Author Topic: Countdown to Extinction (Read 3921 times)

melastmohican · « **on:** September 12, 2008, 14:19 »

I have been microstocking for just couple months and two agencies closed down. Is this a beginning of a trend? Is this a time for smaller players to consolidate or still there is a room for new ones?

helix7 · « **Reply #1 on:** September 12, 2008, 15:29 »

I expected some companies to close their doors. There had to be some thinning of the herd, and I'm sure we'll see more companies close down over the next year or two. But the strong players will always remain. istock, SS, DT, Fotolia, don't expect them to go anywhere. StockXpert I imagine will stick around. And quite honestly I'd be fine with just those 5.

I think there was (and to some degree still is) this notion that all you needed to get into the microstock business was a web site and a few willing contributors to populate the site with images. A lot of people got a harsh wake-up call when they realized just how difficult it is to break into a new market, and even one as young as microstock still presents a difficult start-up challenge. Think about it from a buyer's perspective. If I'm a regular customer at istock, what would make me switch my business over to some unknown company? Even with the backing SV has, they are still finding that it's really hard to take a slice of the proverbial pie from the likes of istock and SS.

And it gets harder every day. I can't imagine that any big new players are going to emerge that we don't already know about. Maybe someone like Crestock can get acquired and pumped full of marketing dollars, and eventually become a major player. But I wouldn't expect to see any one new in the top 6 that isn't already a known company.

leaf · « **Reply #2 on:** September 12, 2008, 16:11 »

i think it is awfully tough for start ups now because either they have to big a big company to get things going fast and with lots of advertising or a small company with no overhead. the problems though is that the small company will never get any sales... and the big company has too much overhead.

HOWEVER the old companies like bigstock, canstockphoto, scandinavianstockphoto etc are getting 'old' and have very little overhead it seems. I think they will be around as long as the owners feel like running the sites. It doesn't seem like they have any intentions of being the top site, they are happy where they are. Little overhead, few sales, but they still turn a profit.

If anyone is going to close down it is going to be the big production / low results sites, like snapvillage. If sales continue being as poor as they are in the next 12 months i don't think they will be around. If we are not making money, neither are they!

madelaide · « **Reply #3 on:** September 12, 2008, 17:02 »

I think some sites just run on their own now, like CanStockPhoto and Scanstock. Nothing new seems to be happening there, no improvements or even site look, and it seems that as long as their owner's earnings still pay for the server & etc fees, they will stay online.

I wonder however who are the buyers on these sites. Haven't they found first the other sites with a bigger and maybe better choice of images?

Regards,
Adelaide

crazychristina · « **Reply #4 on:** September 12, 2008, 17:52 »

Several sites claim there are 'new markets' to be exploited. There is a constant input of new contributors, some of whom will become just as good as the top microstock photographers of today. As it gets harder to get a foot in the existing sites, many of these will opt for newer sites. I think newer sites have the advantage that they may be able to avoid the entrenched problems that existing sites seem to be saddled with.

mantonino · « **Reply #5 on:** September 12, 2008, 17:58 »

It's part of the business cycle. Consolidation is a very important step in the next wave of growth, which should be transferring from "some" awareness to a few major companies having MASSIVE awareness.

RT · « **Reply #6 on:** September 12, 2008, 18:06 »

Quote from: melastmohican on September 12, 2008, 14:19

I have been microstocking for just couple months and two agencies closed down.

So it's your fault then, quit now before the others fold.

epixx · « **Reply #7 on:** September 12, 2008, 21:56 »

Quote from: madelaide on September 12, 2008, 17:02

I think some sites just run on their own now, like CanStockPhoto and Scanstock. Nothing new seems to be happening there, no improvements or even site look, and it seems that as long as their owner's earnings still pay for the server & etc fees, they will stay online.

I wonder however who are the buyers on these sites. Haven't they found first the other sites with a bigger and maybe better choice of images?

Regards,
Adelaide

I don't know about CanStockPhoto, but Scanstock have a lot of newspaper and magazine customers in Norway (I see my photos appear in Norwegian newspapers with credit Scanstockphoto), probably due to two strong features:

- They accept editorial photos
- They have a lot of images from Scandinavia, Norway in particular, and accept photos from that area that are often rejected at the larger agencies

Niche markets work very well sometimes.

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #8 on:** September 12, 2008, 22:21 »

Quote from: RT on September 12, 2008, 18:06

Quote from: melastmohican on September 12, 2008, 14:19
I have been microstocking for just couple months and two agencies closed down.

So it's your fault then, quit now before the others fold.

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Author Topic: Countdown to Extinction (Read 3921 times)

melastmohican

helix7

leaf

madelaide

crazychristina

mantonino

RT

epixx

PaulieWalnuts

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