Author Topic: Exclusive or Branch Out (Read 5074 times)

dingles · « **on:** February 12, 2013, 14:38 »

I am currently an exclusive for videos on one of the top sites, but I recently started uploading photos and illustrations. Originally with video I was spread out across the big 4, but sales on one site lead me to go exclusive. It was odd because that site had the highest rates...making me assume buyers just weren't shopping around. It has been about a year since I went exclusive with video. It started off well, but over the past 6 month or so sales have become stale...even with a growing portfolio. I'm out of the loop at this point on the other agencies, but is this drop in sales across the board for stock video or is it just that agency...how well are photo and illustration holding up?

So I'm probably going to test the waters with photos and illustrations across multiple sites. In short, I'd like to hear everyone's experiences with exclusive vs branching out. Is there more money, exposure to be made branching out?

tickstock · « **Reply #1 on:** February 12, 2013, 14:43 »

dingles · « **Reply #2 on:** February 12, 2013, 14:47 »

I mean they have the higher prices among the other sites I was on. I'm trying to be cautious and stay somewhat anonymous as recent events show one site is becoming big brother on it's contributors...I'm sure from that alone you can guess the site

tickstock · « **Reply #3 on:** February 12, 2013, 14:49 »

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #4 on:** February 12, 2013, 14:57 »

Quote from: dingles on February 12, 2013, 14:38

how well are photo and illustration holding up?

Well, from all I have read of others, I would actually expect in video there would be higher earnings as a non-exclusive as the market is more fragmented.

On the photo side, I would guess there is an almost balance being exclusive at IS and non-exclusive. The more high-value content (Vetta/Agency) you are able to produce, the less likely it gets to regain the same level of royalties in the microstock market. Being non-exclusive in photo to me means the need to find a higher-priced segment for images that are above the average.

dingles · « **Reply #5 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:03 »

Yeah Pond5 you can set the price. When I was there I set them equivalent to Shutterstocks pricing. I'm not sure if that was good or not. I had issue with Pond5 as it seemed like a place someone could recreate your work and under sell you. I'm not sure if my issue was valid, but it did bother me. I also sold nothing on Pond5. I had a larger portfolio there at the time, but IS sales were much better with a smaller portfolio. That was over a year ago...things may be different. I know sales have dropped at iStock almost overnight. With little communication from them I can't determine if it is a reporting issue, the Google Drive issue, The best match issue, or one of the many other issues there...maybe all. Although, I'm not sure the issues hitting the contributors are the same issues hitting the buyers. The folks at iStock only provide diplomatic answers. I can only guess they have there hands tied by Getty. None the less the reality is sales have dropped drastically in a short period of time.

tickstock · « **Reply #6 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:08 »

jjneff · « **Reply #7 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:17 »

My best guess. Since you are more aware of the other sites then I would suggest you ride this out a few more months if you can. I shoot video for iStock to feed my family so I have a lot of concern here as well. My sales have been down since mid Dec. by 50% or more. I am taking steps to drop if I am forced and there is not a recovery in the very near future. I know things are going to change fast so all the best, we are all in this together!

dingles · « **Reply #8 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:18 »

I'm in the same boat, a good portion of my videos are on Getty now. I'm curious how that pans out. I do have images in my portfolio also. They are doing okay as far as downloads, but something to due with older credits has kept a lot of those royalties low. I'm curious how well they will fare on the partner sites.

tickstock · « **Reply #9 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:22 »

dingles · « **Reply #10 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:27 »

Quote from: jjneff on February 12, 2013, 15:17

My best guess. Since you are more aware of the other sites then I would suggest you ride this out a few more months if you can. I shoot video for iStock to feed my family so I have a lot of concern here as well. My sales have been down since mid Dec. by 50% or more. I am taking steps to drop if I am forced and there is not a recovery in the very near future. I know things are going to change fast so all the best, we are all in this together!

Thank for the reply. Yeah I figured we're all in the same boat. It seems every time something positive starts happening over at IS, about 10 negative things comes to light. I originally felt this stuff was only affecting the contributors and I can forget all of it as long as sales were decent, but sales being so low...something else is happening. And their recent moves and lack of communication and transparency has only put everyone into a guessing game as to what is going on.

BTW, I caught your demo reel recently on the iStock forums. Good stuff. I used to do studio photography when I was part of an inhouse design team. We had a shoot at a Medical facility and a few at grocery stores and I got a lot of awesome stuff...unfortunately the company I worked for owns them all and has used probably 10% of what we shot. That stuff could have been great for stock.

dingles · « **Reply #11 on:** February 12, 2013, 15:30 »

Quote from: tickstock on February 12, 2013, 15:22

You mean the Partner Program with Thinkstock and Photos.com? You get higher subscription royalties as an exclusive than you would at the other sub sites AFAIK and subscriptions to Thinkstock were cheaper than at Shutterstock so I wouldn't be surprised to see increases there over time. The E+ and Vetta files mirrored at Getty sold really well last month for me and I'm hoping this month will be the same.

Yeah the partner program. I don't have enough downloads as of yet to go exclusive with images. I have been testing the waters to see what kind of royalties I can pull in.

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Author Topic: Exclusive or Branch Out (Read 5074 times)

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