Microstock Design & Photography

In this page I will attempt to do a short and concise summary with regards to everything you need to know about the various Micro Stock. I will only be doing the major players in Micro Stock. However for want of completeness, I will list down all the other players as well for your information.

istock
Dollar & Cents
istock gives the lowest payout of 20% per photo sale to the photographers. However, you are eligible for "exclusive" sale to istock once you hit 500 downloads. As an exclusive you get 40% per photo sale, a special inspection queue where your photos get inspected in 1-2 days vs 5-8 days as a normal member. You also get a higher upload number per week based on canister level vs a cap Of course, exclusivity has its priviledges, one of which is the deal to be a Getty photographer. Only exclusive are given the offer.

Technical Requirements
Currently, the minimum photo requirement is a 2MP (2 Million Pixels), so you will need at least a 3MP camera to join. You will be asked to submit an initial 3 sample photos for istock's assessment. If you pass the test, you are in. if not, you will need to wait another month before you resubmit again. You are limited to 15-20 uploads a week (istock periodically adjust the upload levels), but this limit increase as you move up the canister level. Approval time is between 3-5 days, sometimes 6-10 days.

Upload Limits Per Week (Pls note that Non-Exclusive Limits are subject to changes)
Base : 15 per week
Bronze : 20 / exclusive 60 per week
Silver : 25 / exclusive 90 per week
Gold : 30 / exclusive 120 per week
Diamond : 35 / exclusive 180 per week

Skill Level - (5  Very High)
istock is one of the most difficult Micro Stock to join. They are very picky and particular about the photos they accept. It took me many tries before I was finally accepted. I only have an acceptance ratio of about 30%. However, they are usually very consistent about their reasons for rejection and you can learn a lot just by the comments and feedback they give for rejecting a photo. The forums are very active and when it comes to learning and improving your skills, they are the best.

Potential & Unique Features
istock is now the darling of Micro Stock but the envy of Traditional Stock. This stock site has earn a credible name for itself despite being on the market for a few short years. Their standards are high and expectations even higher of her photographers. Potential is also highest because if you are good and you hit "Diamond" status, you will be invited to join the cult of Traditional Photographer Getty. istock images can be found splash all over the local newspaper stand.

Big Stock Photo
Dollar & Cents
Big Stock Photo is well known in the market for being slow and steady in terms of dollar payout to Photographers. You will usually get between $0.50 - $1 for every photo sold depending on the size of the photo sale.

Technical Requirements
Big Stock Photo has the lowest MP requirement that i know. Currently, the minimum photo requirement is only 800*600, ie >1MP (1 Million Pixels), so you just need at least a 1MP camera to join. There is no requirement for sample photo, you just upload and they will decide whether to approve or reject your submission. You are limited to 20 photos in the approval queue if your approval ratio is >25%. This goes up to 60 if your approval ratio is <70%. Approval time is constently between 3-5 days.

Skill Level - (2 Low)
Big Stock Photo is one of the easiest amongst the Micro Stock to join. if it is your very first attempt at Micro Stock Photography, then I suggest that you start with Big Stock Photo. I have an acceptance ratio of about 85% here.

Fotolia
Dollar & Cents
Fotolia gives a payout of 33% per photo sale to the photographers. However, it has a tier payment feature where your payout can go up to 41% as  your sales increase. You get between 50% - 58% as an exclusive here. Also as an exclusive you get to adjust the sale price per photo and sale price for extended license sale.

Technical Requirements
Currently, the minimum photo requirement is a 2MP (2 Million Pixels), so you will need at least a 3MP camera to join. There is no requirement for sample photo, you just upload and they will decide whether to approve or reject your submission. There is no limit to the number of uploads, so the sky is the limit. It has one of the fastest approval time of between 1-3 days.

Skill Level - (3  Moderate)
Fotolia is one of the easier Micro Stock to join. They are less picky than istock or Shutterstock. Fotolia should be one of the few stock sites that you start joining as a new stock contributor. I have an acceptance ratio of 50% - 60%.

Potential & Unique Features
What I like about Fotolia is that you can see how you rank in terms of sales against other photographers. Moreover, you can also see the name and society of the person who downloaded your photos.

Dreamstime
Dollar & Cents
Dreamstime gives a payout of 50% per photo sale to the photographers. As an exclusive you get 60% + $0.20 bonus per photo sale. Since Apr 2007, they have subscription based photos where you get $0.25 per download.

Technical Requirements
Currently, the minimum photo requirement is a 3MP (3 Million Pixels), so you will need at least a 4MP camera to join. There is no requirement for sample photo, you just upload and they will decide whether to approve or reject your submission. You are limited to 25 uploads a day if your approval rate is between 0% - 30%, but this limit increases up to 100 photos as your approval increases. Approval time is between 5-7 days, sometimes 8-15 days.

Skill Level - (4  High)
Dreamstime is a relatively new stock photo site but already it is very focused on what they want, so expect lots of rejects. They are very picky and particular about the photos they accept. I have the lowest acceptance ratio here of about 25%.

Featurepics
Dollar & Cents
Featurepics is relatively new in the Micro Stock Market and has one of the least number of total photos online. However, it pays the highest in the maket, giving photographers 70% for every photo sold. So the amount you get for selling a $1 photo is $0.70 here viz a viz $0.20 at istock. Technically, you can earn the most here at Featurepics, provided you get the same volume and sales as istock. Unfortunately, sales at Featurepics is much slower than istock and Shutterstock at this moment.

Technical Requirements
Currently, like Big Stock Photo it has the lowest MP requirement that i know. The minimum photo requirement is only 800*600, ie >1MP (1 Million Pixels), so you just need at least a 1MP camera to join. There is no requirement for sample photo, you just upload and they will decide whether to approve or reject your submission. There is no limit to the number of photos you can upload, basically the sky is the limit. Approval time is usually between 1-2 days. Editorial photos are accepted here.

Skill Level - (1  Very Low)
Featurepics is the easiest of all the Micro Stock to join. if it is your very first attempt at Micro Stock Photography, then I suggest that you start with Featurepics. I have an acceptance ratio of about 100% here.

Potential & Unique Features
Featurepics has great potential because it allows you to set all your photos at any price you want as opposed to standard photo price in other Micro Stock Sites. And of course, you get 70% per photo sale, the highest amongst the Micro Stock Sites. I set most of my photos betwwen $1 - $5 depending on the size of the photos. In addition, it allows you to open your own Collections, where you can group similar or related photos and sell them as a batch. Featurepics is also very friendly and welcomes all kinds of feedback to improve their site. They take feedback seriously and usually implements them.

Lucky Oliver
Dollar & Cents
Lucky Oliver is relatively new in the Micro Stock Market and has one of the least number of total photos online. It pays photographers 30% for every photo sold and up to 50% if you become an exclusive with them.

Technical Requirements
Currently, the minimum photo requirement is a 2MP (2 Million Pixels), so you will need at least a 3MP camera to join. You will be asked to submit an initial 3 sample photos for istock's assessment. If you pass the test, you are in. if not, you will need to try again. Approval time is usually between 5-7 days, sometimes 8-14 days or longer.

Skill Level - (3 Moderate)
It was relatively easy and painless for me to get into Lucky Oliver. I have an acceptance ratio of about 70% here.

Potential & Unique Features
I joined Lucky Oliver in Sept 2006 as most of the people in the stock forum were all jumping in. I like the interface, look and feel of this website. It is very designer focus, cute and adorable and appeals to the eye very much. I hope it lifts off soon. Sales are extremely slow at the moment.

Member

I joined this site on Sept2006 and have about 100 photos online. But I have stopped uploading since Nov2006 as I am still waiting for my first sale here. Feedback from the rest of the photographers have all indicated slow or non-existent sales here. Forum is non-existent. (No referal links)
Comments by others :
You can see when a site is slowly going down the drains: design doesn't get updated, no activity in the forums, and especially no sales. They suck. A complete waste of time and energy.


I joined this site on Sept2006 and have about 100 photos online. But I have stopped uploaded since Nov2006 as I am still waiting for my first sale here. BigWhiteBox is a not-for-profit project and any profit the site makes goes to Oxfam, Care and Save the Children so I still support them for their ideals and dreams. (No referal links)

Non- Member
Stockxpert
I am still trying to get into Stockxpert. I failed 3 times and hope to get in on my 4th attempt. So you can see from this that in terms of level of difficulty, I would rate it as (5 High). Will write more on it once I get in. Wish me luck! (13Jan2006 - Got my 4th rejection. Can't help u here.)

123RF
Read some reviews that this is an up and coming website. I am going to try this out and will update on this when I am approved. Owned by Inmagine, parent company is very big.

A few new Micro Stock Sites have surfaced recently in 2007. I will check them out and perhaps join them.

Albumo
US Site. Started in 2007. Looks pretty good and seems to have good potential. Quite a number of the regular people I know in Micro Stock have jumped in and joined the wagon. They give you US$25 for 100 photos and up to US$250 for 1000 photos uploaded until Aug. Seems like a pretty good deal. So join in or miss the boat. There is a catch....you cannot leave them for 400 days after joining. So BEWARE.

SnapVillage
Started in 2007. Owned by Corbis which is owned by Microsoft. Big names and big money behind them. Unfortunately, so far the reviews have not been good. Disappointing start. Website itself looks boring and uninviting.

Here, I am listing the sites that many in the Stock Forums have indicated are non-producers. They are either pulling out of these sites or are not uploading any more to them. I have added some comments that I gleaned about them. Don't waste your time.

Crestock
http://www.crestock.com/
Totally useless. Waste of time and zero return on time invested.

Canstock
http://canstockphoto.com/
Would have taken years for payout. Someone had 1 payout in 2.5 years there, another made $1.75 in 6 months. Someone famous had 800 images with them for 14months and made a grand total of $173. He made the same amount in SS in 3 days.

Gimmestock
http://www.gimmestock.com/
Major league dud. Total waste of time.

Image Vortex
http://www.imagevortex.com/
If you are amataur forget it.

Shuttermap
http://shuttermap.com
Useless.

This is a place where I want to put down the Micro Stock Websites where there have been shady happenings that occured and to throw in a word of caution and warning to people.

Galastock
http://galastock.com
In 2006 one of their employees was busted for stealing photos of photographers. Some people have their photos in queue for 3 months and still not yet approved.


Totally photos
http://www.totallyphotos.com/
Some had 600 images with no sale. They asked Mark [The owner] many, many times how it was going. He lied over and over and said keep uploading so he could sell for more money. They finally sold off the site in Aug 2006. Not sure what is the new name. Link does not seem to work now.

I have done a summary of the main points from the individual writeup above. This is for those people who want to have a quick glance at the various Micro Stock sites that you want to join.

Stock Site	Min MP	*Test Photo	FTP	Editorial	Upload Limits	Min Pay	Vectors /Videos	Remarks
Shutter Stock	4MP	10	Yes	Yes	None	$75	Yes/Yes	Payments once at start of the month
Istock	2MP	3	No	No	20/week	$100	Yes/Yes	Upload limits can change periodically
Big Stock Photo	1MP	NA	Yes	No	Up to 60	$30	Yes/No	Can’t alter keyword after submission
Fotolia	2MP	NA	Yes	No	None	$50	No/No	Can’t alter keyword after submission
Dreams Time	3MP	NA	Yes	No	Up to 100/day	$100	Yes/No	Strange rejection reasons
Feature pics	1MP	NA	Yes	Yes	None	$50	Yes/No	Low sales
Lucky Oliver	2MP	3	Yes	No	None	$100	No/No	Low sales
Stock xpert	1MP	5	Yes	No	50/day	$50	Yes/No	Difficult to join

* You are required to give some sample photos before being admitted as a photographer.