Exclusive at iStock or Diversify?

[Turnervisual]

Hello everyone, this is my first post on these forums.

I'm yet to learn about how things go around here so if I am putting this new topic in the wrong place, do let me know.

Here is my dilemma:

I've been exclusive with iStock since 2006 and have, in the past, made a huge amount of money with them. Well, things are grinding to a halt these days and iStock exclusivity does not attract me anymore, especially since all of my images are in the "signature/exclusive" collection, which means that buyers who purchase an essentials subscription don't even get to download any of my images.

Have any of you been in my situation and decided to terminate exclusivity with iStock, then uploaded images to say, Shutterstock and had a net increase in revenue?

How much income % do I stand to lose by ending exclusivity with iStock?

Thanks for your time and I look forward to your responses.

[StanRohrer]

I am in about the same position. iS Exc since about 2004. I don't have an answer but wish I did. I'm at 30% so I figure I would lose a significant portion of an (decreasing) income. My dilemma is that I suspect many of the big push of files i submitted in 2003-2005 may not be of size and quality for submission to other agencies today. So loss of percentage is not my only concern in spreading out non-ex files.

[MichaelJayFoto]

How much income % do I stand to lose by ending exclusivity with iStock?

No one can make a good prediction. If you are going down from 40% to 19%, you would lose half of the credit royalties; apparently these days, images don't change collection, so your images would (probably?) stay in the Signature collection at 3 credits. If that wasn't the case, you'd not only cut the royalties in half but also get that half based on only 1 instead of 3 credits. You will also lose more than half of your royalties from subscriptions (from 0.75 and 2.50 down to 0.28 per download). You will also lose the income from GI Sales. New images will go into the Essentials collection at a lower price point but might get more downloads compared to older images. New images will also go in the partner program, another way to make a few more downloads but most of them for 0.28 each.

As you can see, it is rather complicated. And it doesn't help much not knowing how much you are going to earn on other sites as well.

My personal journey that way began three and a half years ago. It took me only six months to get back to the same amount of royalties I have made at iStock as an exclusive in 2012. But I must say that I already had seen a steep decline in sales from 2010 to 2012, so I was already "at the bottom". Since I started distributing my images in 2013, most libraries have doubled their size, so I keep fighting against more and more competition everywhere. Uploading takes quite a bit more time as I upload to eight agencies actively now (though not even close to eight times what you are used to at iStock, that is by far the most time consuming upload process). Also, you have to start at other agencies from scratch, working your way up in the ranking, search positions, royalty levels. It's not plain and simple to start elsewhere, it takes time, a lot of time.

For me things worked out pretty well but mostly because becoming non-exclusive required me to not just upload my existing portfolio to Shutterstock, Fotolia and others but also improve my photography and find new and higher priced outlets for the images that just don't do well in microstock. If your plan is to just spread all your images across as many agencies as possible, I have my doubts if you would make significant returns.

[MxR]

Is important see your portfolio quality. The average earnings of independient with average stock images is about 0,50 $ RPI per month (people do more or less) If you are making less be independient. Only High Quality images have sense to be exclusives... isolated tomatoes or cliche people on white not, there is a lot cheaper.

If you are independient any time try Stocksy first. Them Shutter, Fotolia and Creative market. 

[everest]

Is important see your portfolio quality. The average earnings of independient with average stock images is about 0,50 $ RPI per month (people do more or less) If you are making less be independient. Only High Quality images have sense to be exclusives... isolated tomatoes or cliche people on white not, there is a lot cheaper.

If you are independient any time try Stocksy first. Them Shutter, Fotolia and Creative market.

I agree on this advice. I have been on both sides and from my experience I would say that only Shutterstock and Adobe (Fotolia) can give you real revenue streams. The poll results on the right mirror my results. When I went independent I joined many micros and only S and F were acceptable earners( Deposit Bigstock and Canstock are not worth the time and hassle, I never went with Dreamstime because the 6 month policy. Pond 5 is great if you do video. Envato and 123Rf not too bad but far from the leaders.)

If you can join Stocksy Offset any of the macro (like Alamy )and any of the  distributors ( Blend Cultura Image Source etc) I would say that this will no doubt beat the bad income nowadays from the Getty/Istock team. If you will only rely on the micros I am not sure about it. In my case they didn't reach exclusivity levels. That 248 is there for a reason......

[PaulieWalnuts]

Hard to say what to expect but here's my experience. Was exclusive from 2007 to 2014. My RPIPM as an exclusive was $1.50-$2.00.

When I went independent I only went to Shutterstock and Fotolia with micro type stuff and Alamy and direct sales for what I consider premium stuff.

RPIPM for SS is about .60 cents, Fotolia is about .20 cents, and Istock is now about .30 cents. That's $1.10 total but I'm sure if I joined a few more sites that probably have .10 cent RPIPM I could probably match my exclusive RPIPM.

So to answer your question, if I was just uploading to SS, no I didn't see an increase in income. My SS file performance is about a third of what it was at as an exclusive. I'd need to upload to another handful of sites to see breakeven or increase.

Regarding what percentage of a drop at IS, mine dropped to under 20% of what I earned as an exclusive. Dropped like a rock.

But for me I'm ahead as an independent. I separated my work into micro and premium. Premium I only sell direct at macro prices and overall I'm doing better as an independent. I'm now free to do what I want with my work and price it how i want.

During the early boom Istock's exclusive program was great. Over the years as they removed benefits, changed the royalty model, and faced more competition, it's not quite as clear if it's worth doing/keeping.

[wds]

Let's also not forget that I believe the RC system is due a major revamp or replacement before the year is out. This could could have major impact one way or the other.

[Difydave]

-- During the early boom Istock's exclusive program was great. Over the years as they removed benefits, changed the royalty model, and faced more competition, it's not quite as clear if it's worth doing/keeping.

I agree. It was great at one time, but the exclusive benefits have been nibbled away to the point where, for me at least, it hangs in the balance.
I always thought it would inevitably, and naturally, slow down as time went on, competition increased and so on. What we have seen goes way beyond that. We all know the reasons.
The biggest problem now is of course that all subs has achieved from a contributor's POV is directly replace credit sales with the same number of sub sales at around 10% of the payment. I'm not seeing growth in subs sales.
When I say it hangs in the balance for me, I mean just that. Income is getting very near what I think is acceptable as a minimum. Painful though it will be, any more "exciting news" may well tip me off exclusivity.


Apart from anything else, do you remember when this was fun? It was a great community and sales pinged in regularly.

[PaulieWalnuts]

Apart from anything else, do you remember when this was fun? It was a great community and sales pinged in regularly.

It was fun when there was community, special treatment, and seemingly endless potential. To me it felt like I was part of something special. They had a line that said something like "go ahead and quit your day job" and for a while things were so good it actually seemed totally doable.

When I first started I had no expectations other than to give it a try and see if I could make money. The money started rolling in. I decided to give IS exclusive a try and the money really started rolling in. Then I got accepted to Getty's early IS program and for a few months I had over $10 RPIPM. I felt like I had got into something life changing.

Then shortly later in 2009 the fun stopped and the reality of business set in. They started making changes and everybody knows the story. The Disney magic was gone and the stats I kept track of showed things were headed downward and that at some point the exclusive crown would turn into an anchor. That happened probably in 2012 but like a bad relationship I hung on hoping it would improve but it didn't. I started working on Plan B. Glad I did.

The fun part for me these days is seeing growth in direct sales. I'm glad micro gave me the learning experience but the fun there is long gone.

[jjneff]

I have dropped my Exclusive Status in video there this past month. I have been exclusive with iStock/Getty since 2007. I am ever grateful for the people that helped me there. There are still great people in the video dept. My sales have gone down overall over the past 12 months, I was treading water but could never seem to grow. It was a business decision for me so I will let you know how being non-exclusive video turns out for me over the next year. I am excited about the future and have gained a life and skill set I never had before. I have been living on stock full-time since 2010! My second boy was born in 2010 so I will never regret the time I have been able to spend with my family even if I lost it all today. I have been blessed and look forward to the future.

[Turnervisual]

Thanks everyone for your input.

[Freedom]

Although my IS income has dropped around 20% or less, the revenue has somewhat been stable. I have only been uploading sporadically in small numbers in the past years.

I have no immediate plan to leave exclusivity. There are many other options to sell my images without violating the exclusive agreement. I hate to see my images sold at 0.75, therefore letting SS, FT and DT sell my images for even less is just not an option. I must add that GI sales sometimes generate over $100.

Over the years, it pains me to see how my images were used glamorously while I got pittance. It's sad that we often realize the value of our work too late. The most important thing for me is, I am reducing my reliance on Getty/IS, however, it will not serve my best interest to destroy the stable income stream.

[MircoV]

You will never get a clear answer. One says yes and other no. So you have to decide yourself.

[Rose Tinted Glasses]

Although my IS income has dropped around 20% or less, the revenue has somewhat been stable. I have only been uploading sporadically in small numbers in the past years.

I have no immediate plan to leave exclusivity. There are many other options to sell my images without violating the exclusive agreement. I hate to see my images sold at 0.75, therefore letting SS, FT and DT sell my images for even less is just not an option. I must add that GI sales sometimes generate over $100.

Over the years, it pains me to see how my images were used glamorously while I got pittance. It's sad that we often realize the value of our work too late. The most important thing for me is, I am reducing my reliance on Getty/IS, however, it will not serve my best interest to destroy the stable income stream.

Perfectly said.