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Author Topic: Sales dried up?  (Read 47495 times)

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Hongover

« Reply #25 on: July 06, 2015, 12:54 »
0
As expected, the weekend was the lowest I had on record. Even parts of India took the weekend off if they work for US companies.

Things should pick right back up today and move onward to a strong July :)



« Reply #26 on: July 06, 2015, 13:03 »
+1
I am not even showing a balance now. Nothing for July so far. This never happened in the 8 years I have been there. I have to say I don't put any effort in. It's not worth the effort or expense to shoot microstock anymore. June was very poor and I received no payment from Getty either.
I'm not doing quite as badly as this, but we're already on the 6th of the month.
OK it's been a holiday weekend in the USA we know, but I have what would have been a very poor single day's money at one time so far this month.
If this continues as it's going, and PP and GI payments are as bad as last month then I reckon this will be the worst month for many, many years.
I am, as I write this, uploading some more images. I must admit that I've been finding it increasingly difficult to raise much enthusiasm for uploading lately.
They whys and wherefores have all been said before, but I'm really feeling that uploading images which seem to drop out of sight without generating any income is less than businesslike.
Like many others here, I don't do this as some sort of hobby. 

Semmick Photo

« Reply #27 on: July 06, 2015, 13:05 »
+4
Maybe it has something to do with Getty working very hard to come up will sorts of ways to give your images away for free.

Where all the other agencies actually make deals that pay us royalties, Getty is just throwing images on the internet, and in the process devaluing all images.

The one deal they made lately where you would get paid, was with Fiverr, an agency with a reputation of not giving a rats behind about copyrights. Where the Fiverr artists and Getty actually get a bigger cut than the photographers. 

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #28 on: July 06, 2015, 13:13 »
+10
But their brilliant marketing plan to embed free images brought in such a huge tide of monster sales! I can see why they'd want to repeat that success by giving away even more free images, so you can click on them in a slideshow and laugh out loud when Getty asks you to pay $500 to license them.

« Reply #29 on: July 07, 2015, 00:30 »
+6
Maybe it has something to do with Getty working very hard to come up will sorts of ways to give your images away for free.

Yes, disgusting!!  They are contemptible.  The lowest of the low. 

« Reply #30 on: July 07, 2015, 09:10 »
+1
I don't know how bad things are over in the photos section but in the illustration section over the past couple of months there has been an explosion of spamming by a small minority of contributors, both old and new, who are increasingly dominating the search results for certain keywords and topics. Page after page of very basic or very similar images from the same contributors.
Wrong keywords, zero quality control by iStock, a best match system that reduces relevancy, a bug laden unintuitive user interface, it's all gone to pot.
Any buyer doing a search and seeing the absurd results will probably quickly leave and try another site.
Are things any better on the photo side because it's now a waste of time creating and uploading illustrations?

When I first joined iStock a few years back all the review sites and all the forums held iStock in the highest esteem, with by far the highest standards and reputation for quality. It was with great pride when I got accepted. It's not something I boast about anymore.

« Reply #31 on: July 07, 2015, 09:16 »
0
According to the poll iStock sales for nonexclusives are up over 50% since last year.

« Reply #32 on: July 07, 2015, 09:38 »
0
According to the poll iStock sales for nonexclusives are up over 50% since last year.

I don't understand what that means.
Up 50% total sales for all non exclusives? Up 50% per image? Royalties or DL numbers?

« Reply #33 on: July 07, 2015, 09:39 »
0
According to the poll iStock sales for nonexclusives are up over 50% since last year.

I don't understand what that means.
Up 50% total sales for all non exclusives? Up 50% per image? Royalties or DL numbers?
Average monthly income from people reporting sales on this forum July 2014 compared to June 2015.

« Reply #34 on: July 07, 2015, 09:55 »
0
So I'm missing out on the party then, but the change/trend I'm referring to is quite recent so we'll have to see how sales are affected over the next few months.
I guess I'll have to drop exclusivity and join the spammers uploading thousands of quick doodles each month to get any exposure.
If you can't beat  'em join 'em.

« Reply #35 on: July 07, 2015, 17:17 »
+3
According to the poll iStock sales for nonexclusives are up over 50% since last year.

Shocking!  That does not go with my experience at all!  The reverse is true for me and the others I read and talk to.  ???

KB

« Reply #36 on: July 07, 2015, 23:24 »
+2
According to the poll iStock sales for nonexclusives are up over 50% since last year.

Shocking!  That does not go with my experience at all!  The reverse is true for me and the others I read and talk to.  ???
According to the Wayback Machine's snapshot of MSG on 3 Jul 2014, istock indies were at 31.6, vs 48.1 now. That is indeed up over 50%, and very difficult to understand.

Similarly, exclusives were at 154.9, vs 217.9 now. Not as large a percentage increase, but equally difficult to understand. My June 2015 was down over 50% from June 2014. That's the only number that's relevant to me, I guess.  :'(
« Last Edit: July 08, 2015, 09:32 by KB »

Semmick Photo

« Reply #37 on: July 08, 2015, 02:13 »
+4
According to the poll iStock sales for nonexclusives are up over 50% since last year.

Shocking!  That does not go with my experience at all!  The reverse is true for me and the others I read and talk to.  ???
Funny, he/she is always the one making it clear that people lie about their earnings, but when the numbers are in his/her favour they are obviously correct and honest.

I think he/she is right though, people make up earnings. I think the IS figures have been doctored to get them up.

Leaf, can you see if there are weird figures entered for IS indies?

« Reply #38 on: July 08, 2015, 03:23 »
0
My sales died very suddenly at iStock around June 6th. I emailed asking if anything had been changed on my account, they didnt really answer, and the next day sales seem to have very slowly started to return. Very odd...

« Reply #39 on: July 09, 2015, 10:20 »
0
If seasonal is a factor, compare with same time last year and year before etc.
Seasonal is one of many various factors, and everyone's experience will be different

Tay

« Reply #40 on: July 09, 2015, 10:48 »
+3
If seasonal is a factor, compare with same time last year and year before etc.
Seasonal is one of many various factors, and everyone's experience will be different
Yes, but if you have a large portfolio and your income is 60% lower compared to last year that it means something..
There is no more hope for Istock. Every change what they made in the last three years was against contributors.

dbvirago

« Reply #41 on: July 09, 2015, 19:33 »
0
About once a month, I check the previous month's PP sales. Outside of that, not worth checking on. Been there 9 years and have a bout 3k images and YTD, they are 11th out of 12 agencies, including those with far fewer images


 

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