Out of curiosity, do they pay well, what kind of percentage margin are you looking at?

20% is the normal


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As a beginner you'll get 20% from a sale. Images sell between $1-$18 depending on a size. So, you may get anywhere from $0.20 to $3.60 per sale. That does not include EXTENDED licenses.

There are several levels of contributors based on number of images sold and each new level gets 5% more total (or 25% over previous earnings). Next level begins after 500 sold images.

slobo wrote:

As a beginner you'll get 20% from a sale. Images sell between $1-$18 depending on a size. So, you may get anywhere from $0.20 to $3.60 per sale. That does not include EXTENDED licenses.

There are several levels of contributors based on number of images sold and each new level gets 5% more total (or 25% over previous earnings). Next level begins after 500 sold images.

Unfortunately you only receive these benefits if you are exclusive to iStock, otherwise your stuck with the 20%


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That is a bit of an unfair deal. Workfing for their lifestlye. I wont get into it too much, but Give me 6 months.

they_played_tricks wrote:

That is a bit of an unfair deal. Workfing for their lifestlye. I wont get into it too much, but Give me 6 months.

Unfair is totally to be decided by the submitter. If they make more money with the same set of pictures than any other agency, I am not sure I should complain. They actually SPEND money on advertising, trade shows etc. Others just but a few more Google ads.

Another thought: When you go work for an emplyoer, do you think that they pay you much more than 20% of the revenue that you earn for the company? Maybe yes, but probably not.

I can't believe that it can possibly be legal for them to have a minimum check request of $100. What this means is that istockphoto is selling a huge volume of photos for which they never pay the photographer for. There are many photographers that never sell $100 worth on istockphoto, so they will NEVER see any cash for photos istock has already sold.

Can we say "class action lawsuit," anyone?

foresite wrote:

I can't believe that it can possibly be legal for them to have a minimum check request of $100. What this means is that istockphoto is selling a huge volume of photos for which they never pay the photographer for. There are many photographers that never sell $100 worth on istockphoto, so they will NEVER see any cash for photos istock has already sold.

Can we say "class action lawsuit," anyone?

Probably not, you agree to this when you signed up. Most of the agnecies I have ever "quit" with have gone ahead and payed me the $23 they owed me. From their standpoint it is an accounting liability. Anyone running a business like this will either act responsibily and pay you or point you back to the contract of submission that will say that you agreed.


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I quit Dreamstime when they said they wanted a copy of a photo ID. I was able to delete all but 1 photo because of time requirements and left $21 on their books. Knowing the rules that I signed up under I didn't expect to get the money. I did suggest the donate the money to a childrens hospital. They deleted the suggestion and made no reply.