Author Topic: Rankings at Dreamstime (Read 9847 times)

leaf · « **on:** November 28, 2008, 07:17 »

I just thought i would compare and contrast in light of the rankings crazyness that is happening at fotolia now. I have heard some people mention that they are the only (or one of the only) agencies to increase revenue based on rankings. Both shutterstock and istock increase earnings potential based on downloads, and there are numerous sites which allow you to price your own images. And very similar to fotolia, dreamstime has a great setup where image prices increase the more downloads the image gets. I think this is an ingenious idea because a contributor with 100 images could potentially have all their images in the top price ranking, while a fotolia photographer would need thousands of images and several years of downloads to reach emerald status when they can finally raise their commissions. At dreamstime after a mere 5 downloads the pricing (and revenue) for that image doubles. At 10 downloads it nearly doubles again.

I was just reminded of this when checking out my return per download that dreamstime displays for you on your stats page and noticed a significant increase in the RPD over the years. Here is my stats.

September 2004      $0.50
October 2004      $0.50
November 2004      $0.50
etc.
.
.
March 2007   $0.86
etc...
August 2007   $0.96
September 2007   $0.85
October 2007   $0.84
November 2007      $0.83
December 2007      $0.83
January 2008      $1.17
February 2008      $0.79
etc...
July 2008      $0.93
August 2008      $1.18
September 2008      $1.20
October 2008      $1.17
November 2008      $1.24

kosmikkreeper · « **Reply #1 on:** November 28, 2008, 08:34 »

WOW! I never even noticed that column!! Thanks for pointing that out!

leaf · « **Reply #2 on:** November 28, 2008, 09:12 »

here is a direct link to everyone's stats page...

http://www.dreamstime.com/stats.php

charlesknox · « **Reply #3 on:** November 28, 2008, 17:58 »

Thanks Leaf never noticed that!!

madelaide · « **Reply #4 on:** November 28, 2008, 19:00 »

Leaf,

DT's level structure is very interesting indeed. I think it even went a bit too loose perhaps in the last change, as an image is escalated to level 2 with mere 5 downloads. Even I have many images in that situation.

My only fear is that images per credits get so expensive relatively to subs that a frequent buyer decides to buy a subs plan instead of credits - maybe a few $$ more but much more in return. Of course this would not affect an eventual buyer.

What I found more disgusting in FT's changes is that there is not a single advantage for the contributor. When subs were created, at least there was the excuse of bringing a certain type of client to FT, clients that would be in other subs sites. But now... if at least they would increase commissions, it would make sense. I mean, you need more dlds to achieve a certain level, but when you reach it your commissions increase significantly, not just 2%. Increasing earnings per image in FT is a very slow process.

Regards,
Adelaide

sharpshot · « **Reply #5 on:** November 29, 2008, 04:56 »

I have had 6 consecutive BME's with DT, so it seems their system is working great. At these low prices, I don't see buyers being put off. The sites that charge more are doing well and the sites that charge less are struggling. Albumo tried to undercut the market, hopefully anyone else that tries it will be as successful as they have been

Talanis · « **Reply #6 on:** November 29, 2008, 07:23 »

I love DT's system. The best thing is that sub sale counts as one sale for ranking. To the opposite of Fotolia, they reduce the number of photos you needed for the next level.

AVAVA · « **Reply #7 on:** November 29, 2008, 12:35 »

Leaf,

Another great article. I never noticed that page before. I love numbers one of the only things that are constant and reliable for me. The link is killer I put it in my Bookmarks bar right next to my DT link.

Thanks again,
Jonathan

mantonino · « **Reply #8 on:** November 29, 2008, 13:16 »

My RPD follows a similar trend as yours leaf - which is good!

Also a note about Dreamstime - I didnt upload in July, August, Sept or October. My income is STILL CLIMBING. How's that?! lol

travelstock · « **Reply #9 on:** November 29, 2008, 22:11 »

All in all, I think that DT has the best model for the photographer, although its still trailing IS and SS in monthly downloads. I've also observed that DLs continue to increase even when you don't upload for a while and am also consistently getting BMEs there.

I terms of all time RPD across all sites, DT is my #2 site behind IS, though sales at IS have tanked in the last month - which will be my second worst this year - only Jan was worse.

Dreamframer · « **Reply #10 on:** November 30, 2008, 04:56 »

DT is my second earner after SS. I've always loved it as I always had stable sales there.

lagereek · « **Reply #11 on:** December 03, 2008, 12:45 »

Yep!
DT are really cming on. Professionally run and a caring agency. Wish they were all like that.

Best. fred11 ( Lagereek)

abimages · « **Reply #12 on:** December 07, 2008, 08:32 »

Quote from: lagereek on December 03, 2008, 12:45

Yep!
DT are really cming on. Professionally run and a caring agency. Wish they were all like that.

Best. fred11 ( Lagereek)

Agreed!

Perrush · « **Reply #13 on:** December 07, 2008, 09:00 »

I find DT the site which is best run. Don't forget they pay 50% in royalties.

if I had to choose to to exclusive at one site, it would be DT at the moment.

I'm at a RPD of $1.43 at the moment, this must be the best of the whole lot !

michaeldb · « **Reply #14 on:** December 07, 2008, 16:03 »

Quote from: leaf on November 28, 2008, 07:17

And very similar to fotolia, dreamstime has a great setup where image prices increase the more downloads the image gets. I think this is an ingenious idea because a contributor with 100 images could potentially have all their images in the top price ranking, while a fotolia photographer would need thousands of images and several years of downloads to reach emerald status when they can finally raise their commissions. At dreamstime after a mere 5 downloads the pricing (and revenue) for that image doubles. At 10 downloads it nearly doubles again.

I agree with this 1000%. IMO the emphasis in microstock should be on rewarding some images more than others, not some photographers/illustrators more than others. Microstock's 'crowdsourcing' model is basically about egalitarianism. Participants are rewarded for what they do, not who they are. That is the way it should remain, I think.

A long thread on DT's main forum (http://www.dreamstime.com/thread_11623) advocates starting a badge system there. Obviously, I think this is a bad idea. I hope sites avoid following IS which seems determined to create a divisive hiearchy of haves and have-nots, with its badge system and use of exclusivity in a destructive and divisive way, as discussed in other threads here.

Personally, I like that SS does not have exclusivity, and I would like to see it do away with payment tiers, even though I am at the highest tier and such a change would cost me money. But it would be good for microstock, because payment should be for how good the image is, not who made it. If buyers like a certain image, they can go buy more from the submitter's portfolio. That should be enough reward for doing quality work.

DanP68 · « **Reply #15 on:** December 11, 2008, 04:53 »

DT's per image Level system is brilliant. It allows any size contributor with an excellent image concept to immediately make a big impact, and enjoy a significant earnings increase as the image repeatedly sells.

Coincidentally I just sold a Level 3 image for $4.80 commission at DT.

Compare that to Fotolia where I would have had to wait about 3 years to see a commission increase, and all images are valued equally regardless of their success.

AVAVA · « **Reply #16 on:** December 11, 2008, 11:31 »

Gotta agree. Serban runs a great company and he is very supportive. I enjoy my relationship with his company. To early for my sales to start showing some of that multi sales lift but I am excited for it to start kicking in.

Best,
AVAVA

Spectre · « **Reply #17 on:** December 11, 2008, 12:11 »

FWIW, I was just running numbers the other day to determine prices vs. commissions on different sites, in order to help me chose prices on sites that allow you to set your pricing.

Since I did the work (not that it was hard) I thought I'd share the results. (note this is for non-exclusive)

Code: [Select]

				
		  price range      royalty range	
0-4 d/l				
XS	0.2	$0.83	$1.00	$0.42	$0.50
S	0.4	$1.67	$2.00	$0.84	$1.00
M	3	$2.50	$3.00	$1.25	$1.50
L	5	$3.33	$4.00	$1.67	$2.00
XL	10	$4.17	$5.00	$2.09	$2.50
5-19 d/l				
XS	0.2	$2.40	$3.00	$1.20	$1.50
S	0.4	$3.20	$4.00	$1.60	$2.00
M	3	$4.00	$5.00	$2.00	$2.50
L	5	$4.80	$6.00	$2.40	$3.00
XL	10	$5.60	$7.00	$2.80	$3.50
20-49 d/l				
XS	0.2	$4.00	$5.00	$2.00	$2.50
S	0.4	$4.80	$6.00	$2.40	$3.00
M	3	$5.60	$7.00	$2.80	$3.50
L	5	$6.40	$8.00	$3.20	$4.00
XL	10	$7.20	$9.00	$3.60	$4.50
50-99 d/l				
XS	0.2	$5.60	$7.00	$2.80	$3.50
S	0.4	$6.40	$8.00	$3.20	$4.00
M	3	$7.20	$9.00	$3.60	$4.50
L	5	$8.00	$10.00	$4.00	$5.00
XL	10	$8.80	$11.00	$4.40	$5.50
100+				
XS	0.2	$7.20	$9.00	$3.60	$4.50
S	0.4	$8.00	$10.00	$4.00	$5.00
M	3	$8.80	$11.00	$4.40	$5.50
L	5	$9.60	$12.00	$4.80	$6.00
XL	10	$10.40	$13.00	$5.20	$6.50

lisafx · « **Reply #18 on:** December 11, 2008, 12:13 »

Dan and Michaeldb make an excellent point. One of Dreamstime's (many) strengths is that any contributor can enjoy the benefits of having successful images, not just people at a certain sales level.

Such a fair, merit based system gives everyone a chance to be successful.

AVAVA · « **Reply #19 on:** December 11, 2008, 13:47 »

Hey Spectre,

Thanks a lot! I think a lot of people here love this kind of data, I know I do. Keep it coming you are already a big asset to the group here.

Best,
AVAVA

DanP68 · « **Reply #20 on:** December 11, 2008, 20:32 »

Nicely done Spectre. Thank you for putting this together concisely.

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Author Topic: Rankings at Dreamstime (Read 9847 times)

leaf

kosmikkreeper

leaf

charlesknox

madelaide

sharpshot

Talanis

AVAVA

mantonino

travelstock

Dreamframer

lagereek

abimages

Perrush

michaeldb

DanP68

AVAVA

Spectre

lisafx

AVAVA

DanP68

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