Author Topic: August 2012 Microstock Income (Read 14228 times)

leaf · « **on:** September 01, 2012, 02:54 »

Here are my numbers for august 2012

Shutterstock was a few dollars less than last month which was surprising and they they contributed 2% less to my overall income. Dreamstime and Fotolia are each up a percent. Really, no changes overall. My income was up 6% over last month which is pretty insignificant considering august is generally a better earning month compared to July.

Oh yeah, and the polls (or more notably the graphs) are working again. You can find it on the top menu under Polls.
Here is a link to cast this months vote
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?page=microstockmonthlysurvey

leaf · « **Reply #1 on:** September 01, 2012, 03:34 »

.. just a follow up here. There was a problem with the voting system, it wasn't saving your voted. It's fixed now, but if you go to the voting page to vote and you are still able to vote (even if you've voted already this month), that means your vote wasn't counted. It would be great if you could try again.

jm · « **Reply #2 on:** September 01, 2012, 04:34 »

Thanks to few ELs August became surprisingly BME after bad start.
My MSG Earnings rating shows that DT and DP are not the right places for my images:

SS         100
Fotolia      28
123rf         24
DT         11.5
Veer         7
PhotoDune/GR   6
Canstock      6
Deposit      4.5
Yay         3.5
VectorStock   2
BigStock      2
PM         2
& others

corepics · « **Reply #3 on:** September 01, 2012, 04:50 »

Our August stats Revenue (Agency | change July 2012|August 2011)

iStock | -22% | +22%
Shutterstock | -12% | +48%
Fotolia | +19% | +15%
Dreamstime | +10% | -8%
123RF | -15% | +59%

Overall | -10% | + 28%
(via Stockperformer)

A massive, and unprecedented shift across the board for us (usual changes in 2012 are ± 2-3%). Including the smaller sites, our revenue is down by ~5%.

Shutterstock Downloads totals are marginally down, but the lack of EL's and Signle Downloads in August dropped the revenues. EL's also went AWOL on iStock. Smaller sites, in general, performed well, especially DP, and also CanStockPhoto recovered nicely.

iStock performed poorly for the first time in 2012.

nicku · « **Reply #4 on:** September 01, 2012, 05:08 »

The percentage of the income and pie slices :

SS - 60%
FT - 20%
DT - 10%
123RF - 5%

The rest - 5%

Overall an above average month considering that Aug is a slow month due to the holidays.

Compared with July 2012:

SS, -20%
FT, -30%
DT, -50%
123RF, -30%

Overall earnings down with 25% compared with Jul 2012. But like i said considering that Aug is the worst month from the year -25% compared with my BME is not bad.

CD123 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 01, 2012, 07:42 »

Interesting. My total income was up by 30% from July (had a huge drop in July). No big single sales in August to cause this rise - overall better performance at 80% of my sites. Highest number of images sold year to date in August (mostly caused by SS).

Bauman · « **Reply #6 on:** September 01, 2012, 07:50 »

9 months
254 avg port

SS 100% (1 EL)
IS 54% (without PP)
FT 33%
DT 18%
123 14%
DP 8%
PD 3%
BS 2%

BME +70%

disorderly · « **Reply #7 on:** September 01, 2012, 08:52 »

August was up 12% on July thanks to a very large EL that arrived at SS at the last minute. I'm down 10% compared to August, 2011, but that was an extraordinarily good month. Here's the breakdown:

SS 41% up 44%
123RF 14% down 19%
Deposit 11% up 149%
iStock 9% down 26%
PDune 7% up 82%
DT 6% down 2%
CanStockPhoto 5% up 156%
BigStock 2% down 61%
Fotolia 1% up 16%
Veer 1% down 82%

Year over year (September 2011 - August 2012 vs. a year earlier) I'm up 30%.

Anyka · « **Reply #8 on:** September 01, 2012, 12:49 »

August was bad for the Big sites and very good for the small ones :

Compaired to August 2011 :
SS : -8%
IS -25% (but still expecting partners sales)
DST -9%
FT -17%
BIG -30%
CAN -31%
GLO +250%
123rf +57%
DP +150%

Canstock was a BME until yesterday they cancelled 3 EL's without notification at all, so now I'm at -31% compared to 2011.

Istock is down, but I have noticed that partner sales is growing very fast. In July, partner sales were 33% of total Istock sales, so if that trend stays, Istock will be up instead of down.

Fotolia went down for the first time in 2012.
Rodeo and Alamy also had a good month.

Bottomline (and after the IS partner sales have come in), I'll probably have a status quo compared to August 2011. This is all in dollars - the Euro results are better of course this month.

lisafx · « **Reply #9 on:** September 01, 2012, 14:18 »

The silver lining for me is that I was up 5% from a positively dismal July. That was due almost entirely to a very good month at Alamy, which has never been a top seller for me before. So I would say a fluke.

I am down 17% from August 2011, with most of those drops at Fotolia (-55% ) and Istock (-48%). Shutterstock, by contrast, came in right about dead even with last year.

As I said, the biggest gain was at Alamy, but again, that is likely a fluke due to a couple of lucrative sales.

In my case, it is really the small sites keeping me afloat. If not for decent sales among the mid and lower tier agencies I would be sunk.

The Big 4 used to bring in 90% of my income. It is now down to 72%, with 28% coming from the up-and-comers.

Fotolia's drop from last year doesn't even tell the story. They are down literally 75% from a couple of years ago. It's mind blowing really.

At only 6% of my total income, it is getting to the point where I could easily drop Fotolia without suffering much of a loss. If I don't see my sales there improve over the next few months I will seriously consider it.

ShadySue · « **Reply #10 on:** September 01, 2012, 14:39 »

Very poor at iStock:
Compared to Aug 11: $$-24%; dls -40%
Compared to July 12: $$-24%; dls -11%
The monthly total was saved by a better month on Alamy.

cthoman · « **Reply #11 on:** September 01, 2012, 14:47 »

2nd best month of the year.

lisafx · « **Reply #12 on:** September 01, 2012, 15:02 »

Quote from: cthoman on September 01, 2012, 14:47

2nd best month of the year.

Congrats Cory. I am curious where the bulk of your sales are coming from.

gostwyck · « **Reply #13 on:** September 01, 2012, 15:08 »

I was 2% down on last August which itself was an unusually good month so I'm not too disappointed.

SS continuing to grow nicely, up 26% over the year. Just a few $'s short of a BME.

IS down 39% compared to last year but Aug 2011 was an exceptional month. They have sunk to a new low of 22.4% in my microstock earnings though. Last year they were at 36%.

DT down 22%. Will almost certainly be beaten into fifth place by the PP when those results come in.

FT down 20% despite having turned Emerald earlier in the year (my income has actually dropped since I gained 'promotion').

cthoman · « **Reply #14 on:** September 01, 2012, 15:43 »

Quote from: lisafx on September 01, 2012, 15:02

Quote from: cthoman on September 01, 2012, 14:47
2nd best month of the year.

Congrats Cory. I am curious where the bulk of your sales are coming from.

Thanks. It's still pretty similar to my halftime report:

http://www.microstockgroup.com/blog-updates/stock-report-halftime/msg264118/#msg264118

Only minus 123RF this month. It's a bit odd that every time I eliminate a site... another one rises up. I'm sure it is just coincidence, but it makes me think.

aeonf · « **Reply #15 on:** September 01, 2012, 16:12 »

Exclusives at IS.
A so-so month:
Up 20% from last month at 2,050$
Up 66% from 08/11

lisafx · « **Reply #16 on:** September 01, 2012, 18:15 »

Quote from: cthoman on September 01, 2012, 15:43

Thanks. It's still pretty similar to my halftime report:

http://www.microstockgroup.com/blog-updates/stock-report-halftime/msg264118/#msg264118

Only minus 123RF this month. It's a bit odd that every time I eliminate a site... another one rises up. I'm sure it is just coincidence, but it makes me think.

Thanks for the link. I had forgotten about that thread. I see that you aren't on my two biggest losers (FT and IS). Very heartening to see that someone can get by without them and even thrive.

dreamstock · « **Reply #17 on:** September 02, 2012, 01:34 »

compare to aug 2011,

portfolio +30%
earning +41%

everything seems normal to me.

rubyroo · « **Reply #18 on:** September 02, 2012, 04:58 »

A very pleasing BME here with more than my usual share of ELs. August seems to be good to me for some reason, as Aug 2011 was a pretty striking BME also.

In order:

1. Shutterstock
2. iStock (approx a third of SS)
3. 123RF
4. Dreamstime

djpadavona · « **Reply #19 on:** September 02, 2012, 08:30 »

This was the least diversified month I've ever had in microstock, outside of my year of exclusivity.

SS 65%
IS 11%
DT 9%
123 5%
BigStock 4%
CanStockPhoto 3%
WP 3%
GL and Veer <1%

Istock and Dreamstime each cratered from recent months, while SS set a BME with no new uploads. Two late month sales at my own site pushed its rankings artificially high, equal with CanStockPhoto. That's the power of 100% commissions though.

stockmarketer · « **Reply #20 on:** September 03, 2012, 07:18 »

Compared to July 2012, my Aug 2012 was: down 5%
Compared to Aug 2011, my Aug 2012 was: up 12%

So I'm happy year over year, but very concerned about the current trend. August should have been up over July by a good amount, rather than down.

Very, very worried about Sept. Bad things going on behind the scenes that may not deliver the typical Sept boost that I would normally expect.

Feels like I've hit "the wall," but it's an artificial one the big micros have put before me. I've diversified my subject matter and styles, and implemented workflow improvements that increased my output. I'm doing everything right. It's not me, it's them.

SS, FT and DT all changed their best match, severely cutting my downloads. IS lets in so few of my shots that I decided to stop uploading there. And DT implemented its ridiculous similars policy that cut my uploads there by 95%. Had the big 4 kept doing what they've done the past several years, I'm convinced my growth would be continuing at the same rate as prior years.

Fortunately I've found a new endeavor to devote my energies toward... I'm just as excited about that as I was about microstock several years ago... that's where my passion will be moving forward. I think my microstock efforts now will be just "going through the motions" to keep momentum going while my heart is somewhere else. You probably won't see me posting here much anymore... I'll be frequenting a forum focused on the other endeavor.

leaf · « **Reply #21 on:** September 03, 2012, 07:35 »

Quote from: stockmarketer on September 03, 2012, 07:18

Compared to July 2012, my Aug 2012 was: down 5%
Compared to Aug 2011, my Aug 2012 was: up 12%

So I'm happy year over year, but very concerned about the current trend. August should have been up over July by a good amount, rather than down.

Very, very worried about Sept. Bad things going on behind the scenes that may not deliver the typical Sept boost that I would normally expect.

Feels like I've hit "the wall," but it's an artificial one the big micros have put before me. I've diversified my subject matter and styles, and implemented workflow improvements that increased my output. I'm doing everything right. It's not me, it's them.

SS, FT and DT all changed their best match, severely cutting my downloads. IS lets in so few of my shots that I decided to stop uploading there. And DT implemented its ridiculous similars policy that cut my uploads there by 95%. Had the big 4 kept doing what they've done the past several years, I'm convinced my growth would be continuing at the same rate as prior years.

Fortunately I've found a new endeavor to devote my energies toward... I'm just as excited about that as I was about microstock several years ago... that's where my passion will be moving forward. I think my microstock efforts now will be just "going through the motions" to keep momentum going while my heart is somewhere else. You probably won't see me posting here much anymore... I'll be frequenting a forum focused on the other endeavor.

... so do tell. What's you're new endeavor?

lisafx · « **Reply #22 on:** September 03, 2012, 09:37 »

Quote from: stockmarketer on September 03, 2012, 07:18

Compared to July 2012, my Aug 2012 was: down 5%
Compared to Aug 2011, my Aug 2012 was: up 12%

So I'm happy year over year, but very concerned about the current trend. August should have been up over July by a good amount, rather than down.

Very, very worried about Sept. Bad things going on behind the scenes that may not deliver the typical Sept boost that I would normally expect.

Feels like I've hit "the wall," but it's an artificial one the big micros have put before me. I've diversified my subject matter and styles, and implemented workflow improvements that increased my output. I'm doing everything right. It's not me, it's them.

SS, FT and DT all changed their best match, severely cutting my downloads. IS lets in so few of my shots that I decided to stop uploading there. And DT implemented its ridiculous similars policy that cut my uploads there by 95%. Had the big 4 kept doing what they've done the past several years, I'm convinced my growth would be continuing at the same rate as prior years.

Fortunately I've found a new endeavor to devote my energies toward... I'm just as excited about that as I was about microstock several years ago... that's where my passion will be moving forward. I think my microstock efforts now will be just "going through the motions" to keep momentum going while my heart is somewhere else. You probably won't see me posting here much anymore... I'll be frequenting a forum focused on the other endeavor.

I hear you friend. I think a lot of us are coming to the same conclusions.

stan · « **Reply #23 on:** September 03, 2012, 10:17 »

Quote from: stockmarketer on September 03, 2012, 07:18

SS, FT and DT all changed their best match, severely cutting my downloads. IS lets in so few of my shots that I decided to stop uploading there. And DT implemented its ridiculous similars policy that cut my uploads there by 95%.

Great, they should reinforce that policy, punishing everyone who's earnings depend on quantity and not quality. There's too much substandard content on the micros anyway, not allowing the buyers to find what they want, that's why they're leaving in droves, some of them willing to pay 10x, 20x or even 5000x the price on the macros (5000x comes from the comparison of average sub sale price compared to a 1500$+ RM sale).

No search algorithm can ever be as good to put only the best images in front of the buyers from millions crappy ones.

lightphoto · « **Reply #24 on:** September 03, 2012, 10:44 »

iS - 2ndBME +108% v Aug '11, + 23% v july '12. Photo+ is helping my numbers alot
SS - +10% v Aug '11, -30% v July '12
DT - BME (not saying much - still only 13% of my total)
Fotolia - I gave up and deleted my port
123RF - steady small sales

overall - BME assuming iS partner sales are consistent. Looking forward to the fall!

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Author Topic: August 2012 Microstock Income (Read 14228 times)

leaf

leaf

jm

corepics

nicku

CD123

Bauman

disorderly

Anyka

lisafx

ShadySue

cthoman

lisafx

gostwyck

cthoman

aeonf

lisafx

dreamstock

rubyroo

djpadavona

stockmarketer

leaf

lisafx

stan

lightphoto

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