Stockphoto Pro and general stock photo questions

[kokoperry]

Hey everyone,

I just received a message on flickr from someone representing Stockphoto Pro (www.stockphotopro.com). He said that he believes some of my images would do well commercially and would like me to contribute said photos to their site.

Now, although it's exciting for someone to take interest in my pictures, I don't know if I should act on this. What are good conditions from stockphoto sites? Should I even bother using this, or perhaps this is an indication I should entertain setting up my own website instead? Do stockphoto companies own your image or would I still own the license?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everyone!

[mysticalbeing]

Just forget about micro stock like stockphotopro

try photographersdirect (http://www.photographersdirect.com) or alamy (http://www.alamy.com) - they pay better, way better....


Bless yo

Josh

[ajayclicks]

I was dancing with joy when i got that email from dear charles, who incidently did not reply to my email asking for more details. My joy dissapeared when I realised that many of my friends received the same "templatised" email with 3 links to their pictures. Did a bit of googling, found that these guys are RF.... so staying away...

[cory1848]

Why not hit all of them up? Microstock and Regular Stock?

[ChrisRabior]

Why not hit all of them up? Microstock and Regular Stock?
Imagine you're the buyer, and you find my image on Alamy and quote it at $350 for your use, and then you find it at Shutterstock for 25 cents. Pretty easy decision on your part. You get a sweet 25 cent deal on a photo you were willing to drop $350 on. Me, I make $349.75 LESS than you were willing to put out. Sounds like an awesome arrangement.

So why not submit to both? Looks pretty obvious if you ask me..

[edit] Then again, if you're happy seeing 25 cents for a photo.. who am I to tell you different? All I know is the first sale I had at Alamy (which netted me 95 bucks) was enough to crush the micro thoughts.

[cory1848]

Imagine you're the buyer, and you find my image on Alamy and quote it at $350 for your use, and then you find it at Shutterstock for 25 cents. Pretty easy decision on your part. You get a sweet 25 cent deal on a photo you were willing to drop $350 on. Me, I make $349.75 LESS than you were willing to put out. Sounds like an awesome arrangement.

So why not submit to both? Looks pretty obvious if you ask me..

[edit] Then again, if you're happy seeing 25 cents for a photo.. who am I to tell you different? All I know is the first sale I had at Alamy (which netted me 95 bucks) was enough to crush the micro thoughts.

Not exactly, Shutterstock is a subscription based service...You cant just sign up at shutterstock and pay 25 cents for any one photo. Not that I am aware of at least. You pay for the download limit. They have pricing tiers...would have to look it up as to how its exactly set up but it has proven to be very profitable for some shooters. That one photo could possible be downloaded 1400 times to meet your $350 price tag very easily.

It all depends on what your going after... Personally I dont treat stock images as an art form, its pure business and I want my sellable images in front of as many places as possible...