Author Topic: Fotolia vs. Shutterstock in 2016 (Read 24968 times)

roede-orm · « **on:** January 25, 2016, 17:19 »

For the first time increase my sales on Fotolia faster than on Shutterstock. The times could change. Sure, I can't still make any prognosis. And I am not a professional image producer. But over the years Shutterstock was the engine of my income from photography. Maybe we will see a change at the top?

FlowerPower · « **Reply #1 on:** January 25, 2016, 17:23 »

Quote from: roede-orm on January 25, 2016, 17:19

For the first time increase my sales on Fotolia faster than on Shutterstock. The times could change. Sure, I can't still make any prognosis. And I am not a professional image producer. But over the years Shutterstock was the engine of my income from photography. Maybe we will see a change at the top?

Shutter will keep increasing, Fotolia will increase more percentage, catching up to SS in 2016, IS will drop more. No change at the top, but FT will move up on IS. That's what I see for 2016. All the middle tier and below will drop more when SS and FT takes their business.

Karen · « **Reply #2 on:** January 26, 2016, 00:18 »

Quote from: roede-orm on January 25, 2016, 17:19

For the first time increase my sales on Fotolia faster than on Shutterstock. The times could change. Sure, I can't still make any prognosis. And I am not a professional image producer. But over the years Shutterstock was the engine of my income from photography. Maybe we will see a change at the top?

SS downloads are falling like a stone here.

oscarcwilliams · « **Reply #3 on:** January 26, 2016, 01:10 »

To my wake up surprise yesterday morning I had 43 downloads on Shutterstock. A first for me there all at one time.

Harvepino · « **Reply #4 on:** January 26, 2016, 01:59 »

SS with focus on their subscription programs targets users who need to download images regularly - graphic designers, artwork guys, etc. And that's exactly Adobe's customer base. Adobe now has endless ways to market Fotolia content to these people. Clearly, we will see more and more customers switching from iS and SS to Fotolia.

How far will they get? Can they eventually beat SS? I don't know, but I expect heavy fight in the top tier during 2016/17. At least we all sort of know how iS will come out of this

Hongover · « **Reply #5 on:** January 26, 2016, 02:40 »

Both sites are performing well. I have a little more than half of my SS portfolio on Fotolia and it's getting half the downloads. If I have time to upload everything to FT, it could potentially perform just as well as SS.

So far, I still see SS as the best site. Even if I get similar download numbers on both sites, I feel like SS will earn more because of OD and SOD sales. There is no doubt FT is gaining ground, but SS is not giving up any either. It seems like the market is expanding...or just FT taking marketshare away from IS, DT and 123RF.

Karen · « **Reply #6 on:** January 26, 2016, 05:26 »

SS stock price (SSTK) plummet yesterday by 4.14%!
$:-\$ OUCH

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #7 on:** January 26, 2016, 05:38 »

Quote from: Karen on January 26, 2016, 05:26

SS stock price (SSTK) plummet yesterday by 4.14%!
$:-\$ OUCH

Looks like share holders don't like the contributor backlash to a pay cut? Maybe they realize contributors own the content SS is selling and are worried? Nice that someone is I guess...

Pauws99 · « **Reply #8 on:** January 26, 2016, 05:51 »

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 26, 2016, 05:38

Quote from: Karen on January 26, 2016, 05:26
SS stock price (SSTK) plummet yesterday by 4.14%!
$:-\$ OUCH
Looks like share holders don't like the contributor backlash to a pay cut? Maybe they realize contributors own the content SS is selling and are worried? Nice that someone is I guess...

Doubt that has anything to do with it.....Stocks are all over the place at the moment and anyway its way overpriced imho

Lana · « **Reply #9 on:** January 26, 2016, 07:36 »

1) Fotolia has its doors open for our content meaning it's not being too picky and more than reasonable in their review process;
2) It's fighting hard to attract more buyers and become number one earner in the nearest future;

With that being said... I'm going to upload there like crazy, starting immediately!

sigalavaca · « **Reply #10 on:** January 26, 2016, 08:04 »

Quote from: lanabyko on January 26, 2016, 07:36

1) Fotolia has its doors open for our content meaning it's not being too picky and more than reasonable in their review process;
2) It's fighting hard to attract more buyers and become number one earner in the nearest future;

With that being said... I'm going to upload there like crazy, starting immediately!

1) our non-editorial content, which in my case excludes more than 70% of my port )):

i really wonder if they are planning to open the gates for editorial, specially now that SS seems to be investing in editorial content: http://www.shutterstock.com/editorial

Lana · « **Reply #11 on:** January 26, 2016, 08:10 »

Quote from: sigalavaca on January 26, 2016, 08:04

Quote from: lanabyko on January 26, 2016, 07:36
1) Fotolia has its doors open for our content meaning it's not being too picky and more than reasonable in their review process;
2) It's fighting hard to attract more buyers and become number one earner in the nearest future;

With that being said... I'm going to upload there like crazy, starting immediately!

1) our non-editorial content, which in my case excludes more than 70% of my port )):

i really wonder if they are planning to open the gates for editorial, specially now that SS seems to be investing in editorial content: http://www.shutterstock.com/editorial

Yes, that's in my wish list for 2016:
Fotolia allowing to sell editorial
Fotolia allowing to edit the keywords on the exisiting files:)))

mcuda · « **Reply #12 on:** January 26, 2016, 09:44 »

Since the Adobe takeover, my sales with Fotolia have increased every month and for the most part outperform SS now. If it wasn't for extended license sales FT would have crushed SS.

This, I think is because my photographs appeal more to the Adobe crowd and because Adobe is better at marketing overall than SS.

jamiehooper · « **Reply #13 on:** January 26, 2016, 13:48 »

Quote from: mcuda on January 26, 2016, 09:44

Since the Adobe takeover, my sales with Fotolia have increased every month and for the most part outperform SS now. If it wasn't for extended license sales FT would have crushed SS.

This, I think is because my photographs appeal more to the Adobe crowd and because Adobe is better at marketing overall than SS.

This and almost all the posts here reflect my experiences exactly. I've watched this happen slowly over the past year, and have made a few posts to that effect (with little to no comments), so I'm glad to see this topic. As I write (25th of January) my sales from Fotolia are almost TWICE those of Shutterstock - and I have more files on SS than FT by about 25%. EL and SOD have been dropping drastically at SS over the year to almost nothing; and I'm at the .36 level there; so that minimum accounts for most of my sales.

I still don't understand exactly how Fotolia assigns their prices; but while I have many sales that are at the .25 range there, I have many more getting .75, 3.00, and even 7.50. That adds up.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 26, 2016, 14:10 »

I've noticed a recent rise in subs on FT from $1 upwards but haven't had an EL on there for ages. If I had a few of these they would be spanking SS as it is they are quite close.

mcuda · « **Reply #15 on:** January 26, 2016, 16:15 »

Since the Adobe takeover, my sales with Fotolia have increased every month and for the most part outperform SS now. If it wasn't for extended license sales FT would have crushed SS.

This, I think is because my photographs appeal more to the Adobe crowd and because Adobe is better at marketing overall than SS.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #16 on:** January 26, 2016, 16:45 »

Quote from: mcuda on January 26, 2016, 16:15

Since the Adobe takeover, my sales with Fotolia have increased every month and for the most part outperform SS now. If it wasn't for extended license sales FT would have crushed SS.

This, I think is because my photographs appeal more to the Adobe crowd and because Adobe is better at marketing overall than SS.

Are you from Europe?- I think Fotolia is more switched on to that market .....Shutterstock is so full of shiny happy people I have to put my sunglasses on when viewing their site ;-)

mcuda · « **Reply #17 on:** January 26, 2016, 18:42 »

No I am in the usa

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

ChrisGardinerPhotography · « **Reply #18 on:** January 26, 2016, 23:27 »

this is how fast FT has grown for me;

Starting in early december I uploaded to them again after hearing in another forum about their sales uptick,
went from ~300 images then to about 2700 today in that month and a half.

my SS who gets all of my stock and has for long time is at 6000 files, including video. If you don't count sales on video, then my FT and SS are already tied in $$ a day. So when I get the other few thousand photos through the queue, I've got high hopes for FT.

Graphs80 · « **Reply #19 on:** January 28, 2016, 03:28 »

I hope I can see this Fotolia boost on my sales too. Nothing changed for the moment on my stats

I still have only less than 10% of SS in FT (in FT I have 50% less files than in SS)

roede-orm · « **Reply #20 on:** January 28, 2016, 14:26 »

The period is much too short to make a prediction. But I'm curious to see how the development will continue until the end of the year!

Pauws99 · « **Reply #21 on:** January 28, 2016, 14:55 »

Quote from: roede-orm on January 28, 2016, 14:26

The period is much too short to make a prediction. But I'm curious to see how the development will continue until the end of the year!

You are so right

scandurica · « **Reply #22 on:** January 29, 2016, 05:16 »

For me FT is growing month after month. The percentages for income look like this:
SS vs FT
Jan 2014 55 vs 13
Jan 2015 42 vs 29
Jan 2016 44 vs 34 so far.

YadaYadaYada · « **Reply #23 on:** January 30, 2016, 12:36 »

Different files at SS vs FT for me. When the same files at both, different sell at FT or SS. Tells me different buyers. Also different because of SS strange rejection. FT is taking more of my graphic style, might be Adobe direction for designers?

My sales on FT are growing but so are mine on SS. I don't see any big change at the top but see FT gaining on IS, maybe passing them.

SS stock price has nothing to do with EL change. If anything should have made the stock go up. Companies want to make more profit. Stock holders want to make more money. IMHO the stock was overvalued.

Zero Talent · « **Reply #24 on:** January 30, 2016, 16:24 »

Quote from: YadaYadaYada on January 30, 2016, 12:36

Different files at SS vs FT for me. When the same files at both, different sell at FT or SS. Tells me different buyers. Also different because of SS strange rejection. FT is taking more of my graphic style, might be Adobe direction for designers?

My sales on FT are growing but so are mine on SS. I don't see any big change at the top but see FT gaining on IS, maybe passing them.

SS stock price has nothing to do with EL change. If anything should have made the stock go up. Companies want to make more profit. Stock holders want to make more money. IMHO the stock was overvalued.

Same observation. Both FT and SS are growing, while FT is about to become the runner up.
"Strangely" enough my best SS seller is also my best FT seller. But I agree: the overlap is far from 100%. Some photos sell much, much better on FT than on SS, and vice-versa.

But the same goes for IS, for that matter, actually even for TS. One of my best PP seller, in terms of $ (>$500), has never been sold on IS! Not once in ~2 years, since I uploaded it. Imagine that!
My best IS + TS seller, in terms of number of sales, has been rejected by SS and only seldom sells on FT.

So yes, each agency has different customers, but also, very important, different search algorithms. And different marketing strategies.

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Author Topic: Fotolia vs. Shutterstock in 2016 (Read 24968 times)

roede-orm

FlowerPower

Karen

oscarcwilliams

Harvepino

Hongover

Karen

Justanotherphotographer

Pauws99

Lana

sigalavaca

Lana

mcuda

jamiehooper

Pauws99

mcuda

Pauws99

mcuda

ChrisGardinerPhotography

Graphs80

roede-orm

Pauws99

scandurica

YadaYadaYada

Zero Talent

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