Comparison of Microstock Referral Programs

Everyone wants to make a little extra money while doing what they love. The questions always is, how do you find those ways? Referral programs are one way Microstock videographers and photographers can pad their overall earnings with not a lot of work and a great way for Microstock websites to get new members and content.

In one of Lee Torren's last blog entries he compares the different affiliate and referral programs found at the leading microstock sites and outlines which ones are the best value for trying to make extra money while submitting to these sites. We have said it on here before but Lee Torrens does a really great job over at Microstock Diaries and we have really learned a lot from our conversations with him and his very educational blog which maps his experience in the microstock world.

Here is a chart he created but for a complete rundown on all the info he aggregated check out the post on his site.

Website -> Deal for Buyers -> Deal for Contributors -> Statistics -> Enrollment

iStockPhoto , $10 once off, NO, NA, Accept agreement

Shutterstock, 20% up to $50, $0.03, Full, Automatic

Dreamstime, 10%, 10%, Some, Automatic

Fotolia, 15%, 10%, Full Automatic

BigStockPhoto, 35% 1st purchase, $5 once off, Some, Automatic

CanStockPhoto, 10% up to $50, $5 per 50 sales, Some, Automatic

123rf, 15% for 1 year, $0.03 for 6 months, Full, Automatic

StockXpert, 10%, NO, Full, Application & review

LuckyOliver, $5 once off, $1 once off, None, Automatic


It's a great read for anyone trying to earn more money from referring new members to these sites and also a good comparison of the different programs that are out there. It's definitely going to help us in choosing our affiliate program here at Cutcaster. Hey Lee, do you think it is necessary for a site to reward a referrer for both buyers and sellers they send to a site?

Credits- Photo downloaded from MorgueFile and is the copyright of Cohdra

Bye Bye 123flickr

Well after just a day of being online Stockphototalk reported that "Flickr revoked our Flickr API commercial key after 2 weeks of issuing it and within 24 hours of us going live with it," according to 123RF in an interview today. It was a nice try by 123RF but too bad as I thought it was a good idea but I imagine that Yahoo will try this in the near future.

Big News in Stock Photo Land

Big news out of Flickr today and 123RF media. Using a Flickr API, Inmagine's stock brand 123RF will now allow its users to license their photos to potential buyers. This is a giant move and big surprise. Ill be interested to see how Flickr members will use this service but i think it is step in the right direction for selling photos and eventually video in the future. This is a win win for the sellers and buyers. Yahoo owns Flickr fyi.