Istockphoto: Changes to earnings!

Hello readers!

Just wanted to inform you that, if you have not already caught the message, there seems to be a change occurring at istockphoto concerning the amount of money that *non-exclusive* parties will receive per image. I would highly recommend you check out the forum postings at istockphoto if you contribute or plan to contribute, as it may influence your decision.

Many photographers have pulled their entire portfolios from istockphoto, due to the changes (and were are talking some big name portfolios too). Hopefully, it will not affect your income *too* much, but I feel there will definitely be a hit on the income from that site due to the change.

istockphoto vs shutterstock

Hello readers!

Today I wanted to give a quick update on my microstock earnings through these two companies. Please keep in mind this is based on my own experiences... and "your mileage may vary" as they often say. With that disclaimer added, let's jump into my thoughts so far on these two companies when compared side by side.

So far, based on my own numbers, Shutterstock seems like the clear winner by a landslide. Not only has it been considerably more difficult to have images accepted at istockphoto (images that at dreamstime are doing quite well) but of those that have been accepted, I have been little return when compared to Shutterstock. I manage to obtain more approved images at Shutterstock, that also sell faster, and more frequently. The upload process is also quite easy at shutterstuck (much more so than istockphoto, unless you use the third-party API called "DeepMeta", which helps put them on par).

My vote? Goes to Shutterstuck, hands down, for the best microstock website to upload your images to.