice/suggestions. Could be a firefox and/or camino problem. I'll update when i know more.

WorkingTitleImages:

Got approved as a contributor after submitting initial 3 sample images and although i have tried to upload the bulk of my portfolio i am unable to do so due to an error page popping up. The site is still in BETA stage and obviously has some teething problems and i know from an email received at the end of Jan that their official site launch could be delayed.
I have tried to contact them using their 'contact us' link but that too gives an error message of 'email not sent' so it seems their site has a way to go before it's up and running properly. I'll up date if the situation changes.

MostPhotos:

I nicely laid out site. No problems uploading but i feel more of a photo community rather than a site that's going to bring in a great deal of sales. It's good to see comments on your images and fun to leave feedback or click 'like' on other peoples images you admire and enjoy viewing. Having said all that there are sales to be had and as it's an easy site to use and navigate i suspect i will continue to add my illustrations there. I'll let you know if i ever get sale.

That's it for now... there are a few others i am registered with but I'll save those for another post. :-)

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for the post. I am sorry that nowhere is there sales( Maybe not need to waste time on these sites?

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  2. Yes you're right it's a shame not to see any sales on those sites although i think with such a small portfolio it's to be expected.

    I don't think i will really be able to judge if it's worth the effort of uploading to other sites until my portfolio reaches at least 1000 images.

    I did believe i was wasting my time with Canstock after months of no sales and hardly any views but then had a single image sale for $20 (£13) in March so i guess you never know what's around the corner ;-)

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