Veer's marathon Dash for Cash runs out of puff:

End of an era as Veer closes and makes final payments

That's it then. I've finally received my Dash For Cash uploading bonus from Veer which I earned way back in 2010.

New readers can be forgiven for not knowing what I'm talking about so backtracking to 2008 or so we had the launch of microstock photo agency Snap Village. SV was the first attempt at microstock from long established traditional photo agency Corbis (owned by Bill Gates -founder of Microsoft). Corbis was well known for editorial imagery and very much in a battle with Getty Images for dominance in that market.

Snapvillage (the very first online agency I signed up to) was never a great success -for them or me -and in 2009 its closure was announced with key portfolios being moved over to the Veer agency (another Corbis brand). Not surprisingly, my portfolio did not make the grade for transfer but they did allow photographers to sign up to the new Veer Marketplace (the budget part of the Veer site) and upload there. Most of my uploads got rejected -usually with snooty notes about being too journalistic or not meeting the aesthetic qualities their clients expected. It was very much an old school, traditional agency not having a clue about microstock and what sells. Worse, they never accepted editorial images -surprising given the background of Corbis (or maybe avoiding a conflict of interest?).

In 2010, Veer wanted to boost their image library so announced their Dash for Cash scheme. Essentially, for a limited period, they paid a fee for each image uploaded and accepted. I actually did quite well out of that and earned around $75 in bonus money. The problem with that was that Veer has a payout level of $100 (way too high for a slow selling site). Over the six years since I have had one Extended License paying out around $20 and a handful of minor sales -bringing me to just over $98. Close, but so far, from payout!

Acceptance actually got a lot better in the last year or so with virtually all my uploads making it into their library. The trouble is Veer was and remained a very low selling site. Over at Microstockgroup they never made it beyond the Low Earners section of the monthly polls. I did start to wonder if I would ever make this payout and considered closing my account just to get the money.

However, 2016 brought the news that the Corbis empire had been purchased by Visual China Group which would distribute Corbis images to the Chinese market and to the rest of the World through a partnership deal with Getty Images. Shortly afterwards is was announced that the Veer brand was being closed down altogether and that all contributors would be paid out (regardless of amount).

So, there we are then. The end of the second attempt by Corbis to crack the microstock market. I'm sorry for anyone at Veer who will no longer have a job and I will say that when I have needed to contact them they have never been less than friendly and helpful. The end of an era -with a direct link back to my start in microstock. Regards, David.

December sales updates:

Catching up with my monthly updates my December report is rather overdue.

As ever, Shutterstock outperformed all other sites with the highlight being a further three Single and Other Downloads (SOD) contributing $27.58 to the total. These are starting to prove rather interesting and for very worthwhile amounts.

Dreamstime followed up with 10 downloads ($8.06) and a further $0.04 in referral income as one of my referred photographers had their first sale.

Bigstock produced 11 downloads ($5.04) with most of these being subs.

Istock ticked over with 6 downloads ($4.52) and a further $1.96 from 7 PP sales. Sales certainly seem to have declined at Istock over recent months.

123rf managed 11 downloads ($4.73). Again, mainly $0.25 sub sales.

Fotolia saw 6 sub downloads ( 1.50 credits).

Yay pleasantly surprised with one editorial sale of Robert Maxwell giving a worthwhile 3.75 euros in commission.

Nothing from my other sites during December. Picfair has proved rather dissapointing after my first sale only days after joining. Several hundred images uploaded since haven't seen any action. Still it is early days and I think the site has lots of potential. Hard not to like setting your own prices and getting 100% of that. Over at Mostphotos I hit the nine month mark without a single sale. I'm guessing that my mainly editorial images just aren't what their buyers are looking for.

Recent uploading included images of the Tilos Sea Star ferry (top) moored on the Greek island of Symi. Greek islands also featured with a set of images of the Express Pegasus ferry visiting Skopelos island. Regards, David.

 

November sales updates:

A mixed result for November with (of course) Shutterstock leading the rest with a BME fuelled by one Enhanced Download and a Single sale netting a very pleasing $56.25 in commission. This was my largest ever sale in Microstock and the image in question of British physicist Professor Stephen Hawking (pictured) is a regular seller for me. Also continuing to do well are my various images of the Tentertainment music festival at Tenterden in Kent.

Dreamstime produced some good results with 9 downloads netting $18.34. A few higher level images helping to push the amount up here.

Bigstock saw 10 downloads ($5.10) with a number of $0.38 subs included. It remains to be seen how much longer Bridge to Bigstock contributors continue to get this premium subs rate.

Istock disappointed with 9 downloads but only $5.10 in commission (plus a further $1.40 from 5 PP sales). Still no news of when/if non exclusive contributors are going to have good
selling files moved into a higher price band. The Photo+ facility is really missed here.

123rf achieved a good 14 downloads but just $6.28 in commission.

Fotolia saw 3 downloads (0.75 credits).

Yaymicro finally saw some Third Party commission added but was only 1.57 euros.

Veer surprised again with just one download but making a respectable $3.50 in commission - now only a couple of dollars short of my long awaited payout.

Finally, as previously posted, I had my first sale at Picfair netting me £10 (my own set rate there of which I get 100%). A bit of a set back, however, when it turned out that they currently have (all time) upload limits imposed on contributors. To be fair, they are still in Beta and are refining and tweaking the site to get the best results. Long term, I would hope these limits won't carry forward but short term it has affected my plans to upload as much of my portfolio as possible, as soon as possible. I am now just uploading a few new images a week to avoid running out of further upload slots.

There are currently a number of stock photographers looking to start their own direct selling sites (many using the free Symbiostock  theme -details at symbiostock.com ). Certainly I am not the only photographer that considered that Picfair could be an viable alternative to this with no reviews (you choose which images are online), setting your own price/s and receiving 100% of that price. All just like having your own site. Image upload limits, however, change things. I'll see how this goes as the site develops.

Uploading (generally) in November was restricted whilst I concentrated on building my Picfair portfolio but among new images online was one of boats at Folkestone harbour in Kent (pictured). Folkestone images seem to do quite well -possibly due to the plans for a major re-development of the harbour and seafront. Regards, David.

September sales updates:

September started off slowly but there were signs of improving sales towards the end of the month.
As ever, way out in front were Shutterstock with my best sales (quantity and income) but, sadly, under their new revised Terms Of Service contributors are now not allowed to disclose detailed results -under pain of having your account closed if you do. The official reason given is that information is of use to competing agencies.  Personally I doubt that Istock executives are waiting in anticipation every month for my blog post so they can see how I did there. Some more cynical posters on the forums suggested that this might be a move to suppress future bad publicity for Shutterstock should they import the Received Credits system they are trialling at Bigstock (as opposed to the current lifetime earnings levels) -resulting in big drops in income for many contributors. I honestly hope they are completely wrong. However, it is their business and their rules. It's actually a great shame as month after month I have reported how well Shutterstock have done for me -with way more sales and income than the other sites. For further information check out this thread on the Shutterstock forumhttp://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=132223

Moving on to the sales I am allowed to post about 123RF takes second place with 13 downloads and a BME there of $32.07 thanks to a Multi seat license and a Print Extended license on images of Boris Yeltsin and the Tentertainment music festival respectively.

Dreamstime produced 15 downloads ($23.55) in a strong month for them.

Istock managed 14 downloads ($8.76) with a further $4.12 from 10 PP sales. Before the price reductions there those 14 downloads would have produced considerably more income as many of them were previously Photo Plus images -now reduced to the basic Main collection.

Bigstock continued to see more activity with 12 downloads ($5.16).

Fotolia managed a couple of sales (1.85 credits).

Veer surprised with another sub sale ($0.25). Goodness. Better still their broken uploader has been fixed and I was able to upload my backlog of (non editorial) images -even getting some accepted.

Yay gets a mention if only to report zero sales for September. This means that since April I have had just one 0.75euro sale there (in August). On over 2000 images? With all those distribution partners? I am truly at a loss to know what has happened there. I really like Yay and have never had anything but friendly and prompt responses to any problems so they remain on my upload list. I just hope things improve soon. Yay also announced their new subscription and streaming packages (streaming as in small users like bloggers paying a modest monthly fee to have images streamed to their site from the Yay library, as opposed to actually downloading the images). This is aimed to appeal to those who would not normally pay for images or just steal them from the internet. Many would say that those users are not going to start paying anything for images -no matter how modest the price. I've stayed opted into this for now to see how it goes.

Uploading in September saw some images of the Hastings Old Town Carnival accepted as well as further Greek island images of Skopelos. I also revisited my archives for further 1989 images of Lech Walesa (President of Poland). Let's now see how October does. Regards, David.

June sales updates:

Not too much sign of a Summer Slowdown in June as might have been expected.

As always Shutterstock led the way with 153 downloads ($82.88). Greek island images (in particular Halki) proved especially good sellers this month.

Another good month from Dreamstime saw 16 downloads ($28.74). A varied mix of images selling there.


Istock produced 10 downloads (£12.98) but due to technical issues the May partner program sales were not posted during June. In another major move Istock simplified their various collections and price points during June. Short term, the main effect for me was the scrapping of the Photo+ level (a limited percentage of my portfolio which I self-selected to sell at a higher price point). These images are now, for the time being, back in the lower priced "main" collection. Istock say the process is not yet complete and my hope is that these files will move up to the new Signature collection, though there appears to be no certainty of that happening. A wait and see situation.

Bigstock perked up with 11 downloads ($6.28) with a noted increase in subscription sales.

123rf only managed 6 downloads ($1.72) leaving me to start questioning again if they are worth uploading to.

Fotolia produced two downloads (0.50 credits).

Amazingly, Veer suddenly produced a subscription sale ($0.25) - my first sale there since 2011. Payout there still looks as far away as ever but at least there is some sign of life. Their web uploader still remains broken after some 7-8 months and a further email to them produced the response that they were looking to the forthcoming updating of the site to resolve the problem.

Uploads in June saw some new archive images of Mohamed Al Fayed (former owner of Harrods department store) being accepted.
However, uploading was limited due to spending two weeks holiday on the charming Greek island of Alonissos where I encountered some mules (pictured). I was also able to spend a day photographing on the nearby island of Skopelos (location of the film Mamma Mia). I'm looking forward to editing and uploading these images in due course. Regards, David.

November sales updates:

A reasonable month overall in November despite the Thanksgiving holiday in the US (Shutterstock are the only site that give you an idea of where images were bought courtesy of their animated world map and judging from that most of my sales are outside the US).
So starting with Shutterstock, they produced a very neat 100 downloads ($58.20). Interesting to note that $30.15 of that came from the higher paying On Demand downloads.
Istockphoto pulled in 10 downloads ($15.98) and an additional $1.12 from 4 PP sales. My portfolio there continues to grow and I have now passed the 600 mark with, in the main, editorial images. I expect to reach my next payout in December - a far cry from the pre editorial days when sales were few.
Dreamstime did well with 18 downloads ($12.38) but a high number of sub sales pulled the earning down.
123rf managed 11 downloads ($6.17) again with a high proportion of sub sales. I will have to review 123 in January when (if?) they introduce their new commission rates/cuts. Being primarily editorial my images are not the ones that get massive sales and, consequently, I expect to drop to the minimum rate of 30% and only $0.22 for subs. Compared to the $0.33 I get for sub sales at SS that is very poor. Though not a big seller there, my portfolio currently fills editorial gaps in their library (Margaret Thatcher etc). We'll see.
Yaymicro sold an archive shot of Body Shop founder Anita Roddick paying a healthy 3.75 euros with an additional 2.48 euros coming from their Third Party programme.
Bigstock managed 4 downloads ($2.50) - a dissapointing result from them. On the plus side their wonky Bridge connector from SS got fixed and all images are now moved over.
Fotolia saw 4 sub sales netting 1 credit in commission. Best selling there seem to be my Greek island images though that is more a result of what I have uploaded and had accepted than any great industry insight.
Nothing from the rest in November. Veer continues to sit at $93 dollars in commission with no sign of even a sub sale to push me to payout level. Their upload has now been broken (for me) for two months -just "not processed/unknown error" messages after uploading. I emailed support but never got a reply.
Picturenation, sadly, reached the anniversary of my last sale there on November 30. Over 2k images, loads of views, nice friendly team -but nobody buying my images. I emailed them as well and, as ever, got a prompt reply from founder Jane Louise Green. Without breaking any confidences here suffice to say that sales there (overall) are fine -it's my portfolio that isn't selling. One theory we both explored is that buyers spot my images on PN and then look for them at cheaper prices on the micro sites. That's certainly a possibility. Either way uploading is quick and simple so I'm keeping on submitting there.
Uploading in November was down due to time constraints but one archive image that I added was from the 1991 Poll Tax Riots in London (pictured) That brought back some memories. Regards, David.
Edit: The Download Fairy appears to have paid a visit. Just days after writing about no sales on Picturenation I had two sales within hours. A 1989 image of British politician Sir Geoffrey Howe got first a Web Res sale (£0.40) then a High Res sale paying a pleasing £6 in commission. I'm assuming it was the same buyer. More of those please!

November updates:

November proved stronger than last month with some slower sites pulling in sales.

Shutterstock produced 67 downloads ($35.56) with just under 50% of that revenue coming from On Demand sales. My friends at http://www.microstockposts.com/ are currently running a poll on just that subject -check it out. Sadly, the month saw me just 20cents short of my $75 payout. On the plus side it will be an even better payout in January.

Dreamstime picked up with 9 downloads ($6.17) -though still far from their best performance.

Istockphoto continued to power up for me with 12 downloads ($14.79) and $0.56 in partner sales. Editorial is still doing well here and my total portfolio rose to 372 (with both editorial and commercial images being accepted).

123RF produced 13 downloads ($10.73). Sales seemed to lift towards the end of the month. A possible cause being that I changed a number of my "faved" images. For anyone not familiar with this useful feature it allows you to nominate 5% of your portfolio as favourites. These then get better exposure in search results. You can remove and add to these (up to your limit) at will.

Bigstock had a good November with 7 downloads ($5.50). Many of these from my celebrity archives. Still waiting on my invite to the "Bridge to Bigstock" program though.

Picturenation had one medium resolution sale (£4).

Yaymicro surprised with a sale paying a healthy 5 euros in commission. An archive image of former Chancellor Lord Denis Healey.

Mostphotos also surprised with a subscription sale paying 1.87 euros. Some contributors there are reluctant to allow subs (its optional) because potentially you can get a low rate per download if the buyer uses their full allowance. The three sales I had have all paid out worthwhile amounts.

Fotalia produced my third sale -a sub download (0.25 credits). Encouraging given that I still have less than 40 images online there.

Still awaiting those elusive first sales at Cutcaster and Canstockphoto and some more from Veer to take me over the payout level.

New uploads in November included images of the Sound Waves Community Choir (pictured) performing in Hastings. These had early success with downloads at Bigstock and 123RF. Choirs seem to be attracting quite a bit of interest these days so I have hopes for these images. Regards, David.

August updates:

August was a month of highs and lows. The Summer slowdown really showed in my overall quantity of downloads but some unexpected sales boosted the month.

Starting over in Sweden with Mostphotos, I finally had my first sale. An image of a solar heating panel in Greece sold as a subscription sale netting Euro 2.48 (about as much or more than you get for a regular sale on most sites). It's hard to not like a site that lets you upload your images without reviews. At least you know that images you believe in are getting online somewhere. Sales are a welcome bonus.

Over at Shutterstock downloads fell to just 55 with a number of days returning no sales at all. As previously posted though a $28 EL took my August earnings there to $50.44 (ironically making it my BME there).

Dreamstime produced 11 downloads ($5.16). The fact that they were virtually all subscription sales dragging the earnings down further.

123RF netted 9 downloads ($4.99) enough to take me over the $50 payout level.

Veer surprised with two sales including my second EL ($19.60). My Romanian flag image (pictured) taking me close to payout at Veer.

Istock slowed as well with just 3 downloads ($3.96) with an additional $1.68 from 6 partner program sales. On the plus side there I have continued to get high acceptance of my Editorial images pushing my portfolio to 254 images. (Edit to add: Forgot to mention that I also reached my first ever $100 payout in August! Pushed there by Editorial sales).

Bigstock managed just 1 download ($1), another dissapointing month from them.

Yaymicro also proved dissapointing when the anticipated Third Party sales (2nd Quarter) failed to be posted. Uploading has been down for a couple of weeks now -just to make things worse.

Uploading saw a further push of my portfolio to Canstockphoto taking it to over 70 images. Very quick reviews and a good acceptance rate with (strangely) a batch of 6 or so rejected for "invalid keywords". Didn't understand that one so I have queried those.

I also, finally, signed up to the last of the "big four" sites -Fotalia. I had always been a bit put off them by many on Microstockgroup saying that Fotalia do not like landscape and travel images. Well that's what I submitted and got 10/10 accepted from my first batch! Will see how that one goes (perhaps they were being nice to a newbie?). Regards, David.

What? Another Extended Licence!

Just a couple of weeks after reporting my first ever EL, I just had my second one. Not exactly from an expected source either but from a site I hardly mention anymore -Veer.
The long established Veer agency opened to Microstock a couple of years ago when parent company Corbis closed down the amusingly named Snapvillage. I had one sale (of two Jack Russell dogs) in the first few weeks then nothing at all till now. Hardly surprising with only 231 images on the site. My images do not meet the "aesthetic quality required by Veer buyers" it seems. And, of course, they do not take Editorial.
I do not often upload to them these days and check the site even less so it was a nice surprise yesterday to find a regular sale ($2.10) followed by a Multi User EL ($17.50). Both of the same image -a Romanian flag flying on the Greek island of Nisyros (don't ask). Added to the $75 I made last year in their "Dash for Cash" upload promotion I am now just $7 away from their $100 payout level.
Of course, it could be a long time before I get that $7. It is a shame that Corbis ended their policy of paying out all outstanding commission at the end of each business year. Something that, in my opinion, all agents should do. Still, well done Veer. Regards, David.

March 2011 updates:

March saw some positive results with a BME at Shutterstock -80 downloads ($28.20) bounced up by the presence of five On Demand sales.

Picturenation showed what it can do with a high res sale of Labour politician Brian Sedgemore netting £6 in commission.

Dreamstime pulled in a respectable 12 downloads ($16.22).

Bigstock produced 2 downloads ($4) with, for the second month running, a $3 commission for one of them (Hastings pier fire).

123RF pulled in 5 downloads ($3.23) which, as usual, were mainly Editorial images.

Yaymicro produced one regular sale (0.50euro) but still no sign of the Third Party sales for the last quarter of 2010.

Meanwhile at Istock there were 3 Editorial sales ($2.98) and 3 Partner Program sales ($0.84). I now have a growing selection of Editorial images accepted and the three sales in March suggest these could do well as my portfolio gets bigger. Two were of the same image - Estate Agent signs in Hastings and the third was an image of a Shell petrol station.

No sales yet at Cutcaster but I continued to upload and now have circa 650 images online there.

Nothing in March for Veer, Mostphotos or Canstock (though, as previously stated, I have yet to upload much to Canstock).

Recent uploads include some images of Westminster Abbey which I am hoping will get some interest because of the forthcoming Royal wedding there. Regards, David.

February updates:

February saw a strong month at Shutterstock with a total of 83 downloads ($21.31) helped by one buyer scooping up 17 of my archive b/w images of various celebrities (Anne Bancroft etc). I also had a number of sales of the Thin Lizzy guitarist Gary Moore who, sadly, died in February (likewise on Dreamstime). They also rolled out a Beta version of a great new feature in which you can see the total all time sales and income from each image. No great surprise to find my image of the 2009 Tentertainment local music festival (see earlier posting) at the top position with over 80 downloads. Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister, comes a close second for a single image (or top if you combine the sales of all my images of her).

Dreamtime produced 19 downloads ($7.82). A higher than usual number of subscription sales pulled the income down there but was boosted by a (level three) sale of Margaret Thatcher - paying $3.70 in commission.

Bigstock made 3 downloads ($4.50) including one of my Shell petrol station images which paid a pleasing $3 in commission. The really good news here this month was their announcement that their payout limit has reverted to $30 (from $50). In their announcement they stated that this was so contributors could get more regular payments. What a refreshing attitude compared to the agencies that set high payouts (probaly hoping that many will never make it and they can just keep the money). My balance was already over $40 so I applied for payment and received it a couple of days later. All credit to Bigstock for this move. Now, if only Shutterstock would just include me in the "Bridge to Bigstock" programme I could double my portfolio and hopefully see a good increase in sales.

Also hitting payout was British agency Picturenation with a medium res sale of Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop chain of cosmetic stores) which paid £4 in commission, taking me above the magic £50 required. In contrast to Bigstock though PN only payout once every 8 weeks and I just missed the deadline for the next one. That's certainly one area of improvement Picturenation could work on in the future. If Yaymicro can pay within two minutes of request (via Paypal) I don't see why others cannot.

123RF continued its climb with 7 downloads ($3.50) -virtually all Editorial images. Many of my images there now also feature on parent company site Inmagine.com (but, sadly, as yet they are still not taking Editorial images).

Istock produced 1 regular download ($0.20) and 3 partner program sales at the newly improved rate of $0.28 each. On the plus side there the Editorial collection is now live. With ten images accepted so far and more pending I have already had my first Editorial sale. Istock could potentially (finally) prove a worthwhile site for my images.

Nothing at Cutcaster yet but I continued uploading my celebrity archives and now have over 400 images online there. I haven't had time, as yet, to start further uploads to Canstockphoto so nothing there yet either.

February also saw nothing at Veer, Mostphotos or Yaymicro, though at the latter the 4th quarter (2010) third party sales must now be imminent. Wishing you all good sales in March. Regards, David.

December updates:

December saw a solid month at Shutterstock with 61 downloads ($20.70) with the total figure being helped by 4, higher paying, "On Demand" sales. Dreamstime was going well but stalled as we approached Christmas resulting in a total of 11 downloads ($12.37). However, December did bring a milestone there as I had my 200th sale.

Bigstock had a surprise flurry of 6 (all Editorial) downloads ($3.00).(EDIT: That should have been $4 but I had an adjustment of -$1. It appears my best Margaret Thatcher image was a victim of the fraudulent downloads that took place over Christmas at Istock and BS). While at 123RF the sales continue to grow with a further 6 downloads ($3.15). This brings my total sales there to 11 (8 Editorial) since having my first ever downloads on October 31. This is starting to look like an interesting agency.

Istock, once again, produced no regular sales but managed 6 partner programme sub sales ($1.50). The lack of sales there probaly a result of stopping uploading after their commission cuts announcement. Well, I made my point (not that they would ever have noticed) and have decided to re-start uploads this year. The deciding factor was the forthcoming launch of their Editorial image collection. My whole portfolio is mainly Editorial and I do not feel I can miss out on what could be a good opportunity. The downside is they are not taking Celebrity images which is dissapointing given my archives. I am hoping that might change in the future.

Finally no sales in December at Mostphotos, Veer, Picturenation and Yaymicro (not even the latters long overdue Third Party sales report, which they had hoped to have out by Christmas).

Uploads for December included further Greek island images (Halki) and some snowy uk street images. Dreamstime (and others) approved the latter (minus a few for "similarity") but Shutterstock and Bigstock both declared they were "Not Editorial.Not Newsworthy" (Britain is having the coldest Winter for 100 years by the way!). (EDIT: To be fair to BS I hadn't submitted all of them for review when posting. They have since accepted some of the set -so snow is newsworthy again!). Oh well, that's how Microstock goes......

Wishing all readers, agencies and fellow contributors (and, yes, even reviewers) a happy and prosperous New Year. Regards, David.

November updates:

A solid month on Shutterstock with 63 downloads ($19.01). Dreamstime produced 12 downloads ($10.13) -both these sites getting sales on my archive image of actor Leslie Nielsen who, sadly, died last month.
123RF continued it's new phase of activity with 3 Editorial sales ($1.27) so, as previously posted, it looks like these are starting to take off at last.
Picturenation managed a single web resolution sale of Olympic games chief Sebastian Coe netting £0.40. Still just painfully short of the £50 payout level. Next month?

BigStock produced one editorial sale ($0.50) but on the plus side there, my acceptance rate seems to have improved in recent weeks. A good selection of Editorial images of the Hastings Jack In The Green festival being accepted -rather than deemed "Not Newsworthy" as they have in the past.
One interesting thing here is that they (or some reviewers) now require a Shutterstock style "dateline" caption. Some images got put back in my edit section for that reason but were then accepted with the revised caption. The strange thing is that I have yet to see an official announcement that this is now a requirement. Maybe it's when you get a reviewer used to SS?

Istock couldn't manage a single regular sale but I did get 5 partner program sales ($1.25).
Nothing from Veer or Mostphotos in November. Mostphotos, however, have just started selling subcription packages (to which I am currently opted in) so I will be interested to see if this starts producing sales. Regards, David.

October updates:

October saw a good month at Dreamstime with a total of 22 downloads ($21.49). The total earnings there were boosted by two TIFF file sales paying $4.88 each. These were both of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher -whose recent stay in hospital prompted a number of sales in the past few weeks.
Over on Shutterstock I had 55 downloads ($15.94), again including a flurry of Margaret Thatcher images.
Picturenation did well with two medium res sales paying £4 each in commission -both of the recent Hastings pier fire images. This brings me to less than £1.50 away from their £50 payout, so one more med res sale will do it.
Istock managed one regular sale (pebbles on Hastings beach!) netting $2.80 plus a further $2.25 from 9 partner program sales. I haven't felt inclined to upload any new images to Istock since their commission cuts were announced but that's one I am keeping under review.

Bigstock produced 2 Editorial sales ($1.00) in October. The problem there is my small portfolio (less than 400 images). Compare that to nearly 900 images on parent company Shutterstock (which I joined much later). Editorial images get declined for not being "newsworthy" even when images of the same event have previously been accepted. Archive celebrity images get rejected for "grain" (that would be film grain then) even when they do not have any other images of that celeb in their collection. That said, approvals seem to have been a bit better of late there so I'll stick with them. I live in hope that in the future they might link the two collections so that Bigstock buyers get access to my Shutterstock portfolio. I'm sure that must be possible somehow.

Over at 123RF I finally had my first ever sales. Two subscription downloads netting $0.72. It's a start anyway. I no longer have an earnings page full of zeros. Interestingly these sales came from my 48 commercial images (Halki island, Greece) and not my 593 Editorial images. I think two things would help here. Firstly mention Editorial images on their home page. They went live with the collection in May but there is still no mention of it there. Secondly, integrate the search results with the commercial images. By that I mean that if a buyer searches for Margaret Thatcher they get told that there are zero results for that search. Only when (or if) they then click the "Editorial" tab do the images come up. I wonder how many buyers just give up after that "zero results" message? Still, this is only their first year with Editorial so plenty of time for improvements yet.

Nothing in October from Veer, Yay or Mostphotos.
Regards, David

September updates:

After the dull performance that was August, things started to look up in September. At least at Shutterstock where 69 downloads netted a very precise $20. I passed the $75 payout threshold at the start of September (having failed in August by just 90cents!). A $94 payout is now on its way.

Dreamstime produced 11 downloads ($9.49) and Istock had two regular sales ($1.32) and three partner program sales ($0.75). Bigstock only managed a single sale at $0.50.

Yaymicro posted their second quarter third party re-seller results netting 10.42 euros. Combined with the 5 euro sale last month I am already over half way to the next 30 euro payout threshold. Yay are planning to add a number of other re-sellers in the future, which can only help sales there. Unfourtunately, one of their current partners -German owned Polylooks -has just announced that it is closing at the end of the year.

No sales at Veer but they get the star prize this time as my $74.20 upload bonus from the "Dash For Cash" promotion was added to my account. Views are increasing there as well and they have a lot of marketing going on right now (their ads frequently popping up on the left of this blog). It's starting to look like Corbis are getting their Micro offering right this time (after the dissapointing Snapvillage venture).

Nothing in September from Picturenation or Mostphotos and still zero sales at 123RF (after five months of having my images online there).

Meanwhile, I am continuing to upload images from my Greek island trip in June so any image buyers looking for images of Halki, Nisyros and Tilos check out my various ports on the left. I must admit, as I work with those images, it would be nice to be in the sun again. The weather here on the coast is steadily growing colder and wetter!

Finally, check out a new photo blog by London based Rob Ewen at http://www.photocritical.co.uk/ . He is fairly new to Microstock but already seems to be doing rather well -especially with his images of neon signs. And he was kind enough to give Shootingstock a link there.

Regards, David.