View Full Version : Stock photo's anyone?
Goatsmilkuk
26-10-06, 05:04 PM
Having just signed up with Photographers Direct, I'm wondering how many here use stock agencies and are there any good or bad stories you can share.
Also are there any other agencies worth signing up to?
Stu
Danny Chau
27-10-06, 02:20 AM
Having just signed up with Photographers Direct, I'm wondering how many here use stock agencies and are there any good or bad stories you can share.
Also are there any other agencies worth signing up to?
Stu
You want to hear good stories, I know plenty of photographer friends who works for either Getty or Corbis earns excess of £40K per month, they usually have about 700-1000 images in the library to generate this turnover, but this was a couple of years ago. The story is now very much different, more photographers is joining photo libraries (at least from my sources), the loyalty percentage is dropped plus more competition with more images in the search engine, so lots of photographers earning have drop by half.
Avoid Getty and try to go with Corbis, if you're lucky, you could earn more than you could ever imagine, but is a 'BIG BUT' that you must supply what the market needs now, it is like fashion in the high street, you have to have your finger on the pulse in order to enjoy and to compete.
Good luck with your venture.
Danny
DPNow is an affiliate parter of Photostockplus (http://www.photostockplus.com/red.php?adid=10870&creativeID=2)...
Ian
Do you have to pay a monthly fee to belong? I looked at one on the web the other day (can't remember which one) but after I discovered I actually had to pay upfront something like £40 a month it seemed a bit too risky in my case!!!
Having just signed up with Photographers Direct, I'm wondering how many here use stock agencies and are there any good or bad stories you can share.
Also are there any other agencies worth signing up to?
Stu
There are a couple models for stock agencies. Obviously, as agencies, you will end up having to pay whichever some kind of fee.
PhotoStockPlus (http://www.photostockplus.com/red.php?adid=10870&creativeID=2) provide a customised site within a site, including eCommerce tools, for selling your images. They can also sell your images printed and onto various saleable items like posters, calendars, books, clothing, migs, etc. Their commission is lower (15% + 3.5%) but they charge a monthly fee (starting from $25 a month - perhaps for a minimum number of months) for storing your images and operating your customised site, including the handling of custom printed goods sales.
The other model, like Alamy (alamy.co.uk) for example, means a bigger commission (35%) but there is no monthly fee for storing your images and no customisation, just the sale of image files, though of course they will handle the purchasing through online ecommerce.
Of course there is nothing stopping you from using both kinds of systems.
Ian