I only have 250 videos and still creating a wider breadth of subjects but from my MSG queries I don't think there are four.

1. Pond 5 (primary product is video)
2. Shutterstock (does better than Pond 5 for me currently, but I expect that to change over time - 12 months or so).

THATS it for decent video unless someone else is willing to shed light on other reliable outlets)

Then there's other less dominating sites that sell and don't do as well but some.

3. Istock - they have slashed commissions. You may make $6-$7 per video sale. Really pathetic. They just slashed our commissions from around $19 commission per clip for indies to the 6-7 dollar range.
4. 123rf - I have myt stuff there and occasionally I sell a video. I have been getting around $20 a video sale.

Then there's the non selling sites that are all video.

5. Revostock - never sold anything there and I have ceased uploading there

6. Motion elements and I have also ceased uploading there

7. Cutcaster - I have applied and never heard anything back so screw them.

Just noticed that I've made more this year on P5 clips that my "all-time" on shutterstock.
Granted, I'm not a big player on either of them.

P5 and SS are my top two.  I don't really have a top "four" anymore, which worries me a bit. 

Back when I started, my overall income was split fairly even across P5, iS, SS, and RS.  Then, over the years, iS and RS dropped off the radar, leaving me with P5 and SS making up roughly 80% of my overall income so far this year.  Back in 2010, those two made up 46%.

I never wanted to be exclusive, but I fear the marketplace is forcing me to that end.

I started again to throw clips ClipCanvas' and DepositPhoto's way in the hopes I can expand my income base.

My Top Video Sites:

Premiere League:
1. Pond 5
2. SS

2nd League:
3. Clipcanvas - They have restructured and paid my overdue royalties. I will resume uploading.
4. Revostock - This month 1 sale so far, only ca. 80 clips online. I will resume uploading after they pay my overdue royalties.

Newcomer with good prices and royalties, worth giving them a chance:
Motion Elements


Hall of Shame - Garbage video sites that I don't touch with a 10 foot pole:

123 RF, DT, DP, FT, Envato, IS

These sites do nothing but undercut the good sites.
Who the #�&* needs them? What for?
1 video sold on a garbage site means one video NOT sold on a good site.

I never wanted to be exclusive, but I fear the marketplace is forcing me to that end.

I started again to throw clips ClipCanvas' and DepositPhoto's way in the hopes I can expand my income base.

When you say 'exclusive' I gather you mean you may be forced to go exclusive at iStock?

And I disagree with the statement, "1 video sold on a garbage site means one video NOT sold on a good site."  I think many customers only tend to frequent one or two agencies.  Just because a customer bought a clip on CC, doesn't mean they would have found that same clip of mine on P5.

That is not the point. The point is that e.g. SS may be forced to adjust their prices/royalties in order to stay competitive and then you'll lose big time. Don't do anything to undercut the market leaders, because when they'll 'undercut' you it will be game over.

I'll repeat, if the garbage sites went out of business or were forced to raise their prices/royalties, video producers would gain the most. If you don't help the garbage sites grow their collections, they would have to do something positive for the contributors. That is elementary.

I was exclusive for video at iStock but dropped that just over two years ago as the mismanagement of the place became increasingly evident. I'm now in the process of deactivating my IS portfolio because of the derisory royalty payments for non-exclusives. I cannot recommend working with iStock on a non-exclusive basis because the rewards for work done is so poor.

Being exclusive to iStock does pay reasonably well and there is the added bonus of getting clips on Getty. The question is, does one gamble on an agency which has shown scant regard for its contributors in the past and seems to have  alienated many of its customers? It may be that iStock/Getty are playing a long game which will see them prosper in the future, but I myself don't feel able to stake my video income on that at the moment.

Over the last two years I have uploaded similar content to both P5 and SS.  My SS portfoilo has outsold my P5 collection by about 4 to 1 over these two years. The income I have received from these two agencies has not yet reached the heights of my best years with iStock, but SS in particular is heading in the right direction.

I refuse to play the game of dropping prices to rock bottom at P5, but set them at about the cost a purchaser would have to pay for a single clip at SS, in some cases higher. It is interesting that most of the sales which I have had at P5 have been the clips which I set a higher price for, usually 50% above the cost of the same clip at SS. This suggests that some buyers at least are more interested in the right image for the job in hand than the price and that they do not necessarily shop around for the cheapest deal on a clip they find.

Because I am UK based, I would consider Alamy video if they made submissions available online and in small batches. This is something they have said they are unlikely to do in the foreseeable future because of the costs involves, but I do still occasionally lobby them for it.

I have not tried any other agency as the comments I have seen on this forum tends to suggest they do not produce a good return on time  invested and/or drag down the overall market for video prices.

I am a UK based contributor with a total SS/P5 portfolio of about 500, a mixture of run-of-the-mill creative and editorial clips, including a  few 2D and 3D animations.

SS and Pond5 are the best for me. Istock was good in the begining of the year, even outperforming SS, but after their changes I haven't had even one sale and I also stopped uploading there, because their new pricing is ridiculous...

How are you doing on ClipCanvas? After almost a year of waiting I got accepted as a contributor there, but the site looks like a bit mess, on one page they say I can set up my own pricing and royalty is 50%, on the other page I had to accept an agreement 40% and fixed price $78. I cannot find any CSV keyword upload option, do they have it? I also heard that they were having some financial problem.

Anyone on Clipdealer?

If this Bigstock move to sell videos for pennies goes forward without an opt out shutterstock will become my lowest earner cuz I will have to pull my port. I can't imaging that shutterstock wouldn't offer an opt out, though.

Quote from: Realist on November 12, 2014, 13:13

I'll repeat, if the garbage sites went out of business or were forced to raise their prices/royalties, video producers would gain the most. If you don't help the garbage sites grow their collections, they would have to do something positive for the contributors. That is elementary.

I see you're once again contributing to CC.  I bet many would classify CC as a "garbage" site.
But I suspect that you, like me, get sales occasionally and are hoping they grow to something bigger.  But by your logic, CC should just go under.

They pay me around � 20 per sale. The royalty rate is now 40% (used to be 50%), which of course is not the best, but still relatively good.
What's important, they don't seem to participate in the race to the bottom.
I understand they had financial problems and I didn't want to invest time in them before my overdue royalties were paid.

I don't mind that they sell much less than P5 or SS, as long as they don't try to kill the market. Not every site can be the market leader. If they sell less, that's fine if they are fair.

If one of the market leaders sells HD clips for $79 then this price must be pretty close to the sweet spot for the market.
People who are "testing" price levels of $40 or 50$ for top-quality HD clips or $90 for 4K, are simply morons.
When they become a more serious issue for SS, SS will adjust their prices and everybody will lose. SS will likely remain one of the market leaders. Maybe the recent Bigstock thing has some purpose.

This year in $ for me is
1 Shutterstock
2 Dissolve
3 Pond5

The other agencies combined is less than half of P5 sales.

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