Microstock Agencies Have Changed the Rules

Microstock photography has really taken off in the past few years. Many of these microstock agencies have a huge amount of photos on their servers that do not sell well or at all. So these images are starting to be removed. In this article, I will discuss when and why these photos are removed.

The Reason Why Some Images Are Being Removed -

The main reason for the removal of these images is probably due to server space. Having all of these images on a server must be extremely expensive and complicated. There is always the occasional hardware glitch, which can wreak havoc on these microstock agencies.

There must be a back up or two of all of these files, which makes it even more complicated. And don't forget about the cost of keeping all of these image files online. The expenses must be quite daunting.

This is not to say that microstock agencies are not turning a profit. It's just that they're a business, and a business is always looking for a way to make more money. Or to save some money. So the microstock agencies remove the images. Which ones do they remove, you ask? Well, after a certain amount of time a photo or illustration will be removed if it doesn't sell.

Different agencies remove images at different intervals, and some microstock agencies don't remove images yet. Fotolia recently announced that they will start removing images that do not have a single sale over an eighteen month period. But other agencies like Stockxpert still do not yet delete any images.

Mostly it's because they don't yet have that many images on their servers. Or perhaps the microstock agencies like Stockxpert fear that their contributers will become offended, and remove their images entirely if some are deleted for not selling.

How many images does Fotolia have on its servers? The answer used to be over three million. However, many of these images have now been removed. So Fotolia has around two million images now, which should help them save some money.

How This Affects Your Revenue -

The removal of images that do not sell well may seem a bit extreme to some individuals, but it's not necessarily a bad idea. True, if your images don't sell within a specific amount of time, you will not receive any money for them. And you lose the chance that someone will download your image in the future.

However, your images also gain more exposure. Think about it. The more images that are removed the faster the servers will be, and your chances of being noticed improve as well. If the system were overwhelmed with pictures, your images would be less likely to be seen. This is especially true for new photographers or illustrators that are just starting out.

As you can see, the deletion of your images by some microstock agencies is not necessarily a disadvantage to you. In some ways, it may actually be a benefit to you. While you may not like microstock agencies deleting your photos, it's still going to happen. So take good photos that sell well, and you'll have nothing to worry about.