Author Topic: May's numbers are out. (Read 16025 times)

jonbull · « **Reply #25 on:** June 20, 2019, 07:59 »

apart some people that have little grow, but their sales level are too low to be judged in my opinion, the truth is that if you read getty contributor forum, a lot of exclusive used to earn 6 8000 dollar months are steady declining their revenue, both thanks to a falling red and number of download...the good news is most of them soon will ditch the exclusivity status and will be free to upload millions of files on ss as alamy and wherever they want spreading even more the every year smaller cake of royalties!! wowowowow!

Noedelhap · « **Reply #26 on:** June 20, 2019, 08:47 »

Of course I signed up knowing that iStock only pays 20% (vector) and Getty sales 15%, but it still sickens me to see that something like a $30 sale nets me only $4.50.

My yearly iStock revenue becomes less each year (roughly 50% of the previous year) so pretty soon it won't make any financial sense anymore to support this lousy agency.

qunamax · « **Reply #27 on:** June 20, 2019, 09:19 »

Quote from: ShadySue on June 20, 2019, 07:42

Quote from: qunamax on June 20, 2019, 07:27
Also from what I see, for me, only IS gets the new uploads moving instantly.
Wow, totally opposite to me! My new uploads disappear into the abyss, and in a double whammy, my bestsellers one by one suddenly* disappear from the first page to lower than page ten on their most likely search term and stop selling.
*It is always sudden, never a gradual slide.

As you suggest, we are all depending on the lottery of getting high value Getty sales.

Seriously, on SS and AS nothing newly uploaded seems to get traction at all, while on IS it really does sell and I can see them getting views and and lightbox added.
Also, from my personal angle, stuff that sells on IS actually the stuff I think is good - not so stockish, this stuff is dead on SS and AS. I don't know why is like that but for me it is, there's always a bunch of surprises on the 20th while SS and AS are so predictable.

Dumc · « **Reply #28 on:** June 20, 2019, 09:36 »

They're * up with search, it's obvious. I had this image, that was selling 30+ times per month in the last year. Than, last month 15 sales, this month 4 sales. Also, earnings are crashing rapidly, this is one of my worst omonths in 1.5 years.

Jeffrey · « **Reply #29 on:** June 20, 2019, 19:07 »

My January to April 2019 is slightly higher compared to last year of the same period. And then May came. It dropped suddenly, I only earned about 25$, down 80% compared to May 2018.

davidbautista · « **Reply #30 on:** June 20, 2019, 20:28 »

Quote from: qunamax on June 20, 2019, 07:27

Another month better than SS and AS, both in sales and RPD. Also from what I see, for me, only IS gets the new uploads moving instantly.

Indeed.

Enviado desde mi ALP-L29 mediante Tapatalk

suz7 · « **Reply #31 on:** June 21, 2019, 04:15 »

I do animated videos and vectors.

My earnings are roughly the same at Istock or more than at adobe/fotolia. (this month almost double)

But I have only 2 videos on Istock (got scared off from a ridiculously low sale) and I've got over 250 videos on adobe, and more vectors too than at istock. Shutterstock is my main earner by miles.

I am torn between my dignity and my bank balance on uploading videos to istock. Would a few low video sales include high ones or is it a slippery slope?

I know istock has a terrible reputation but then at the end of the day I need to pay bills and they earn me more.

I have to deal with clients that sometimes can be a real PITA in my day job and I rarely turn them away.

I'm still undecided!

Not Today · « **Reply #32 on:** June 21, 2019, 04:53 »

Quote from: suz7 on June 21, 2019, 04:15

I do animated videos and vectors.

My earnings are roughly the same at Istock or more than at adobe/fotolia. (this month almost double)

But I have only 2 videos on Istock (got scared off from a ridiculously low sale) and I've got over 250 videos on adobe, and more vectors too than at istock. Shutterstock is my main earner by miles.

I am torn between my dignity and my bank balance on uploading videos to istock. Would a few low video sales include high ones or is it a slippery slope?

I know istock has a terrible reputation but then at the end of the day I need to pay bills and they earn me more.

I have to deal with clients that sometimes can be a real PITA in my day job and I rarely turn them away.

I'm still undecided!

Every little bit helps... but if buyers shop around and see your videos at a cheaper price on iStock (and for a lower commission), you might lose those sales on SS and AS... and end up with less money. That's a big 'If' and nobody will know for sure before they try and measure, but that's a risk to consider.

If you're comfortable with iStock prices and commission, go for it, but if you're not then you should focus on other agencies like Pond5, VimeoStock, Storyblocks and Dissolve who have decent prices and commissions for videos.

Or focus on SS and AS as you're doing now and spend your extra time on creating more content

Karen · « **Reply #33 on:** June 21, 2019, 07:59 »

Quote from: fotoVoyager on June 20, 2019, 03:30

Realistically it is no longer financially sensible to create content as an Exclusive because of the majority of tiny value sales.

The bitter truth is this is not a viable business and anyone who invests to create content solely for this agency is subsidising the owners and buyers.

The only photographers for whom it will be worthwhile uploading will be those who create content incidentally.

The cynical moving of the royalty targets will quite quickly make the higher levels that many people have been receiving for years unattainable.

I'm assuming that the business doesn't really want many Exclusive artists, just a few to use as a marketing tool.

It's like being a lobster in a pan of slowly warming water.

If it is no longer financially sensible to create content as an Exclusive what about Independent?
Almost all the sales this month where in 0.01 - 0.05 range

Only video sales made some sense.
In my opinion video is the only content worth the effort in 2019.

jonbull · « **Reply #34 on:** June 21, 2019, 08:21 »

Quote from: Karen on June 21, 2019, 07:59

Quote from: fotoVoyager on June 20, 2019, 03:30
Realistically it is no longer financially sensible to create content as an Exclusive because of the majority of tiny value sales.

The bitter truth is this is not a viable business and anyone who invests to create content solely for this agency is subsidising the owners and buyers.

The only photographers for whom it will be worthwhile uploading will be those who create content incidentally.

The cynical moving of the royalty targets will quite quickly make the higher levels that many people have been receiving for years unattainable.

I'm assuming that the business doesn't really want many Exclusive artists, just a few to use as a marketing tool.

It's like being a lobster in a pan of slowly warming water.

If it is no longer financially sensible to create content as an Exclusive what about Independent?
Almost all the sales this month where in 0.01 - 0.05 range
Only video sales made some sense.
In my opinion video is the only content worth the effort in 2019.

yes...and that's why most of factory and top notch producer are shifting to video, so in probably a year video will be heavily saturated and soon there will be free video sites like unsplash. it's not feasible to invest money in micro stock that's the sad truth. sure there will be till a bunch of years with some potential but then ? doubt there will be a lot who could make a living out of this, and i mean good living...sure if you live in some poor island of thailand maybe 1000 dollar make you a living.

christiano · « **Reply #35 on:** June 21, 2019, 10:00 »

Quote from: jonbull on June 20, 2019, 07:37

Quote from: christiano on June 20, 2019, 07:12
my best month so far!
A lot better then SS, AS and AL. IS have the same RPD then SS.
2 big getty sales : 320$ + 185$

tour months is biased by two big sales, without them your months would be in line with the other...same happened to me, last month same big sales this months 0. unfortunately those sales are rare and not every month and they give u 15% only, if is beat ss so much i ask how much you earn in ss or as...20 dollar?
for me ss is like 6 times bigger than is and 4 times as. lucky ss is not growing a lot but is always the same good money eery month.

I should have said that this is my best month so far excluding the two big sales ... Best month in terms of numbers and dollars. Almost double in dollars compared to SS.

flywing · « **Reply #36 on:** June 21, 2019, 12:05 »

May is average for me but the three previous months were disasters. It hurt to see a good number of downloads but all of them were of terrible value.

I won't put my hope on that sporadic high value sales among sea of $0.03-0.06 sales. I believe they're cannibalizing sales from SS and AS so I've stopped uploading to iS.

What would happen if enough contributors stopped uploading to iS? Those who are still there would have better sales and report about it. Then those who have stopped would change their minds and resume uploading. And then...

Karen · « **Reply #37 on:** June 22, 2019, 09:54 »

Quote from: jonbull on June 21, 2019, 08:21

Quote from: Karen on June 21, 2019, 07:59
Quote from: fotoVoyager on June 20, 2019, 03:30
Realistically it is no longer financially sensible to create content as an Exclusive because of the majority of tiny value sales.

The bitter truth is this is not a viable business and anyone who invests to create content solely for this agency is subsidising the owners and buyers.

The only photographers for whom it will be worthwhile uploading will be those who create content incidentally.

The cynical moving of the royalty targets will quite quickly make the higher levels that many people have been receiving for years unattainable.

I'm assuming that the business doesn't really want many Exclusive artists, just a few to use as a marketing tool.

It's like being a lobster in a pan of slowly warming water.

If it is no longer financially sensible to create content as an Exclusive what about Independent?
Almost all the sales this month where in 0.01 - 0.05 range
Only video sales made some sense.
In my opinion video is the only content worth the effort in 2019.

yes...and that's why most of factory and top notch producer are shifting to video, so in probably a year video will be heavily saturated and soon there will be free video sites like unsplash. it's not feasible to invest money in micro stock that's the sad truth. sure there will be till a bunch of years with some potential but then ? doubt there will be a lot who could make a living out of this, and i mean good living...sure if you live in some poor island of thailand maybe 1000 dollar make you a living.

Not sure about most factory shifting to video, but totally agree with you that soon video will be heavily saturated.
As of 2019 video still worth the effort IMHO.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #38 on:** June 22, 2019, 10:12 »

Quote from: JetCityImage on June 19, 2019, 16:22

How'd ya do?

RPD .33 that says it all for me.

Quote from: flywing on June 21, 2019, 12:05

May is average for me but the three previous months were disasters. It hurt to see a good number of downloads but all of them were of terrible value.

I won't put my hope on that sporadic high value sales among sea of $0.3-0.6 sales. I believe they're cannibalizing sales from SS and AS so I've stopped uploading to iS.

What would happen if enough contributors stopped uploading to iS? Those who are still there would have better sales and report about it. Then those who have stopped would change their minds and resume uploading. And then...

I have stopped uploading I don't think they will care or notice.

PZF · « **Reply #39 on:** June 22, 2019, 11:09 »

Latest figures.....grim......

suz7 · « **Reply #40 on:** June 22, 2019, 12:14 »

Quote from: Not Today on June 21, 2019, 04:53

Quote from: suz7 on June 21, 2019, 04:15
I do animated videos and vectors.

My earnings are roughly the same at Istock or more than at adobe/fotolia. (this month almost double)

But I have only 2 videos on Istock (got scared off from a ridiculously low sale) and I've got over 250 videos on adobe, and more vectors too than at istock. Shutterstock is my main earner by miles.

I am torn between my dignity and my bank balance on uploading videos to istock. Would a few low video sales include high ones or is it a slippery slope?

I know istock has a terrible reputation but then at the end of the day I need to pay bills and they earn me more.

I have to deal with clients that sometimes can be a real PITA in my day job and I rarely turn them away.

I'm still undecided!

Every little bit helps... but if buyers shop around and see your videos at a cheaper price on iStock (and for a lower commission), you might lose those sales on SS and AS... and end up with less money. That's a big 'If' and nobody will know for sure before they try and measure, but that's a risk to consider.

If you're comfortable with iStock prices and commission, go for it, but if you're not then you should focus on other agencies like Pond5, VimeoStock, Storyblocks and Dissolve who have decent prices and commissions for videos.

Or focus on SS and AS as you're doing now and spend your extra time on creating more content

Thanks! I've found that sales on storyblocks are as rare as chickens teeth and pond5 not massive either. Might try vimeo and dissolve then.
Thanks for your advice, much appreciated:)

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Author Topic: May's numbers are out. (Read 16025 times)

jonbull

Noedelhap

qunamax

Dumc

Jeffrey

davidbautista

suz7

Not Today

Karen

jonbull

christiano

flywing

Karen

Uncle Pete

PZF

suz7

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