Author Topic: Earnings in February 2013 (Read 11010 times)

steheap · « **on:** February 28, 2013, 22:23 »

I'll have to work up the enthusiasm to create my graphs this month after a really depressing 28 days. I know this is a short month, and it had a US federal holiday, but I dropped from $2200 in January to $1580 in February. Pretty much all sites were down for me - Shutterstock from $828 to $697 due to an almost complete lack in the Single sales during the month. iStock was as low as I've seen it in a while - makes you wonder if they have reduced the search priority for those contributors who deleted images at the beginning of the month! IS down from $323 to $225. Big $165 refund on Alamy made my month...

More to come after I finish this bottle of wine..

Steve

JPSDK · « **Reply #1 on:** February 28, 2013, 22:38 »

SS up. BME
FT as usual
DT down
IS lost and forgotten

nicku · « **Reply #2 on:** March 01, 2013, 01:11 »

Slow month for me... worst than January 2013,

SS---------- average

( saved from disaster in the last days by S&O sales). First month in the last year without any EL's

FT----------- Average ( again saved from disaster by some last minute EL'S)

DT-----------Average ( as usual) $:-\$
123RF------Good month , good revenue , BME regarding sales

DP-----------Average
CANstock--- Good month

Hope March will be a better month.

Anyka · « **Reply #3 on:** March 01, 2013, 02:33 »

Without Alamy, I had 1% growth (dollars) compared to February 2013, which is surprisingly good as I had a read bad January.
SS : down 3% (lack of OD's, less downloads too)
IS : down 8% without TS, I expect 33% growth with TS sales come in (which is still 45% below BME!!)
DST : status quo thanks to 1 EL
FT : down 19% !!
GLO : status quo
BIG : down 23% !!
132rf : up 84% (success both in EL's and in regular sales)
DP : up 400% (but I only started in 2012)
CAN : up 64% (nice surprise!)
Rodeo : down 78%! They relaunched the site, but my new files from July have not been accepted yet!!

So the month was really saved by 123rf, DP, CAN and ... I hate to say it : probably by TS too.

I expect the worst for March : last year's March was a BME for me, so I'll probably not be able to beat that, and also : Easter falls in March this year, so I'll put my bets on April

microstockphoto.co.uk · « **Reply #4 on:** March 01, 2013, 03:01 »

When comparing months, shouldn't we "normalise" the month's length, e.g. to a standard 30.42 days per month?

February is about 10% shorter than a 31 days' month, which is a lot.

Anyka · « **Reply #5 on:** March 01, 2013, 03:07 »

I never compare with the previous month, always with the same month last year. But you're right, Feb12 had 1 (working) day less than Feb13.

gillian vann · « **Reply #6 on:** March 01, 2013, 05:25 »

SS BME
iS should be good, although suspect yes, there may be some backlash against deactivations?
everyone one else below average

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #7 on:** March 01, 2013, 06:11 »

iStock exclusive, compared to previous years:

February 2012: $ -17% DL -38%

February 2011: $ -29% DL -64%

February 2010: $ -37% DL -77%

February 2009: $ -11% DL -80%

February 2008: $ -7% DL -83%

No longer sustainable for exclusive photographers over the long term.

ShadySue · « **Reply #8 on:** March 01, 2013, 06:13 »

iS only.
Compared to Feb 12: dls -48%, $$ +7%, port +9%
Compared to Jan 13: dls -14%, $$ +38%, port -4.5%
Downward sales trend deeply scary; $$ improvement due to 2 EL including a very good one yesterday. Otherwise $$ would also have been pretty poor.
However, last Feb's includes GI, which they didn't manage to report this month.
Lowest number of downloads since I became exclusive in late July 2007 (sic), i.e. that was my previous lowest dls, when my port was well under 1/3 of what it is now.

Alamy chugging along with some lowish value sales.

(Deactivation backlash for me seems to be a longer inspection time. I've had a file pending (not trying to reactivate an old one) since 17th; CR says it isn't stuck but 'inspections take longer during busy times'. Stats have been pretty steady all month and I haven't seen any other mention of long inspection times.)

and don't forget (I nearly did!) 75c from FAA!

Microbius · « **Reply #9 on:** March 01, 2013, 07:54 »

All pretty good except IS, which has seen a massive drop for me, lower than last Feb, and I upload a lot

disorderly · « **Reply #10 on:** March 01, 2013, 08:05 »

SS was a BME, up 22% over January and 41% over February, 2012; 46% of my total.

123RF was 2nd, up 25% over January and 11% over February, 2012; 25% of my total.

iStock was 3rd, down 7% from January and 2% from a year ago; 8% of my total.

They're followed by Deposit at 5%, Canstock at 4%, PhotoDune at 4%, Dreamstime at 3% and the rest of the small fry.

Overall, February was up 12% over January and up 24% over February, 2012. Not bad at all, especially for a short month.

EmberMike · « **Reply #11 on:** March 01, 2013, 09:01 »

I haven't looked at everything yet, but SS was within a few bucks of a BME, despite the short month. I also had my BDE in February, both in DLs and in $$.

OM · « **Reply #12 on:** March 01, 2013, 10:16 »

One SOD short of a BME.

But still an exceptional month with loads of ODD's, 2 EL's and a small SOD.

$200+ on a port of <150 for the month is not too bad and 70% up on January.

A small but short-lived stirring in the polar regions at FT which took my weekly ranking from 10,000+ to 3,000 but it seems that winter has returned once more. Hopeless.

tab62 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 01, 2013, 11:03 »

amazing results on a portfolio of less than 150!

cthoman · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2013, 11:24 »

From my blog...

Quote

It was a decent month. I needed a couple more days to make it a good month, but that’s February. Here’s the agency breakdown.

Clipartof was my top agency again with 29% of my passive earnings. My own site, MyStockVectors, barely edged out Shutterstock with 15%. Shutterstock was 15% as well. It really only came down to a few dollars difference. Toon Vectors jumped up to 4th place with 12%. Dreamstime was next with 10%. Can Stock was 6% and GL was 3%. Everybody else was 1% or under.

As George Peppard (Hannibal from The A-Team) would say,”I love it when a plan comes together”. It’s nice to see the three agencies I’ve been concentrating on lately (Clipartof, Toon Vectors & MyStockVectors) becoming my top agencies. Hopefully, the trend continues. I also started uploading more to Drawshop, but I haven’t seen much growth yet.

On a side note, it was a very strange month. The changes at Google (specifically Google Images) halved traffic to my site, but sales were still strong. I’m not really sure what to make of it, but I’m glad it didn’t destroy everything I’d built so far. It’s kind of scary that Google has that much power. I guess that’s the internet though.

February needs to be longer.

OM · « **Reply #15 on:** March 01, 2013, 11:59 »

Quote from: tab62 on March 01, 2013, 11:03

amazing results on a portfolio of less than 150!

A lot of my better stuff from FT which sold well at FT until they changed the search having decided, in their wisdom, that it was all old crap and not what buyers wanted anymore!

Pixart · « **Reply #16 on:** March 01, 2013, 12:14 »

SS 47%
IS 4% (From Jan Partner Sales)
DT 17%
FT 11%
BS 6%
DS 6%
CS 2%
V 4%

SS is climbing, climbing - but very worrisome that they make up so much of the total!

Bauman · « **Reply #17 on:** March 01, 2013, 12:54 »

Very good, BME (+19% on previous).

14 months of Microstock

Avg port 535 img (last month +13%)

SS 49% -> BME
FT 24% -> BME
DT 6%
IS 6% (NO PP - With Jan PP 14%)
DP 5% -> BME
123 5% -> BME
VE 2% -> BME
PD 2%
BS 1%

9 agencies, 5 BME.

Jogga0 · « **Reply #18 on:** March 01, 2013, 13:16 »

Feb 2013 included 14 days of independence - royalties are down 49% compared to Feb 2012, downloads up 12%

Daevid · « **Reply #19 on:** March 01, 2013, 13:26 »

Worst month since June, 2009. Meh.

Amanda_K · « **Reply #20 on:** March 01, 2013, 13:58 »

Shutterstock was interesting this month, I noticed the balance of subscription sales to on demand downloads is inching closer to a 60-40 mix. Previously ODD had only made up about 25% and then were holding steady around 1/3 for a while. Last two months is up. Istock customers moving over maybe?

JFP · « **Reply #21 on:** March 01, 2013, 13:59 »

I would be interested to know how many files you have managed to upload on other sites in those 2 weeks, and what is the damage over Jan 2013.

Quote from: Jogga0 on March 01, 2013, 13:16

Feb 2013 included 14 days of independence - royalties are down 49% compared to Feb 2012, downloads up 12%

gostwyck · « **Reply #22 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:18 »

Not too bad. I was 3% up over Feb 2012.

SS up a bit, IS same, DT & FT down a bit, BS down a lot (what's going on there?).

ShadySue · « **Reply #23 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:36 »

Quote from: Jogga0 on March 01, 2013, 13:16

Feb 2013 included 14 days of independence - royalties are down 49% compared to Feb 2012, downloads up 12%

Oh, the irony. Most people's iS downloads are down!

OLJensa · « **Reply #24 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:44 »

BME +23%

SS 36,4%
iS 25,2%
FT 12,4%
DT 11,1%
Veer 5.5%
CanS 3,9%
BS 3,4%
123RF 2,0%

luissantos84 · « **Reply #25 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:50 »

Quote from: OLJensa on March 01, 2013, 14:44

BME +23%

SS 36,4%
iS 25,2%
FT 12,4%
DT 11,1%
Veer 5.5%
CanS 3,9%
BS 3,4%
123RF 2,0%

sorry are your iStock numbers correct? you have 4 sales right? ain't 0.252%?

ShadySue · « **Reply #26 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:53 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on March 01, 2013, 14:50

Quote from: OLJensa on March 01, 2013, 14:44
BME +23%

SS 36,4%
iS 25,2%
FT 12,4%
DT 11,1%
Veer 5.5%
CanS 3,9%
BS 3,4%
123RF 2,0%

sorry are your iStock numbers correct? you have 4 sales right? ain't 0.252%?

4 sales could make 25% of $$ total for a newbie.

Jogga0 · « **Reply #27 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:57 »

Quote from: JFP on March 01, 2013, 13:59

I would be interested to know how many files you have managed to upload on other sites in those 2 weeks, and what is the damage over Jan 2013.

Quote from: Jogga0 on March 01, 2013, 13:16
Feb 2013 included 14 days of independence - royalties are down 49% compared to Feb 2012, downloads up 12%

Managed about 300 files on FT and SS about 380 on DT, GL and 123 about 100 on Alamy, royalties only 3% down on Jan 2013

luissantos84 · « **Reply #28 on:** March 01, 2013, 14:59 »

Quote from: ShadySue on March 01, 2013, 14:53

Quote from: luissantos84 on March 01, 2013, 14:50
Quote from: OLJensa on March 01, 2013, 14:44
BME +23%

SS 36,4%
iS 25,2%
FT 12,4%
DT 11,1%
Veer 5.5%
CanS 3,9%
BS 3,4%
123RF 2,0%

sorry are your iStock numbers correct? you have 4 sales right? ain't 0.252%?
4 sales could make 25% of $$ total for a newbie.

sure, 4 sales for 7 cents each

p.s: don't forget to change your EL prices at FT Jens

MisterElements · « **Reply #29 on:** March 01, 2013, 16:06 »

Great Month

rubyroo · « **Reply #30 on:** March 01, 2013, 18:07 »

Overall:

2% increase on January 2013.
29% increase on February 2012.

Shutterstock, iStock and 123RF showed increases on last month (and last year). FT and DT were both down from last month, but up from last year.

lisafx · « **Reply #31 on:** March 01, 2013, 18:38 »

I was about dead even with January 2013. However, not happy to see I am 20% down on last February.

I seem to have been down around 20% on the same month the prior year each month for nearly a year now. Not a welcome trend....

davidgoh · « **Reply #32 on:** March 02, 2013, 00:28 »

I've only been truly active for two months, but my February iStock earnings were twice that of January's. (Portfolio size increased by 1/3 too.)

wordplanet · « **Reply #33 on:** March 02, 2013, 00:34 »

Even with February 2012 on total numbers but half what I made in January, and I'm only even with last year's total stock photo sales due to sales on Alamy - microstock sales are down across the board 30-50% from February 2012. DT inched up a tad from January but is down from last year.

Overall my stock photo sales are up 33% over this time last year, thanks to slow but steady growth on Alamy despite the lower commission and a strong January at SS. March is starting strong so keeping my fingers crossed that it will keep up.

I added a lot of new work in in the past couple of weeks (relatively speaking since my portfolio is small-158 at SS; 600+ at Alamy) so hoping that will pay off. I deleted half of the 30 photos I had on iStock so it's amazing I had any sales there at all.

Mellimage · « **Reply #34 on:** March 02, 2013, 03:52 »

Decent month - up by 20% from January (but we are talking low numbers anyways).
SS provided almost 50% of my monthly income, FT and DT shared the rest at almost equal shares and the little rest left (less than 10%) came from 123rf. Highest RPD was accomplished at DT, but highest RPI at SS. FT had the strongest earnings increase compared to January (though it is still way below last January).

Poncke · « **Reply #35 on:** March 02, 2013, 05:53 »

     Up/Down vs Jan 2013   % of total for Feb
Shutter     68%     54.36% BME
Fotolia     -22%     8.73%
123RF     58%     3.33% BME in DLS not in $$
Canstock     -46%     2.68%
Deposit     -27%     2.66% BME in DLS not in $$
Photodune     -11%     1.97%
Grapic Leftovers     0%     0% (0 sales ever, smallest port)
Nationale Beeldbank     -36%     2.39%
Direct Sales     530%     8.56% BME
Zazzle     55%     1.16%
Fine Art America     100%     13.95%
Alamy     -100%     0.21% (0 sales in feb)

Overal Feb 2013 was up by 93% compared to Jan 2013. Feb 2013 was second to BME.

oboy · « **Reply #36 on:** March 04, 2013, 12:38 »

February was 37% better then January and 38% better then February 2012.

The fore best agencies for February: Shutterstock, DepositPhotos, Zazzle, Dreamstime

Complete statistic at: http://microstockinfos.blogspot.com/2013/03/stock-photography-sales-statistic.html

(This statistic include referral earning at the different agencies)

steheap · « **Reply #37 on:** March 04, 2013, 16:38 »

This set of graphs reminded me to complete my report on earnings! I've put it up now on my blog:
http://www.backyardsilver.com/2013/03/earnings-from-stock-photography-in-february-2013/, but here are the main graphs. As I reported earlier in this thread, I didn't like my results in February very much. A big drop from $2200 to $1580 - far more than the days of the month could cause. Here is the main graph showing earnings over time:

To give you some scale, here is a picture of current images online on the main sites. Not much change during February as I had a bit of a break from keywording and uploading:

Finally, a percentage of earnings from each site graph - I'm sure there is a message in there somewhere, but I'm still looking!

Steve

Poncke · « **Reply #38 on:** March 04, 2013, 17:51 »

Leaf, can images be auto scaled to screen size so that we dont have to scroll left right?

THP Creative · « **Reply #39 on:** March 04, 2013, 19:14 »

After January being a BME, Feb was a let down. Basically made my monthly average, but no increase, despite adding new images.

Standouts were SS, DP improved for a BME, FT a BME and PD steady. Most others were average or below.

Here's hoping for a much better March!

Gio · « **Reply #40 on:** March 05, 2013, 08:51 »

Compared to Feb…

2012: -36%
2011: -17%
2010: -24%

OLJensa · « **Reply #41 on:** March 05, 2013, 13:45 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on March 01, 2013, 14:50

Quote from: OLJensa on March 01, 2013, 14:44
BME +23%

SS 36,4%
iS 25,2%
FT 12,4%
DT 11,1%
Veer 5.5%
CanS 3,9%
BS 3,4%
123RF 2,0%

sorry are your iStock numbers correct? you have 4 sales right? ain't 0.252%?

Hehe you are very observant

Yes I am a newbie so it isn't that difficult - made ~ 70$ total last month

. And I had 4 normal and one EL on iS

.