A month ago or so, I started to see a lot of $0.30 downloads,

I was told "taxes are being withheld on your sales", my tax info is unchanged for the last year+ and I never had those sells before.

Today I suddenly see $0.29 sales, we Shutterstock now?

Out of curiosity,do these lower than usual sales,come from content that has already sold enough,or from content that has made few sales in years?

Are these 0.30 or 0.29 sales coming from content you sell regularly?

Got two 0.32$ sales today - that's a new low for me (also without tax withholding).
Now that I see people even get 0.29$ sales, that's really discouraging  . Hopefully Adobe doesn't go the way of Shutter.

No, it's regular photo content, which is selling regularly.
Since 2020 I also basically only upload to Adobe, and only lower quality content. If Adobe follows Shutter, it will be the end of microstock for me. I guess it's time to move on .

I was thinking that it could be content that has temporarily become part of packages offered at special prices,perhaps content that hasn't been sold for a while,or not a lot in general.

Unfortunately there is a lot of competition,there are many microstock agencies,which is also why in my opinion it is important to contribute only to the best,as long as customers know they can find anything at any agency,Adobe Stock must remain competitive with the prices charged by other agencies.

I still have a couple of active ports in other agencies,but for almost a year I have only contributed to Adobe,also for this reason.

basically,I become Adobe Stock exclusive,if someone wants my contents they have to download on Adobe.

I was told "taxes are being withheld on your sales", my tax info is unchanged for the last year+ and I never had those sells before.

Are you by any chance based in Hungary? Since the start of 2024 the tax treaty between the USA and Hungary got cancelled, meaning every sale from a USA-based client automatically gets 30% withheld tax. It's so lame and unfair... 

I also just had 2 .32 custom sales. a new low for me (I think), no tax withholding. it is a worrying trend if it becomes common.

I've been selling stock images for about 2 years now, the real issue for me is I can clearly see it's slowing down a lot...

Last year I had half the images I have now, and I earned twice as much (at least).

After seeing the thread with ranks and earnings (and wishful thinking of many contributors), it's obvious there is no real future in stock.

Probably will have to let it be as it is, small passive income, and use my time for other ventures,

I really enjoyed the freedom and creative aspect of selling stock images, but it's clearly a dead end.

a year ago the min price was .25 on adobe.  the min on ss is and has been for a while .10.  most sales that i'm seeing are at that .10 amount.  min at istock is .01 and it's not uncommon to get sales below .10.  adobe is the only agency that raised the floor in recent memory.  i haven't seen sales below .33 and even if there is the odd one at .29 or .32 or whatever the RPD on adobe is considerably higher (for me at least) than any other agency.  make of that what you will.

And what about the number of sales?

you have a lower RPD,some sales below the normal threshold,but what about the total profit at least month by month if not year by year?

as far as I'm concerned,so far every month of this year I have earned more than all the months of 2023,this month too I have already exceeded both the number of sales and earnings of April 2023.

For me it's all uphill and I've been doing microstock for 6 years,and for 6 years everything has continued to rise,sometimes very slowly but it continues to rise.

obviously in my opinion everything is strictly linked to what and how much you produce,the time of sleeping on big,fluffy portfolios is over!

I can't afford to think that things are going badly!

Looks the same for me.
I've been around for about 7 years, since then there's been a slow but steady upward trend in downloads and revenue for all agencies.
However, I also upload regularly, try to cover current topics and find new niches, especially in the editorial area.
And my port is AI-free. 

Quote from: Injustice for all on April 22, 2024, 12:08

And what about the number of sales?

you have a lower RPD,some sales below the normal threshold,but what about the total profit at least month by month if not year by year?

as far as I'm concerned,so far every month of this year I have earned more than all the months of 2023,this month too I have already exceeded both the number of sales and earnings of April 2023.

For me it's all uphill and I've been doing microstock for 6 years,and for 6 years everything has continued to rise,sometimes very slowly but it continues to rise.

obviously in my opinion everything is strictly linked to what and how much you produce,the time of sleeping on big,fluffy portfolios is over!

I can't afford to think that things are going badly!

Looks the same for me.
I've been around for about 7 years, since then there's been a slow but steady upward trend in downloads and revenue for all agencies.
However, I also upload regularly, try to cover current topics and find new niches, especially in the editorial area.
And my port is AI-free. 

Finally a bit of optimism!A breath of fresh air, thanks!

I had two custom 0.32 sandwiched between whole bunch of custom 1.05;   haven't seen anything below 30 cents yet

how do you know what top 1000 makes?  i can be ranked #1 when the rankings reset on monday with maybe 40 sales and earnings of $25.  if i'm number 1 on sunday night that could be in the $1000s w/ a lot more downloads.  people have been posting more/less random download and rankings screenshots from throughout the week, not comprehensive weekly earnings.  not sure how much data you can get from that.

People were sharing weekly income and rankings,
also I like tracking my sales and earnings, you can see a pattern of sales and can predict how the week will go after a while, it's not that complicated, there are no huge surprises, it's only a week... if you sell 50 on Monday, you will not get $1000 by the end of a week...

Don't be surprised if you see 0.29 or 0.32 on Adobe Stock,we have a large responsibility for this,it's your fault and mine too,because I still have other active ports,even if I no longer upload to any other agency except Adobe.

the race to the bottom is our responsibility.

every time you or I submit a photo for review on Istock,we agree to only get 15% of the sale,and we also agree that the content can be sold for 0,01

every time we send a video to SS for review we accept that it can be sold for 0.25

Adobe tries to do the best it can,find the right balance,and pay fair compensation to contributors,but there are limits,it must at the same time remain competitive with other large agencies.

think about this, the next time you submit content for review to SS or Istock,think that in that moment,when you press "submit" you are encouraging the race to the bottom!

I agree, that's why I said it can only get worse, and it's time for me to do something else...

I just don't understand how can it be that stock sites don't have any regulation?
These are huge sites that sell a lot, and pay % to contributors, nobody is looking if there are issues in between?

I had issues with few large stock sites over the last year (I won't name them here yet),
For example:
I caught one large site adjusting my earnings, removing half of the sum without any explanation, and when I confront them, they just stop replying...
Another just removing sales, they can do anything, you won't sue them, it's not worth it...

I don't have a problem with Adobe, I can see a lot of effort from them, very professional in all aspects, but sales and earnings are going down fast on Adobe as well...

if your sales on Adobe are going down,and continue to go down for at least 2-3 months,then there are only 2 possible things you can do in my opinion:

1-give up.

2-radically change what you are doing,if you see that what you produce doesn't sell,change,not necessarily what was selling before,can continue to sell today or tomorrow.

I don't think that my content is the problem, I have best sellers that are the first result for very good keywords,
the sales I had a year ago with half the content I have now did not double, so I don't see a point wasting more time in making more different content...

What was selling will sale - that's true, I earn enough now, just don't see a way for effective growth with things the way they are...

I've uploaded quite a few videos over the past 12 months and some photos. My earnings increase April 2023 vs April 2024 on Adobe Stock is 120% and overall earnings increase April 2023 vs April 2024 for my four ports is 31%.

How many more images do you have to get 50% more than last year? Sadly, doubling your port won't double your income unless your quality is increasing a lot, but do you have to keep pace with the entire image library just to tread water? Sure, doubling your port isn't too hard for a few years, but it is going to become impossible eventually.

I don't really know how any of the search algorithms work, but the only one that seems to really work more for the contributor port as a whole rather than the individual image is DT to me. There are so many things that go into search placement now I wouldn't be surprised if the sites themselves don't really know how they work. The age since an image has been uploaded is probably a factor, but I doubt that the time since you joined a site is a very important factor - at least after a potential new contributor bump. I would be happy to be wrong about that since I have been a contributor to many sites for a long time.

How many more images do you have to get 50% more than last year? Sadly, doubling your port won't double your income unless your quality is increasing a lot, but do you have to keep pace with the entire image library just to tread water? Sure, doubling your port isn't too hard for a few years, but it is going to become impossible eventually.

I don't really know how any of the search algorithms work, but the only one that seems to really work more for the contributor port as a whole rather than the individual image is DT to me. There are so many things that go into search placement now I wouldn't be surprised if the sites themselves don't really know how they work. The age since an image has been uploaded is probably a factor, but I doubt that the time since you joined a site is a very important factor - at least after a potential new contributor bump. I would be happy to be wrong about that since I have been a contributor to many sites for a long time.

Until last year,I uploaded around 1000 content in a year,but I spent October,November and mid-December generating AI content mostly and creating vectors with AI-generated content,content that I still labeled as AI even though it doesn't have even a pixel generated by AI,but I have always used an AI for the source content,therefore it should still be labeled as AI.

I think,that you didn't have the opportunity to realize that time is a fundamental factor today,simply because you started in the golden age of microstock (2006?),so you didn't have the opportunity to notice the difference,believe me,for those who started like me 6 years ago,there is a big difference,today it takes time and a lot of patience and constant work to be able to earn decent sums,and time is an important factor especially on Adobe.

It keeps going down, $0.28 now...

Are you doing some kind of countdown to extinction?

It keeps going down, $0.28 now...

That's not good; I am puzzled that I've seen lots more of the $0.32 custom royalties, but nothing lower. I did note that today's royalty rate on the higher end custom royalties was up to $1.06 (from $1.05 for the last few days). Not back to the $1.37 from January, but still nice to see something going up instead of down

Do you see any of the $1.06 custom royalties?

Mat Hayward had written that the royalty rates for the unlimited subscriptions were calculated daily based on total purchase volume - which I would have expected to be the same worldwide, but perhaps that's not the case. I'm in the US; are. you? (I know people had said this isn't a tax withholding issue).

That's not good; I am puzzled that I've seen lots more of the $0.32 custom royalties, but nothing lower. I did note that today's royalty rate on the higher end custom royalties was up to $1.06 (from $1.05 for the last few days). Not back to the $1.37 from January, but still nice to see something going up instead of down

Do you see any of the $1.06 custom royalties?

Mat Hayward had written that the royalty rates for the unlimited subscriptions were calculated daily based on total purchase volume - which I would have expected to be the same worldwide, but perhaps that's not the case. I'm in the US; are. you? (I know people had said this isn't a tax withholding issue).

Yes, I'm not in US, so it's still puzzling for me, because the last 2 days I'm getting custom $1.06 too...

@bpawesome What is the image number? I'm not aware of any .28 royalties at this time.

-Mat Hayward

sent you in PM

Quote from: bpawesome on April 25, 2024, 23:24

It keeps going down, $0.28 now...

That's not good; I am puzzled that I've seen lots more of the $0.32 custom royalties, but nothing lower. I did note that today's royalty rate on the higher end custom royalties was up to $1.06 (from $1.05 for the last few days). Not back to the $1.37 from January, but still nice to see something going up instead of down

Do you see any of the $1.06 custom royalties?

Mat Hayward had written that the royalty rates for the unlimited subscriptions were calculated daily based on total purchase volume - which I would have expected to be the same worldwide, but perhaps that's not the case. I'm in the US; are. you? (I know people had said this isn't a tax withholding issue).

Interesting, thank you. And no, I'm still seeing $1.05 for the last two weeks, which is nice because it's higher than the $1.03s

Also why I don't get worried when I see a .32 or a .38 custom, the last two, because these numbers go up and down, not just down or the negative that some folks dwell on. Goes down 2 cents, everything is falling apart, but goes up 2 cents and there's no comment?

I got a day full of 0.22$ ones today, quite weird...

I recommend you check the status of your tax form. I would speculate you are paying maximum tax withholding rates. You can check to see what is being withheld in the insights page of the portal. Click the withholding line item in the drop down menu.

-Mat Hayward

Today I see custom licenses at $0.31 and $1.03 - versus Friday�s $0.32 and $1.06

As there is no minimum royalty, the more images are used in these packages, the less we receive

the few sales I have of 0.32 come from content that I rarely sell,I don't know,maybe it's just a coincidence,or maybe not.

I thought it'd be interesting to see how much the Adobe Stock collection has grown over the last couple of years and although I don't have exact matches, I do have stats I kept for the collection from 26 Apr 2022, 24 Apr 2023 and 30 Apr 2024.

In general, if your port doesn't grow as fast as the collection does (all other things being equal with your port, which in practice it never is) your income will fall. The day isn't over yet, but for me, April 2024 looks roughly 4-5% down on 2023.

I first looked at the overall (all asset types) growth, but then decided to exclude video because removing the Pond5 collection during that time shrank Adobe Stock's video (it's now about 19.5 million compared to 24.5 million in April 2022)

The everything-but-video collection grew 14.7% 2022-3 and 31.5% 2023-24

In light of that - and the fact that my portfolio grew only slightly in the last year - earnings being 4-5% lower this April doesn't seem as bad as it did

I still think the unlimited stock assets subscriptions are a blight on contributors,  but Adobe apparently likes them as there are more different "custom" royalty groups each month

Exactly,Jo Ann raised an important point in my opinion.

I believe that as things currently stand,a contributor who produces at least 30-40 content on average per month will continue to earn more every year,but the question is:"How much content will it be necessary to produce in 5 years?"

this is a good question,which has an uncertain answer,because in my opinion,being an active contributor and uploading at least an average of 30-40 contents per month,It not only counteracts total Adobe collection growth,ensuring your portfolio continues to sell,but it also ensures that your portfolio is "active" for Adobe's sales system,which therefore in my opinion manages it differently,continuing to grow your earnings over the years.

for me,regardless of what you produce,unless you are truly terrible,the sales system if it recognizes you as "active" continues to make you grow.

It seems clear to me,and if anyone is wondering why I'm so sure,it's because I am able to understand how many sales I will make each month,not how much I will earn but I can easily understand the number of sales in a month.

I already know how many sales I will make each month and I guess 95% of the time,so it seems clear to me that our portfolios are managed by the sales system,which allows you to grow,certainly based on some conditions unknown to me,but of which being "active" is certainly one of them.

therefore,in light of all this,I believe that even an exponential growth of the Adobe collection is certainly reduced by being considered "active" by the sales system.

but still the question certainly remains:"how much content will we need to produce in 10 years to continue earning more?"

It's $0.27 now...

the countdown to extinction continues!

so it would be a custom royalty of $0.31 but because of your tax deduction is $0,27.

My tax is 10%, so I don't know what it suppose to be anymore

Today's custom royalty levels are both up and down - $1.01 (versus $1.03 yesterday), $0.31 and $0.39.

 It's hard to match these tiers up with past royalties, but I think what is now $0.39 was $0.42 back in Dec 2023

I got a custom license for .30 today - no tax withholding. This is Sunday the 5th - which seems an odd day for sales to be so high that my license cut is rock bottom.

Maybe they offset the sales a day or 2 or more to calculate out what we will get paid - it seems they would have to wait at least until the end of the day before they could calculate it. If that was the case I would expect a lump of custom sales at the time of calculation every day.

In any case the march down seems to continue. Anyone want to make any predictions when the first .29 will come - or the first .25 or lower. I don't think Adobe has said there will be a floor and they are happy to discount our images since they get paid up front and get their full cut, it is just our cut that is sliced thinner and thinner with these custom plans.

got one too

This was all really to be expected.   At least it is still (almost) 3x better than endless SS 0.10 stream

In more ways than one Firefly and similar AI platforms are final nail in stock photographers coffin.  I'd love to be proved wrong

only .30 and 1.02 today. yesterday I had .30 and .40

I'm not sure that my time zone (west coast USA) syncs up with Adobe's days though.

I have 0.30 and 1.03 today

I'd imagine prices will also fluctuate based on exchange rates clients/customers are paying. When I see a shift in those exchanges rates the $ I receive also changes. I don't think the changes are always discounts, although that does happen as well. The customers sub is set once a year @ what ever �$ or whatever currency they pay in so as the exchange rate changes, it may mean the $ per image also shifts as the strength of the $ also shifts. Also, it could be to do with the volume. If a client doesn't make use of their full allocation 400 images instead of 500 then the split may vary. It's probably quite a complex but has a base to stop it dropping below minimum payment.

I only occasionally see one drop below $0.38 and see a lot of $1.03. Sometimes they drop to $0.99... ebb and flow, they change like the (economic) tide!

As I said.... small daily fluctuations most likely exchange rate related.

I'd imagine prices will also fluctuate based on exchange rates clients/customers are paying. When I see a shift in those exchanges rates the $ I receive also changes. I don't think the changes are always discounts, although that does happen as well. The customers sub is set once a year @ what ever �$ or whatever currency they pay in so as the exchange rate changes, it may mean the $ per image also shifts as the strength of the $ also shifts. Also, it could be to do with the volume. If a client doesn't make use of their full allocation 400 images instead of 500 then the split may vary. It's probably quite a complex but has a base to stop it dropping below minimum payment.

I only occasionally see one drop below $0.38 and see a lot of $1.03. Sometimes they drop to $0.99... ebb and flow, they change like the (economic) tide!

Based on what Mat Hayward has posted here about how these royalties are calculated, it has nothing to do with exchange rate fluctuations:

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/adobe-stock-announcing-pro-edition-for-creative-cloud-for-teams-and-enterprises/msg563164/#msg563164

From the above:

"... every day, we generate an overall earnings pool equal to 33% of our total Adobe Stock CCE Pro revenue for the day. We then allocate these earnings to contributors based on the number of downloads."

When the unlimited subscriptions were first introduced, I explicitly asked about a floor - some minimum royalty - and Mat effectively acknowledged there wasn't one (outside of royalties in the "subscription" category; all these sales are in the "custom" category)

https://www.microstockgroup.com/fotolia-com/announcing-adobe-creative-cloud-express/

Today I got a 5 dollar sale for an image, that brings some balance

Very nice - there can be a few more of these :-)

Got my first custom $0.29 

I am not aware of any .29 royalties being distributed at this time. Check your tax withholding statistics in the insights tab to see if you are paying withholding tax on any of your downloads.

Thanks,

Mat Hayward

Like I said in the other topic, had this image sale come in last night. Thought it was a video until I looked at the sales data...

I can't upload a screenshot, but I just made a sale with a commission of $0.28. It also shows $0.03 in the withholding tax section. I think this is the first time I've made sales with such a low commission.

Are $0.31 sales are normal now?
I�m getting them on regular bases now.