September 2012 Earnings Thread

[leaf]

Here's my graph.

Interesting notes for me are...
iStock has been 11-12% all year and this month they dropped to 8% in sept.  My iStock earnings in sept were the worst month of the year!
Alamy had a good month, up about 2% to 6% of my total income and
DepositPhotos climbed up 1% in the overall earnings

Last month was my BME by about 6% .. so pretty similar to previous months.

... and don't forget to vote.. there is some interesting developments recently in regards to the placements of a few sites in the poll results
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?page=microstockmonthlysurvey

[nicku]

Overall September was my BME  - with 10% increase compared with my last BME,

Agencies:

SS - BME ; I love this agency , first month when i pass 1k downloads, lots of EL, OD and SO...
DT - very, very good month - the best month in the last year. 
FT - average 
123RF - average 

The pie slices:

SS - 60%
DT - 20% ( first time in a loong period of time when DT came over FT)
FT - 12%
123 RF - 5%
The rest - 3%

Hope Oct. will be even better....

[ClaridgeJ]

Slow start but then brillant September. Great at SS and DT, even IS show a great increase plus the icing on the cake: 14, Rm sales with two pics netting, 6K.
Not complaining at all.

sadly, FT which used to be a great earner is on its way out, at least for me. Oh well cant have it all I suppose.

[Anyka]

Wow, look at Depositphotos moving up!  Well, they were my only site with a BME this month, so they deserve to move up.
My big 3 (SS-FT-DS) went down with more than 10% compared to last year September.  Istock went up, but only because of the partner program downloads.  ALL smaller sites went up and covered a lot of the loss.  However, in September 2011 SS gave me 14 EL's (!), and this September 5.  Just keeping my fingers crossed for October.

[hofhoek]

Wow, look at Depositphotos moving up!  Well, they were my only site with a BME this month, so they deserve to move up.
My big 3 (SS-FT-DS) went down with more than 10% compared to last year September.  Istock went up, but only because of the partner program downloads.  ALL smaller sites went up and covered a lot of the loss.  However, in September 2011 SS gave me 14 EL's (!), and this September 5.  Just keeping my fingers crossed for October.

I'm not too happy about DP moving up. They pay almost as bad as Istock (moving up in sales but 75% of those from the partner program).

[rubyroo]

OK... well I'm down about 20% from last month.  Last month was a pretty astounding BME though... would've been lovely to have repeated it... but it looks as though my average is still my average... which is fine, but at the same time... 

I'm marginally up on Sept 2011 though, so that's a happier note.

Top four for this month were:

1. SS (as ever!)
2. iStock
3. Dreamstime
4. 123RF

[dreamstock]

BME

[marnads]

Since I started as a microstocker, every month has been a BME and september is no exception.. Hope this lasts forever!

[cthoman]

Down from August, but still my 7th BME.

[modviz]

SS      - by a country mile
123RF - BME
DP      - down from August's BME but decent.
DT      - dead, deader, deadest. A reflection of what you've
            been witnessing in the poll results. My best agency in
            2011. My worst agency in 2012. Weren't they sitting
            around 30% late last year? And for those of you who
            are going to respond with a BME or reasonable facimile;
            look at the microstock poll. The truth in black and white.
            THEY know they have to turn the ship around. My suggestion
            would be to re-adopt 2011 tactics.

[Bauman]

9 months of Microstock

Avg port 281 img

SS 100%
FT 46% -> BME
IS 37%
DT 32% -> BME
123 26% -> BME
BS 5% -> BME
PD 4%
DP 3%

[John W.]

DT      - dead, deader, deadest. A reflection of what you've
            been witnessing in the poll results. My best agency in
            2011. My worst agency in 2012. Weren't they sitting
            around 30% late last year? And for those of you who
            are going to respond with a BME or reasonable facimile;
            look at the microstock poll. The truth in black and white.
            THEY know they have to turn the ship around. My suggestion
            would be to re-adopt 2011 tactics.

For me DT has been reasonably steady for months. But a 150% increase in RPD. Less sales (about 25%), less subs but higher returns per sale.


SS: 50%. Good as usual
IS: 10%. Bad. Used to be 25%.
DT: 9%. Steady. Less sales, higher returns.
FT: 9%. Still growing. Closed my US-account there beginning 2011 and started all over with a Euro account.
123RF: 3%. Hardly uploaded anything for over a year there. Earn 40% less now. Will leave them next year.
BS: 8%. BME with my first EL there yesterday. I'd don't know what they changed but I like it!
CS: 1% Good sales sometimes but not this month.
VR: 6% Good month with 2 EL's

[Jo Ann Snover]

Don't yet have IS data for the last couple of days of the month - plus possibly some credit card sales. There is a group of contributors who seem convinced they have credit card sales that don't show up in the CSV files or my_uploads and think it's about 10% of their totals. I do have a handful of sales that show up in the CSV file but are not on my_uploads. Possibly, if the group of contributors is correct, the IS numbers won't be as horrible as they now appear to be

OTOH, what do you expect when you introduce another broken site update right in the busy selling season?

Based on the incomplete IS numbers, September was up over August, led by SS's lovely performance which was 22% higher $$ than August and 39% higher than Sept 2011.The total didn't quite top my BME at SS (which was November 2011) but came close.

Overall, Sept was up 5% over August, but when the PP royalties come in I expect that will be 15% up over August (assuming I get the same as I did for August PP and I expect it will be higher). IS itself was up 7% over August, but that's no cause for celebration as August was wretched.

Given the barren wasteland of desolation that is the IS monthly sales thread, I'm fairly content with a 5% - 15% monthly increase (and my numbers are up over 30% from Sept 2011).

DT returned from the near-dead to be just ailing. They're temporarily #3, but as soon as the IS PP numbers for Sept are available, DT will be bumped down a notch.

Veer had a good month because of an EL, but is otherwise very weak. BigStock looks to have come alive, and is up 10% over August (which was more than double July). PhotoDune had a decent month, just shy of a BME and up 22% over August. Canstock continues to meander along.

[ClaridgeJ]

The PP amount surprised me actually, well over  three figures. Didnt think it was possible.
 

[pancaketom]

This was my worst month of the year. Lots of sites had returns in the lowest 3 or so for the year and there were no standouts. SS and Alamy had the highest return but they were both below average for the year. DT was back down to pretty sad and 123 RF was the lowest of the year. Pretty disappointing really.

[wordplanet]

September was my best month this year on Alamy and tied for best month this year on SS. (Not my BME on either - that was Nov 2011 for Alamy, and June 2011 for SS)

DT was finally up a bit, and had sales on Bigstock for a change, but wondering if it's worth bothering with any but SS and Alamy any more.
iStock had been climbing for me but now they reject editorial images saying I need a model or property release (for photos shot with a press pass, no less) and my earnings are going nowhere after a steady, if slow, climb.

Overall my 2nd best month this year for stock photo income (but again thanks to non-micro stock licenses, and print sales of my stock photos).
Sales on all sites except for DT and Fotolia have surpassed the total I made by year end 2011, so that's a positive step, and both of those have surpassed where I was @ Sept 30 last year and are pretty close to year end figures without entering into the holiday season, when my sales tend to climb, so I'm hopeful.   

[stockmarketer]

For me, Sept 2012 was...

Down 4% from Sept 2011 (when the crazy EDs started rolling in at SS and I was getting multiple a day... those days are long gone)

Up 8% from Aug 2012

Ranks as my #8 best month of all time... March 2012 was my BME. 

 (4 years in microstock)

[JPSDK]

ss: steady in July, August and Sept. End August and begining of September were low.
is: steady on a low level in July and August, � in september, last week improving.
dt: dead.
ft: Steady. Improving lately.

Last 2 weeks numbers have gone up on all sites, except for dt.

[steheap]

Pretty good month for me - not my best (which was driven in June by some great Alamy sales), but my second best with total earnings of $1632. Shutterstock, as usual, was the best by a long way, iStock shot up in the past few days to $343, but i"m not sure why. I saw a post above about credit card sales - perhaps it is that. Best site for rapid growth was Warmpicture - our artists co-operative site - with earnings of $29. Much better than many commercial sites and I've only been there a month. If you are an image buyer, please check out Warmpicture. Pond5 photo sales are also doing OK with a better payout than I used to get when I was submitting to them via 123RF. Here are a couple of graphs. More details as usual on my blog.

Steve

[fiftyfootelvis]

I was down 20% from last month on SS. Granted that was my BME, but it was still down substantially from my average. Disappointing for September.

[HerMajesty]

The economy is supposedly in a very bad state and at the same time most people report here BME, or at least a steady rise of earnings. What's so special about this business that it's been completely resistant to problems in the whole economy for the past 5 years ?
For me it was a BME as well. Both on SS and Fotolia (my two best earners ).

[nicku]

The economy is supposedly in a very bad state and at the same time most people report here BME, or at least a steady rise of earnings. What's so special about this business that it's been completely resistant to problems in the whole economy for the past 5 years ?
For me it was a BME as well. Both on SS and Fotolia (my two best earners ).

I believe is simple economics and marketing... in time of economic crisis ( when everybody spends more rationally ) advertising agencies must produce more publicity to be able get the money out of population pockets.

I believe the World economic crisis helped allot the microstock industry.

[ClaridgeJ]

The economy is supposedly in a very bad state and at the same time most people report here BME, or at least a steady rise of earnings. What's so special about this business that it's been completely resistant to problems in the whole economy for the past 5 years ?
For me it was a BME as well. Both on SS and Fotolia (my two best earners ).

We are not selling cars or houses. We are providers of products to possibly the cheapest service in the world. Reccession and world economy is one thing but I am sure that buyers of micro can afford a few cents here and there.

[HerMajesty]

Well, for years the common knowledge was that in time of recession the advertising industry was the "canary in a coal mine". When things were starting to go downhill most companies used to cut marketing spending. So something change here. Either companies figured out that it's the time to increase marketing (there is some logic to it), or they moved from more costly marketing strategies and that's why microstock is doing good.
Or ... the whole structure of the economy shifted to more services, more internet based businesses and this whole shift just happen to occur during the current crisis.

[JPSDK]

The economy is not in a bad state. Take a look at the stock indexes.

[HerMajesty]

The economy is not in a bad state. Take a look at the stock indexes.

That's just printed money. Easy come, easy go. I'd rather look at the unemployment rates all over the world going up, debt both private and public sky rocketing ...

[Sylvie]

Very bad for me,IS exclusive $1400 in Sept 2012,compare to $2800 in Sept. 2011

[SIFD]

Very bad for me,IS exclusive $1400 in Sept 2012,compare to $2800 in Sept. 2011

shocking !

[nicku]

Very bad for me,IS exclusive $1400 in Sept 2012,compare to $2800 in Sept. 2011

shocking !

foreseeable...

[RacePhoto]

The economy is not in a bad state. Take a look at the stock indexes.

That's just printed money. Easy come, easy go. I'd rather look at the unemployment rates all over the world going up, debt both private and public sky rocketing ...

Riots over financial conservation, countries on the verge of bankruptcy, France not making increases in budget and holding the line. I'd say, things are not too good. You are right, debt and unemployment are out of control.

Back OT

IS 
mostly Partner Sales and those are dropping

SS plugging right along, the whole year has been good. Each month beats the best of any previous individual month.

Alamy dormant, can't get anything to upload.

Farce list: FOAP, Fine Art America, Artbreak. (total waste of time so far)

CrapStock seems to be bubbling up from the bottom, maybe it will surface in November?

[aeonf]

Very bad here as well.
1,700$ before PP
down 10% from 09/2011
down 20% from last month

[lisafx]

Sept. was WMY for me.  Down 8% from August.  This marks the first time in almost 8 years of microstock that Sept. was down from August.

Total is down 35% from last Sept.

October and Nov. are usually the best months of the year for me.  Hoping they pick up... 

[microstockphoto.co.uk]

Same here. Even including foreseable earnings from Stockxpert and PP, September will probably be lower than August - never happened before.

Except SS slightly up, and Alamy up, all other sites are down from August. Not good.

[ShadySue]

iStock: Worst month for dls since July 2007. Worst month for $$ since May 2011.

Compared to Sept 2011: $$ down >26%; dls down >50%
Compared to Aug 2012:  $$ down   >5%; dls down c23%
2 good ELs in Sept meant the $$ weren't as low as the dls suggest, because neither last Sept or last month had any Els.
More ironically, the low dls combined with the good ELs to make the dire month of Sept 2012 my best ever for RPD, which illustrates why I've never thought RPD was very useful.

Alamy: 2 lowish value dls; disappointing.

October has started just as poorly. I need to work out a PlanB.

[velocicarpo]

The economy is not in a bad state. Take a look at the stock indexes.

Wrong. Stock indexes do not reflect the healthiness of a economy. Currently you see in the US the third QE (Quantitative easing) and various "Rescue packages" in EU which basically means they throw huge amounts of cash into the markets in various ways. This is supposed to serve as a market stimulation but creates inflation on the other side: more money for the same amount of real products = inflation. All this money has to go somewhere, as said, as inflation by investments in food or gold, or as financial investments when the money flows into stock markets which are far above any _real_ value by now.

What the central banks in almost any part of the world generate right now are inflationary bubbles which may burst at any time and push coomodity prices to new highs. Therefore you see stock market prices rising.

[velocicarpo]

.

[nicku]

October has started just as poorly. I need to work out a PlanB.

Quit exclusivity....

[SIFD]

I see a few people experiencing revenue down turn compare to last September, how is your portfolio size compare to last year September?

[ShadySue]

I see a few people experiencing revenue down turn compare to last September, how is your portfolio size compare to last year September?

Sept 1st 2011: 2700 (exactly)
Sept 1st 2012: 3259.

Clearly not the 'right' 559 files uploaded: except that over there almost everyone is having a dreadful month, even if they do the usual American-style stock-y stuff.

[click_click]

Sept. was WMY for me.  Down 8% from August.  This marks the first time in almost 8 years of microstock that Sept. was down from August.

Total is down 35% from last Sept.

October and Nov. are usually the best months of the year for me.  Hoping they pick up...

Exactly the same here. Unfortunately...

[StanRohrer]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

[Jo Ann Snover]

I downloaded the (free) beta of StatsPlus to see what it had to say about my iStock September stats - in particular the supposedly missing cash sales.

It tells me that my downloads are actually 12% above the IS stats and $$ are 15% higher. Not enough to make it a good September but does raise it from disastrous to just rotten

This tool worked fine for me except where IS problems mess it up - all the past PP sales are reported with the current date, so if you try stats for today, you'll get really distorted totals (and unfortunately you can't turn the PP off).

I'm not sure, but I think that the cash is shown in the balance, but I have no idea how I'd track that.

Anyway just a thought for those having a cr#ppy month at IS to see if it perhaps isn't quite as bad as they thought. I wish IS would sort out they mess they've made of the site...

[leaf]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

thanks for posting the graph.  It paints a pretty clear picture of what's happening.

There seems to be quite a few people who had a poor month on iStock last month (including me) but there also must be quite a few who had a good month (according to the poll)
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?page=PollResults

[Mellimage]

September was worse than August for me, but it was not the worst month of the year. SS was decent, FT and DT did ok (FT only compared to the rest of the year - my monthly income there is now less than 50% of what it was last year at this time). Had a BME in terms of dls at 123rf - but not in terms of income. Did not upload a single image to any agency this past month.

[RT]

For me Dreamstime was the biggest drop, down over 30% from the same month last year in both download numbers and revenue.

[ClaridgeJ]

For me FT was the biggest drop and they used to be a great earner. However these last three days have been reasonably ok so I am considering uploading again.

[ShadySue]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

thanks for posting the graph.  It paints a pretty clear picture of what's happening.

There seems to be quite a few people who had a poor month on iStock last month (including me) but there also must be quite a few who had a good month (according to the poll)
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?page=PollResults

That's interesting, as the September thread over there is almost universally appalling. I'm sure the number reporting stable or rising stats is in single figures, some of them newbies. Even some newbies are reporting huge falls.

As Sean has said elsewhere, even IF the stats are not reporting cash sales, it shouldn't make our credit stats fall: the cash sales should be (mostly) over and above credit sales to give us (and them) MORE cash.

The whole cash sales thing was apparently rushed in so quickly, it's not surprising that the IT bods couldn't check it rigorously enough. Why do they NEVER learn? I see no evidence of thought out medium-term planning.

[luissantos84]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

what are you waiting for?

[ClaridgeJ]

iStock: Worst month for dls since July 2007. Worst month for $$ since May 2011.

Compared to Sept 2011: $$ down >26%; dls down >50%
Compared to Aug 2012:  $$ down   >5%; dls down c23%
2 good ELs in Sept meant the $$ weren't as low as the dls suggest, because neither last Sept or last month had any Els.
More ironically, the low dls combined with the good ELs to make the dire month of Sept 2012 my best ever for RPD, which illustrates why I've never thought RPD was very useful.

Alamy: 2 lowish value dls; disappointing.

October has started just as poorly. I need to work out a PlanB.

Sorry to hear that. People are screaming BMEs everywhere? I doubt it. Not a cosolation but I really dont think too many independants here are doing all that much better.

[nicku]

iStock: Worst month for dls since July 2007. Worst month for $$ since May 2011.

Compared to Sept 2011: $$ down >26%; dls down >50%
Compared to Aug 2012:  $$ down   >5%; dls down c23%
2 good ELs in Sept meant the $$ weren't as low as the dls suggest, because neither last Sept or last month had any Els.
More ironically, the low dls combined with the good ELs to make the dire month of Sept 2012 my best ever for RPD, which illustrates why I've never thought RPD was very useful.

Alamy: 2 lowish value dls; disappointing.

October has started just as poorly. I need to work out a PlanB.

Sorry to hear that. People are screaming BMEs everywhere? I doubt it. Not a cosolation but I really dont think too many independants here are doing all that much better.

I believe many independents here are doing well. the reason is simple: they don't rely only on one agency. If IS is goes down SS is up. Or like in my case last month... FT ( for a long period of time my second best earner) was down compared with July , DT was at + 250% compared with July, and that compensate....

[cthoman]

Sorry to hear that. People are screaming BMEs everywhere? I doubt it. Not a cosolation but I really dont think too many independants here are doing all that much better.

I'm sure it is a mixed bag. Things are going pretty well for me (started in 2006), but it took work rebuilding it. I don't envy the task ahead for any long time exclusive jumping into independence.

[ClaridgeJ]

Sorry to hear that. People are screaming BMEs everywhere? I doubt it. Not a cosolation but I really dont think too many independants here are doing all that much better.

I'm sure it is a mixed bag. Things are going pretty well for me (started in 2006), but it took work rebuilding it. I don't envy the task ahead for any long time exclusive jumping into independence.

Makes two of us but for for anyone doing well there is probably ten doing bad. Also dont forget there are lots of people with small ports or just starters and to them only a few sales a month extra is BME and so on. Its impossible to get an overall picture.

[lisafx]

For me FT was the biggest drop and they used to be a great earner. However these last three days have been reasonably ok so I am considering uploading again.

Me too.  Shockingly bad.  Down 91% from Sept 2011, which was down about 50% from the prior year.

At this rate, FT are on their way to complete irrelevance for me.   

[lisafx]

Looking at sales for independents, I don't see this as a great time for anyone to dump IS exclusivity. 

Sue, as Istock exclusive, is reporting $ down 5% from August and down 26% from last Sept. 

As an independent, I am down 8% from August and 35% from last year. 

Others from both camps are reporting similar.  Why would anyone make a drastic change to or away from exclusivity in such a volatile situation? 

[ClaridgeJ]

For me FT was the biggest drop and they used to be a great earner. However these last three days have been reasonably ok so I am considering uploading again.

Me too.  Shockingly bad.  Down 91% from Sept 2011, which was down about 50% from the prior year.

At this rate, FT are on their way to complete irrelevance for me.   

Yes I dont know what they are doing anymore? since the IPO business they seem to have lost all interest and now I suppose they just want to take their money and run.

[lisafx]

I downloaded the (free) beta of StatsPlus to see what it had to say about my iStock September stats - in particular the supposedly missing cash sales.

Thanks for the link.  I have it downloaded, but it has failed to install in three attempts.  I guess I am just going to have to do without the info.   

[cthoman]

Looking at sales for independents, I don't see this as a great time for anyone to dump IS exclusivity. 

Sue, as Istock exclusive, is reporting $ down 5% from August and down 26% from last Sept. 

As an independent, I am down 8% from August and 35% from last year. 

Others from both camps are reporting similar.  Why would anyone make a drastic change to or away from exclusivity in such a volatile situation?

Isn't your problem sort of the same problem as Sue's? You were doing really well at iStock (majority of your earnings from them), then they dried up and couldn't be replaced by the other agencies.

[Pixart]

My Sept was virtually the same as last year. 

Since I've been trashing of DT since June I should point out that I finally had a decent month with them - not exceptional, but consistant with 2010 and 2011.

[StanRohrer]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

what are you waiting for?

I assume you are asking why I am still IS Exclusive.
- Many of my early files would not pass current inspections. My noise levels and equipment have gotten so much better since 2003.
- Some of my best sellers include clipping paths and I'm not sure many non-IS sites will transfer them to the buyer. I suspect these clipping paths are significant to making sales.
- Though falling, my PIPY is still above where I think other sites of this day might produce if I start at new payout levels.
- My photography went down some other genres and I didn't shoot as much directly for iStock.
- The substantial effort required to add these files to other sites and to track them for sales progress.

So part of what we see in my chart may well be a normal set of curves as a portfolio ages.  With a relatively level image count, we can see the effects of time, dilution of more files on the site, changes of search engine, and changes to payout schemes (downloads vs RC's).  Even for people who continually add photos to their portfolio, I suspect there comes a time when income decreases faster (with more and more old portfolio) than what the new uploads can create. In the early days it is easy to double your small portfolio - later, with a larger port, not so much.  I do think the IS current Best Match dredges up more stuff from the bottom of the pile in some of its rotating settings. Hence the salable pool (dilution) is also larger just due to the best match.

[traveler1116]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

what are you waiting for?

I assume you are asking why I am still IS Exclusive.
- Many of my early files would not pass current inspections. My noise levels and equipment have gotten so much better since 2003.
- Some of my best sellers include clipping paths and I'm not sure many non-IS sites will transfer them to the buyer. I suspect these clipping paths are significant to making sales.
- Though falling, my PIPY is still above where I think other sites of this day might produce if I start at new payout levels.
- My photography went down some other genres and I didn't shoot as much directly for iStock.
- The substantial effort required to add these files to other sites and to track them for sales progress.

So part of what we see in my chart may well be a normal set of curves as a portfolio ages.  With a relatively level image count, we can see the effects of time, dilution of more files on the site, changes of search engine, and changes to payout schemes (downloads vs RC's).  Even for people who continually add photos to their portfolio, I suspect there comes a time when income decreases faster (with more and more old portfolio) than what the new uploads can create. In the early days it is easy to double your small portfolio - later, with a larger port, not so much.  I do think the IS current Best Match dredges up more stuff from the bottom of the pile in some of its rotating settings. Hence the salable pool (dilution) is also larger just due to the best match.

Wouldn't one expect a drop like that at any site?  It looks like you haven't really added any new files since the end of 2005 (maybe +1% as far as I can tell), that's a long long time.

[lisafx]

Looking at sales for independents, I don't see this as a great time for anyone to dump IS exclusivity. 

Sue, as Istock exclusive, is reporting $ down 5% from August and down 26% from last Sept. 

As an independent, I am down 8% from August and 35% from last year. 

Others from both camps are reporting similar.  Why would anyone make a drastic change to or away from exclusivity in such a volatile situation?

Isn't your problem sort of the same problem as Sue's? You were doing really well at iStock (majority of your earnings from them), then they dried up and couldn't be replaced by the other agencies.

Yes. Probably we are experiencing the same thing.  Although it isn't just Istock.  I've lost even more ground at FT than Istock. 

My point was in response to the people who are telling Istock exclusives to drop exclusivity.  Independence is not a panacea for falling sales. 

I know your situation is different Cory, but you are a rather unique case, being A) an illustrator, and B) the only person I know outearning the micros with your own site. 

[luissantos84]

iStock Exclusive: Worst download count since 2003. Income is a long way under the "Good Old Days".

what are you waiting for?

I assume you are asking why I am still IS Exclusive.
- Many of my early files would not pass current inspections. My noise levels and equipment have gotten so much better since 2003.
- Some of my best sellers include clipping paths and I'm not sure many non-IS sites will transfer them to the buyer. I suspect these clipping paths are significant to making sales.
- Though falling, my PIPY is still above where I think other sites of this day might produce if I start at new payout levels.
- My photography went down some other genres and I didn't shoot as much directly for iStock.
- The substantial effort required to add these files to other sites and to track them for sales progress.

So part of what we see in my chart may well be a normal set of curves as a portfolio ages.  With a relatively level image count, we can see the effects of time, dilution of more files on the site, changes of search engine, and changes to payout schemes (downloads vs RC's).  Even for people who continually add photos to their portfolio, I suspect there comes a time when income decreases faster (with more and more old portfolio) than what the new uploads can create. In the early days it is easy to double your small portfolio - later, with a larger port, not so much.  I do think the IS current Best Match dredges up more stuff from the bottom of the pile in some of its rotating settings. Hence the salable pool (dilution) is also larger just due to the best match.

Wouldn't one expect a drop like that at any site?  It looks like you haven't really added any new files since the end of 2005 (maybe +1% as far as I can tell), that's a long long time.

I can understand that but it doesn�t make much sense, a good file is a good file no matter the age (yes there are subjects like clothes/haircuts that become "obsolete"), what is istock trying to do? satisfy new contributors or regular uploaders? total downloads at istock doesnt mean much thats what we can conclude beside the best match game

[cthoman]

Yes. Probably we are experiencing the same thing.  Although it isn't just Istock.  I've lost even more ground at FT than Istock. 

My point was in response to the people who are telling Istock exclusives to drop exclusivity.  Independence is not a panacea for falling sales. 

I know your situation is different Cory, but you are a rather unique case, being A) an illustrator, and B) the only person I know outearning the micros with your own site.

I definitely agree (my SS numbers last month were ugly), and I know I have been lucky by having some of the illustration opportunities that aren't available to everyone.

[traveler1116]

I can understand that but it doesn�t make much sense, a good file is a good file no matter the age (yes there are subjects like clothes/haircuts that become "obsolete"), what is istock trying to do? satisfy new contributors or regular uploaders? total downloads at istock doesnt mean much thats what we can conclude beside the best match game

Congrats, I'm a bit surprised that your images from 6 years ago are selling just as well now as they were back then.  Mine aren't.

[OM]

For me FT was the biggest drop and they used to be a great earner. However these last three days have been reasonably ok so I am considering uploading again.

Me too.  Shockingly bad.  Down 91% from Sept 2011, which was down about 50% from the prior year.

At this rate, FT are on their way to complete irrelevance for me.   

Yes I dont know what they are doing anymore? since the IPO business they seem to have lost all interest and now I suppose they just want to take their money and run.

I'm not sure but I don't think FT IPO'd. The owner sold a 300 million chunk of private stock to KKR investors. IMHO owners know the best time to sell!

[gostwyck]

I can understand that but it doesn�t make much sense, a good file is a good file no matter the age (yes there are subjects like clothes/haircuts that become "obsolete"), what is istock trying to do? satisfy new contributors or regular uploaders? total downloads at istock doesnt mean much thats what we can conclude beside the best match game

Congrats, I'm a bit surprised that your images from 6 years ago are selling just as well now as they were back then.  Mine aren't.

Exactly. How can older images, no matter how good they are, generate the same income nowadays when competition in their subjects is probably 5-10x more than it was back then (apart from the fact that said images will have been noticed and probably copied many times over). Prices may be higher but it doesn't compensate for the lower volume. About the only exceptions are unique images in low-volume, niche subjects that can just keep going __ but those don't produce a worthwhile income unless you happen to have about 50K of them.

[luissantos84]

I can understand that but it doesn�t make much sense, a good file is a good file no matter the age (yes there are subjects like clothes/haircuts that become "obsolete"), what is istock trying to do? satisfy new contributors or regular uploaders? total downloads at istock doesnt mean much thats what we can conclude beside the best match game

Congrats, I'm a bit surprised that your images from 6 years ago are selling just as well now as they were back then.  Mine aren't.

Exactly. How can older images, no matter how good they are, generate the same income nowadays when competition in their subjects is probably 5-10x more than it was back then (apart from the fact that said images will have been noticed and probably copied many times over). Prices may be higher but it doesn't compensate for the lower volume. About the only exceptions are unique images in low-volume, niche subjects that can just keep going __ but those don't produce a worthwhile income unless you happen to have about 50K of them.

if so I don�t understand why many top contributors keep on whining when they aren�t producing enough? does that mean that IS is doing the right thing? same goes for FT lately right? again searches depending on regular uploading, it ain�t a passive job thats for sure

[oboy]

Down 10% to last month, and up 18 to September 2011. Best four: Shutterstock, DepositPhotos,  Zazzle, Photospin

Complete statistic at http://microstockinfos.blogspot.com/2012/10/stock-photography-sales-statistic.html







(This statistic include referral earning at the different agencies)

[estionx]

September was my best month in the stock, just six months ago I started

bye

[lisafx]

if so I don�t understand why many top contributors keep on whining when they aren�t producing enough? does that mean that IS is doing the right thing? same goes for FT lately right? again searches depending on regular uploading, it ain�t a passive job thats for sure

I think you are confused Luis.  The "top contributors" who are "whining" are not the people who have hardly uploaded in years.  The "top contributors" by definition, are aware this "ain't a passive job" and have continued to up their games technically and keep uploading regularly. 

In my case, if I am one of the whiners you are talking about, I did admit I haven't uploaded as much this past year as the prior 6.5 years.  Definitely dropping from uploading 1k pictures per year to 500 is a drop, but 1) it is still a fairly consistent effort, and 2) the sales drops started before my production slipped, and were partly responsible for my lowered output.

The point is, when producing at your top capacity still results in drop in income, why knock yourself out? 

[OM]

if so I don�t understand why many top contributors keep on whining when they aren�t producing enough? does that mean that IS is doing the right thing? same goes for FT lately right? again searches depending on regular uploading, it ain�t a passive job thats for sure

I think you are confused Luis.  The "top contributors" who are "whining" are not the people who have hardly uploaded in years.  The "top contributors" by definition, are aware this "ain't a passive job" and have continued to up their games technically and keep uploading regularly. 

In my case, if I am one of the whiners you are talking about, I did admit I haven't uploaded as much this past year as the prior 6.5 years.  Definitely dropping from uploading 1k pictures per year to 500 is a drop, but 1) it is still a fairly consistent effort, and 2) the sales drops started before my production slipped, and were partly responsible for my lowered output.

The point is, when producing at your top capacity still results in drop in income, why knock yourself out?

I'm not going to whine about what happened at FT but describe what happened to my mini-folio as I get the impression that this happened to a lot of established contributors but on a larger scale. I had 3 top-selling (for me anyway) photo's that suddenly (over a two-week period) stopped selling completely. They didn't decline slowly, they just fell off their twig........zero and haven't sold since. The total sales were 400+, ~150 and ~140 and sold regularly with dl's up until March 2012 (around when FT changed the search).

I wasn't a regular uploader but most uploads went unviewed and unsold anyway which didn't much inspire constant uploading.

Unconvinced by the argument that my 'old' files were dated and that FT justifiably demoted them from the search, I joined SS at the end of June and two of the old FT 'dated rubbish' have become among my best sellers at SS with both subs sales and ODD's. Still not a single sale at FT in that period.

In September I uploaded a small number of new files to FT and SS simultaneously, of which one has become my fastest/best seller at SS with 30+ sales since approval (subs and ODD's). The same image at FT has sold 9 times (all subs) and nearly all the other images in that upnload to FT haven't even been viewed!

From Feb 2008 until March 2012 I was totally exclusive at FT and increased my small portfolio size (200) by 50% from 2009 to 2012.
Here's a quarterly chart of credits earned: Q3 2012 was 65......
 

[pancaketom]

It sounds like what you need to do at FT is upload a batch, then after a week or 2, delete the non sellers and upload them in the next batch, repeat until they change their system.

Although I think the searches shouldn't be static, it also doesn't make sense to just demote a picture merely because it is older. Something similar to the SS system where an image needs to maintain sales to hold it's position makes sense. It should be about the images, not the contributor, the camera, or the age that determines it's position in the search. Unfortunately it appears that FT, DT, and IS all take those into account.

[Suljo]

I downloaded the (free) beta of StatsPlus to see what it had to say about my iStock September stats - in particular the supposedly missing cash sales.

It tells me that my downloads are actually 12% above the IS stats and $$ are 15% higher. Not enough to make it a good September but does raise it from disastrous to just rotten

This tool worked fine for me except where IS problems mess it up - all the past PP sales are reported with the current date, so if you try stats for today, you'll get really distorted totals (and unfortunately you can't turn the PP off).

I'm not sure, but I think that the cash is shown in the balance, but I have no idea how I'd track that.

Anyway just a thought for those having a cr#ppy month at IS to see if it perhaps isn't quite as bad as they thought. I wish IS would sort out they mess they've made of the site...

Haw haw
FREE BETA
haw haw
just enter you LOGIN and PASS of you IS acc Haha haaahahahahahh ahaha
LOL
Ill maybe do it in afterlife only if there in hell or paradise have some kind of lobotomy drug, and even that I will somehow thing twice, trice.... 

[cascoly]

The economy is not in a bad state. Take a look at the stock indexes.

that's a big part of the problem - financials esp flash trading, deriviatives and other invented 'products' do nothing for the real economy, and the success of these  areas sucks off new college grads in sciences, math, computers etc who otherwise might be doing somthing productive that actually contriibutes to out economy

at the same time the right wing has successfully pushed at the state level to lay off teachers, police, firemen and other essential workers

[cascoly]

4th BME ever overall, 3 of those this year

IS provides a tiny part of my income - DT & Yay were up this month

continue to hold about +30% over previous 3 mo and 6 mo period from last year

[sharpshot]

if so I don�t understand why many top contributors keep on whining when they aren�t producing enough? does that mean that IS is doing the right thing? same goes for FT lately right? again searches depending on regular uploading, it ain�t a passive job thats for sure

I think you are confused Luis.  The "top contributors" who are "whining" are not the people who have hardly uploaded in years.  The "top contributors" by definition, are aware this "ain't a passive job" and have continued to up their games technically and keep uploading regularly. 

In my case, if I am one of the whiners you are talking about, I did admit I haven't uploaded as much this past year as the prior 6.5 years.  Definitely dropping from uploading 1k pictures per year to 500 is a drop, but 1) it is still a fairly consistent effort, and 2) the sales drops started before my production slipped, and were partly responsible for my lowered output.

The point is, when producing at your top capacity still results in drop in income, why knock yourself out?

I'm not going to whine about what happened at FT but describe what happened to my mini-folio as I get the impression that this happened to a lot of established contributors but on a larger scale. I had 3 top-selling (for me anyway) photo's that suddenly (over a two-week period) stopped selling completely. They didn't decline slowly, they just fell off their twig........zero and haven't sold since. The total sales were 400+, ~150 and ~140 and sold regularly with dl's up until March 2012 (around when FT changed the search).

I wasn't a regular uploader but most uploads went unviewed and unsold anyway which didn't much inspire constant uploading.

Unconvinced by the argument that my 'old' files were dated and that FT justifiably demoted them from the search, I joined SS at the end of June and two of the old FT 'dated rubbish' have become among my best sellers at SS with both subs sales and ODD's. Still not a single sale at FT in that period.

In September I uploaded a small number of new files to FT and SS simultaneously, of which one has become my fastest/best seller at SS with 30+ sales since approval (subs and ODD's). The same image at FT has sold 9 times (all subs) and nearly all the other images in that upnload to FT haven't even been viewed!

From Feb 2008 until March 2012 I was totally exclusive at FT and increased my small portfolio size (200) by 50% from 2009 to 2012.
Here's a quarterly chart of credits earned: Q3 2012 was 65......

Thought I would do my quarterly chart.  Doesn't inspire me to carry on with FT.  The problem is, what can we do about it?  I just hope buyers go elsewhere.

[HerMajesty]

you went from $600-700 to ZERO ? Or is that just the new 'quarter' that just started.

I have two accounts @Fotolia, one where I stopped uploading about two years ago. My graph looks very similar to the one you posted. 80% drop in less than 2 years. But the other account where I keep on uploading new stuff is doing pretty well actually.

[HerMajesty]

Down 10% to last month, and up 18 to September 2011. Best four: Shutterstock, DepositPhotos,  Zazzle, Photospin

Seriously ... Zazzle, Photospin ? Were those like a single $1000 sale that just skewed the results or are you seriously getting regular sales?

[sharpshot]

you went from $600-700 to ZERO ? Or is that just the new 'quarter' that just started.

I have two accounts @Fotolia, one where I stopped uploading about two years ago. My graph looks very similar to the one you posted. 80% drop in less than 2 years. But the other account where I keep on uploading new stuff is doing pretty well actually.

Ignore the last data point on the graph but it is heading that way.  I did upload a lot of new images a few months ago and it made no difference to the steep decline.

[oboy]

Down 10% to last month, and up 18 to September 2011. Best four: Shutterstock, DepositPhotos,  Zazzle, Photospin

Seriously ... Zazzle, Photospin ? Were those like a single $1000 sale that just skewed the results or are you seriously getting regular sales?

I am getting regular sales every month with Zazzle and Photospin. Zazzle does has its spikes but last month was more low. I am only a few month with Photospin, but I had sales right from the beginning.

[HerMajesty]

Interesting. I even registered on Zazzle a long time ago, but somehow it didn't seam like a place one would be making any serious money. 

[oboy]

From all the POD's Zazzle is in my opinion the best.

[luissantos84]

- from August 2012 (down 24.3%)
- from September 2011 (up 2.6%)
- 41 months of stock
- no new uploads in September (all agencies)
- traditional top 5 - 66.8% (SS, IS, FT, 123RF, DT) (Aug - 69.4%)

Sep % - Aug % - last month $ %

TOP 8 - 80.3% (82.5%)
SS 38.4% (47%) (down 37.5%) (Sep - 0 EL + 1 SOD = 2.55$) (Aug - 2 EL + 5 SOD = 207.5$)
IS 12.7% (9.3%) (down 3.7%) (7 months with no new uploads)
FT 7.1% (5.5%) (down 0.8%)
Z 5.7% (7%) (down 38.2%)
123RF 5.5% (5.3%) (down 20.6%)
ISIGN 4.8% (3.8%) (down 2%)
DT 3.1% (2.7%) (down 13%) (May 69$ (BME), Jun 35$, Jul 35$, Aug 39$, Sep 34$)
DP 3% (1.9%) (up 17.7%)

MIDDLE - 15% (11.1%)
XZ 2.5% (1.8%)
XX 2.2% (1.8%)
PD 2% (1.7%)
XY 1.9% (2%)
CanStockPhoto 1.9% (1.9%)
V 1.7% (1.3%)
MP 1.6% (0.2%)
BigStock 1.2% (0.4%)

LOW - 4.7% (3.2%)
(13 agencies all below 1% each)

[pro@stockphotos]

Looking at sales for independents, I don't see this as a great time for anyone to dump IS exclusivity. 

Sue, as Istock exclusive, is reporting $ down 5% from August and down 26% from last Sept. 

As an independent, I am down 8% from August and 35% from last year. 

Others from both camps are reporting similar.  Why would anyone make a drastic change to or away from exclusivity in such a volatile situation?

Yes you are right on here!  It does not seem that exclusives or independents are pulling away from the argument of which is better.  It seems bad on both sides.  The 5 years of exclusivity advantage may be closing but those dollars lost over that time can't be recovered by independents.  If you are down year over year as an independent then sales on the competing site aren't making up for the loss on istock.   The mismanagement of istock seems to be hurting the whole microstock industry.  Selling your images for next to nothing doesn't seem to be the answer to me either.   Istock is saying that Sept. wasn't that bad!!!   What!!!!!  If they lose exclusives what would they have left.  The fattest rats are always last to jump off a sinking ship.