\nBe as it may, oftentimes the initial enthusiasm sooner or later drifts slowly into disillusion first, then into annoyance, and eventually into divorce.
\nHaving gone through that unpleasant experience several times (with the microstocks, I mean \u2013 I still get along pretty well with my nasty old husband \ud83d\ude42 ) I\u2019ve learnt the hard way that even divorcing a microstock has a price, fair or outrageous depending on the agency. Let me share with you a few of those experiences, so that you may think twice before putting that confounded virtual ring on your finger.<\/p>\n
First things first: why?<\/h3>\n
Because wasting time and toil for a few cents was never my favorite hobby, so I resolved to get rid of the agencies that in the last years had sold just a negligible number of my works. As a result I\u2019m listing below the \u201cwon\u2019t-miss-them<\/em>\u201d by star rating according to the smoothness of the parting.<\/p>\n Pond5:<\/span> Arcangel:<\/span> Zazzle:<\/span> FineArtAmerica:<\/span> Red Bubble:<\/span> 123RF:<\/span> Dreamstime:<\/span> \u201cPlease take into account that contributors are required to keep at least seventy (70%) percent of their portfolio online with Dreamstime.com for a period of at least six (6) months. You may disable all files older than six months from the date of review at any time. You will be allowed to disable a total of thirty (30%) percent of your total Media submitted within the past six (6) months. Media that was disabled and then enabled again will be counted as new submissions, no matter of their original upload date.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n Great: as punishment for my infidelity the images owned by me, on which I hold copyright, are held hostage for 6 months. Zoonar:<\/span>
\nEventually I counted the dead: there were eight<\/strong> of them! <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/luisafumi-digitalart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/5-s.gif\")
\nThe best. Smooth and gentlemanly parting.
\nSomeone there asked me kindly why, I replied that all in all by them I wasn\u2019t a best seller and parting was the best course of action. Soon after the same person sent me a kind email to confirm the account closure, a PayPal transfer notice to settle up and the promise that should I change my mind I\u2019d be welcome back.
\nWorth a kiss!<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/luisafumi-digitalart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/4-s.gif\")
\nNo hard feelings, with a frank and honest email exchange.
\nAt first I had sold through them a couple of covers but that was it.
\nThey were extremely choosy and I was increasingly skeptical because as a matter of principle they refused any job touched even remotely by AI, which at times like this doesn\u2019t look very convincing to me.
\nBut that\u2019s not my problem, I wish them good luck.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/luisafumi-digitalart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/3-s.gif\")
\nSimple and quick divorce, the only problem was to find the right web page, that as usual was well concealed.
\nI was making a little money by them but in the end personalizing various items using a rather cumbersome software wasn\u2019t worth the time and toil. Too much work for too little.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/luisafumi-digitalart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/2-s.gif\")
\nEasy quick impersonal parting, no hard feelings (actually no feelings at all).
\nThe last year I haven\u2019t sold a hairpin by them, and no news from them.<\/p>\n
\n Here too an easy fast impersonal parting, though somewhat sad on my<\/em> side.
\nThrough them I was selling some more than through other POD\u2019s, I\u2019ve been by them for several years and I was genuinely fond of them. But the day after they cut drastically the royalties I had no choice but leaving.<\/p>\n
\nNo problem. Nor a word from them.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/luisafumi-digitalart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1-s.gif\")
\nAs a reply to my termination request I got an unpleasantly clear text:<\/p>\n
\nNo doubt they are legally entitled to do so pursuant to some clause buried somewhere in the fine print that few contributors are likely to remember years later, but still\u2026
\nThey have been my first microstock agency, I stayed stubbornly with them until my royalties dropped below $100 a year, and even then I was saddened by the idea of leaving them. But as I read their reply my sorrow vanished like snow in the sun. Time flies\u2026 <\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/luisafumi-digitalart.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/half-s.gif\")
\nSame as above: apparently here too I\u2019ve been a bad girl and thus my works are held hostage for 6 months.
\nI don’t remember for how long I’ve been keeping an account by them, however I found in my archive an email from Zoonar dated 12.05.2009<\/strong>.
\nLong story short: so far I haven\u2019t attained their pay-off threshold yet <\/em>— possibly also because quite a share of the images I submitted got usually rejected (and keep selling nicely on Adobe and elsewhere).
\nSuch a pity that their communications concerning the cancellation of my account and the inherent restrictive conditions were not<\/em> sent me per email as one would expect: if memory serves they only appeared fleetingly on my dashboard, and when I got back there to make a copy they weren\u2019t available anymore. I also seem to remember a message about something concerning my PayPal account (also mysteriously vanished from my dashboard) that might prevent them from paying me off\u2026 a real financial catastrophe, but I think I\u2019ll survive even without the \u20ac6.71 they still owe me \ud83d\ude00 <\/p>\n
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