BigStockPhoto
June 23rd, 2007 by Lee Torrens
BigStockPhoto are a feisty little outfit. They don’t compare in size to the market dominators, but they make themselves heard in the market. They’re out there being seen and interacting with the community and marketing their service.
Background
Entered the scene in late 2004, BigStockPhoto experienced impressive growth up until the end of 2006. Since then, it’s tapered off, according to the Alexa charts. The agency was started by husband and wife team Tim & Dawn Donahue. Tim is CEO and Dawn goes by Co-Founder.
Details
| Web Address | www.bigstockphoto.com |
| Google Pagerank | 6 |
| Google Backlinks | 5,160 |
| Alexa Rank | 4,223 |
| Image Stats | 1,190,000 |
| Minimum Image Size | 800 pixels across |
| Vectors | Yes |
| Footage | No |
| Licenses | Standard Royalty Free and 14 different Special Licenses |
| Compensation | $0.50 per 1 credit |
| Pricing | $1 - $2 |
| Payment Methods | PayPal, Moneybookers |
| Payment Delay | 2 days |
| Referral Program | 35% of first buyer purchase, $5 per referred contributor with portfolio of 75 |
| Application Process | Pass an online test |
| Exclusivity | Not offered |
| Upload Methods | HTML form, FTP |
| IPTC Data | Yes |
| Currencies | US dollar |
| Languages | English |
| Headquarters | California, USA |
Cool Features
BigStockPhoto have a Collections page where the best photos of various categories are collected together. This simplifies finding the best images for popular categories.
Performance
Sales at BigStockPhoto place them at the bottom of the top tier. We personally don’t have a lot of our portfolio there, but we still manage to earn 6 cents per photo, depending on the month. Other microstockers report earnings in the same range as Fotolia and Dreamstime. We plan to upload the rest of our portfolio shortly to increase our earnings from BigStockPhoto.
Verdict
BigStockPhoto is a tentative ‘yes’. While they’re not yet competing with iStockphoto or Shutterstock, they’re still in the leading pack. Their website lacks the punch, clarity and functional features of their competitors, but their high visibility in the market draws in the sales.
State of the Microstock Nation series:
Email This Post
Tags: BigStockPhoto, Microstock, Reviews
Bigstockphoto interests me more and more every month. As a contributor, I have considered them an afterthought for several months. I’d get a sale here, a sale there. Nothing much to write home about.
Suddenly in September they perked up a lot. They moved up to my #3 monthly earner, leaving Dreamstime in the dust. Apparently it was no fluke. In October they are up even more for me, and are running neck and neck with Shutterstock as my #2 earner.
What I like most about them is they are getting me about 85-95 cents per sale in September and October. That makes them my top $ per sale performer for 2 months running. And starting in November, their payout will be even higher due to the credits per image increasing.
Most people seem perplexed when I mention how well they doing for me. But a handful of people on their message boards are reporting the same thing. It makes me anxious to see how November plays out.
Although of course sales are lower than at the big ones, it is still worth contributing pictures since they have a good acceptance rate and pictures will sell steadily.
The only think I dislike about them is you can’t delete pictures easily: you’ll have to wait 90 days after upload and then ask them to delete EACH picture individually - this may be an issue should you decide to remove a picture to sell exclusively somewhere else.