Yellow Goat's Beard
123RF.com. Where do I begin? Well, for starters, I signed up at 123RF in January 2008. Over the past 3 1/2 years I have added to my portfolio, which probably started around 600 images and is now at 900+ images approved on the site.
Despite having a portfolio of 800-900+ approved images on the site for over 3 1/2 years, I only had 2 sales totaling $1.22. I decided to close my account because I figured that putting any effort into something that is going to earn me $1.22 every 3 1/2 years just wasn’t worth it, and I wanted to consolidate my portfolio into the sites where I was actually getting sales.
If I were recommending a site to a photographer, 123RF would not be it unfortunately. Their upload and approval process is extremely easy, and if you have IPTC data embedded in your images, all you do is upload and wait for approval. However, I don’t know if the customer base just makes up a different portion of the market as most stock photo sites, or if there aren’t many customers to speak of, but my portfolio faired extremely badly, only netting me 2 sales in almost twice as many years.
oh wow – i have never used 123RF but i will definitely think twice before spending so much time uploading shots. Cheers
My best friend is a website designer and he said he’s never heard 123rf or anyone buying stock photos there. 2 sales over 3 1/2 years is not a good business model. 123rf won’t be taking down iStockphoto anytime soon.
So many efforts and they are not paid. Not good…You’re a great photographer. I love your pictures! I hope you’ll find a website where you can make more money and you business become successful. Good luck!