April - May Earnings Report

So I've been on a few sites this year, some longer than others. I thought I'd see how well I'm doing on certain sites compared with others. So far, I've been on Dreamstime the longest... since January 2011. Then comes crestock, I've been on that site since March 2011. Canstock and shutterstock I've only been on since April 2011. As you can see from my chart, Shutterstock has been the highest contributor to sales showing 58.12%, then follows Dreamstime at 30.67%, canstock 10.18%, and finally crestock at 1.01%

I still think it is too early to decide which site is better. Each has it's pros and cons.

Shutterstock- 52 images in portfolio. Excellent upload time, I might have to wait 1-2 days tops for my images to be fully online. The main page is not too friendly like other sites, but the contributor pages are very helpful. A map showing you where your images are downloaded and charts showing your earnings gives you the boost you need to keep uploading.

Dreamstime- 93 images in portfolio . I started out loving it, however the long sometimes 2 week waiting period to see if your images have even been approved is brutal. Not to mention the site bugs out from time to time making it harder to sell your micro-stock. However, the site is very friendly and you don't have to stray too far from the main site to see your stats. They are also getting a bit too picky with their approvals. I submitted 5 images that were all airplanes doing different things, and one was rejected because it was too similar, yet the one rejected was the most dissimilar of them all, and yet still on their site (even the editor's,who reviewed my images, portfolio) is full of similar images. I've seen many images of one figure in the same position but different color on the site. They just haven't got a clear definition of what a duplicate image is on their site. I do like how once your image has a certain number of downloads they raise the price on it, but probability of getting a lot of money from one main image on that site is not high.

Canstock- 36 images in portfolio. I put my work here just to put more eggs in other baskets. Honestly, I haven't given the site too much of a glance. I don't think the site is too professional, but in the site are the same artists from the other sites online... probably doing the same thing I am.

Crestock - 10 images in portfolio. I haven't really uploaded all of my images here. The upload process is not so well thought out, however I haven't really given it a good chance yet.

I'm guessing you're asking yourself where istockphoto is on my chart. I have an account with them, however they only allow vector. I had to go through a long test which involved reading articles upon articles just to be able to submit work. I also don't like how high their prices are, they have set their prices based on how exclusive the site is, not really the actual image. I plan on contributing to the site later this year, however I don't think I will have as many images on there as vector images have to be done in a specific way so that the site approves it, which is more work, so I think I'll just have some exclusive images up there.