Author Topic: Is Fotolia Tanking for anyone else? (Read 32357 times)

luissantos84 · « **Reply #100 on:** October 18, 2012, 14:44 »

Quote from: sgoodwin4813 on October 18, 2012, 14:38

Quote from: Canonbabe on October 18, 2012, 11:52
Oposite here: sales this month are 150% of the sales for september. Acceptance of new files seems fair to me.

+1
BME there for me so far this month, 10% better than last BME with 13 days still to go. Monthly average sales this year are twice last year and four times the year before that - better growth than any other agency. Of course I was starting from a very low point and even this month they are still only about 33% of what I'm making on SS. Currently #3 this month and might beat iS for #2 if sales keep up (I've probably just jinxed it).

why don´t you guys think before posting? this topic was open by a person having 800$ per month at FT right? are you guys close to that or anything?

no point in answering really... sure you can give an opinion but please down to earth

Dantheman · « **Reply #101 on:** October 18, 2012, 15:06 »

This is my sales statistic. But i'm a small fish and i increased my port from around 400 pics to 700 in the last 2 months.

OM · « **Reply #102 on:** October 18, 2012, 19:45 »

Clearly uploading works..........hope it keeps up for you in sales.

I've sorta given up on FT.

Started at the beginning of 2008 (I think). Uploaded regularly in the first couple of years to (gasp!) 200 images but success spurred me on to increasing that to 300 before the rot set in.....ie upload more for same reward or less reward. Now, I upload occasionally and also delete some never sold stuff so that the 300 stays the same! This Pilgrim's (lack of)Progress can be seen vividly in the charts:

Interestingly, dl's held fairly stable until recently but also took a big hit in the last couple of months. Earnings up to start 2012 were influenced by the fact that I used to be exclusive there.

robynmac · « **Reply #103 on:** October 24, 2012, 16:07 »

I've been Emerald since March, 2010, and have a portfolio of 4,700+ images. Current overall rank 66 (was up to about 45), 7 day rank 696. My sales graph speaks for itself:

If current trends continue, my earnings will shortly drop back to what they were in early 2008. Last month my Fotolia earnings represented only 7% of my total, down from a high of 28% in 2010.

I've had some correspondence with Fotolia about the precipitous fall in sales. Responses were along the lines of: there's lots more competition/not same business as 2 years ago/"if you want to stay in the game you need to upload amazing images every day." Didn't address the issue at all, really, or acknowledge any specific problems with their search. It's all my own fault, apparently. But I know that's not the case, because my sales on other sites have generally held up well (particularly SS and DT and until very recently IS).

This is what I think FT really meant to say: "Yes, we know we changed our search algorithm and that this has ^%*&&d a lot of higher-ranked contributors who have generated the most revenue for us over many years. But our bottom line is fine, so we don't really care. It's easier to just shove the blame on the contributors rather than do anything to rectify the problem. We have plenty of other contributors coming on board who we can milk until it's their turn to be tossed aside."

So, I'm very happy for all Fotolia contributors who are experiencing increasing sales - you must be the ones uploading "amazing images every day..."

Just a word of warning: Make the most of it, but don't expect it to last! Unless of course you manage to stay "in the club", which I obviously haven't.

wordplanet · « **Reply #104 on:** October 24, 2012, 16:38 »

I was thinking of dropping them all together. I have a small portfolio there and it's smaller now because I've taken off a bunch that were zoomed on Alamy and purchased on Fotolia for 25 cents - I've got a couple of photos that sell often but @ 25 cent a pop it's ridiculous. I hate the fact that subscription sales let people use them for the same uses as an extended license elsewhere. And all I've had for months on end is subscription sales.

I haven't uploaded anything new there because they cut into my Alamy RF and SS Extended license sales. I've stopped putting the same RF on micros and Alamy (even though they allow it). Thinking my best bet may be to stick with SS, iS and DT and not waste my time on the smaller sites.

I've got a very tiny port so I know my sales are not really representative - but it's been a year since I've had anything other than subscription sales there. I have a few exclusives there and they haven't sold in ages. They were trending up for me last year but this year they tanked. I'm not uploading new images so I'm sure that makes things worse.

lisafx · « **Reply #105 on:** October 24, 2012, 16:56 »

Robyn, thanks for posting. Your sales trajectory on FT exactly mirrors my experience. I hadn't bothered contacting them about it because I assumed they wouldn't give a rats a$$. Sorry to hear that's the case.

robynmac · « **Reply #106 on:** October 24, 2012, 17:17 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 24, 2012, 16:56

Robyn, thanks for posting. Your sales trajectory on FT exactly mirrors my experience. I hadn't bothered contacting them about it because I assumed they wouldn't give a rats a$$. Sorry to hear that's the case.

Very sad...

Mantis · « **Reply #107 on:** October 24, 2012, 17:39 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 24, 2012, 16:56

Robyn, thanks for posting. Your sales trajectory on FT exactly mirrors my experience. I hadn't bothered contacting them about it because I assumed they wouldn't give a rats a$$. Sorry to hear that's the case.

Lisa,

I contacted them and I confirmed...DEFINITIVELY...that what they care about is indeed the rats ass. What I mean in laymen terms is they never responded. I've said this before, I went from roughly from $200 a month to $60-$75 a month. No improvement with new uploads either.

sharpshot · « **Reply #108 on:** October 25, 2012, 05:20 »

I'm making more with BigStock than FT now. Never thought that would happen. FT seem to of lost a lot of pay per download buyers. Not sure if they've gone to other sites or switched to FT subs. It's hard to believe that this hasn't hit the FT profits. Perhaps they're doing OK but I think they could be doing much better. As money seems to be their only interest, it's strange to see them treating their biggest asset with such contempt. I'm sure they could replace their big earners with others but it looks like the price is a loss of quality that has sent buyers to the other sites.

Just look how far istock and FT have fallen behind SS in the earnings poll now. Perhaps one day in the future we will have a "big 1" and lots of "Low Earners"? That's happened in lots of business sectors and I can see how the process happens now.

lisafx · « **Reply #109 on:** October 25, 2012, 10:20 »

Quote from: Mantis on October 24, 2012, 17:39

Lisa,

I contacted them and I confirmed...DEFINITIVELY...that what they care about is indeed the rats ass. What I mean in laymen terms is they never responded. I've said this before, I went from roughly from $200 a month to $60-$75 a month. No improvement with new uploads either.

Thanks for that info Mantis. I guess I'm glad I didn't bother, then.

Quote from: sharpshot on October 25, 2012, 05:20

I'm making more with BigStock than FT now. Never thought that would happen.

Yep. Same here. It's a shame. They used to be a strong #2 earner. Seems pretty obvious their glory days are behind them.

gostwyck · « **Reply #110 on:** October 25, 2012, 10:34 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 25, 2012, 10:20

Quote from: sharpshot on October 25, 2012, 05:20
I'm making more with BigStock than FT now. Never thought that would happen.

Yep. Same here. It's a shame. They used to be a strong #2 earner. Seems pretty obvious their glory days are behind them.

That's incredible. For me FT earnings have roughly halved since their peak but they are still 3-4x more than BigStock. It does seem that Emeralds have been absolutely hammered in the sort-order. I wonder what happened to the '$200M investment' FT had a couple of years ago?

lisafx · « **Reply #111 on:** October 25, 2012, 11:50 »

Oh, I misread the above. I thought Sharpshot was saying that DT is making more than FT. I am not making more on BigStock than Fotolia, but I am making nearly double on DT what I make on FT.

And this is entirely due to drops at FT. DT is holding fairly steady but has not gained.

Sorry for the confusion!

click_click · « **Reply #112 on:** October 25, 2012, 12:45 »

Quote from: gostwyck on October 25, 2012, 10:34

Quote from: lisafx on October 25, 2012, 10:20
Quote from: sharpshot on October 25, 2012, 05:20
I'm making more with BigStock than FT now. Never thought that would happen.

Yep. Same here. It's a shame. They used to be a strong #2 earner. Seems pretty obvious their glory days are behind them.

That's incredible. For me FT earnings have roughly halved since their peak but they are still 3-4x more than BigStock. ...

+1 except that FT generates 7 times as much as Bigstock does.

Either FT has crashed "too much" for most people or Bigstock is not doing a lot for me...

ClaridgeJ · « **Reply #113 on:** October 25, 2012, 14:28 »

Not exactly tanking but it should be better. Used to be such a good earner before this sort order.

nicku · « **Reply #114 on:** October 26, 2012, 00:37 »

Very interesting data.... in my case FT is the 2nd earner ( after SS) and way over DT. what can i say.... i doing good there

In my case the ''problem'' is 123RF vs Depositphotos

I earn 10 times more on 123RF than DP. For me DP is near the bottom list of Low Earners agencies.

photosoup · « **Reply #115 on:** October 27, 2012, 04:18 »

Silver rank here, with 7 day rank, drop from a consistent 800ish to 1300

fotografer · « **Reply #116 on:** October 27, 2012, 07:35 »

Quote from: nicku on October 26, 2012, 00:37

Very interesting data.... in my case FT is the 2nd earner ( after SS) and way over DT. what can i say.... i doing good there

In my case the ''problem'' is 123RF vs Depositphotos

I earn 10 times more on 123RF than DP. For me DP is near the bottom list of Low Earners agencies.

Deposit has almost caught up with 123rf for me.
ETA - just checked this months figures and deposit has gone into the lead.

Mantis · « **Reply #117 on:** October 27, 2012, 09:28 »

Quote from: fotografer on October 27, 2012, 07:35

Quote from: nicku on October 26, 2012, 00:37
Very interesting data.... in my case FT is the 2nd earner ( after SS) and way over DT. what can i say.... i doing good there

In my case the ''problem'' is 123RF vs Depositphotos

I earn 10 times more on 123RF than DP. For me DP is near the bottom list of Low Earners agencies.
Deposit has almost caught up with 123rf for me.
ETA - just checked this months figures and deposit has gone into the lead.

This month DP has passed BS, PD, & FT. Bigstock is really down for me this month and PD is consistent from month to month but not growing. DP is up enough to surpass other sites.

Poncke · « **Reply #118 on:** October 27, 2012, 09:56 »

So basically, some do well, some do average and some do poor. There is no way to call it. As there never is.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #119 on:** October 27, 2012, 10:21 »

Quote from: Poncke on October 27, 2012, 09:56

So basically, some do well, some do average and some do poor. There is no way to call it. As there never is.

wow, thanks for sharing!!!!

luissantos84 · « **Reply #120 on:** October 27, 2012, 10:51 »

EARNINGS

DOWNLOADS

only 137 pictures uploaded in the last year (99 downloads from them)

Poncke · « **Reply #121 on:** October 27, 2012, 11:09 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 27, 2012, 10:51

EARNINGS

DOWNLOADS

only 137 pictures uploaded in the last year (99 downloads from them)

WOW thanks for sharing !!!!!!

luissantos84 · « **Reply #122 on:** October 27, 2012, 11:47 »

Quote from: Poncke on October 27, 2012, 11:09

WOW thanks for sharing !!!!!!

no worries Yuri

Poncke · « **Reply #123 on:** October 27, 2012, 12:04 »

I am not worried, Mr. Ishooteverythingisolated

luissantos84 · « **Reply #124 on:** October 27, 2012, 14:11 »

Quote from: Poncke on October 27, 2012, 12:04

I am not worried, Mr. Ishooteverythingisolated

are you racist?

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Author Topic: Is Fotolia Tanking for anyone else? (Read 32357 times)

luissantos84

Dantheman

OM

robynmac

wordplanet

lisafx

robynmac

Mantis

sharpshot

lisafx

gostwyck

lisafx

click_click

ClaridgeJ

nicku

photosoup

fotografer

Mantis

Poncke

luissantos84

luissantos84

Poncke

luissantos84

Poncke

luissantos84

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