Quote from: gostwyck on October 26, 2011, 15:27

I think most of us would be both shocked and sickened if we ever saw the figures proving just how profitable microstock was ... for the big agencies. Most of them pay out on average about 30% commission, possibly quite a bit less, and I am quite sure that royalties are their biggest single cost by some margin.

I agree...I think it would floor us to know what their cut is, versus ours. as long as they continue in the capitalism-requires-constant-growth mindset...they'll continue to chip away at our royalties. unless some of the most influential heavy hitters were to draw a line (assuming it isn't already drawn)

i'm afraid the line has been drawn already.
this thread has been opened by Yuri Arcurs who is microstock's top seller, if he's reporting falling sales this is indeed a good indicator about the actual scenario.

i mean the demand for images seems to be huge nowadays, but how many are ready to pay ?

That's the very thing that the industry needs to address.  As you say, the demand is huge.  Imagine the massive sales increases we'd all experience if the agencies ran huge campaigns to educate the public on copyright theft and proper licensing.  More effort in that area would surely secure the microstock industry's future.  I'm sure many people would purchase if they knew how cheaply the could do so.

Quote from: lagereek on October 27, 2011, 16:27

Quote from: michaeldb on October 27, 2011, 16:20

Quote from: lagereek on October 27, 2011, 11:26

...Over the last ten days I have actually deactivated 2 blue flames and numerous red flames,  simply because I have a much better use for them, I found them way down in the best match and no way they are going to generate any revenue from there. However, one of the issues was, they had to be removed from IS and sure enough, its already paying off.

Exactly. The less I submit to IS and the more I deactivate the more money I make elsewhere.

When I deactivate a 'flame' image, in the little box to give a reason why I am deactivating, I type, "Not suitable as stock."

Might be coincidence, dont know??  but, yes!  they tend to sell a hell of a lot more and a lot more RF sales and for good money. Weird?

So am I just stabbing myself in the back by spreading my work to smaller sites? I used to UL to just IS and SS. Perhaps that approach was a better one. An even better one would be SS + the best 50% royalties paying agency

Hi!

Well I dont know about that?  over the years I have registered with lots of sites but since a year back, Im only active on 6 of them. I mean you have to try them out and if no good you drop them, right.
What I do know and have experienced, is that certain types of buyers will visit certain sites, at least in my case. I know that DT and SS have got lots of creative buyers, i.e. ad-agencies, etc.
As for IS, well, from a buyers perspective you are met with tons of collections, price-sliders, this and that, P+, E+, Vettas, the list just goes on and on, resulting in a major hassle just trying to find an ordinary pic.
No wonder they move on.

This make a lot of sense. The majority of people that I have spoken to, don't even know what stock images are, much less that there is such a thing as microstock.
And of course there is the prevailing thought process that says "if it is on the internet, it must be free".

Thanks Graffoto.  Although the various agencies are competitors, I do feel strongly that at times they should 'act as one' to protect their own industry.  I'm not sure how it would work, but there must be some way for them to acknowledge their collective interest and pool resources for such a campaign.

Quote from: antistock on October 27, 2011, 22:36

i mean the demand for images seems to be huge nowadays, but how many are ready to pay ?

That's the very thing that the industry needs to address.  As you say, the demand is huge.  Imagine the massive sales increases we'd all experience if the agencies ran huge campaigns to educate the public on copyright theft and proper licensing.  More effort in that area would surely secure the microstock industry's future.  I'm sure many people would purchase if they knew how cheaply the could do so.

I couldn't agree more with this. I'm not against free images, if people want to offer a portion of their port for free then that's their choice and the extra traffic to the ms site is a bonus in getting them up the traffic ranks. But I am against the sites touting themselves (at times) as being free image sites. Just look at the affiliate banners, I can't use a lot of them, for example here is the text from one of them (big 4 site), "Free images, Free registration, High quality stock images". I can't use that even if that is seemingly the desire of the agencies. They may get lots of hits from a banner like that from people searching only for free images, but where is the revenue? An affiliate link is me sending someone to another site, with the given potential that I get affiliate commission if they purchase, and I have had a fair few buyer referrals. But if I used a banner like the example quoted, I'm only sending traffic their way with an almost certainty that their is nothing in it for me. I just don't get it. More important than traffic is the right traffic.

I figured out Yuri's new strategy. Start a sales thread and let his competition spend hours on the forums instead of creating content 

Hi All,

 Some of my Micro agencies are dropping and that is expected since I have not uploaded any new work in three years. However, my ShutterStock is showing a 20% increase from this time last year. They are doing something right over there at SS, keep up the good work.

Best,
Jonathan

Quote from: asiseeit on October 29, 2011, 22:28

I figured out Yuri's new strategy. Start a sales thread and let his competition spend hours on the forums instead of creating content 

Or start a sales thread, have all kinds of contributors coming up with ideas and solutions about it, and voila! he has research, all done for free. 

The usual m.o.

This is the first time I haven't reach a monthly payout with iStock since July 2006. My October sales have dropped 68% from my September sales. The last time my iStock monthly sales were that low was February 2006. In 2009 iStock was my number one in sale revenue. In 2010 it felt to number 2. Last September it felt to number 3. Now it is number 6. All other sites above IS, which are Shutterstock, Fotolia, Dreamstime, Bigstock, Canstock have all reached their regular monthly payouts and they all have given me better revenue then iStock. Furthermore, sales at those better sites appear to have increased to compensate  for the lost at IS.

Your port is really nice.  But it doesn't surprise me, not because of your port, but because of the many factors that control you, the contributor, from being successful.

Hi All,

 Just made our 40k credits this past week so we will hold our 18% at Istock for at least another year. Happy to have made it but if I don't feed the kitty I don't think I will see it in the future. On to new exciting things

Best,
Jonathan

Quote from: cybernesco on October 30, 2011, 14:18

This is the first time I haven't reach a monthly payout with iStock since July 2006. My October sales have dropped 68% from my September sales. The last time my iStock monthly sales were that low was February 2006. In 2009 iStock was my number one in sale revenue. In 2010 it felt to number 2. Last September it felt to number 3. Now it is number 6. All other sites above IS, which are Shutterstock, Fotolia, Dreamstime, Bigstock, Canstock have all reached their regular monthly payouts and they all have given me better revenue then iStock. Furthermore, sales at those better sites appear to have increased to compensate  for the lost at IS.

You haven't reach minimum payout on IS ($100) or your usual payout this month?

P.S. I think that Yuri's photos are not so bright any more, like before...

with 20k sales cannot be true or something is pretty wrong..

I have over 20k sales and I'm going to earn around $170 this month, my worst for several years.  So I can believe that cybernesco isn't going to make a payout this month, I used to make over $500 regularly, so its a big drop.

thats incredible.. pretty bad.. I have less than 1k sales and I will be over 170$..

fwiw my sales today are up as well. Maybe some buying before the holiday tomorrow.