I hope somebody can help me out with this decision.

I was a huge cheerleader for Shutterstock footage when it started up. I uploaded video there only, mainly, because of their higher prices and royalties. I began to develop a small, but specialized gallery of timelapse clips and editorial sports footage. Sales started coming in. Just a few at first, then, regularly. Soon, SS Footage was bringing in a steady $100 - $150 per month! Not a lot for some, but for me it was huge.

Then it happened:

"Dear Submitters,
We wanted to give you advanced notice that on Dec 26th, 2007 we will be lowering our footage prices. ..."

Merry Christmas!
$60 in Jan.
$0 so far in Feb.

The change inspired me to begin submitting to Pond5 and iStock.
P5 brings in the occasional sale, their 50% commission helps make those few sales more meaningful. $90 in Jan.
iStock took a while to begin approving clips. After waiting over a month in queue, they have approved all of my TL clips.
And they are selling! I think I'm averaging $15 to $20 per weekday!

Now comes the hard part. Do I go exclusive at iStock (for video only)?

Pros:
-Uploading 500MB clips is a real pain. It would be nice to deal with just one site.
-Once I reach Silver (closing in on bronze now) commissions will exceed those at SS.
-Improved "Best Match" placement and other marketing may improve sales making silver come sooner.
-I actually get sales at iStock!

Cons:
-Loss of P5 sales
-SS may improve???
-iStock does not accpet editorial footage. From my reading of their exclusivity agreement, I believe I would need to find a RM site to market those clips. This may not be worth the effort. They don't sell too often , though. At SS before the price change, if they sold one a month it would be significant ... not anymore.
-StockXpert foottage will be starting soon. (another unknown)

Over the next few months, I plan to produce a record (for me) number of TL clips. I'd like to make this decision soon. If i do go exclusive, I may be able to disable or "opt-out" my clips at SS, I will have to delete all clips at P5, and I can terminate exclusivity at iStock with 30 days notice if things aren't working out.

Can anybody help me get a handle on this? Any suggetions?

Here are links to my portfolios at: iStock Shutterstock and Pond5

Thanks to anyone who can offer some advice.
-Nick

I am actually thinking about the same but is it possible to become an exclusive videographer but remain as  non-exclusive photographer?

YES. You get also different icon next to your name.

I am actually thinking about the same but is it possible to become an exclusive videographer but remain as  non-exclusive photographer?

As maco said, yes you can choose one or both.

nickp37,

I really like your videos, what equipment do you use?

Thanks!
For timelapse i use either a Canon Rebel XT, Canon Rebel XTi or an old powershot G2. With the SLR's I have alot more control over focus and DoF, but the G2 wont wear out a shutter. I always shoot with the camera connected to a computer, and usually use regular 40 or 60 watt bulbs for continuous lighting. Compact flourescents work well too, but you have to give them about an hour to completely warm up. I'm still experimenting with flash in timelapse.
For the live footage I use a Canon HV10.

Thanks very much  to both of you for your e responses,now I will seriously consider going exclusive to IS video.

Thank you very much for the information. I also want to try time lapses some time in the future. Regarding iStock, what sizes do you sell the most?

Sizes are all over the place. I'll sell a small web size, followed by a 1080!

I believe that there is a 30-day waiting period to terminate exclusivity:

http://www.istockphoto.com/asa_exclusive.php

yep as GeoPappas mentioned below it is fairly easy to become non-exclusive again after 30 day period  but I doubt it would be as easy to re-upload all your files to other sites especially if you have a big portfolio ,as uploading huge video files  could be  very time consuming.

I believe Shutterstock is still allowing footage submitters to "opt-out" their footage without deleting it from the site. This way, if they want to come back, they won't need to re-upload.