Author Topic: Sales this month at Fotolia (Read 6469 times)

fotografer · « **on:** March 07, 2010, 04:01 »

Is anybody else seeing a huge rise in sales at Fotolia this month? Fotolia has been my best earner since I was able to double my prices but this month is amazing. I have already this month earnt 50% of what I earnt last month at SS or IS. I was wondering if sales are especially good there at the moment or if they have had a change of their search engine and I struck lucky..

Talanis · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2010, 07:29 »

Not more than usual for me.

Danicek · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2010, 12:47 »

Constant rise in number of downloads, most are subscriptions, premium subscriptions and XS's. Small sample here, yet the tendency at least for me is very clear. May be my type of images...

My last 30 sales:
Premium subscription - 11
Subscription - 8
XS - 7
S - 2
L - 1
XL - 1

madelaide · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2010, 13:54 »

It's slower than Feb for me so far.

lisafx · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2010, 16:16 »

I'm not seeing a big increase there this month, but over the past year they are the site that has shown the most growth for me.

Congrats on your success there this month, whatever the reason

OM · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2010, 20:47 »

Made fatal mistake of taking my small portfolio out of subs for the first 2 weeks of Feb. Best selling image went from page 1 or 2 of its category to page 9 now and the effects are now showing in reduced regular downloads which were frequently 'L' or 'XL' for that image. The trouble with being a bit of a one trick pony, I suppose. Peeving nevertheless.

mwp1969 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2010, 22:22 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 07, 2010, 16:16

I'm not seeing a big increase there this month, but over the past year they are the site that has shown the most growth for me.

Congrats on your success there this month, whatever the reason

+1

-Mark

Freezingpictures · « **Reply #7 on:** March 07, 2010, 23:02 »

Fotografer look at your weekly rank, has it risen, then you are one of the lucky to experience growth. Did it stay the same? Then overall earnings for most contributors increased.
I always earn less in January and February then in November and December. iStockphoto in this case has been more stable than FT. But overall FT had a tremendous growth rate compared to the other agencies.

fotografer · « **Reply #8 on:** March 08, 2010, 03:14 »

Thanks all for the feedback. Sounds like I just had a lucky week rather than a new trend. Although the lucky run is still going as I made as much there yesterday as I do on some week days.

Can't find any of my images on front page which would have explained the extra attention.

MatHayward · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2010, 04:04 »

Doubling your prices will clearly impact your revenue for the month. I've been running with my prices at max for the past 3 months ($5-$40). The results have been pretty interesting.

lagereek · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2010, 04:11 »

Yes! good increase in sales and just about everything else. In fact its been good for quite some time now.

Ivelin Radkov · « **Reply #11 on:** March 08, 2010, 04:12 »

February was my WME there !

fotografer · « **Reply #12 on:** March 08, 2010, 04:17 »

I doubled my prices about a year ago which virtually doubled my earnings but this is a more recent thing. This last week has been amazing with my earnings 50% higher than normal and if this carries on it will be my Bme anywhere by a huge amount on my previous BME.

Quote from: MatHayward on March 08, 2010, 04:04

Doubling your prices will clearly impact your revenue for the month. I've been running with my prices at max for the past 3 months ($5-$40). The results have been pretty interesting.

PowerDroid · « **Reply #13 on:** March 08, 2010, 07:07 »

Just comparing the first 7 days of March to the first 7 of Feb, I saw about a 30% increase. My overall ranking has been steadily rising, which suggests there's no rising tide lifting all boats. I have not been able to increase prices yet, though haven't tried recently. When are you able to do that? Do you have to hit a certain level?

gostwyck · « **Reply #14 on:** March 08, 2010, 08:28 »

Quote from: PowerDroid on March 08, 2010, 07:07

When are you able to do that? Do you have to hit a certain level?

Yes, you have to be Emerald level although you can increase the prices of exclusive images at any ranking.

lisafx · « **Reply #15 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:25 »

Can FT exclusives double there prices without reaching emerald?

PowerDroid · « **Reply #16 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:44 »

Quote from: gostwyck on March 08, 2010, 08:28

Yes, you have to be Emerald level although you can increase the prices of exclusive images at any ranking.

The Emerald goal post is so ridiculously high, most people starting out today (and staying non-exclusive) may never reach it.

It has taken me well over a year to get to about 3,500 "paid" downloads. To get to Emerald status, I need about 22,000 more paid downloads.

If I had 3,500 paid downloads a year, it would take me another 6 years or so to reach Emerald. But since my portfolio has grown each month, I should estimate based on the current level. If I have about 550 paid downloads per month now, and assuming some conservative but steady growth over the next few years, I might still not see the Emerald level for about 4 years.

I know Fotolia's motive is to make us see exclusivity as a good deal... and if I can raise my prices and my revenue that's a pretty good argument... but I have never believed in exclusivity as a principle or a good revenue decision. Even iStock exclusivity doesn't seem to be a smart decision when I do the math, and Fotolia would be less so.

gostwyck · « **Reply #17 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:54 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 08, 2010, 12:25

Can FT exclusives double there prices without reaching emerald?

Yes __ individual images can be made exclusive and increased by up to 4 credits for XS size.

lisafx · « **Reply #18 on:** March 08, 2010, 12:57 »

Quote from: gostwyck on March 08, 2010, 12:54

Quote from: lisafx on March 08, 2010, 12:25
Can FT exclusives double there prices without reaching emerald?

Yes __ individual images can be made exclusive and increased by up to 4 credits for XS size.

Thanks for explaining. I had forgotten about the image exclusivity option there.

nialat · « **Reply #19 on:** March 08, 2010, 14:09 »

No more download than usual, but with 3 extended RF license sales so far in March, it's going to be my BME there

.... unless everything stops now...

ajalbert · « **Reply #20 on:** March 08, 2010, 17:14 »

I'm having a similar month at Fotolia...it's out earning SS & IS by 2:1.

Andy

GeoPappas · « **Reply #21 on:** March 08, 2010, 17:21 »

Quote from: PowerDroid on March 08, 2010, 12:44

It has taken me well over a year to get to about 3,500 "paid" downloads. To get to Emerald status, I need about 22,000 more paid downloads.

If I had 3,500 paid downloads a year, it would take me another 6 years or so to reach Emerald. But since my portfolio has grown each month, I should estimate based on the current level. If I have about 550 paid downloads per month now, and assuming some conservative but steady growth over the next few years, I might still not see the Emerald level for about 4 years.

You are assuming that they don't move the bar again

Ploink · « **Reply #22 on:** March 09, 2010, 04:07 »

Quote from: fotografer on March 07, 2010, 04:01

Is anybody else seeing a huge rise in sales at Fotolia this month? Fotolia has been my best earner since I was able to double my prices but this month is amazing. I have already this month earnt 50% of what I earnt last month at SS or IS. I was wondering if sales are especially good there at the moment or if they have had a change of their search engine and I struck lucky..

I had a spectacular - at least for me - February, and March looks to be equally good. Since my rank has not improved significantly despite a BME, everybody else should be doing fine, too...

Maybe StockXpert's PPD customers migrated from one "european" agency to another?

Also subscriptions downloads are not as dominant for me as they were before - lots of Ls and XLs for me

Good thing that FT picks up, too - with StockXpert gone, BS and CS in constant hibernation and DT in a drastic decline

PowerDroid · « **Reply #23 on:** March 09, 2010, 11:11 »

Quote from: Ploink on March 09, 2010, 04:07

Good thing that FT picks up, too - with StockXpert gone, BS and CS in constant hibernation and DT in a drastic decline

I'm seeing different results on the others you mention. BS, yes, is flat... CS is doing very well for me, with "Fotosearch Regular" sales bringing in $20 or $30 commissions on a regular basis (once or twice a week lately)... and DT has been very strong.

Ploink · « **Reply #24 on:** March 09, 2010, 14:39 »

Quote from: PowerDroid on March 09, 2010, 11:11

Quote from: Ploink on March 09, 2010, 04:07
Good thing that FT picks up, too - with StockXpert gone, BS and CS in constant hibernation and DT in a drastic decline

I'm seeing different results on the others you mention. BS, yes, is flat... CS is doing very well for me, with "Fotosearch Regular" sales bringing in $20 or $30 commissions on a regular basis... and DT has been very strong lately.

I have yet to have one of those famous "Fotosearch Regular" sales, I personally don't believe they exist

And DT is a complete mystery to me - I uploaded like crazy there and photos that sell well on SS for example don't have views, let alone downloads - my best selling agencies in 2009 were SS, Alamy and IS - in that order, believe it or not