Author Topic: Why the StockXpert rejection policy sucks, a designer's point of view (Read 5739 times)

epixx · « **on:** March 06, 2007, 14:45 »

I've had a couple of those "too many like this already" rejects at StockXpert again, and I was asking myself as a designer if that's good or not.

When I download photos, I look for an agency that has lots of variations over the same theme. Choice is king, and as long as there's not too much keyword spamming, there simply can't be to much of a good thing. The fact that most of the micros have lots of second rate images dating back to their start-up period makes this even more important. If the old photos aren't removed, the only way to make them less visible is to drown them in lots of high quality stuff.

Interestingly, the two most successful agencies, SS and IS, have never rejected any of my photos because they have "too many" or "we are not looking for...". As long as the quality is good, most photos are accepted, also those that are a bit off-beat. A broad selection is probably as important as a deep one. Although I'm not searching for "Buddhist temple in Himalaya" every day, the agency who has it when I need it, gets my vote.

So, I don't buy images at StockXpert, but at DT, or at IS if I can't find it at DT.

StockXpert, are you listening?

ludesal · « **Reply #1 on:** March 06, 2007, 15:42 »

I stoped uploading to StockXpert months ago... they are unnecessary rude with their rejections and for me, no sales. So, why take the time uploading to a site that doesn't take the time to talk respectfully about my work and doesn't sell it?

Just my opinion, StockXpert! Wake up!

steve-oh · « **Reply #2 on:** March 06, 2007, 17:01 »

epixx,

You aren't having a very good week over at StockXpert, are you?

We are definitely listening. Peter has done an amazing job with StockXpert, but he his only one man. Therefore he put in place some policies that would ensure he could manage the site as it grew, even if it meant the site might grow slower than it should.

Now that Jupitermedia has added resources to the site, we have begun re-evaluating and revamping policies that are necessary to accelerate the growth of the collection and sales. But this takes a little bit of time. We want to make sure we implement clear and flexible guidelines for our contributors and our reviewers.

You guys have been invaluable to this process, both in terms of bringing it to our attention and how we should prioritize.

Thanks!

grp_photo · « **Reply #3 on:** March 06, 2007, 17:25 »

StockXpert is my favorite Microagency. I'm just feeling they do everything right. They have good prices good commission easy upload and submission process and they are trying to build up a good libary. In the long term it's the only agency that can compete with istock because they have all the traffic of sxc.hu and they care about quality.
Their rejection reasons are straight forward i don't have a problem with it.
By the way my rejecetion rate at StockXpert is over 50%!
On the other side they are my second best seller!

madelaide · « **Reply #4 on:** March 06, 2007, 17:46 »

I mostly agree with grp_photo. Expect for the "we're not looking for this" rejections (which sometimes are quite ridiculous IMHO), the rejections are generally reasonable and I find that indeed there is room for improvement. I wish they had not been so picky with some illustrations in the past, because when they are accepted, they sell well (my shamrock illustrations are doing fine there). It's not my best selling site, but it's been consistently among my best four (and it's the 2nd so far in March) and I'm making an average of 86c per dld, so I am quite satisfied.

Regards,
Adelaide

stokfoto · « **Reply #5 on:** March 06, 2007, 18:55 »

Rejection reasons on StockXpert has been criticised so much,may be they should simply rephrase the reasons(the way how tell you the reason of rejection)because concerns expressed here seems to be more about how files are rejected rather than why.

Considering all the efforts they are making(especially Peter-thank you for all you have done) may be with minor changes(like suggested above) these criticisms could be avoided.but this still won't mean there will be no more complaints over rejections(like it happens any other micro site)but I assume this is something different.

epixx · « **Reply #6 on:** March 06, 2007, 20:08 »

Quote from: steve-oh on March 06, 2007, 17:01

epixx,

You aren't having a very good week over at StockXpert, are you?

We are definitely listening. Peter has done an amazing job with StockXpert, but he his only one man. Therefore he put in place some policies that would ensure he could manage the site as it grew, even if it meant the site might grow slower than it should.

Now that Jupitermedia has added resources to the site, we have begun re-evaluating and revamping policies that are necessary to accelerate the growth of the collection and sales. But this takes a little bit of time. We want to make sure we implement clear and flexible guidelines for our contributors and our reviewers.

You guys have been invaluable to this process, both in terms of bringing it to our attention and how we should prioritize.

Thanks!

Sorry for being such a nuisance, but the reason why I'm so critical at the moment is that StockXpert has a good concept, and I want it to succeed. But it annoys me even more then, when things doesn't work right for me, neither as a photographer nor as a designer.

Although there are no standard answers to anything in this business, some standards have been set by SS and IS, and although it's tempting to try to find ones own way through the jungle, the main road is more often the successful route. To become the winner, you need the best car with the fastest engine. We, the photographers, are the engine, so I think it's a good idea to keep us happy, although some of us do a lot of whining

litifeta · « **Reply #7 on:** March 06, 2007, 21:04 »

well i have been stuck in the queue to get accepted for a while. waiting on my third rejection. of course i used my best sellers from DT and SS so the rejections are always a hoot. At least I still have my humour.

fintastique · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2007, 03:24 »

I had to laugh today an image that got rejected at a few sites for bad light had an extended licence sale at StockXpert which earnt me $50.

Certainly a sweeter taste than after entire batches being rejected

sharpshot · « **Reply #9 on:** March 07, 2007, 08:16 »

I don't have a problem with StockXpert's rejections. They have accepted more of my photos than IS and DT. I have found DT to be the worst for rejecting images they have too many of.

Fotolia rejected my best selling photo from all other sites and also rejected a photo of a rare bird because they have too many of that subject. I did a search and they have zero of that subject

CJPhoto · « **Reply #10 on:** March 07, 2007, 10:41 »

Quote from: sharpshot on March 07, 2007, 08:16

rejected a photo of a rare bird because they have too many of that subject. I did a search and they have zero of that subject

A birds a bird, get over it

i agree all sites should try to limit the amount of the "too many" rejections. So what if they have 1000's of 2mp shots of something, surely new 8 - 12mp shots are better. This way they constantly revolve their photos. Start by deleting photos that haven't sold in 3 years (automatically). it wont be much but it is better than nothing.

Greg Boiarsky · « **Reply #11 on:** March 07, 2007, 11:13 »

I second everything you've said. StockXpert has been much better for me than DT or FT, although I seem to have gotten the hang of FT lately.

If StockXpert would simply get rid of the canned rejection notices (and get me more sales), they'd be one of my favorite sites.

Quote from: sharpshot on March 07, 2007, 08:16

I don't have a problem with StockXpert's rejections. They have accepted more of my photos than IS and DT. I have found DT to be the worst for rejecting images they have too many of.

Fotolia rejected my best selling photo from all other sites and also rejected a photo of a rare bird because they have too many of that subject. I did a search and they have zero of that subject

Lizard · « **Reply #12 on:** March 07, 2007, 11:39 »

The only problem I have there is that after the changes the site is almost completely dead for me. This time last month i used to have at least 6-7 sales at day , now I have one sale every 4-5 days , and all of them only from old images , so I stopped uploading for some time.