Author Topic: I make about 20 cents per photo per month on SS. Is it average? (Read 8759 times)

helloitsme · « **on:** February 18, 2017, 23:18 »

I have about 5000 photos now. I wonder that the average is.

pancaketom · « **Reply #1 on:** February 19, 2017, 00:26 »

people have tried to back calculate it from the earnings reports. I can't remember what the results were, but I think they were lower than that.

I used to make more, now I make less than that.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2017, 02:20 »

I've read a few times around these parts, that $1 per image, per year, is reasonable... so $0.20 a month sounds pretty good. I'm no photographer though.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2017, 03:11 »

Impossible to know what the average is without getting official numbers from Shutterstock, but you're doing OK. Personally, I'm not satisfied with anything under $8-10 per image/year.

I would say the overall average is much, much lower with thousands making $0 per image/month. Some will of course make much more.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2017, 03:18 »

I would say you are doing very well certainly much better than me assuming your production costs are under control. I reckon $1,000 a month puts you very much in the "top" tier of earners. If you look just at q3 figures there were 41m downloads ..say 14m a month revenue for SS of $2.91 so say a dollar for us so 14m a month on 100m images. Very rough and ready but I get 14c an image (probably less as videos earn more per dl). I would expect to see a pareto curve with the top 20% of earners comfortably above with a long tail of those more "casual" contributors well below.

alno · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2017, 03:30 »

We have the same $0.2, but for all images on all stock sites (7). About 700 images total for January.

umdash9 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2017, 03:31 »

my average is conciderably less than that so i would say you are doing very well. I have just over a thousand on line about 45% of which have never sold a all and 50% of my income coming from about 5% of my portfolio.

langstrup · « **Reply #7 on:** February 19, 2017, 03:53 »

It´s difficult to tell when I can´t see your portfolio!

Pauws99 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 19, 2017, 04:09 »

Quote from: langstrup on February 19, 2017, 03:53

It´s difficult to tell when I can´t see your portfolio!

Why? Its a numerical calculation not based on subjective opinion of a portfolio.

langstrup · « **Reply #9 on:** February 19, 2017, 05:52 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 19, 2017, 04:09

Quote from: langstrup on February 19, 2017, 03:53
It´s difficult to tell when I can´t see your portfolio!
Why? Its a numerical calculation not based on subjective opinion of a portfolio.

If the answer should be useful in any way portfolios have to be compared! Otherwise the question is just "Do you earn more than me?"

Not much you can use that for! You have to ask company´s you actually can compare you product to if the "average" part in the question shall make sense!

Without the above, my answer would be - No, it´s much less than average pr file!

Brasilnut · « **Reply #10 on:** February 19, 2017, 06:22 »

I make about half that on half as many images, but most of my early stuff is useless and I shoot more travel photography which is highly competitive.

Bauman · « **Reply #11 on:** February 19, 2017, 06:33 »

From Shutterstock investor relations:

End of Q2 92,10 mln Images
End of Q3 102,70 mln Images

So, avg images is around 97,50 mln in the period.

Earnings in Q3 are 123,101 mln ... 41,03 mln per month.

Download in Q3 are 41,20 mln ... 13,73 mln per month

2,99 $ per image

We can estimate an average rpd of 0,60 $ per photo (avg 20% royalty of the sale prices). My rpd is higher (0,70-0,75 $), but i sell high quality images.

13,73/97,50*100=14 images sold every month on 100 images.

If you have a 1000 image portfolio avg sales are 140 every month. 140 dl*0,60 rpd= 84 $ month

So, we can estimate that avg rpi/month on SS is approximately 0,084 $ per image.

2000 images = 168 $ month
5000 images = 420 $ month
10000 images = 840 $ month

But ... it depends from single portfolio ... For example, I have high quality images (but small portfolio) and my rpi is 6 times higher than average ...

There are portfolios of 1.000 images that sell more than others of 10.000.

Sorry for my english $:-\$

Pauws99 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 19, 2017, 07:06 »

Quote from: Uber Images on February 19, 2017, 05:52

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 19, 2017, 04:09
Quote from: langstrup on February 19, 2017, 03:53
It´s difficult to tell when I can´t see your portfolio!
Why? Its a numerical calculation not based on subjective opinion of a portfolio.

If the answer should be useful in any way portfolios have to be compared! Otherwise the question is just "Do you earn more than me?"

Not much you can use that for! You have to ask company´s you actually can compare you product to if the "average" part in the question shall make sense!

Without the above, my answer would be - No, it´s much less than average pr file!

How would you go about comparing portfolios?..the market has already done that. Yes its only a useful statistic in the context of others in particular cost per image but I don't know what other metrics the OP has. You port is excellent btw and so would expect your return is well above average.

helloitsme · « **Reply #13 on:** February 19, 2017, 20:03 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 19, 2017, 03:18

I would say you are doing very well certainly much better than me assuming your production costs are under control. I reckon $1,000 a month puts you very much in the "top" tier of earners. If you look just at q3 figures there were 41m downloads ..say 14m a month revenue for SS of $2.91 so say a dollar for us so 14m a month on 100m images. Very rough and ready but I get 14c an image (probably less as videos earn more per dl). I would expect to see a pareto curve with the top 20% of earners comfortably above with a long tail of those more "casual" contributors well below.

Thanks for great reply post. My production cost is under control, meaning I don't want to take a big risk of hiring multiple models/actors and pay for nice location. I have many similar images that probably have never sold. Also, I have some popular good selling photos. My guess is probably 80% of my photos have never sold or have less than 1 or 2 sales.

helloitsme · « **Reply #14 on:** February 19, 2017, 20:04 »

Quote from: Bauman on February 19, 2017, 06:33

From Shutterstock investor relations:

End of Q2 92,10 mln Images
End of Q3 102,70 mln Images

So, avg images is around 97,50 mln in the period.

Earnings in Q3 are 123,101 mln ... 41,03 mln per month.

Download in Q3 are 41,20 mln ... 13,73 mln per month

2,99 $ per image

We can estimate an average rpd of 0,60 $ per photo (avg 20% royalty of the sale prices). My rpd is higher (0,70-0,75 $), but i sell high quality images.

13,73/97,50*100=14 images sold every month on 100 images.

If you have a 1000 image portfolio avg sales are 140 every month. 140 dl*0,60 rpd= 84 $ month

So, we can estimate that avg rpi/month on SS is approximately 0,084 $ per image.

2000 images = 168 $ month
5000 images = 420 $ month
10000 images = 840 $ month

But ... it depends from single portfolio ... For example, I have high quality images (but small portfolio) and my rpi is 6 times higher than average ...

There are portfolios of 1.000 images that sell more than others of 10.000.

Sorry for my english $:-\$

That's a great math to get a good idea of how things are. Thanks!

Mrblues101 · « **Reply #15 on:** February 19, 2017, 20:09 »

The relationship is multifactorial and depends on four main factors:

Images quality
Number of images
Keywords quality
Demand on the themes of the images

spike · « **Reply #16 on:** February 19, 2017, 20:32 »

Quote from: Bauman on February 19, 2017, 06:33

...

My rpd is higher (0,70-0,75 $), but i sell high quality images.

...

For example, I have high quality images (but small portfolio) ...

Humble.

obj owl · « **Reply #17 on:** February 19, 2017, 20:45 »

Quote from: helloitsme on February 19, 2017, 20:04

Quote from: Bauman on February 19, 2017, 06:33
From Shutterstock investor relations:

End of Q2 92,10 mln Images
End of Q3 102,70 mln Images

So, avg images is around 97,50 mln in the period.

Earnings in Q3 are 123,101 mln ... 41,03 mln per month.

Download in Q3 are 41,20 mln ... 13,73 mln per month

2,99 $ per image

We can estimate an average rpd of 0,60 $ per photo (avg 20% royalty of the sale prices). My rpd is higher (0,70-0,75 $), but i sell high quality images.

13,73/97,50*100=14 images sold every month on 100 images.

If you have a 1000 image portfolio avg sales are 140 every month. 140 dl*0,60 rpd= 84 $ month

So, we can estimate that avg rpi/month on SS is approximately 0,084 $ per image.

2000 images = 168 $ month
5000 images = 420 $ month
10000 images = 840 $ month

But ... it depends from single portfolio ... For example, I have high quality images (but small portfolio) and my rpi is 6 times higher than average ...

There are portfolios of 1.000 images that sell more than others of 10.000.

Sorry for my english $:-\$

That's a great math to get a good idea of how things are. Thanks!

Great math, but it ignores the fact that the collection is split and the top earners take a far larger slice of the pie.

nazlisart · « **Reply #18 on:** February 19, 2017, 23:48 »

I'm a vector illustrator and I make something like $0.35 per vector per month.
I guess vectors work different than photos...
Are there any other illustrators here? what are your numbers??

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #19 on:** February 20, 2017, 02:12 »

Quote from: Mrblues101 on February 19, 2017, 20:09

The relationship is multifactorial and depends on four main factors:
Images quality
Number of images
Keywords quality
Demand on the themes of the images

What any one individual earns, does depend on those factors, but I think the guy just wants to know what the average is per image, across all levels of quality, number of images, keyword quality and demand for the images.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #20 on:** February 20, 2017, 02:43 »

Quote from: spike on February 19, 2017, 20:32

Quote from: Bauman on February 19, 2017, 06:33
...

My rpd is higher (0,70-0,75 $), but i sell high quality images.

...

For example, I have high quality images (but small portfolio) ...

Humble.

I'm not sure that "high quality" images necessarily leads to higher RPI...my sods and others in my opinion no better quality than my other stuff. But your calculation is sound I think.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #21 on:** February 20, 2017, 03:00 »

Quality is quite subjective.

No one is going to buy your perfect picture of a kingfisher breaking the surface in the beautiful morning light if they need a picture of a broken train in rainy weather.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #22 on:** February 20, 2017, 03:16 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 20, 2017, 03:00

Quality is quite subjective.

No one is going to buy your perfect picture of a kingfisher breaking the surface in the beautiful morning light if they need a picture of a broken train in rainy weather.

Indeed for many purposes "good enough" is required not "best ever". In business terms quality is about fitness for purpose rather than as good as possible. I think thats why some people get frustrated by people buying "crap" images...presumably the buyer doesn't think they are crap for what they need.

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Author Topic: I make about 20 cents per photo per month on SS. Is it average? (Read 8759 times)

helloitsme

pancaketom

SpaceStockFootage

increasingdifficulty

Pauws99

alno

umdash9

langstrup

Pauws99

langstrup

Brasilnut

Bauman

Pauws99

helloitsme

helloitsme

Mrblues101

spike

obj owl

nazlisart

SpaceStockFootage

Pauws99

increasingdifficulty

Pauws99

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