I was just looking at our sales records here on GraphicRiver and noticed it’s been a year since we started uploading content. 
I thought I’d share our experience along with some numbers in the hopes to perhaps inspire others.
First, the numbers:
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470 items uploaded
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1,466 sales
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79.57% of items in portfolio currently with sales
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$17,587 revenue
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$7,254.45 earnings
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$4.95 average earnings per sale
Second, the experience:
We are a non-exclusive account, which means we get much lower earnings per sale than exclusive authors (around 40% of each sale, almost half what you could make as an exclusive elite author).
This 40% earnings number is also much lower than rates offered on other popular marketplaces. On face value it’s easy to be disheartened by this, however I believe GraphicRiver more than makes up for lower earnings-per-sale with its volume.
Choosing exclusive/non-exclusive.
We have a put a primary focus on our website and offering our templates as a membership package, with a secondary focus on uploading to GraphicRiver and other marketplaces.
However, looking at numbers now, at least for most individual authors, especially those in the print category, I think uploading to GraphicRiver as an exclusive elite author is probably just as singularly profitable as spreading yourself across multiple marketplaces. I could also be very wrong by that, though.
The sales come quickly on GraphicRiver, something I’d guess is due to the way GraphicRiver ranks search results. But of course, it’s perhaps not best to have all your eggs in one basket.
Overcoming Rejections
One of the things that suck3d most this year was having items rejected. Having items rejected is hard enough as it is, but having our items rejected which on other marketplaces have a proven track record of selling? That was a bitter pill to swallow.
But it is what it is.
Even though the reviewers will from time to time shoot you down, I think without the review process, GraphicRiver wouldn’t be able to give new items a priority in search results.
Instead, like other marketplaces, search results would have to rely more on other factors - like sales - which would be hard to come by if no one can find your items… So as horrible as the upload process is on GR, it’s probably a net positive result.
Just keep on keepin’ on, uploading.
Finding Opportunities
GraphicRiver has exploded over the years, especially categories like print. With 171,000 items in the print category alone, competing is hard, but I don’t think it means competing here is dead, or that new authors have missed the boat. There’s plenty to go around.
In fact, I still think there is a sizeable opportunity for those willing to put in the work.
There are countless untapped niche categories needing items, there are constant new technologies & apps that can be designed for, new trends & fashions too. Or of course, simply outdoing the competition with better quality work.
GraphicRiver sure isn’t the gold rush it used to be, but it doesn’t mean you can’t make money here. Just work a bit smarter.
What next?
This year has inspired me, and I hope seeing our results - or our rejections - might inspire someone else thinking of starting.
When my partner and I sat down to discuss uploading our items to GraphicRiver, we agreed we would “test it out” for a few months and see what happened.
We got off to a rocky start with a lot of disagreeable rejections, but looking at it now, uploading to GraphicRiver has been a wonderful decision and I can’t wait to grow further.
Our goal now: Make $3,000/month with GR
I think when it comes to creating micro stock products, it’s particularly important to set yourself a goal. It’s so disheartening to spend hours/days on an item and only see it rack up a few sales each month - or get rejected.
But once you’ve built up a portfolio of items, the monthly income compounds into something more substantional making it feel like its worth your time. And furthermore, they’ll hopefully sell for many years adding up to a princely sum in time to come.
Our sales have been steadily rising. We made $936 from GraphicRiver last month with around 460 existing items in our portfolio. So by those numbers alone, 1,500 items in our portfolio should bring us close to that $3k/month.
It’s a sizeable goal, but if we can go from $0-$900/month in 1 year as a non-exclusive author, we can certainly get to $3k in another year or so. And so can anyone else.
Let’s see what happens?
success in your side is all but surprising lol 
Good luck for more sales and success