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Canstockphoto.com

Review By Steve Gibson
Written 17 May 2008
Updated 07 September 2023

Visit Canstockphoto.com
Our Review: 

Canstockphoto announced they will close after nearly 20 years in business on 1 October 2023, this review is for historical reference.

Images are good value with credits costing 50c or less if you buy bulk. There is also a subscription option, with a weekly 70 images subscription currently at around 35 dollars.

The site has been gaining market share and growing their image collection since 2004

Good statistics monitor photograph views and an itemised history of sales. Since the affiliation with fotosearch the upload system has been streamlined, and sorry to use the cliche but there is no better way to say it, "uploading is a breeze" there is no need to spend time categorizing images.

For the photographer commissions rates are well above average, at the time of writing the sales are quite slow. The site features good stats and sales reporting tools.

Further to my previous comments on photos all being rejected with a standard "* Image does not meet our current content submission standards." it's been pleasing to see that recent submissions now receive useful rejection reasons which can help photographers reduce future rejections.

 

Conclusion

The site makeover (July2011) and changes to the search system has proven to make this site more somewhat attractive to buyers, but the fotosearch syndication as been the real success here (for me at least).

In 2012 Canstock just managed to bump themselves into 5th place in my earnings ranking, in 2015 up to 2nd place just ahead of istock, this was mostly due to syndication sales from fotosearch. Successful sales results year after year secure canstock a "must upload" recommendation.

 

canstockphoto

 

Site Details
Media Types (in addition to RF Images): 
This site accepts video footage
This site accepts vector illustrations
(sort by agency)
Real US$ Cost of 1 Standard Image: 
2.25 (compare prices)
Referral Scheme: 
Yes - 10% of purchases, within 6 months, up to $50, $5 for every 50 photos a referred photographer sells. (compare rates)
Exclusivity Options Available: 
Exclusive Images (compare)
Cost of a standard image (1600x1200) 2MP approx: 
3 Credits
Royalty Rate: 
50% of images sales (20% via fotosearch), subscription downloads $0.25 (fotosearch tiered starting at $0.30 per download. Nothing extra for exclusive images. Enhanced Licenses $22.00 per download (compare)
Cost of 1 Credit (basic): 
$ 0.75
FTP Upload: 

Address: ftp://ftp.canstockphoto.com
Username: [Yourusername]

Subscriptions: 

Two options, 10 or 25 images daily, Length of Subscription weekly, 1,12 month
Week 10 images/day $39.00
Month: 10 images/day $99.00
Annual: 10 images+vectors/day $924.00
Annual: 25 images+vectors/day $1964.95

(compare subscriptions)
Site Statistics
Approx. size of photo collection (0 = no current estimate): 
30,000,000 Images (compare)
Alexa Traffic Rank: 
10377 (a measure of the site popularity, lower number is better)
Alexa 3 Month Change: 
-2350% (measurement of the increase of site popularity compared with three months ago, negative is a decrease)
Launched: 
2004-2023
Community
Facebook: 
fan page link (list all)
Twitter: 
@canstockphoto (list all)
Photographers: 
48000
http://www.canstockphoto.com/about.php (nov16)
Overall Rating: 
Site Closed / Not Recommended
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6 Comments
gary718's picture

Canstock Acquired

gary718 (not verified) on Wed, 2008-11-12 16:17

November 12, 2008 Dear Can Stock Photo Contributor (gary718), We are pleased to announce that as the result of an acquisition, microstock innovator Can Stock Photo Inc. is now an affiliate of stock photography pioneer Fotosearch. Fotosearch is one of the largest stock photography agencies in the world and a true innovator in the industry. As part of the new relationship, Fotosearch will distribute Can Stock Photo imagery, which will provide access to the substantial worldwide network Fotosearch has built over the past 10 years, and afford Can Stock Photo contributors the opportunity to generate more revenue. Fotosearch boasts the largest network of non-English stock photography sites in the world, with sites localized for 47 countries. Introduction of Can Stock Photo content will begin on the Brazilian and Japanese sites, www.fotosearch.com.br and www.fotosearch.jp, with more sites to follow. Once the content is fully rolled-out, Can Stock Photo contributors will be exposed to millions of Fotosearch visitors every week. Through Fotosearch, contributors will be able to sell images as prints, and Fotosearch will soon have a program to include the best content in a professional brand. Your images will continue to be available at www.canstockphoto.com, and the payout structure for imagery licensed there will remain the same. Licensing on Can Stock Photo has been streamlined from five options to simply a standard license (limited to 500,000 reproductions) and enhanced license (with either unlimited reproductions or items for resale), to be more in line with industry standards and to encourage enhanced license sales. Click the first link below for Can Stock Photo license details. The upload process at Can Stock Photo will continue to be easy to use, and has been improved to now accept vector files. Further enhancements to the site will be made in the near future, including the acceptance of footage content. As a result of the new owner’s growth strategy, Can Stock Photo will be marketing its website aggressively to attract even more stock photography buyers for your images.

Steve Gibson's picture

Great News

Steve Gibson on Fri, 2008-11-14 00:24

This is great news for canstockphoto contributors who should see an increase in sales, more in a news post: microstockinsider.com/news/canstockphoto-images-fotosearch

Sipaphoto's picture

Not at all good

Sipaphoto (not verified) on Mon, 2011-05-02 17:56
Here's my own experience with CanStockPhoto.com as a contributing photographer for the last two years: Sales are extremely slow, even for pro photographers, and even with a great portfolio of 400+ photos. I'm using the term "great portfolio" not a self-evaluation, but rather as a term used by CanStockPhoto staff in their last reference to my portfolio. Contributors also should be aware that closing the account is a long and tedious process, where you have to go through and delete and and every photo manually through an edit process before the option to close the account is available. Last but definitely not least, the company will NOT, I repeat, they will NOT issue you a credit of your balance for your own photo sales if you close your account. They call this an industry standard, even though not all stock agencies do this. One thing is guaranteed: kiss your balance goodbye if you close the account. This information is buried in the fine print of the Member Agreement, but thrown in your face when requesting a refund of your balance.
Steve Gibson's picture

it is the norm

Steve Gibson on Wed, 2011-05-04 02:36
putting poor sales aside... (for me 3 years, 400 files and 50 sales $86 US, not earth shattering, not dead, and well, to be honest exactly as I wrote above - potential for those with large ports, smooth workflow etc) I think you can expect NOT to see revenue from any site if you don't meet the payment threshold, it genuinely is the industry norm. I never see the reason to remove a port from a site you have given up on - but I understand that lots of people out there do like to keep their images under tight leashes. For me once its up it's up - ive done the work then have fingers crossed that some sales will be made. Unlike a lot of dead sites I could mention at least canstock is 'dripping' - I'm hoping it might turn into a trickle while i'm not looking.
Steve's picture

Not even a drip for me. Even

Steve (not verified) on Thu, 2013-08-08 10:20
Not even a drip for me. Even for pics making decent weekly sales on other sites. Not worth uploading any more until I get sales.
Anonymous's picture

CanStock.com Bad image descriptions. Bad customer service.

Anonymous (not verified) on Fri, 2015-02-20 23:06
Bad item description. No way to contact by telephone. Written several times with screen shots of the image I paid for WITH description, requesting a refund. They wrote back and said, the image did NOT have that description. I wrote back again with the screen shot outlined PROVING my dispute. Remains unresolved at the moment. If you are a professional - NEVER EVER use this company for any reason. I should have know who I was dealing with because professionals list their contact number and handle emails and refunds in a timely and professional manner. My two cents are only the beginning of my full $12 value.

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