Author Topic: Average time before the first sale on Alamy (Read 6421 times)

BelIblis · « **on:** January 07, 2013, 08:25 »

Hi,

I do a blend of travel and studio stills (mainly food). Been with Alamy for a long time now, but it's been over 4 years since I last submitted to them. In the old days, it often took up to 6 months or more before an image sold on Alamy.

From my other agencies (both RM and RF), in the past 2-3 years I found that quite often I get sales within 1-2 months after I uploaded an image. Is it the same with Alamy these days? Or is it still around the 6-month mark?

Of course, each image is different. But what's your overall "benchmark" so to say?

pancaketom · « **Reply #1 on:** January 07, 2013, 11:09 »

The vast majority of my images on Alamy have never sold. I am not sure what my quickest sale there has been since uploading. Looking at my last 7 sales they all were up over a year before a sale. I uploaded for over a year before my first sale (but not a lot of uploads).

aspp · « **Reply #2 on:** January 07, 2013, 12:31 »

Quickest sale for me was 4 months after the image was uploaded. The same RM image sold 5 times over about 8 weeks. I had about 150 images online there before a sale. Very pleased with the experience at Alamy so far and I plan to send them my next 1000 or so images over the next few months instead of IStock.

Equus · « **Reply #3 on:** January 07, 2013, 13:13 »

Quote from: aspp on January 07, 2013, 12:31

Quickest sale for me was 4 months after the image was uploaded. The same RM image sold 5 times over about 8 weeks. I had about 150 images online there before a sale. Very pleased with the experience at Alamy so far and I plan to send them my next 1000 or so images over the next few months instead of IStock.

And that may be just what Getty is hoping for. Even though they are not going to the Getty family, they're being kept out of microstock.

gostwyck · « **Reply #4 on:** January 07, 2013, 14:05 »

Quote from: Equus on January 07, 2013, 13:13

And that may be just what Getty is hoping for. Even though they are not going to the Getty family, they're being kept out of microstock.

Huh? There's already over 25M images available in microstock. That is one horse that has well and truly bolted. What difference is another 1000 or so going to make?

Equus · « **Reply #5 on:** January 07, 2013, 14:32 »

They don't care about most of them, but there are some that shouldn't be in microstock. Every photographer has to make their mind up about which of their own work is which.
The idea is to make as much money as possible from a portfolio, is it not?
Did you read microdon's comments in the IS forum, before they were deleted? He believes he can make more money in Getty than in IS, therefore Getty makes more money.
Our own dear ClaridgeJ constantly tells us how much more he makes with his macro portfolio. He presumably makes that decision - micro or macro - for every one of his files.

BelIblis · « **Reply #6 on:** January 07, 2013, 17:40 »

Quote from: Equus on January 07, 2013, 14:32

Our own dear ClaridgeJ constantly tells us how much more he makes with his macro portfolio.

Exactly, same with my portfolio: I have a way higher return per image with macro than with micro. The other day I sold a very(!) basic still image in macro RF – $50 in royalties for me, from ONE sale. (fruit, cutout, "mugshot" lighting... really not a very exciting image). Plenty of similar images in the micro world, but for some reason the customer chose my macro RF one.
2 months ago I sold a RM image, nearly $900 in royalties for me. Night-time shot of a city landmark in Paris (not the Eiffel Tower!), shot from a very popular vantage point. Plenty of very similar images in micro editorial. (I was actually surrounded by another 5 photographers when I took the image).

A friend of mine works in the marketing/design department for a big Fortune500 company. Despite the current economy, she doesn't have any budget restrictions whatsoever. If she finds the right image, she'll buy it – whether it's micro or macro prized. She's got a lot of work on her plate, so she doesn't have the time to keep searching different agencies, just to save a few bucks. Once her gut feeling tells her that she found the right image, she'll move on.