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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: Artist on May 31, 2018, 11:41

Title: So How was your May?
Post by: Artist on May 31, 2018, 11:41
For me.

SS- was a like sine wave the whole month but at the end it turn out to be BME
FT- Avg, even after uploading many new work the earning remains same here, looks like they follow the cap theory.
iStock - 20% low then previous month
123RF - Slightly better than last month
Alamy - 1 Sale, I think its worth quitting them now.
DepositPhotos - Very poor
Canstock - Poor
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Dumc on May 31, 2018, 11:57
SS poor, FT good thanks to 2 high sales otherwise average, Canva BME, DT 2nd best month in one year, the rest average.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: UKstock on May 31, 2018, 13:13
Worst month on Pond5 all year

Shutterstock normal

Fotolia normal
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: dpimborough on May 31, 2018, 13:25
SS more or less normal the sales are more controlled than ever.

Usual quantity sold predictable as always
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Brightontl on May 31, 2018, 13:55
The month as a whole was quite good, but the last week was horrible.
I agree totally with the cap theory, especially for SS and FT.
I really feel as if I have a monthly wage, instead of being a free lance, but I am very far from complaining.
Also, at least at SS, if I am a good boy every 8-9 months I get a pay rise
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Video-StockOrg on May 31, 2018, 16:07
All agencies sucked badly.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Stephan on May 31, 2018, 18:21
Pond5 was lower
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Peruphotoart on May 31, 2018, 20:01
Here I bring my progress throughout the year to May (I do not invite Istock because the result is released every 19 of each month) taking into account that I have:
 
1000 photos on Shutter
520 photos on Adobestock
590 photos in Istock
1000 photos in 123rf
1150 photos at dreamstime
980 photos in bigstock
650 photos in depositphotos

I am in alamy, canva, photocase and pond 5 but as recently as the ones and integrated to my list of agencies you do not have even 2 months so I still do not sell anything (only in photocase 1 euro with 80 cents )

Creativemarket is the only agency that rejected me twice, can anyone help me succeed?

good here I leave my graphics just started in all agencies in November but began to be constant from January so I decided since January to compare the growth in each agency, it is a bit slow but growing, I hope to be taking off little by little I would appreciate your comments or criticisms

(https://image.ibb.co/h3SdNd/Avance.jpg)
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: StockGuy101 on May 31, 2018, 20:08
Compared to April:
Pond5, down $1,000
Shutter, down $700
Story, up $200
Adobe, down $200

Compared to May, 2017:
up $1,300.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: OM on June 01, 2018, 06:13
SS on a par with May 2017 and better than every other month except August 2017. Hardly added anything new since last year, so I can't be disappointed! Adobe normal month just ticks along at around 25% of SS. ~850 photos on both sites.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: stockmarketer on June 01, 2018, 06:22
I've been in microstock 10 years now.

I remember when it was exciting to track sales and watch my income steadily rise, like some on this page are reporting. 

But a few years back, everything changed:

- My port size hit 10,000 and each new upload was a miniscule addition as a percentage of my total collection... meaning I couldn't expect to see constant growth like I did as a newbie.

- At the same time, oversupply at the agencies was getting out of control... total collection sizes were going up by tens of millions a month, and my few hundred new images meant nothing.

- The agencies started stacking the deck against us, favoring the brand new artists to give them hope that this is a sustainable income so they keep uploading.  (news flash... it's not.)

So, how was my May?  Crap.  At least I assume, because looking too deep into the numbers is depressing and I've stopped putting myself through that.

Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Video-StockOrg on June 01, 2018, 07:20
I've been in microstock 10 years now.

I remember when it was exciting to track sales and watch my income steadily rise, like some on this page are reporting. 

But a few years back, everything changed:

- My port size hit 10,000 and each new upload was a miniscule addition as a percentage of my total collection... meaning I couldn't expect to see constant growth like I did as a newbie.

- At the same time, oversupply at the agencies was getting out of control... total collection sizes were going up by tens of millions a month, and my few hundred new images meant nothing.

- The agencies started stacking the deck against us, favoring the brand new artists to give them hope that this is a sustainable income so they keep uploading.  (news flash... it's not.)

So, how was my May?  Crap.  At least I assume, because looking too deep into the numbers is depressing and I've stopped putting myself through that.

Same experience. And still listening to naive arguments around here, that our sales aren't capped. Sure they are, the bigger you go, the more they suppress your sales so that newbies have more of sales share. That's why I lost interest even in responding or discuss in topics.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: sgoodwin4813 on June 01, 2018, 08:09
May ended up being OK - at my target earnings amount, no complaints.  It was due to more ELs than usual, clip sales, and a $75 SOD on SS that topped it off.  BME on FT thanks to a rare EL there as well.  Canva good, DT hanging in there - I have been getting downloads of multiple images in the same series there for the past year or so, good thing they dropped their well intentioned but ultimately wrong similars policy.  Other sites mostly dead.  Had two 10-cent sales on DP that I have written to ask about.  Have been hanging in there overall and especially at SS for the past six months or more by rare high-value sales - the bottom will fall out without those as sales volume on all sites except FT is lower than in the past.  I should start uploading again to a few of the sites at least.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Brasilnut on June 01, 2018, 08:19
Despite BME at SS with 510 downloads, earnings were average.

Pleased with my first two book covers at Arcangel and two Sales at FAA.

Alamy encouraging with 11 downloads for $264 gross

Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Sean Locke Photography on June 01, 2018, 08:34
Poor.

SS continues to drop.  FT/Adobe and Canva holding steady.  DP and DT trickle.  Zero on GL.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: trjiii1 on June 01, 2018, 11:14
I had twice as many sales and half as much income as normal. It was just the month of never ending .25 sales. Hopefully June is better.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: tomn on June 01, 2018, 11:23
My May has been my best month ever. It's kind of misleading though as I've only been at this since August and I'm still growing my portfolio as fast as possible.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Chichikov on June 01, 2018, 11:41
SS down… a lot
FT Stable
DT up
Alamy up
Pond up

Total up (Pond and Alamy saved me this month ;) )
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Chichikov on June 01, 2018, 11:43
Poor.

SS continues to drop.  FT/Adobe and Canva holding steady.  DP and DT trickle.  Zero on GL.

Is GL for Great Loser?
(Not a single sale in one year there - well maybe I am the GL…)
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Uncle Pete on June 02, 2018, 10:26
I've been in microstock 10 years now.

I remember when it was exciting to track sales and watch my income steadily rise, like some on this page are reporting. 

But a few years back, everything changed:

- My port size hit 10,000 and each new upload was a miniscule addition as a percentage of my total collection... meaning I couldn't expect to see constant growth like I did as a newbie.

- At the same time, oversupply at the agencies was getting out of control... total collection sizes were going up by tens of millions a month, and my few hundred new images meant nothing.

- The agencies started stacking the deck against us, favoring the brand new artists to give them hope that this is a sustainable income so they keep uploading.  (news flash... it's not.)

So, how was my May?  Crap.  At least I assume, because looking too deep into the numbers is depressing and I've stopped putting myself through that.

Right except the agencies have always "stacked the deck" in favor of new artists. Look back when you started and you'll see how your files got a huge boost. You won't see that in earnings necessarily but you should be able to see disproportional download numbers for the number of files you had. Then things slowly level off, more new files, same DL numbers. Until just what you said, diminishing returns. In the early days it was called hitting the wall. Same thing, different name.  :(

May 2018 was the lowest May for me since May 2013, but considering the state of the business, the market and everything, same as I've been seeing for a couple years now. Plain flat sales, no changes when I add hundreds of new files in a month, for a few months, or add nothing but one photo each month for a few months.

Flat means some months are better, some lower, no growth to speak of. Also no huge drops, just kind of limping along based on what people need and buy. And yes I know some very active, good, successful people, who had sales drop in half in the last year or two, for no apparent reason. I see it as a flood of files, similar to what's working for these people... slice of the pie smaller and divided thinner, when there are hundreds of thousands of over covered subjects and concepts.

I don't see any change or any reason to believe anything will be getting better. The growth and any boom of sales, is over, never to return. Some folks talk about the next big thing or bring back the old days. Only in our memories, not going to happen. I didn't know that unsustainable was referring to all of us, but that was the right observation.

How do you warn new people that they are investing their time and hope on a doomed, sinking ship?
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: jonbull on June 02, 2018, 11:28
I've been in microstock 10 years now.

I remember when it was exciting to track sales and watch my income steadily rise, like some on this page are reporting. 

But a few years back, everything changed:

- My port size hit 10,000 and each new upload was a miniscule addition as a percentage of my total collection... meaning I couldn't expect to see constant growth like I did as a newbie.

- At the same time, oversupply at the agencies was getting out of control... total collection sizes were going up by tens of millions a month, and my few hundred new images meant nothing.

- The agencies started stacking the deck against us, favoring the brand new artists to give them hope that this is a sustainable income so they keep uploading.  (news flash... it's not.)

So, how was my May?  Crap.  At least I assume, because looking too deep into the numbers is depressing and I've stopped putting myself through that.

Right except the agencies have always "stacked the deck" in favor of new artists. Look back when you started and you'll see how your files got a huge boost. You won't see that in earnings necessarily but you should be able to see disproportional download numbers for the number of files you had. Then things slowly level off, more new files, same DL numbers. Until just what you said, diminishing returns. In the early days it was called hitting the wall. Same thing, different name.  :(

May 2018 was the lowest May for me since May 2013, but considering the state of the business, the market and everything, same as I've been seeing for a couple years now. Plain flat sales, no changes when I add hundreds of new files in a month, for a few months, or add nothing but one photo each month for a few months.

Flat means some months are better, some lower, no growth to speak of. Also no huge drops, just kind of limping along based on what people need and buy. And yes I know some very active, good, successful people, who had sales drop in half in the last year or two, for no apparent reason. I see it as a flood of files, similar to what's working for these people... slice of the pie smaller and divided thinner, when there are hundreds of thousands of over covered subjects and concepts.

I don't see any change or any reason to believe anything will be getting better. The growth and any boom of sales, is over, never to return. Some folks talk about the next big thing or bring back the old days. Only in our memories, not going to happen. I didn't know that unsustainable was referring to all of us, but that was the right observation.

How do you warn new people that they are investing their time and hope on a doomed, sinking ship?

think of this...you are a company who barely matched analyst expectations...your financial results are not growing and probably diminish next quarter....how can you boost your earning so they match analyst expectations? silly move sales from 0,38 tile to 0,25 a save of 13 cent every dollar.. that's why new folks   experience growth of sales.
for me this is the first month lower than last year, sale where similar to last year but mostly subs so earning lower. desire new content the possibility of growth in ss is partiallyzero. some months i ill have plus 1 or minus ten but the path in ss in the last years is a straight lines. as somebody said is like receiving a salary.
alamy disappeared but i didn't work on it a lot.
the best news is lot of assignment and personal work and esp who keeps growing and according to sales since beginning of year i have already doubled april, without the accounting of files sold out of stock or getty.  if this grow keeps for some month esp will easily match ss or numbers of download despite a smaller portfolio.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: farbled on June 02, 2018, 12:02
Flat means some months are better, some lower, no growth to speak of.
Mine is flat/level and has been for ages. I see neither growth nor decrease and mine are not some months better, some worse. It really is a completely predictable salary. If my niche was flooded I should see a decline since I have stopped uploading some time ago.

It also does not explain the often reported drop after a large SOD. I cringe when I get them in the first week of the month, since I know my sales will plummet until my mid-month earnings are exactly in line with every other month. Once or twice is coincidence, every single time is not. The only time I get a fluctuation in earnings is if I get a large bunch of SODs in the last few days of the month.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on June 02, 2018, 12:31
Second best month ever. 17% up on April 2018, 16% up on last May.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: pancaketom on June 02, 2018, 15:00
Better than average for these days, but not by a lot. (so down 30% from a few years ago). SS was a bit above average in both $ and DL although it has been over a year since any big sales there. 123RF (or perhaps more accurately 321RF was better than last month but my RC total still dropped by a substantial amount why they should get a larger percentage for failing at their job is beyond me. The real surprise was DT which had a completely pathetic first half of the month- only a few sub sales with an average RPD of .35 and then it came alive for the second half with subs and actual credit sales and posted the best month there in years - on really only 2 weeks of sales. I think it ended up as my 3rd best site for the month after SS and Alamy (just barely behind Alamy too).

As far as the long range picture - it is sort of bleak, but I hope it is a long slow glide path rather than a huge plummet to a crash and burn.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Zero Talent on June 02, 2018, 17:23
May 2018 revenue pie (April for IS) and Paypal actual income trend.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: steheap on June 02, 2018, 20:19
Pretty good month for me - I must have been following the advice in my book!
(https://i2.wp.com/www.backyardsilver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/EarningsMay2018.png?ssl=1)

Since August last year, almost every month has been better than previous years.

Full details on my blog as usual.

Steve
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Noedelhap on June 03, 2018, 04:36
I've been in microstock 10 years now.

I remember when it was exciting to track sales and watch my income steadily rise, like some on this page are reporting. 

But a few years back, everything changed:

- My port size hit 10,000 and each new upload was a miniscule addition as a percentage of my total collection... meaning I couldn't expect to see constant growth like I did as a newbie.

- At the same time, oversupply at the agencies was getting out of control... total collection sizes were going up by tens of millions a month, and my few hundred new images meant nothing.

- The agencies started stacking the deck against us, favoring the brand new artists to give them hope that this is a sustainable income so they keep uploading.  (news flash... it's not.)

So, how was my May?  Crap.  At least I assume, because looking too deep into the numbers is depressing and I've stopped putting myself through that.

Same experience. And still listening to naive arguments around here, that our sales aren't capped. Sure they are, the bigger you go, the more they suppress your sales so that newbies have more of sales share. That's why I lost interest even in responding or discuss in topics.

If you are big, that means you must have some best-sellers and a port full of rich content that sells. Why would an agency push good content to the back? They profit from your popular files as much as you do.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: wordplanet on June 03, 2018, 12:20
I haven't uploaded anywhere in months....busy with other things, but in March SS really took off and April it was still quite solid -Adobe and Alamy also looked to be really gaining momentum to the point that I was hoping to find time to feed the beast once again...sadly, I didn't and SS and Adobe both slid in May...but Alamy continues to grow for me with 4 decent to excellently priced sales netting me a tidy sum. My own site also picked up and with two solid fine art sales - one in person and one via FAA - (which I wish we would add to the poll) and some little POD stuff as well, the month ended up being above average.

I'm hoping once some large projects are behind me that I can start uploading again. I bought a new Sony A7Rii a few month ago and I really want to put it thorough its paces.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: lightphoto on June 03, 2018, 12:40
Overall, May was just dreadful.  My worst month since Dec '12

Down 56% from April '18
Down 52% from May '17

Shutterstock continues it's slide, Getty iStock (April) was the worst month since the 2016. 
Dreamstime, 123RF & Fotolia all had weak months, and Alamy was nonexistent.

Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: niktol on June 03, 2018, 13:00
Not a BME, but fine, particularly considering that I didn't have time to upload regularly lately. Interestingly, SS continues to fall, while other stocks are rising.  The microstock ranking from polls is far from what I experience.  This creates a reasonably balanced distribution in income.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Pauws99 on June 03, 2018, 13:52
Not a BME, but fine, particularly considering that I didn't have time to upload regularly lately. Interestingly, SS continues to fall, while other stocks are rising.  The microstock ranking from polls is far from what I experience.  This creates a reasonably balanced distribution in income.
For me SS is holding steady while the small sites are collapsing...though I've had a whopping TWO sales from Canstock already this month ;-). The poll on the right is very close to my experience. Just when I think fotolia is on a good run and actually threatening SS it stalls.
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: littleny on June 04, 2018, 16:53
I've been in microstock 10 years now.

I remember when it was exciting to track sales and watch my income steadily rise, like some on this page are reporting. 

But a few years back, everything changed:

- My port size hit 10,000 and each new upload was a miniscule addition as a percentage of my total collection... meaning I couldn't expect to see constant growth like I did as a newbie.

- At the same time, oversupply at the agencies was getting out of control... total collection sizes were going up by tens of millions a month, and my few hundred new images meant nothing.

- The agencies started stacking the deck against us, favoring the brand new artists to give them hope that this is a sustainable income so they keep uploading.  (news flash... it's not.)

So, how was my May?  Crap.  At least I assume, because looking too deep into the numbers is depressing and I've stopped putting myself through that.
Im in the same place.  when i had 3000 images and 4 years in my microstock income used to pay my mortgage.. now I'm at 5000 and 7 years in and wow its a kick in the face seeing how each quarter I'm less and less profitable..
so the question is, if this 'hitting the wall' is the inevitable fate why aren't we all uploading under a new account under our spouses or best friends credentials and start from scratch?
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: trek on June 04, 2018, 18:43
My annual return per photo is half of what it was in 2012.  Total income is below last year despite steady uploads.  I've arrived at the proverbial wall... looking for a way around it...
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: cascoly on June 05, 2018, 21:52
SS close to BME; canva & fotolia near BME also -- bottom feeders continue their dismal results, but easy to upl so I get a few more cappuccinos every month and my travel jones is paid for


until may, had been a poor year, but 5 yr trend was still upwards at about 10% / yr -- selling images across the years - some new, some 30+ yrs old
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: CDPiC on June 06, 2018, 10:48
SS down… a lot
FT Stable
DT up
Alamy up
Pond up

Total up (Pond and Alamy saved me this month ;) )


which one is FT?  :-\
thanks
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: CDPiC on June 06, 2018, 12:27
SS down… a lot
FT Stable
DT up
Alamy up
Pond up

Total up (Pond and Alamy saved me this month ;) )
welche is the FT? :/

which one is FT?  :-\
thanks
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: ShadySue on June 06, 2018, 12:29
welche is the FT? :/
which one is FT?  :-\
thanks
Fotolia
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: CDPiC on June 06, 2018, 12:55
soo, okay :D couse no more fotolia. Thanks
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: SpaceStockFootage on June 06, 2018, 20:01
https://eu.fotolia.com/
Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: dpimborough on June 07, 2018, 00:59
...and June looks like it will be worse than May so far SS sales have collapsed.

Title: Re: So How was your May?
Post by: Video-StockOrg on June 07, 2018, 03:07
same here... :\