Should you be Exclusive or Non-exclusive?

When you are doing stock photography, you can choose to be an Exclusive collaborator or Non-exclusive.

The names itself are pretty explanatory but it simply means that you can choose to only upload to one micro agency, and no others, which would mean you are exclusive to stock photography to that agency.

Or you can choose to upload in multiple micro agencies and have your photos and videos in different places.

There is no right or wrong choice. It will be up to you to decide. You have to balance the pros and cons and see what suits you best.

What are the main differences?

Being Exclusive, as you know, it means your Stock photos and videos will only be available in one of the micro agencies. And it is up to you to choose which one works best for you.

That means, only people that use said micro agency will be able to license your works.

What agencies do, is that when you are Exclusive to them, and remember, each agency is different and you must check before, but if You are exclusive your works will receive higher commissions on each sale, also, they usually priviledge their exclusive collaborators, helping with the position and discoveribility of their photos on the search.

If you decide to go non-exclusive, then you will be able to not only get more eyes on your works, but also you will be able to upload the same photos and videos in different agencies.

That means the commissions on each sale, in comparison with being exclusive will be lower, but also, you can have the same photo being sold in different places, which might be able to balance or might even be more beneficial.

On the other hand, it will also add a little bit more extra work, with the process of growing each portfolio.

No one can make this decision for you. Only you can decide what will work better. It can be a stressful decision, but an important one! So I would recommend you to think about it and do your research when it comes to the micro agencies out there and what they might offer.

There is nothing wrong to listen to other stock photographers and videographers out there talking and sharing their experiences and their choices when it comes to this decision.

No matter you decide to go Exclusive or Non-Exclusive, don't be afraid to start your journey in stock photography and video because there might be a brilliant future ahead of you, and you only miss the chances you won't take.

So take a chance.

The Microstock sites I am on:
Shutterstock
Pond5
Dreamstime
Depositphotos
500px

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