iStock?

KmH · Oct 20, 2010

iStockphoto is an RF house (Royalty-Free licensing), or micro-stock. There is little money to be made in RF and microstock. They have reduced images to a commodity, like buying a bushel of corn. (Corn today is selling at 561.50 cents per bushel, or $5.615 (35.42 liters or 8.8 gallons))

The money for stock images, is in RM (Rights Managed licensing).

Getty Images, Corbis, and Alamy offer both RF and RM licensing.

orljustin · Oct 20, 2010

mwcfarms said:
manaheim said:

^^^ just like any other business, you'd have to develop a site and start generating some traffic via advertisements, banners, etc. There's no question it would be easier doing this via a site like iStock, but look at the cost! Not to mention you're giving up your rights to that image.

Click to expand...

So basically if you upload an image to Istock you kiss your rights to that image goodbye for further reproductions?

Of course not. You always hold copyright to your image. You _license_ your images for others to use when you "sell stock". Do a little googling to find out more.

darkchild · Oct 21, 2010

does one actually make money off of "selling stock"?

KmH · Oct 22, 2010

darkchild said:
does one actually make money off of "selling stock"?

Yes, if your images are purchased for use once they have been accepted by a stock photography agency, and above I mentioned there is RF licensing, and RM licensing which pay different rates.

http://www.arcurs.com/legal-abc-for-stock-photographers
http://www.arcurs.com/what-should-i-shoot-and-what-sells-well
http://www.arcurs.com/microstock-agencies-an-overview-for-beginners

manaheim · Oct 23, 2010

^^^ the key is you "can", but is it worth your time.

I know someone who sells stock photography off his OWN site and he does reasonably well with a relatively small number of fairly unexciting images.

To give you an idea I uploaded 4 images to iStockPhoto back when they were just starting. All 4 were accepted. I think they have been downloaded some fairly impressive number of times like 400-500. I think I made a grand total of $75.00 or something.

Some sites are different.

akazoly · Oct 27, 2010

I use them.
Keep the stock photography as a hobby; you can't make high revenues at the beginning.
BTW... Shutterstock doesn't pay as much as istock, but my photos sells faster on it.

Moonb007 · Oct 28, 2010

I sell at iStock, but they are by far not my favorable site and after the whole pricing rule changes coming in 2011 they have pissed off a lot of people. I personally love Dreamstime and Shutterstock, you can find a full list of sites on my website below in my signature along with tips and things to do for getting into stock phtography. I am with Akazoly, I do it as a hobby as I enjoy it and the money I make helps buy new toys. Some people do make a living off of it, but 90% of people do it as a second income.

c.cloudwalker · Oct 28, 2010

manaheim said:
^^^ the key is you "can", but is it worth your time.

I know someone who sells stock photography off his OWN site and he does reasonably well with a relatively small number of fairly unexciting images.

To give you an idea I uploaded 4 images to iStockPhoto back when they were just starting. All 4 were accepted. I think they have been downloaded some fairly impressive number of times like 400-500. I think I made a grand total of $75.00 or something.

Some sites are different.

100% agree.

I used to average $20-25,000 a year in stock with only about five families of shots. It has been slowing down, slowing down, slowing down like crazy for the last few years.

Today, I still get a check but it is getting so small it is ridiculous and I would not think of shooting for stock.

The top seller of micro-stock, according to an article posted on this site a while back, has not yet made a penny off of it. LOL.

Moonb007 · Oct 28, 2010

c.cloudwalker said:
manaheim said:

^^^ the key is you "can", but is it worth your time.

I know someone who sells stock photography off his OWN site and he does reasonably well with a relatively small number of fairly unexciting images.

To give you an idea I uploaded 4 images to iStockPhoto back when they were just starting. All 4 were accepted. I think they have been downloaded some fairly impressive number of times like 400-500. I think I made a grand total of $75.00 or something.

Some sites are different.

Click to expand...

100% agree.

I used to average $20-25,000 a year in stock with only about five families of shots. It has been slowing down, slowing down, slowing down like crazy for the last few years.

Today, I still get a check but it is getting so small it is ridiculous and I would not think of shooting for stock.

The top seller of micro-stock, according to an article posted on this site a while back, has not yet made a penny off of it. LOL.

Yea, for some reason I notice if you stop uploading your images get pushed back and don't sell as much. It really boils down to only do it if you really enjoy it. CloudWalker, are you talking about Yuri Arcurs?

c.cloudwalker · Oct 28, 2010

Moonb007 said:
CloudWalker, are you talking about Yuri Arcurs?

Sorry I don't remember the guy's name. Just that he was the top seller of micro stock according to an article posted here in the forum.

Which turned out to not mean much when you got down further into the article. The guy was the top seller but had a staff of 10-14 photogs working for him to achieve that and had not made a penny...