I’m not sure why I chose to not upload to LuckyOliver, along with other sites, but I guess I’m glad I did!

They have announced through their blog that they will be closing for business on May 15th.

In setting up it was certainly clear to me that smaller sites would probably mean less sales and more risk of no return for your efforts, which is probably why I chose not bother, as people who haven’t reached their pay-out limit probably won’t be receiving any money once LuckyOliver closes.

There’s a great article on Photopreneur today – What’s Wrong with Microstock, which is a much better written breakdown of how microstock works for, and against, photographers. I agree with almost all of what’s written in the article, and even with most of Dan Scott’s comment, “Microstock companies are the greedy parasites of the photography industry,” but am in no doubt that right now microstock is thriving and no amount of righteous vitriol will stop it’s affect on the market. All industries are shaped by their ability to respond to change.

Photopreneurs’ article suggests that the limited audience and usage of microstock photos will eventually further limit their range to a very specific type of commercial images. I really do hope this is how it works out – microstock sites should be a low cost provider of basic, run-of-the-mill generic commercial images. Perhaps this is just the time period where the clear distinction between the aims of microstock and traditional stock has not been established enough. Seeing this model expand into graphic design, music, film-making and programming (among others) indicates that the online demand for minimal cost products and services is bound to conflict with the actual value of skills and knowledge in many fields. At least it won’t just be photographers having this debate!

Anyway, if I had all answers I woud be cashing in on them by now, and probably wouldn’t blog about it