MicrostockGroup

1

General Stock Discussion / 1st quarter of 2021 earnings

« on: April 24, 2021, 15:37 »

If somebody would like to compare notes, here are my data for the 1st quarter of 2021 in comparison to 2020:

total revenue: -5%

AS -9%
SS -9%
IS +7%
DT +42%
DP -7%
123RF -41%
...

RPD $0.72 (-4%)

AS+SS+IS provide 77% of my income

These data are for both still images and video, but I have mostly still images in my portfolio: 23K+.
Video sales are down by at least 40%.

2

General Stock Discussion / 2020 vs 2019 sales comparison

« on: December 19, 2020, 12:01 »

When IS releases sale data I am usually looking back at my YTD sales.

11 months of 2020 compared to 2019:

+4% in revenue (+3% in downloads)
I've been working full time in microstock since 2014. This is the first increase of my annual sales revenue since 2015.

by agencies:
AS +7%
SS +11%
IS -11%
DP +11%
DT +16%
123RF -9%
BS -11%
CS -7%
AL -40%
P5 -40%

AS+SS+IS provide about 80% of my income

my portfolio: 22K files, 97% still images

I am not optimistic about microstock future, but I will keep going in 2021.
Actually, I reduced somewhat my mstock production in 2020 and spent more time shooting just for fun, film photography etc.

3

General Stock Discussion / RPD in SS and AS

« on: August 01, 2020, 08:21 »

RPD - last 3 months in my portfolio (20K+ files, 97% still images)

SS AS
May 0.73 0.95
Jun 0.84 1.00
Jul 0.65 0.92

In June SS was outperforming AS in total earnings, May and July almost the same.

4

General Stock Discussion / single image purchase

« on: July 05, 2020, 11:52 »

What agency do you recommend for a purchase of a single image or just a couple of images?
Good buyer experience + fair share for a photographer...

I don't have experience as a buyer.

5

Adobe Stock / adobe stock collections

« on: March 13, 2020, 13:18 »

How do you add a picture to collection on Adobe Stock? Or create a new collection.

I believe it used by a "+" icon next to the image in a contributor portfolio. Now, I see only two options: delete and make profile picture ...

Am I missing something?

6

General Stock Discussion / $ / download trends

« on: July 08, 2012, 12:24 »

How Much Am I Paid for a Picture Download from Microstock?
http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/how-much-am-i-paid-for-a-picture-download-from-microstock/

I plotted $/download trends for my top 6 sites.

Are you getting similar values from your portfolio?

7

General Stock Discussion / RPI trends for top and middle tier

« on: June 10, 2012, 19:06 »

I have updated RPI trends for my portfolio and added RPI for the middle tier agencies:

http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/return-per-image-rpi-from-microstock-photography-istockphoto-shutterstock-dreamstime-and-midlow-earners/

I didn't realize that FT is falling down so badly before plotting it ...

More graphs in my blog.

I am not going to look again at these statistics before the end of the year.
Then, I will see if I am still growing or reaching plateau in terms of RPI.
I am just counting payouts on monthly basis.

8

iStockPhoto.com / another credit card fraud at IS?

« on: February 22, 2012, 18:22 »

I had a strange spike of sales on Feb 8 at iStock - 100+ extra downloads.
And now, IS is sending me about 10 refund notices every day for $1.80 each from this particular day.
Anybody has similar experience recently? Or maybe it just a norm nowadays when dealing with IS.

BTW. I had a similar experience on a somewhat smaller scale on two low earning sites low.
I got an e-mail with explanation from one site. The other site simply erased those sales after 2 weeks without any notice.
I guess I am getting popular ...

9

Featurepics.com / 3 months to verify transaction?!

« on: January 07, 2012, 12:56 »

Something new ...
I've got a few downloads at Featurepics. All came with the message
"Transaction needs to be verified. The pending status will be changed if refund is not requested in 3 months"

All pictures are my local shots from Colorado, so a buyer shouldn't that exotic ...

10

General Stock Discussion / RPI (return per image) - 3+ year trends

« on: June 12, 2011, 12:08 »

I posted 3+ year trends of RPI (return per image) statistics from my portfolio:
http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/return-per-image-rpi-from-my-microstock-portfolio-3-year-trends/

I am not sure if the overall picture is encouraging or discouraging.
IS is obviously going downhill (it would be worse without pictures+),
SS is going up, but still cannot catch IS. And, it's summer now.
Perhaps, it's time to shoot something for fun ...

11

General Stock Discussion / 3 years in micorstock - earnings trends

« on: November 15, 2010, 09:03 »

I just completed my 3rd year in microstock.
My first picture was accepted on 11/15/2007 in IS.

For the first 2 years I was posting monthly earnings reports in my blog.

Nowadays, I am less obsessed with statistics, but for my 3rd anniversary
I prepared some graphs showing trends in my sales - monthly earnings together
with numbers of pictures added to my portfolio
(total and IS, SS, DT, FT which provide 88% of my income).

Earnings from Microstock Photography – 3 Year Trends

Sales are just one side of the story, so it is difficult to say if it is encouraging or discouraging experience
without discussing expenses and labor involved. To keep things in a perspective I am using a rough estimate
of my hourly rate as a part time microstock photographer: $20-25/hour.

What's next? Further growth? Reaching plateau? Downhill?

12

General Stock Discussion / 30 months in microstock - what % of sales go to expenses?

« on: May 10, 2010, 06:09 »

I gave up with posting my monthly earnings reports. I was too busy shooting and my graphs got a little bit too boring ...

However, I couldn't resist and made a graph of trends in my earnings over last 2.5 year against a number of pictures added to my microstock portfolio: Microstock Earnings – First 30 Months. Things are slowing down lately.

I am trying to follow my business model idea of microstock as a part time (1/3) job: ~60 hours per month of work and expenses below 30% of sales. I am not sure if it is sustainable in a long run ...

What percentage of microstock earnings do you spend to cover your related expenses including investments in equipment?

Marek

13

General Stock Discussion / Am I really making money from microstock?

« on: November 15, 2009, 11:18 »

I started microstock photography 2 years ago. Today, I have almost 1800 pictures in my portfolio submitted to multiple agencies with most earnings from IS, SS and DT.

Every month, I am posting in my blog these usually happy earnings reports. I am one of few microstockers sharing their numbers. However, it is not a full story. So, finally, I tried to include expenses into my analysis:

Am I Really Making Money from Microstock Photography ? Part 1 ... Part 2

In summary:

- I calculate RPI or other statistics in reference to a total number of pictures prepared for microstock including rejects, multiple versions, pictures not submitted.

- I added expenses (including $ saved for camera and gear upgrades) and looked at "net RPI".

- Finally, I derived my "hourly rate" as a microstock photographer - currently, about double minimum wage in US, so better than flipping hamburgers or babysitting and, arguably, much more fun.

I would welcome any comments or suggestions.

14

General Stock Discussion / a reverse look at microstock sales from iStock and Shutterstock

« on: April 21, 2009, 18:39 »

I looked in two different ways at my earnings (and RPI) from IS and SS portfolios as a function of
- time of downloading (sales) - a more common way
- time of uploading (submitting) pictures

Here is a graph for IS earnings:

More pictures including the same graph for SS and RPI comparisons at my blog:
http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/microstock-sales-istock-shutterstock-portfolio/

You can see differences between IS and SS, but trends for SS are changing.

It is a longer post, but if you manage to check it I would appreciate any comments. I have also some suggestions for Rahul and Lookstat.

With 10 or 100 times more sales my analysis would be more reliable ...

15

iStockPhoto.com / 1000 downloads from iStock

« on: April 16, 2009, 10:31 »

1000 downloads from iStock after 16 months of submitting. ~$1/download.
6 months to reach the first 250 downloads and 9.5 months to 500, so there is some speeding up.
BME in the last February and since then it's a little slower for me.

http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/1000-downloads-from-istockphoto-sticky-note-mind-map/

16

General Stock Discussion / my iStock earnings and best selling pictures

« on: September 22, 2008, 08:20 »

In my recent Pixels Away blog post I reviewed earnings and best selling pictures during my 9 months with iStock:
http://www.pixelsaway.com/C911796005/E20080909084854/index.html

Here is a graph showing number of files in my portfolio, downloads and earnings:

I am uploading new pictures within iStock weekly limit with the acceptance rate about 70%, but I see a clear plateau in the number of downloads starting in May. September doesn't look better than August.

I wonder if it is a general trend or I really need to think about some changes in my portfolio.

I am going to do a similar analysis for SS and DT.

17

General Stock Discussion / growth of my microstock portfolio

« on: July 10, 2008, 07:12 »

I have started my adventure with microstock photography 7 months ago and I am posting monthly earning reports in my blog.

Perhaps, it would be interesting for beginners to look at the growth of my portfolio in 7 agencies during that time:
http://www.pixelsaway.com/C911796005/index.html