January sales updates:

It seems like only yesterday that I was writing my December updates post. Hang on, it was! Anyway, here we go straight on to my January updates.

In what turned out to be, in general, a rather slow month the leader of the pack (by a big margin) was, as ever, Shutterstock. Even here though there was a marked lack of higher paying On Demand sales which usually boost the income up.

Dreamstime produced 13 downloads ($13.82) with a mix of credit and sub sales.

Bigstock proved lively with 19 downloads ($8.67) with $0.38 subs well to the fore. Interestingly,one
of their partner sites added two "single merchandise" sales. T shirts? Mugs? Who knows.

Istock saw just 4 downloads ($3.19) with a further $1.68 from 6 PP sales.

123rf managed 8 downloads ($4.08) -virtually all subs.

Fotolia produced 2 sub downloads (0.50 credits).

And finally two sites I do not see much action with: Canstock had 2 downloads ($1.00) and a sale at Cutcaster produced $1.84 in commission.

Recent uploads followed a flight theme with a reworked b/w version of a Herring Gull and some more images from the 2012 and 2013 Eastbourne International Airshow (Airbourne) -a Chinook helicopter and the Breitling wing walking team. The airshow images were accepted everywhere except my best agent Shutterstock who insisted I needed "credentials" (i.e. a press pass/permit or similar). A prompt and friendly email came back from them when I queried this. It seems that ALL airshow images now need credentials. Even the ones that are free and open to the public like Eastbourne. That's certainly a big blow as there aren't any credentials issued for this event -they are not needed as it's held on the seafront for all to see (and photograph). I have sent them another email pointing this out and asking if there is any way forward for airshow images. I'll update this post with any developments. Regards, David.

Edit: Got a fantastically helpful response from Shutterstock. They took a look at the Eastbourne images and agreed they were OK to upload. Now all accepted. Going forward, should I cover other airshows, I will contact Credentials at Shutterstock with details of the show so they can make a decision on it. As they (rightly) said their inspectors wouldn't know the circumstances of each airshow when images are uploaded. So contact Credentials first before uploading. Great response from Shutterstock I thought!

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.