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DPChallenge Forums >> Stock Photography >> Bigstock, Canstock, 123RF... worth it?
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 08/14/2006 10:43:28 PM · #1
I have been submitting for about a month to istock, shutterstock, fotila, Bigstock, Canstock, and 123RF.

I am very impressed with istock and shutterstock and sell between 10 - 20 images daily with a small (under 100 shot) but growing portfolio.

I am barely getting a nibble at the other sites with the same portfolio. Is it worth submitting to Bigstock, Canstock, or 123RF? Is July and August a traditionally slow month? Anyone else having the same problems?
 08/14/2006 10:50:39 PM · #2
10-20 a day with under 100 images!?! Thats awesome, you must have some great stuff up there.

I've never had many sales at Bigstock or Canstock, though 123 can be alright (not in the same league as iStock, Dreamstime, Fotolia, and Shutterstock though).

08/14/2006 10:52:07 PM · #3
Bigstock, Canstock, and 123RF are typically the smaller sites. You probably wont get anywhere near the amount from the major players - Istock, Dreamstine, Fotolia. Is it worth it? That depends on how much effort it takes for you to upload to them. You can still make money there, just more slowly. Once the files are approved you just sit back and wait. I guess you have to decide if what you are getting from them is worth the time it takes you personally to upload to them.

Message edited by author 2006-08-14 22:53:32.
 08/14/2006 11:56:14 PM · #4
Summertime in the U.S. is the worst time for stock selling. September/October it starts to pick up again and then closer to Christmas/New Years it slows for a little while too. Weekends aren't the greatest either.

Shutterstock and Dreamstime seems to have a higher budget on ads. You can find them in graphic design/ photoshop magazines coming from the UK and in some U.S. magazines too.

Last month there were no fewer then 3 writeups about the microstock sites in various photo magazines, so maybe more traffic would be created.

I have had sales at Bigstock, 1 at Canstock, and now signed up at 123RF yet. Most of my shots are at Shutterstock. 150+ images, Bigstock I have less then 30, Canstock have less then 15.

I think it's basically a volume game, the more you have in your portfolio the more exposure you get and the more sales.

Message edited by author 2006-08-15 00:03:07.
 08/15/2006 12:16:01 AM · #5
July sales were slow but august is way up. I am exclusive on istock btw. In my pre-exclusive days i sold on istock, shutterstock and dreamstime, never bothered with the others. Life now is so much easier uploading to just istock :-)

heres a link to my portfolio on istock
 08/15/2006 01:13:07 AM · #6
I would say definitely no for Canstock. Bigstock and 123RF are big ifs. 123RF, for me, has almost the same number of images sold as Dreamstime but less than half the earnings. Bigstock has about half the sales of 123RF but I've made 50% more. Unless all three pick-up I'm waiting till a payout then dropping them. They don't take very long to upload to but really don't seem worth it compared to Shutterstock, Istock, and Dreamstime.
 08/15/2006 02:11:34 AM · #7
Yeah i would say those other agencies are worth it, but barely. If you allready have the images, and they are keyworded and such, it doesn't take much extra work to submit them to another agency.
 08/15/2006 02:45:19 AM · #8
I was sure that title said something else. That 'C' seemed to jump over in front of stock!!! Damn...me thinks I need to lie down.
 08/15/2006 08:44:04 AM · #9
Canstock sucks....never got even one payout so far!
Have been on that site for like 2 years. But to be fair I don't have all my photos up there. I have given up on this site.

123rf is good, and bigstock is ok too. Not as good as DT, IS or Shuterstock but it all adds up.

Melissa
 08/15/2006 10:08:15 AM · #10
Thanks for replying everyone. Right now submiting at the smaller three isnt that big a deal so I think I'll keep with it.

08/17/2006 04:53:51 PM · #11
Hi everyone,

This is Dawn (co-founder)from BigStockPhoto. Hope it's ok for a stock site owner to post here. (If not, I apologize in advance.)I just want to say thanks for your input about various micro stock sales. It helps us see what the photographers really think.

Just so you know, BigStockPhoto is continuing to grow -- to innovate and make BSP one of the absolute best micro stock sites around. We have made some good progress in the 2 years we've been alive and we're going to really pump up the volume.

So what I'm saying is, please don't loose faith BSP, hang in there -- it doesn't take ANY work to let your photos sit on the site and in the end, if the photos are decent, should yield some extra cash for you.

Thanks again,
Dawn Donahue
 08/17/2006 04:56:41 PM · #12
well the earnings are still trickeling in for me at bigstock. It would be exciting to see some action there. I hope your promises hold true.
 08/17/2006 05:43:29 PM · #13
Originally posted by dawnd:
Hi everyone,

This is Dawn (co-founder)from BigStockPhoto. Hope it's ok for a stock site owner to post here. (If not, I apologize in advance.)I just want to say thanks for your input about various micro stock sales. It helps us see what the photographers really think.

Just so you know, BigStockPhoto is continuing to grow -- to innovate and make BSP one of the absolute best micro stock sites around. We have made some good progress in the 2 years we've been alive and we're going to really pump up the volume.

So what I'm saying is, please don't loose faith BSP, hang in there -- it doesn't take ANY work to let your photos sit on the site and in the end, if the photos are decent, should yield some extra cash for you.

Thanks again,
Dawn Donahue


Hi Dawn

Some people including myself have complained about the management features for our portfolio images at BSP. Namely there being no easy (automated) way to remove or edit our photos. I know personally I needed to remove a few photos a while back and had to send a message with the file names and reasons why I wanted them removed, then wait several weeks for the removal. It was a big pain. Is this going to be changed anytime soon? A removal button would be a huge plus... and might tempt me to upload a few hundred more images.

Dave
 08/25/2006 07:48:59 AM · #14
Originally posted by dawnd:
Hi everyone,

This is Dawn (co-founder)from BigStockPhoto. Hope it's ok for a stock site owner to post here. (If not, I apologize in advance.)I just want to say thanks for your input about various micro stock sales. It helps us see what the photographers really think.

Just so you know, BigStockPhoto is continuing to grow -- to innovate and make BSP one of the absolute best micro stock sites around. We have made some good progress in the 2 years we've been alive and we're going to really pump up the volume.

So what I'm saying is, please don't loose faith BSP, hang in there -- it doesn't take ANY work to let your photos sit on the site and in the end, if the photos are decent, should yield some extra cash for you.

Thanks again,
Dawn Donahue


Well, I've given it about two months and I've got to say I see little reason to continue to upload to Bigstock. It's really not worth my time anymore. At least 123RF has a quick (about 2 to 4 day) turn around on image reviews. I just checked Bigstock's queue and their average review time is 14 (!) days and that is WAY down from what it was a few weeks ago. It's hard to remember what I've uploaded and what I haven't when you're talking a two week minimum before I get any feedback. If I had made any money with Bigstock, I could justify the wait but, alas, not a single download. I’ve had close to 300 downloads at Shutter Stock in the same time period. Which leads me to another question.

Why don't these sites hire more reviewers? Shutter stock is great about reviews. As I said, 123RF is decent. iStock has slowed dramatically this summer even with reduced limits. Why not hire more people?

08/25/2006 08:12:09 AM · #15
CanStock - was a waste of time for me. I pulled everything off of there.

BigStockPhoto is doing fine - nearly as well as iStockphoto for me, but I'm still fairly new to this venue (microstock).
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