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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.
Poor.SS continues to drop. FT/Adobe and Canva holding steady. DP and DT trickle. Zero on GL.
Quote from: stockmarketer on June 01, 2018, 06:22I'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?
Flat means some months are better, some lower, no growth to speak of.