congrats on your first sale! Hopefully more to come 

Congratulations.. its always the best feeling to see 1st sale even to listen someone's :p After how many images accepted, u guys got your 1st sale in Arcangel ?
[/quote]

Thank you Alex, For Real, and G12 for your congrats 

G12 - it was a year + 100 images for me before my 1st sale..

Alex - Alhambra looks wonderful - hope you enjoy your photo shoot - pastures new (literally and figuratively) 

Only 15% acceptance rate on Arcangel for January 

I didn't submit anything in January, but all in all my acceptance rate is 16.31% 
I really need to get my act together and find some inspiration.

Quote from: DO on January 31, 2022, 08:05

Only 15% acceptance rate on Arcangel for January 

I didn't submit anything in January, but all in all my acceptance rate is 16.31% 
I really need to get my act together and find some inspiration.

I just worked out my acceptance rate for the 15 months I've been contributing and it's only 19.47% 

For January, I'm at 39.5% acceptance 79/197...whole lot better than 5% back in the summer   

Yes, they have become stricter in the past year.

Thanks Alex.  You clearly have the fighting spirit 

Any idea what your acceptance rate is for the past 12 months?

Quote

Any idea what your acceptance rate is for the past 12 months?

Good question. From the beginning of January 2021 until January 31, 2022 I've had 294 images accepted.

As for the number of rejections, too many to count as there were dozens of batches (with some being outright rejected).

During this period, I estimate that I've had about 1500 images rejected, so an acceptance rate of about 20% on average.

If we want high acceptance rates, plenty of Microstock agencies that will take all our work, but would they sell and if so for how much?!

That's a good mindset.

Quote

Any idea what your acceptance rate is for the past 12 months?

Good question. From the beginning of January 2021 until January 31, 2022 I've had 294 images accepted.

As for the number of rejections, too many to count as there were dozens of batches (with some being outright rejected).

During this period, I estimate that I've had about 1500 images rejected, so an acceptance rate of about 20% on average.

If we want high acceptance rates, plenty of Microstock agencies that will take all our work, but would they sell and if so for how much?!

I once made a good living from 500 images.
Everyone needs to stop obsessing with numbers.
Sometimes its quality not quantity.
The success rate with Corbis probably even less.
Often I'd go on a trip abroad and get 20 images accepted, and that felt like a success.
They sold them well though.

I know I read this a few months late -but thanks so much for sharing the tips re:Arcangel

I've been concentrating much more on fine art this past year with growing sales and I realize that some of my moodier concept art might be right for Arcangel. I've considered applying before but fear of rejection kept me from doing so. Your post has me thinking it should be on my resolutions for 2022 and since it's still January it's a timely goal to add to my list.

Thanks as always for your in-depth report.

My Arc acceptances for January just jumped to 35% as, very unusually, some more were accepted a day later.

50% of my February ones so far have been accepted.

Thanks Alex, for your great report, as always.

Love the term for Sstock 'mega golden turd'    It's not a popular company, is it?

With regard to your Arcangel acceptances, one of them inspired me to rush out and photo my underwear on the washing line 

https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2022/02/01/january-2022-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

When over 13000 images bring $39, then it's time to question whether it still makes sense.
The other figures also brutallyhonestly show that microstock is a discontinued model.

Thanks for your info, Alex. As far as the trend goes, it's in line with my experience.

With regard to your Arcangel acceptances, one of them inspired me to rush out and photo my underwear on the washing line 

Better that then playing around with some of the torture items I shot at the Inquisition Museum!

Just submitted a batch of 30 images to them and I'll bet my left brasilnut that from the batch this one is almost a guarantee to be accepted...

Quote from: Wilm on February 01, 2022, 16:18

The other figures also brutallyhonestly show that microstock is a discontinued model.

No, they show that it is a discontinued model for Alex, unless he changes his model or microstock changes. Obviously it is not working for him the way it is now. There are people with smaller port size, but bigger earnings.
 I made more in January from Shutterstock alone than he made with 16 agencies combined and SS wasn't even my best earning agency. Whenever I write stuff like this I fear people might think I am here to boost. I am really not. Compared to some other people my microstock income is a joke.
I just feel the need to point out that Alex is not representative for the whole microstock market. Different people produce different content, some things work for microstocks, some don't. Some things work better at certain times than other things. For example, it's not surprising that someone who spend years building a microstock portfolio focused on travel photography will not see the greatest results during a still ongoing world pandemic with travel restrictions.

Well put and pretty much sums it up.

My results are disappointing to say the least but I'm of course largely to blame. I've focused on a travel niche that is both expensive and not highly paid, while not hugely sought after, especially during the middle of a pandemic.

It's been a choice all along and even though I've delved into model released lifestyle stuff and composites, it's not something I particularly enjoy(ed) even if I know for a fact that it would bring in more returns. For those that have been following me for a while, about 3 years ago I decided to focus more on videos but even that isn't bearing fruit. Perhaps with some quality drone shots that will change.

I'm not greedy and have no intentions to make this a full-time job, my expectations have always been realistic but anything under $800/month at this stage in the game is simply a disaster. Hope that this year at least the average earnings will balance out at $1k/month on average which would be acceptable but seems quite unrealistic at the moment (only real hope are the book covers). $1k a month would be enough for guilt-free gear upgrades and travel with enough leftover for some surprises. The rest, to cover my living expenses, I can make with my dayjob, photography commissioned work and freelance writing.

If I choose to continue with Microstock it's insanity which is defined as "doing the same thing over and over and expecting expecting different results". I'm glad I managed to get a bit of tail-end of the good times of the business back in 2012/2013. Nowadays, I'm hoping that I can give away most of my Microstock images for a one-time fee for $5 as was done with AS and not look back.

Happy about book covers and it shows Greener pasture there, or I should say a torture chamber of dark themes Here's to death of Microstock!

My results are disappointing to say the least but I'm of course largely to blame. I've focused on a travel niche that is both expensive and not highly paid, while not hugely sought after, especially during the middle of a pandemic.
...

I'm not greedy and have no intentions to make this a full-time job, my expectations have always been realistic but anything under $800/month at this stage in the game is simply a disaster. Hope that this year at least the average earnings will balance out at $1k/month on average which would be acceptable but seems quite unrealistic at the moment (only real hope are the book covers). $1k a month would be enough for guilt-free gear upgrades and travel with enough leftover for some surprises. The rest, to cover my living expenses, I can make with my dayjob, photography commissioned work and freelance writing.
....

Similar story here; income has been $500-600/ mo for last 2+ years; down about 25% from a high 3 yrs ago.  SS decline offset by AS/Wirestock 1-time payments & Canva monthly sub payments. 

My main emphases are travel, historical/archaeological sites(!) and other nature. It doesn't cover all my travel but pays for 2 intl trips (in non-covid times) with minimal new gear. additional travel expenses reduce my taxes.  i live frugally but comfortably - my living expenses come from social security, a small IRA, ebay/amazon & Medicare, with house paid off years ago.

so nowhere near full-time, but a reason to stay w MS (and working on acceptance in Arcangel)