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Author Topic: 2022 Predictions for the Microstock Business  (Read 14269 times)

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Level6

« Reply #25 on: December 20, 2021, 10:22 »
+2
Legislation, which makes internet companies more responsible for the sale of stolen goods, will be introduced. Just like banks are now being held responsible for money laundering criminal money and receive high fines in the Netherlands.

I don't believe we get more rights through the law.

The biggest problem for us remains the ever-increasing amount of photos and the ever-increasing range of free photos.

and free videos....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3w4cb54pYY

I've been saying this since the agencies started offering free collections (using our content) to allegedly compete with the free sites. It's a SCAM and we are being scammed, the agencies will do everything to drive down our earnings all while they make good money selling our content wholesale to their "trusted global partners" around the world.

I do however wonder what's up with the free sites, how are they making the money needed to fund their operations?, site development, maintenance, storage and transfer from the cloud on AWS, and staff,  are they being funded by organized crime?, money laundering?, OR are they being funded and secretly run by the existing stock agencies as a loss for tax purposes?.  Who owns these sites?.....

Our banks are getting tough as well in Canada, same like yours in the Netherlands and same reasons.









Level6

« Reply #26 on: December 20, 2021, 10:33 »
0
Legislation, which makes internet companies more responsible for the sale of stolen goods, will be introduced. Just like banks are now being held responsible for money laundering criminal money and receive high fines in the Netherlands.

Not sure if legislation like that will ever come about in Canada or the US but it might, it's interesting and sometimes well meaning legislation can have unintended consequences even for those playing by rules.

I think it was this year, a large adult content site, P--rnhub had to delete most of it's content and contributors had to prove it was their own content and 18+ actors in the content and real names and ID needed to be used in the application process, a lot of people lost their way of making a living overnight.....even those who were in compliance with the laws but now had to upload their ID to a "secure" server.......

So with stock video/photos, the legislation might require agencies to verify they content the are trafficking in is not stolen but that won't stop the free sites and the free stock YouTube channels.




« Reply #27 on: December 20, 2021, 22:23 »
+1
Painnnnnnn

For Real

« Reply #28 on: December 21, 2021, 13:51 »
+1
I predict more "exciting news"  ::)

Now you got me excited for 2022!  8)

Level6

« Reply #29 on: December 21, 2021, 14:26 »
+2
Seriously, I think it's going to be mostly hobbyists and maybe students left but not many able to make any form of living in video or photos.

There's just no way, the agencies which control most of the paid market have all their content deals with "Trusted global partners" and there is zero transparency. SSTK cut our commissions, others cut commissions differently but commissions have been cut regardless.

You can try selling direct but customers will want insurance and indemnity and if you manage to get around that the agencies will play the free or nearly free card and will undercut you. I hate to say but if you try and open a pizza shop in an area run by the mafia you might not sell many pizzas, they will undercut you until you go out of business.

thijsdegraaf

« Reply #30 on: December 21, 2021, 14:47 »
0
Well, everything changes over time.
Before photography you had painters who could live off their painting as a kind of photographer.
With the advent of photography, painting changed and it became more difficult to live on. Yet the talented painters, draftsmen still succeed.
Professional photographers subsequently faced enormous competition from digital cameras, telephones and the Internet with stock photo photography. Still, talented photographers manage to earn a good living.
The huge competition, amount of photos, videos, powerful stock sites now makes it very difficult for a stock photographer to earn a good living.
I suspect that just like well-earning painters, professional photographers, there will also be well-earning highly talented stock photographers.
The majority will do it more as a hobby or good side income, just like many painters.
Looking back, explaining history is easy. Predicting the future is difficult.

Level6

« Reply #31 on: December 21, 2021, 20:57 »
+1
Well, everything changes over time.
Before photography you had painters who could live off their painting as a kind of photographer.
With the advent of photography, painting changed and it became more difficult to live on. Yet the talented painters, draftsmen still succeed.
Professional photographers subsequently faced enormous competition from digital cameras, telephones and the Internet with stock photo photography. Still, talented photographers manage to earn a good living.
The huge competition, amount of photos, videos, powerful stock sites now makes it very difficult for a stock photographer to earn a good living.
I suspect that just like well-earning painters, professional photographers, there will also be well-earning highly talented stock photographers.
The majority will do it more as a hobby or good side income, just like many painters.
Looking back, explaining history is easy. Predicting the future is difficult.

Predicting the future is near impossible now and changing careers/jobs is just as impossible as I'm finding out.

« Reply #32 on: December 22, 2021, 05:53 »
+2
Legislation, which makes internet companies more responsible for the sale of stolen goods, will be introduced. Just like banks are now being held responsible for money laundering criminal money and receive high fines in the Netherlands.

Not sure if legislation like that will ever come about in Canada or the US but it might, it's interesting and sometimes well meaning legislation can have unintended consequences even for those playing by rules.

I think it was this year, a large adult content site, P--rnhub had to delete most of it's content and contributors had to prove it was their own content and 18+ actors in the content and real names and ID needed to be used in the application process, a lot of people lost their way of making a living overnight.....even those who were in compliance with the laws but now had to upload their ID to a "secure" server.......

So with stock video/photos, the legislation might require agencies to verify they content the are trafficking in is not stolen but that won't stop the free sites and the free stock YouTube channels.

Please learn to start your posts after the quote you make the forum look like crap.

Level6

« Reply #33 on: December 22, 2021, 15:35 »
0
Legislation, which makes internet companies more responsible for the sale of stolen goods, will be introduced. Just like banks are now being held responsible for money laundering criminal money and receive high fines in the Netherlands.

Not sure if legislation like that will ever come about in Canada or the US but it might, it's interesting and sometimes well meaning legislation can have unintended consequences even for those playing by rules.

I think it was this year, a large adult content site, P--rnhub had to delete most of it's content and contributors had to prove it was their own content and 18+ actors in the content and real names and ID needed to be used in the application process, a lot of people lost their way of making a living overnight.....even those who were in compliance with the laws but now had to upload their ID to a "secure" server.......

So with stock video/photos, the legislation might require agencies to verify they content the are trafficking in is not stolen but that won't stop the free sites and the free stock YouTube channels.

Please learn to start your posts after the quote you make the forum look like crap.

I thought I was typing after the quote....

jav

« Reply #34 on: December 23, 2021, 14:56 »
0
Perhaps the larger agencies propose to buy all or part of the collections to sell as NFTs in the metaverses. The value of the works (in crypto) could increase over time, but the agencies are likely to keep those benefits.

For Real

« Reply #35 on: December 23, 2021, 15:40 »
0
Perhaps the larger agencies propose to buy all or part of the collections to sell as NFTs in the metaverses. The value of the works (in crypto) could increase over time, but the agencies are likely to keep those benefits.


"Agencies are likely"  --- Agencies will keep those benefits.

« Reply #36 on: December 26, 2021, 10:17 »
+3
I think the main stock sites need to explain to stingy buyers the advantages of paying for content instead of going to the freebies.

I don't think that's necessary.
First, buyers know that free images are not necessarily safe images. They are afraid of penalties.
And secondly, and this concerns professional image buyers, it is embarrassing and shows a lack of success when the website is decorated with free images that have already been used thousands of times on other websites.

Don't be so negative.
Instead of a new camera lens, some of you could give yourselves a positive thinking seminar. ;D

Level6

« Reply #37 on: December 30, 2021, 15:31 »
0
The more I think about it, the only immediate goal for 2021 should be to find a way to sell this product (video and photos bother editorial and commercial) outside of the agencies but at the same time keep the content on the semi-viable agencies for now as they still earn a small amount of money.  Pond5, Adobe and maybe SSTK?.

I don't know what the other ways would be, selling direct, YouTube, a new platform that's not been developed yet?.

One thing is for sure and that is the agencies are no longer a viable platform on which to make a living at this.

The agencies have physical possession of our content on their servers so it's not like we have control of the content, pond5 has global partners, Adobe is one, they others remain secret, other agencies have "distribution deals" who knows what sites or servers around the world your content is on

With other selling platforms like eBay and Kijiji you have physical control of the product and you can decide when and if to release it when the price is right but not with these stock agencies. They do what they want and it's all legal as per the TOS but were are headed straight for bankruptcy.

It may not be possible and in that case it's time to update your resumes and start looking for jobs or other businesses, self-employment or whatever but if no way can be found ASAP to sell this product outside of the cartel of stock agencies then it's over.

and it might be over as many larger clients will only buy from an agency for legal reasons.




« Reply #38 on: December 31, 2021, 04:28 »
+4
Since everyone's predictions for 22 seem so gloomy, I thought I would share some numbers to give some people hope that maybe not all is lost in microstock. I am sure it's not the "good old days" anymore and rerquired more work these days, but it's not just all going downhills.
 I am not one of the "big players" in microstock, I don't make tons of money from it, but it's till a nice amount each month that contributes greatly to covering my living costs, so definitely more than just pocket change.

Shutterstock earnings
January 20->21: +131%
February 20->21: +214%
March 20->21: +151%
April 20->21: +74%
May 20->21: +132%
June 20->21: +140%
July 20->21: +148%
August 20->21: +123%
September 20->21: +45%
October 20->21: +98%
November 20->21: +23%
December 20->21: +11%

iStock earnings
January 20->21: +76%
February 20->21: +117%
March 20->21: +130%
April 20->21: +62%
May 20->21: +158%
June 20->21: +50%
July 20->21: +79%
August 20->21: +131%
September 20->21: +33%
October 20->21: +79%
November 20->21: +170%
 
Adobe earnings
January 20->21: +41%
February 20->21: +50%
March 20->21: +56%
April 20->21: -11%
May 20->21: -12%
June 20->21: -45%
July 20->21: +99%
August 20->21: +131%
September 20->21: +35%
October 20->21: +53%
November 20->21: +37%
December 20->21: +50%

My conclusions for 2021 and prediction for 22: Not everything is on the decline. If you  keep putting effort into microstock, there is still a reward in in, income can still increase. I don't have any plans (mostly for the lack of ideas) to find a different way to sell my photos, but only plan to expand my portfolio and hopefully further increase my earnings.
Also, some conclusions at least from my portfolio:
The level earning structure on SS doesn't seem to be so bad, at least if you rise in level fast.
iSTock and SS, the agencies most people seem to hate are not only the ones that earn me the most money, but also the ones where my income improved the most in 21 compared to 20.
- Adobe, which averyone praises so much, is the agenciy with the smalles increade in earnings, even with a decline in earnings compared to 2020 during some months. Me and Adobe will probably never become good friends.

I didn't add the numbers for the small agencies, because it's so much work and also because I only joined most of them this year, so I don't have numbers to compare. On Alamy my earnings seem to be a bit better than in 20. At least they are more frequent, but with the many very low sales and me still waiting for sales from 9 months ago to clear, it's not so easy to get proper numbers. Last year Dreamstime was my best-selling agency of the "small ones", but both sale numbers and earnings are now on the decline, so not much hope for my future there.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2021, 04:34 by Firn »

« Reply #39 on: December 31, 2021, 04:54 »
+4
Lower and lower rates because we do nothing about it, people still contribute regardless so the agencies do whatever they want.

csm

« Reply #40 on: December 31, 2021, 06:16 »
0
Lower and lower rates because we do nothing about it, people still contribute regardless so the agencies do whatever they want.

Thats exactly it.

« Reply #41 on: December 31, 2021, 07:20 »
0
Since everyone's predictions for 22 seem so gloomy, I thought I would share some numbers to give some people hope that maybe not all is lost in microstock. I am sure it's not the "good old days" anymore and rerquired more work these days, but it's not just all going downhills.
 I am not one of the "big players" in microstock, I don't make tons of money from it, but it's till a nice amount each month that contributes greatly to covering my living costs, so definitely more than just pocket change.

Shutterstock earnings
January 20->21: +131%
February 20->21: +214%
March 20->21: +151%
April 20->21: +74%
May 20->21: +132%
June 20->21: +140%
July 20->21: +148%
August 20->21: +123%
September 20->21: +45%
October 20->21: +98%
November 20->21: +23%
December 20->21: +11%

iStock earnings
January 20->21: +76%
February 20->21: +117%
March 20->21: +130%
April 20->21: +62%
May 20->21: +158%
June 20->21: +50%
July 20->21: +79%
August 20->21: +131%
September 20->21: +33%
October 20->21: +79%
November 20->21: +170%
 
Adobe earnings
January 20->21: +41%
February 20->21: +50%
March 20->21: +56%
April 20->21: -11%
May 20->21: -12%
June 20->21: -45%
July 20->21: +99%
August 20->21: +131%
September 20->21: +35%
October 20->21: +53%
November 20->21: +37%
December 20->21: +50%

My conclusions for 2021 and prediction for 22: Not everything is on the decline. If you  keep putting effort into microstock, there is still a reward in in, income can still increase. I don't have any plans (mostly for the lack of ideas) to find a different way to sell my photos, but only plan to expand my portfolio and hopefully further increase my earnings.
Also, some conclusions at least from my portfolio:
The level earning structure on SS doesn't seem to be so bad, at least if you rise in level fast.
iSTock and SS, the agencies most people seem to hate are not only the ones that earn me the most money, but also the ones where my income improved the most in 21 compared to 20.
- Adobe, which averyone praises so much, is the agenciy with the smalles increade in earnings, even with a decline in earnings compared to 2020 during some months. Me and Adobe will probably never become good friends.

I didn't add the numbers for the small agencies, because it's so much work and also because I only joined most of them this year, so I don't have numbers to compare. On Alamy my earnings seem to be a bit better than in 20. At least they are more frequent, but with the many very low sales and me still waiting for sales from 9 months ago to clear, it's not so easy to get proper numbers. Last year Dreamstime was my best-selling agency of the "small ones", but both sale numbers and earnings are now on the decline, so not much hope for my future there.


Firn, unfortunately I cannot share your positive listing. I think that the negative trend will continue and the RPD will continue to decline.
Everyone must judge for themselves whether the effort is still worth it.

The biggest negative part of my personal development has shutterstock. Compared to my best year, I have 5,250 fewer downloads there in 2021. Since the RPD there was $0.88 in my best year and now it's 0.61, the financial losses are much higher in percentage terms. Since I also don't upload anything there anymore, the downloads will continuously decrease even more and the revenues will decrease accordingly even more significantly. Also because it will take me longer to get back to my original level.
But I don't want to fight against a decreasing RPD with more work - I don't want to reward shutterstock with useless extra work.
The same is true for other agencies. When I upload something, which is rare at the moment, I focus on Adobe Stock. Because there, download numbers and revenue have increased slightly for me, and RPD has remained fairly stable, at least over the last 4 years, even though I've uploaded very little there, too.

But with almost all agencies, the continuously decreasing RPD is clearly visible.

Let me compare the current RPD from 2021 with the one from 2015:

Adobe Stock
2015 RPD = $ 1.38
2021 RPD = $ 1.23
Down 11%

dreamstime:
2015 RPD = $ 1.29
2021 RPD = $ 1.15
Down 11%

shutterstock:
2015 RPD = $ 0.75
2021 RPD = $ 0.61
Down 18.7%

Deposit:
2015 RPD = $ 0.59
2021 RPD = $ 0.43
Down 27.2%

123rf:
2015 RPD = $ 0.98
2021 RPD = $ 0.65
Down 33.7%

iStock:
2015 RPD = $ 0.58
2021 RPD = $ 0.64
Up 10.2%



« Reply #42 on: December 31, 2021, 08:05 »
+2

The biggest negative part of my personal development has shutterstock. Compared to my best year, I have 5,250 fewer downloads there in 2021. Since the RPD there was $0.88 in my best year and now it's 0.61, the financial losses are much higher in percentage terms.

See Wilm, I have always had a bit different approach to this than most people here seem to have. I don't care much about download numbers or RPD. It's a number you use to determine the worth an agency attaches to your photos, but it doesn't really translate well for me in regards of the time/costs - earnings relation and it doesn't pay my bills. You could have a RPD of 10$, but if your shoots are very expensive, because you rent locations and hire models, you could still end up getting less money for your time and costs than someone who just takes photos of his backyard flowers and has an RPD of 0.30$.

What I care about is how much money I get for my work at the end of the month. How much time did I spend to take, keyword and edit the photos? Did I spend time creating props, driving to locations or did I spend money on props for the photos? And these factors are alwys the same on all agencies. I don't spend more time or money on photos I submit to Shutterstock than on Adobe, Alamy or iStock. So why should I care for the RPD? I have a much better  RPD on Alamy for example than on Shutterstock.  What use is the high RPD on Alamy to me? The money I earn from them is pocket money at best. The money I get from Shutterstock pays my rent and has more than doubled within the past year.

And, if I remmeber correctly, you were one of the people who said you hardly submit new content to Shutterstock anymore? Because that's something I see a lot - people who say they rarely submit new images or don't submit new images at all, but then are frustrated that their income declines. Maybe submitting some images and then just watching them make you money without submiting new content is something that used to work on Shutterstock years ago. I don't know. This is only my 4th year doing microstock. But nowadays, at least from my experinece, you have to keep putting effort into it if you want to see a reward. For me that seems to work.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2021, 11:04 by Firn »

Uncle Pete

  • Great Place by a Great Lake - My Home Port
« Reply #43 on: December 31, 2021, 08:42 »
+2
Since everyone's predictions for 22 seem so gloomy, I thought I would share some numbers to give some people hope that maybe not all is lost in microstock. I am sure it's not the "good old days" anymore and rerquired more work these days, but it's not just all going downhills.
 I am not one of the "big players" in microstock, I don't make tons of money from it, but it's till a nice amount each month that contributes greatly to covering my living costs, so definitely more than just pocket change.

My conclusions for 2021 and prediction for 22: Not everything is on the decline. If you  keep putting effort into microstock, there is still a reward in in, income can still increase. I don't have any plans (mostly for the lack of ideas) to find a different way to sell my photos, but only plan to expand my portfolio and hopefully further increase my earnings.
Also, some conclusions at least from my portfolio:
The level earning structure on SS doesn't seem to be so bad, at least if you rise in level fast.
iSTock and SS, the agencies most people seem to hate are not only the ones that earn me the most money, but also the ones where my income improved the most in 21 compared to 20.
- Adobe, which averyone praises so much, is the agenciy with the smalles increade in earnings, even with a decline in earnings compared to 2020 during some months. Me and Adobe will probably never become good friends.

I didn't add the numbers for the small agencies, because it's so much work and also because I only joined most of them this year, so I don't have numbers to compare. On Alamy my earnings seem to be a bit better than in 20. At least they are more frequent, but with the many very low sales and me still waiting for sales from 9 months ago to clear, it's not so easy to get proper numbers. Last year Dreamstime was my best-selling agency of the "small ones", but both sale numbers and earnings are now on the decline, so not much hope for my future there.

Thanks I enjoyed that.  :)

Just for something a little bit different, and we're all different because of what we create and upload, Adobe income passed Shutterstock this year for me. That's a first. Not only because Adobe was best income year ever, but because SS payback is going down every year.

... Because that's something I see a lot - people who say they rarely submit new images or don't submit new images at all, but then are frustrated that their income declines. Maybe submitting some images and then just watching them make you money without submiting new content is something that used to work on Shutterstock years ago. I don't know. This is only my 4th year doing microstock. But nowadays, at least from my experinece, you have to keep putting effort into it if you want to see a reward. For me that seems to work.

One of my favorites, and it isn't just one person, things like "I removed my best images and I stopped uploading to SS, now my sales are terrible." Yeah, what did they expect?  ::) Or the one who deleted his portfolio then re-uploaded, then deleted and re-uploaded, plus only uploads new files after they have been on other sites for a month. And he wonders why the images aren't selling or don't have the rank they used to?  :o

I was waiting to say what I think for 2022, but it's almost tomorrow, close enough. I expect things to keep getting worse, and keep changing, as the agencies find any way they can to pay us less for our work. The only way to earn more is, upload more new files, of what's trending and needed. More of the same old stuff is the SOS, Same Old S#it and won't make more money.

That's my prediction. The ship has sailed, the train left the station and there's no way Microstock is going to make a stunning comeback, no new plan, or agency is coming to take us to the next level UP!. There is no new Next Big Thing. Just work smart and earn.


« Reply #44 on: December 31, 2021, 09:19 »
0

The biggest negative part of my personal development has shutterstock. Compared to my best year, I have 5,250 fewer downloads there in 2021. Since the RPD there was $0.88 in my best year and now it's 0.61, the financial losses are much higher in percentage terms.

See Wilm, I have always had a bit different approach to this than most people here seem to have. I don't care much about download numbers or RPD. It's a number you use to determine the worth an agency attaches to your photos, but it doesn't really translate well for me in regards of the time/costs - earnings relation and it doesn't pay my bills. You could have a RPD of 10$, but if your shoots are very expensive, because you rent locations and hire models, you could still end up getting less money for your time and costs than someone who just takes photos of his backyard flowers and has an RPD of 0.30$.

What I care about is how much money I get for my work at the end of the month. How much time did I spend to take, keyword and edit the photos? Did I spend time creating props, driving to locations or did I spend money on props for the photos? And these factors are alwys the same on all agencies. I don't soend more time or money on photos I submit to Shutterstock than on Adobe, Alamy or iStock. So why should I care for the RPD? I have a much betrter  RPD on Alamy for example than on Shutterstock.  What use is the high RPD on Alamy to me? The money I earn from them is pocket money at best. The money I get from Shutterstock pays my rent and has more than doubled within the past year.

And, if I remmeber correctly, you were one of the people who said you hardly submit new content to Shutterstock anymore? Because that's something I see a lot - people who say they rarely submit new images or don't submit new images at all, but then are frustrated that their income declines. Maybe submitting some images and then just watching them make you money without submiting new content is something that used to work on Shutterstock years ago. I don't know. This is only my 4th year doing microstock. But nowadays, at least from my experinece, you have to keep putting effort into it if you want to see a reward. For me that seems to work.

Mostly agree Firn, however for me RPD is very important when factored with RPA in understanding not just how individual agencies are measuring up but also how my portfolio and microstock in general is performing overall. In other words effort in vs reward out. This I find gives much more insight into the relative usefulness/futility of not just continuing to upload or not, but also insight into how much.

Like you I am most interested in the bottom line but there are definitely metrics that can be applied to help figure out exactly how much effort you need to put in before you start back pedaling. As you have already stated, simple figures like overall revenue or revenue growth can be very misleading if taken out of context. For example one well known SS forum member often posted sales numbers which to the uninitiated seemed very impressive on the surface, however digging deeper it quickly became apparent that ancillary considerations like time spent, travel expenses, equipment costs and depreciation, etc. were intentionally omitted in order to inflate (for glaringly obvious reasons) his bottom line. The point is that without taking everything into consideration (including RPD) it's pretty easy to fool yourself as well.

« Reply #45 on: December 31, 2021, 10:58 »
+1

The biggest negative part of my personal development has shutterstock. Compared to my best year, I have 5,250 fewer downloads there in 2021. Since the RPD there was $0.88 in my best year and now it's 0.61, the financial losses are much higher in percentage terms.

See Wilm, I have always had a bit different approach to this than most people here seem to have. I don't care much about download numbers or RPD. It's a number you use to determine the worth an agency attaches to your photos, but it doesn't really translate well for me in regards of the time/costs - earnings relation and it doesn't pay my bills. You could have a RPD of 10$, but if your shoots are very expensive, because you rent locations and hire models, you could still end up getting less money for your time and costs than someone who just takes photos of his backyard flowers and has an RPD of 0.30$.

What I care about is how much money I get for my work at the end of the month. How much time did I spend to take, keyword and edit the photos? Did I spend time creating props, driving to locations or did I spend money on props for the photos? And these factors are alwys the same on all agencies. I don't soend more time or money on photos I submit to Shutterstock than on Adobe, Alamy or iStock. So why should I care for the RPD? I have a much betrter  RPD on Alamy for example than on Shutterstock.  What use is the high RPD on Alamy to me? The money I earn from them is pocket money at best. The money I get from Shutterstock pays my rent and has more than doubled within the past year.

And, if I remmeber correctly, you were one of the people who said you hardly submit new content to Shutterstock anymore? Because that's something I see a lot - people who say they rarely submit new images or don't submit new images at all, but then are frustrated that their income declines. Maybe submitting some images and then just watching them make you money without submiting new content is something that used to work on Shutterstock years ago. I don't know. This is only my 4th year doing microstock. But nowadays, at least from my experinece, you have to keep putting effort into it if you want to see a reward. For me that seems to work.

Firn, that's right, I don't upload anything to shutterstock anymore. That's what I had written.

Shutterstock used to be my favorite agency a few years ago. But it has deteriorated so much there that I just don't have the motivation to feed the database there anymore.

I don't have any costs for the creation of my images. I don't need models, no studio, no studio rent or equipment, no staff, I don't drive anywhere to shoot. It's the other way around. When I'm somewhere, I take pictures there. I don't have expensive photo equipment either, I still take photos with my compact camera. My "cost" is in the time I have to invest to create an image, upload it and create keywords. It's my hourly wage. And when someone keeps lowering the hourly wage while taking in more and more, I feel screwed.

With Adobe Stock, my RPD is double what it is with shutterstock. I didn't get enough downloads together to get the full CC for free, because I didn't make the 5000 - unfortunately. I have never made it there. Even in my best year, I would have been just under 130 downloads short. But in our other forum you may have read that there are some contributors who have easily made it. By the way, one of them who makes it has less than 600 images in his portfolio. So that's an additional financial incentive to make an effort there. And I don't see that incentive with the other agencies anymore.

I have about 1300 images in the portfolio - on average for the agencies where I offer. I would have to double the images to make up for my losses from previous years. And if RPD is $0.10 at some point, I would have to upload six times the amount of images to make the same income. But then my hourly wage would just be way too low for me.

I also wouldn't work for an employer who cut my pay while my cost of living and his profit went up. And I certainly wouldn't work there more for the reduced pay. But as I wrote before: Everyone has to decide for himself. I will let it expire there - with all the resulting negative consequences, which you have already correctly indicated.

But here's a question: How many images have you uploaded to shutterstock this year?

« Reply #46 on: December 31, 2021, 11:12 »
0


But here's a question: How many images have you uploaded to shutterstock this year?
Around 2500 images, I think. I don't know the exact number, I don't think there is a way to ckeck on Shutterstock?
But so far I pretty much submitted a very similar amount of photos each month. I like sticking to fixed schedules.
« Last Edit: December 31, 2021, 11:28 by Firn »

Level6

« Reply #47 on: December 31, 2021, 11:46 »
0
Since everyone's predictions for 22 seem so gloomy, I thought I would share some numbers to give some people hope that maybe not all is lost in microstock. I am sure it's not the "good old days" anymore and rerquired more work these days, but it's not just all going downhills.
 I am not one of the "big players" in microstock, I don't make tons of money from it, but it's till a nice amount each month that contributes greatly to covering my living costs, so definitely more than just pocket change.

My conclusions for 2021 and prediction for 22: Not everything is on the decline. If you  keep putting effort into microstock, there is still a reward in in, income can still increase. I don't have any plans (mostly for the lack of ideas) to find a different way to sell my photos, but only plan to expand my portfolio and hopefully further increase my earnings.
Also, some conclusions at least from my portfolio:
The level earning structure on SS doesn't seem to be so bad, at least if you rise in level fast.
iSTock and SS, the agencies most people seem to hate are not only the ones that earn me the most money, but also the ones where my income improved the most in 21 compared to 20.
- Adobe, which averyone praises so much, is the agenciy with the smalles increade in earnings, even with a decline in earnings compared to 2020 during some months. Me and Adobe will probably never become good friends.

I didn't add the numbers for the small agencies, because it's so much work and also because I only joined most of them this year, so I don't have numbers to compare. On Alamy my earnings seem to be a bit better than in 20. At least they are more frequent, but with the many very low sales and me still waiting for sales from 9 months ago to clear, it's not so easy to get proper numbers. Last year Dreamstime was my best-selling agency of the "small ones", but both sale numbers and earnings are now on the decline, so not much hope for my future there.

Thanks I enjoyed that.  :)

Just for something a little bit different, and we're all different because of what we create and upload, Adobe income passed Shutterstock this year for me. That's a first. Not only because Adobe was best income year ever, but because SS payback is going down every year.

... Because that's something I see a lot - people who say they rarely submit new images or don't submit new images at all, but then are frustrated that their income declines. Maybe submitting some images and then just watching them make you money without submiting new content is something that used to work on Shutterstock years ago. I don't know. This is only my 4th year doing microstock. But nowadays, at least from my experinece, you have to keep putting effort into it if you want to see a reward. For me that seems to work.

One of my favorites, and it isn't just one person, things like "I removed my best images and I stopped uploading to SS, now my sales are terrible." Yeah, what did they expect?  ::) Or the one who deleted his portfolio then re-uploaded, then deleted and re-uploaded, plus only uploads new files after they have been on other sites for a month. And he wonders why the images aren't selling or don't have the rank they used to?  :o

I was waiting to say what I think for 2022, but it's almost tomorrow, close enough. I expect things to keep getting worse, and keep changing, as the agencies find any way they can to pay us less for our work. The only way to earn more is, upload more new files, of what's trending and needed. More of the same old stuff is the SOS, Same Old S#it and won't make more money.

That's my prediction. The ship has sailed, the train left the station and there's no way Microstock is going to make a stunning comeback, no new plan, or agency is coming to take us to the next level UP!. There is no new Next Big Thing. Just work smart and earn.

Question for you, despite all that gloomy prediction and I think you're 100% right btw, the train has left and there isn't another one coming, it's not gonna come back unless contributors find a way to sell this product outside of the agencies and if that happens the agencies will just take everyone's content and become free sites overnight to super flood the market and sink the contributors for good, the agencies are startups, they us workers with zero value.

How do you justify and find the motivation to even try going forward even without hiring models but just filming or photographing anything in your city?, for 10 cents and now 1 to 7 cents at Alamy it's barely a hobby or small side income for those who are retired.

Yesterday for example, I had nothing to do and the weather was decent and I couldn't bring myself to take the camera out and I had a whole list of ideas as Omicron has left my town empty like an abandoned movie set as everyone stays home but knowing that sales are so few now and pay so little I went out but without the camera.

You say work smart and earn and keep on top of the trends but how to find the trends? and again?, the pay out is so low now. 

I went from making a full time living at this to almost zero income since September 1 and now literally running a lemonade stand in the middle of winter on a snow day would make me more money.



« Reply #48 on: December 31, 2021, 12:04 »
0


But here's a question: How many images have you uploaded to shutterstock this year?

I think I see where you are going with that Wilm, and if I'm right it highlights what to me is probably the most profound change in microstock over the years. A trend which I'm afraid will continue well past 2022.

Earnings growth at one time much was more in line with portfolio growth. It was never a direct correlation obviously, but it was as I say, more predictable. I remember when feeding the beast used to be the mantra, and for a while it seemed to work. Now not so much. It's not the new earnings levels, pay cuts, increased competition, accelerated asset attrition, search engine bias, or even free images per se. It's all of the above combined that have greatly diminished the overall earning potential of any asset. Agencies don't rely on the success or failure of individual assets or portfolios but we do. To me this is the single most important factor that makes the whole game ultimately unsustainable.

Best to remember though that there's a honeymoon period for all of us and we all need to figure this out in our own time.

« Reply #49 on: December 31, 2021, 12:05 »
+1
Since everyone's predictions for 22 seem so gloomy, I thought I would share some numbers to give some people hope that maybe not all is lost in microstock. I am sure it's not the "good old days" anymore and rerquired more work these days, but it's not just all going downhills.
 I am not one of the "big players" in microstock, I don't make tons of money from it, but it's till a nice amount each month that contributes greatly to covering my living costs, so definitely more than just pocket change.

Shutterstock earnings
January 20->21: +131%
February 20->21: +214%
March 20->21: +151%
April 20->21: +74%
May 20->21: +132%
June 20->21: +140%
July 20->21: +148%
August 20->21: +123%
September 20->21: +45%
October 20->21: +98%
November 20->21: +23%
December 20->21: +11%

iStock earnings
January 20->21: +76%
February 20->21: +117%
March 20->21: +130%
April 20->21: +62%
May 20->21: +158%
June 20->21: +50%
July 20->21: +79%
August 20->21: +131%
September 20->21: +33%
October 20->21: +79%
November 20->21: +170%
 
Adobe earnings
January 20->21: +41%
February 20->21: +50%
March 20->21: +56%
April 20->21: -11%
May 20->21: -12%
June 20->21: -45%
July 20->21: +99%
August 20->21: +131%
September 20->21: +35%
October 20->21: +53%
November 20->21: +37%
December 20->21: +50%

My conclusions for 2021 and prediction for 22: Not everything is on the decline. If you  keep putting effort into microstock, there is still a reward in in, income can still increase. I don't have any plans (mostly for the lack of ideas) to find a different way to sell my photos, but only plan to expand my portfolio and hopefully further increase my earnings.
Also, some conclusions at least from my portfolio:
The level earning structure on SS doesn't seem to be so bad, at least if you rise in level fast.
iSTock and SS, the agencies most people seem to hate are not only the ones that earn me the most money, but also the ones where my income improved the most in 21 compared to 20.
- Adobe, which averyone praises so much, is the agenciy with the smalles increade in earnings, even with a decline in earnings compared to 2020 during some months. Me and Adobe will probably never become good friends.

I didn't add the numbers for the small agencies, because it's so much work and also because I only joined most of them this year, so I don't have numbers to compare. On Alamy my earnings seem to be a bit better than in 20. At least they are more frequent, but with the many very low sales and me still waiting for sales from 9 months ago to clear, it's not so easy to get proper numbers. Last year Dreamstime was my best-selling agency of the "small ones", but both sale numbers and earnings are now on the decline, so not much hope for my future there.

Apart from a couple of smaller agencies,things have been good in 2021. My main  agencies provide 10%+ year on year increase in profits and I'm able to continue doing this job FT.

I see people say, "There'll only be hobbyists and part timers left". I don't buy that at all. In fact, I think it'll be that group that will bail out first. It is becoming harder and harder to make money from micro... hobbyists and part timers don't have the time to produce the volume/quality work consistently over the year to make a dent in the market. Yes, they don't need that extra money but, they'll not put up with earning a couple of $'s while using up all their spare time.

SS now reset their earnings each year so the spend more time trying to regain what they've lost... a lot of part times took a good couple of years or more to reach the previous SS max commission level. By mid Jan I'll already be more or less back to my pre Christmas level. It's certainly a PITA but I recover my previous level quite fast.

For hobbyists, what used to be maybe $50-$100 a month is most likely $15-$35 and will require a lot of their free time to achieve it! Possibly even less $. People will get bored of that quite quickly. The problem new starters have is getting from the point of nothing to earning enough to survive. That is certainly a lot harder now than it was back in say 2010 when I started out.


 

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