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Author Topic: Shutter Stock Sales Drop  (Read 17978 times)

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« on: June 28, 2016, 21:59 »
+10
So I am going to lay it all out since I am experiencing a huge decline in sales. For the last three years I have been making same amount every month on ShutterStock. I hit the last earning tier at the end of year one. Once I made it to the last earning tier I hit a Wall or Ceiling. No matter how many photos I uploaded at that point till the present my earnings did not increase, so for two years I have more than doubled my portfolio but have seen no increase in earnings. In fact for the last several months it was starting to decline slowly but last month and this month I have seen over a third of my earnings drop.

I did not submit as many photos the last few months and I am wondering if that is part of the problem? I am feeling discouraged to take any more photos as it seems pointless to take a ton of photos only to have sales decline.

It would be easy to say that maybe I am taking photos that are not sellers but my new photos sell just like my photos when I first started out and made it to the last earning tier, so it seems like maybe the older photos are just falling off into the abyss with only the most successful ones hanging on.

Any thoughts on this?

Much appreciated!
« Last Edit: June 28, 2016, 22:04 by pixel8 »


« Reply #1 on: June 28, 2016, 22:06 »
+19
I make my entire living with stock photography so a third in income disappearing in two months is very alarming.


« Reply #2 on: June 28, 2016, 22:16 »
+11
You're probably not doing anything wrong.  You just hit the wall.  You clearly know what to create... if you hit the top earning tier after one year in microstock, you have an eye for high commercial value images.  The problem is, you simply can't increase your port at the rate SS and the other micros are expanding their collections.  They're rising exponentially and there's no way to keep up.  Your situation sounds the exact same as mine.  Very, very discouraging.

angelawaye

  • Eat, Sleep, Keyword. Repeat

« Reply #3 on: June 28, 2016, 22:21 »
+11
I'm in the same boat if that makes you feel better but have been doing this since 2008. It is very alarming that no matter how much I upload, I actually make less. No new files selling ...

SS was the only one I uploaded to for the past year but now I am uploading to the others. My new files won't see the light of day at SS with all the new files being flooded into the stream.

« Reply #4 on: June 29, 2016, 00:31 »
+9
Seems like the stock photo trend is over saturated and perhaps many stock photographers will die a slow death. The pool of buyers are the same while there are many more people uploading. Change , innovate or die..

« Reply #5 on: June 29, 2016, 00:47 »
+18
I'm a small part-time player, but what I see with SS is that the download numbers aren't too bad but it's the money that's decreasing. All those high value SOD sales that used to make a big difference in the earnings. That's a harder problem for a contributor to fix (without branching out to other agencies) than the download numbers tanking.

When I compare a month this year with last year I'm seeing roughly comparable downloads and about $150 less in cash

« Reply #6 on: June 29, 2016, 00:52 »
+3
$200 less per month, yesterday i had 9 subs and 1 odd out of thousands of images, new images dont sell at all, i see images approved and on page 5 within minutes, adding 1 million images per week. ridiculous. how do these factories stay in business anyway

« Reply #7 on: June 29, 2016, 01:18 »
+5
In this sad situation it's still good to know it's now only me.
SS was my last micro agency where I had my images to sell (I moved to PODs, self pricing and macros) and in the end of '14 I noticed that it doesn't matter if I upload zero or hundreds new files - income was at the same level and later even falling down month by month. So in '15 I finally stopped uploading there anything. It still did not change anything in income, lol. Slowly going down just like when I was uploading every week or few days. No matter.
SS was my best earner and now it's at the end of list as it gives only some peanuts every month (still get payments but it's 1/5 of what I had a year or two before). Pointless to spend time and hard work on uploading here. In my group of friends the same scene lately - everyone asking what is going on. Is this the end of micros?
« Last Edit: June 29, 2016, 01:22 by Ariene »

« Reply #8 on: June 29, 2016, 07:58 »
+4
In the last 16 months I've added about 1200 videos to my 3800 image collection.  My income in SS is the same now as it was then. So I can conclude one of two things:

1. Without adding those videos (I do have video sales) I would have a significant sales drop (roughly 25%, or $200 a month).

2. As many have speculated, if sales are somehow capped or controlled, that could also explain a lot. Whether this is the case or a simple conspiracy tone (I have zero proof of this other than my sales have capped no matter how many new assets I add) I cannot grow my sales at SS.

I do wonder what my sales would look like if I would have created a new account for my videos and kept them separate from my still account. Would I be at $500 a month with video, $750 or still $200?

Water under the bridge now, but I do reflect on this quite often.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2016, 08:00 by Mantis »

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #9 on: June 29, 2016, 08:27 »
+6
Last summer I took the entire summer offI uploaded nothing for 3 months. My earnings were the same as the summer before. This summer I decided to increase my earnings and have been uploading almost daily...and watching my sales plummet instead of grow. I hit the wall in January, and no matter what I do my sales take hit after hit.

The search for most popular at SS has gotten stranger and stranger. First page 2 became page 1 and got stuck that way. More recently if you go past page 3 in most popular it's just random sets of multiple similar images which cannot possibly be popular. Entire series of photos from the same shoot at slightly different angles, or simple vector icons in different colors. Images of mine that have sold are somehow less popular than more recent images that have never sold.

I don't know what they're doing with the search, but it is not helping my sales, and I don't see how it can be helping their sales overall either.

« Reply #10 on: June 29, 2016, 08:33 »
+1
morning, well, i think its down to the number of images and ever growing contributor base, more people at the table, same amount of food

Tror

« Reply #11 on: June 29, 2016, 08:38 »
+2
Same here. I usually add about 300 images per week and sales are still down. First we contributors get hit, but the Agencies will start struggling as well at some point: too much infrastructure to maintain too much mediocre content. I wonder if they ever thought beyond their crowd sourced content-kamikaze strategy.....

Mr Nobody

« Reply #12 on: June 29, 2016, 08:48 »
+1
I'm a small part-time player, but what I see with SS is that the download numbers aren't too bad but it's the money that's decreasing. All those high value SOD sales that used to make a big difference in the earnings. That's a harder problem for a contributor to fix (without branching out to other agencies) than the download numbers tanking.

When I compare a month this year with last year I'm seeing roughly comparable downloads and about $150 less in cash

well stated! I am in the same boat! Same amount of downloads (even a little bit more) but less $$$.

« Reply #13 on: June 29, 2016, 09:07 »
0
Yes, uploading doesn't seem to make much difference in my case as well.

Microstock is so 2012, now it is not about having a stock portfolio, but all about having "a feed", please excuse this word. Followers are the new downloads. Reach a million followers and you achieve Nirvana. Then monetize your followers.

« Reply #14 on: June 29, 2016, 12:49 »
+1
I'm a small part-time player, but what I see with SS is that the download numbers aren't too bad but it's the money that's decreasing. All those high value SOD sales that used to make a big difference in the earnings. That's a harder problem for a contributor to fix (without branching out to other agencies) than the download numbers tanking.

When I compare a month this year with last year I'm seeing roughly comparable downloads and about $150 less in cash

once again , like a scratched vinyl i agree with you .
i think it was stockastic who also said what i experienced too , ie. for months we had those large single 28 to 102 dollars earnings, but it stangely looked like there was some kind of flipswitch
controlling our earnings. 
so that, as soon as i hit xxxx dls average per month, my earning seems to reach a plateau.
or it also works the other way, when i get a large single earning , say 85 dollars,
and it has already pushed me into the mark of my average monthly payout,
i suddenly see the rest of the month with zero dls.

even if i uploaded another thousand new images, this does not change.
it is as if ss places a level across so that everyone makes money,..
depending on some criteria ,  one may always make 40 dollars or 100 dls ,..
and the other may make 3,000 dollars or 1,500 dls .
and you don't see it moving far from that margin.

« Reply #15 on: June 29, 2016, 15:07 »
+4
These guys currently occupy a good portion of the most popular images on SS:

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2117717p1.html

If your image sales are down, these guys probably have something to do with it. IMO, they have one of the best overall mircostock portfolio on SS and they're targeting some of the most popular categories. Studios like these are one of the reasons why sales are down for many people.

There is no conspiracy. There is escalating competition. I've seen some of my popular images stopped getting downloads because someone has a better image than me. At that point, the only option I have was create something better. My downloads continue increase month over month (Hit a new BME today), so don't see any artificial cap on downloads/earnings per day.

Mr Nobody

« Reply #16 on: June 29, 2016, 16:48 »
0
These guys currently occupy a good portion of the most popular images on SS:

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2117717p1.html

If your image sales are down, these guys probably have something to do with it. IMO, they have one of the best overall mircostock portfolio on SS and they're targeting some of the most popular categories. Studios like these are one of the reasons why sales are down for many people.

There is no conspiracy. There is escalating competition. I've seen some of my popular images stopped getting downloads because someone has a better image than me. At that point, the only option I have was create something better. My downloads continue increase month over month (Hit a new BME today), so don't see any artificial cap on downloads/earnings per day.


What a factory! I wouldn't be surprised if they have 20 photographers working in that group. Similar to Africa studios.  Major machines for sure!


« Reply #17 on: June 29, 2016, 16:52 »
+5
That lifestyle portfolio is very nice (if a bit repetitive), but that's irrelevant to the point that some of us were making. Downloads are not decreasing - it's the money that is. Money change has nothing to do with increased competition.

On a slight tangent, some contributors are apparently getting desperate to boost sales:

I noticed something today which is either the entrepreneurial spirit in full bloom, or the sad abdication of any long term care over their library by Shutterstock: A vector contributor has started adding "Good Vector", "Best Vector Ever", "Best Seller", and "Exeptional Vector" icons to the uploaded work. And that's the contributor's spelling, not my typo.

It seems to me completely unfair to customers that they have to remove this trash from their vectors prior to using them. It's not much work, admittedly, but it's still rude behavior and I don't think SS should permit this type of stuff.

Not to mention labeling many vectors in your portfolio "Best Vector Ever" suggests you don't really understand what you've written.

I won't post a link, but if you search for "carrot flat organic ripe" in vectors, you'll see one example of a "Best Vector Ever"

And if you do a search for "camera dslr hipster flat icon photographic" in vectors, you'll see two examples of another contributor's work with the text "FREE VECTOR" at the top. In that person's portfolio, there's page after page with that label on them.

This isn't placeholder text and at the very least it's misleading buyers (who might think this vector was part of the weekly giveaway SS does).

It's pretty depressing to see SS just let itself go like that.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2016, 17:04 by Jo Ann Snover »

« Reply #18 on: June 29, 2016, 17:21 »
+3
That lifestyle portfolio is very nice (if a bit repetitive), but that's irrelevant to the point that some of us were making. Downloads are not decreasing - it's the money that is. Money change has nothing to do with increased competition.


+10

it's also a bit contradicting to what ss is messaging us...
eg. on one hand there is a premier that tells us, we want you to be unique and do something different
otoh, there is this factory of repetitive lifestyle port
and on yet another, there is the lowering to removal of 7/10 to qualify as a contributor
to say, send in your junk, we want junk..
and as evident , we see so many new contributors with work that should not have even been
approved, in terms of composition, exposure, lighting, and repetitives of marijuana , flowers,apple,
etc
and again, older contributors getting stranger review rejections with "poor composition,
wrong wb, LCV, OOF,etc.."  things that would have been more expected of newbies
who would not have passed the old 7/10.

it's almost as if ss is being run by some rich old controlling shareholders half-wit son
who spend half his time playing video game and the other half letting in all his pot photographing
relatives or just the guy selling pot down the street.

something we would not have expect ss to do before they went public
and before they removed the 7/10
and last to say, the lower of payout to 35 dollars.

that alone says it all, "expect to earn far less for the same amount of dl".




« Reply #19 on: June 29, 2016, 17:33 »
+1
That lifestyle portfolio is very nice (if a bit repetitive), but that's irrelevant to the point that some of us were making. Downloads are not decreasing - it's the money that is. Money change has nothing to do with increased competition.

On a slight tangent, some contributors are apparently getting desperate to boost sales:

I noticed something today which is either the entrepreneurial spirit in full bloom, or the sad abdication of any long term care over their library by Shutterstock: A vector contributor has started adding "Good Vector", "Best Vector Ever", "Best Seller", and "Exeptional Vector" icons to the uploaded work. And that's the contributor's spelling, not my typo.

It seems to me completely unfair to customers that they have to remove this trash from their vectors prior to using them. It's not much work, admittedly, but it's still rude behavior and I don't think SS should permit this type of stuff.

Not to mention labeling many vectors in your portfolio "Best Vector Ever" suggests you don't really understand what you've written.

I won't post a link, but if you search for "carrot flat organic ripe" in vectors, you'll see one example of a "Best Vector Ever"

And if you do a search for "camera dslr hipster flat icon photographic" in vectors, you'll see two examples of another contributor's work with the text "FREE VECTOR" at the top. In that person's portfolio, there's page after page with that label on them.

This isn't placeholder text and at the very least it's misleading buyers (who might think this vector was part of the weekly giveaway SS does).

It's pretty depressing to see SS just let itself go like that.

While the OP wasn't specific, I believe his decline is related to both revenue and download numbers. It seems like there are more and more subscriptions, which leads to lower overall OD/SOD downloads for some contributors. If download numbers are going down, it's likely has to do with competition.

I've seen a lot of those type of vectors you mentioned. I don't believe his "free vectors" are getting much downloads since they're clumped together in his portfolio. SS should enforce them a bit, but at the same time, the contributor is doing a disservice to himself by making his work look cheap.

« Reply #20 on: June 29, 2016, 19:41 »
+3
These guys currently occupy a good portion of the most popular images on SS:

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2117717p1.html

If your image sales are down, these guys probably have something to do with it. IMO, they have one of the best overall mircostock portfolio on SS and they're targeting some of the most popular categories. Studios like these are one of the reasons why sales are down for many people.

There is no conspiracy. There is escalating competition. I've seen some of my popular images stopped getting downloads because someone has a better image than me. At that point, the only option I have was create something better. My downloads continue increase month over month (Hit a new BME today), so don't see any artificial cap on downloads/earnings per day.


That is an insane amount of photos I don't understand why they even submit to SS and not just promote their own site as a stock site in competition with SS and IS. I can't keep up with that machine.

« Reply #21 on: June 29, 2016, 19:57 »
0
These guys currently occupy a good portion of the most popular images on SS:

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-2117717p1.html

If your image sales are down, these guys probably have something to do with it. IMO, they have one of the best overall mircostock portfolio on SS and they're targeting some of the most popular categories. Studios like these are one of the reasons why sales are down for many people.

There is no conspiracy. There is escalating competition. I've seen some of my popular images stopped getting downloads because someone has a better image than me. At that point, the only option I have was create something better. My downloads continue increase month over month (Hit a new BME today), so don't see any artificial cap on downloads/earnings per day.


That is an insane amount of photos I don't understand why they even submit to SS and not just promote their own site as a stock site in competition with SS and IS. I can't keep up with that machine.


Totally true.

Although, if you sort by newest, you can just take your existing images and add words on top of them.

« Reply #22 on: June 29, 2016, 23:15 »
0

Totally true.

Although, if you sort by newest, you can just take your existing images and add words on top of them.

Please explain what you mean "you can just take your existing images and add words on top of them."

« Reply #23 on: June 30, 2016, 01:37 »
0
I guess he mean you take your old photos, literally add some "cool/smart" words on them and re-upload them as new images/compositions.
You do the designers work in advance.

« Reply #24 on: June 30, 2016, 07:36 »
+3

Totally true.

Although, if you sort by newest, you can just take your existing images and add words on top of them.

Please explain what you mean "you can just take your existing images and add words on top of them."

Sort that portfolio by newest, and you'll see.


 

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