Ho1972 Offline Upload & Sell: Off
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Is it worth it? Maybe. Depending on the sheer number of photos in your portfolio you may generate $300 to $1000 a month (or year) in extra income. Do a search for istock earnings and see what people are saying.
There are lots of variables that can affect your earnings, chief among them is istock's own meddling: with payout formulas, diluting the pool for regular contributors by adding Getty content, striking deals with Google and Microsoft to give images away... the list goes on.
Should you take a dislike to management's shenanigans, be aware that there's an istock forum-wide zero tolerance policy on dissent, at least as pertains to individuals. Complainers who cross the quickly-drawn line will find their threads locked or expunged in short order. The only exception allowed is when a mass revolt occurs, then the rants are permitted and can fill several pages. This serves no real purpose as things seldom change for the better. Still, I suppose the process is somewhat cathartic and possibly prevents acts of terrorism in Calgary.
You also need to be prepared for istock's occasionally incoherent inspection process, wherein images can be rejected for imaginary flaws. Fix the flaw, resubmit, and the image may be rejected again for a different (phantom) flaw. Rinse, repeat. Some people have found it's just too time consuming, YMMV.
Having said all this, people do make money from microstock and you'll never know if you have what it takes if you don't dive in head first. You'll also never know the feeling of seeing a bus pass by with your photo plastered on the side as you think, "Yup, got $2.50 for that one."
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