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Author Topic: Experiences after quitting iStock exclusivity.  (Read 60120 times)

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SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #200 on: March 18, 2013, 15:39 »
+6
two days left of exclusivity. I know it will be tough. it was time. have to say, the Shutterstock uploading process is great. opted out until independence day of course, but getting my files on board. excited for other ventures too  ;)


« Reply #201 on: March 18, 2013, 15:40 »
0
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« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:21 by Audi 5000 »

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #202 on: March 18, 2013, 15:45 »
+2
^ I have read just about everything I can get my hands on. I'll certainly be uploading carefully and gradually as I do elsewhere.

« Reply #203 on: March 18, 2013, 15:48 »
0
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« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:21 by Audi 5000 »

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #204 on: March 18, 2013, 15:55 »
+1
strategy is a to-each-his-own kind of thing. not too worried about a consensus, but I think anyone in similar positions should be doing their homework.

lisafx

« Reply #205 on: March 18, 2013, 15:58 »
+2
two days left of exclusivity. I know it will be tough. it was time. have to say, the Shutterstock uploading process is great. opted out until independence day of course, but getting my files on board. excited for other ventures too  ;)

I honestly never thought this day would come.  If Istock has managed to lose loyal exclusives like you, Stacy, they are really FUBAR.

Good luck with independence.  I know your port will do well wherever you put it.  :)

PM or e-mail me if there's anything you need to know that I can help with...

« Reply #206 on: March 18, 2013, 15:59 »
0
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« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 15:21 by Audi 5000 »

« Reply #207 on: March 18, 2013, 16:01 »
0
SNP: quite a surprise! good luck!!
Care to share the results of your homework?


« Reply #208 on: March 18, 2013, 16:05 »
0
I think the numbers are correct and may even be slightly biased in favor of Shutterstock.  It's not supposed to indicate anything about your portfolio or anyone's for that matter, the point was that the best selling files on Istock make more than the best selling files on Shutterstock still even though downloads are going down, that is a factual statement not an opinion.  You can make what you want out of that, I think it shows that one can still make a lot of money on Istock and reports of Istock's imminent collapse are exaggerated.

I don't care to guess other people's numbers but my own (factual) best-selling images, in earnings order, at the various agencies are as follows;

1 - SS
2 - IS
3 - SS
4 - SS
5 - IS
6 - IS
7 - SS
8 - DT
9 - IS
10 - IS

I think it quite possible that my actual top earning images are 3 of my exclusive images at FT but I can't find any way to extract earnings for individual images and anyway, the images were exclusive so it would not be a fair comparison.

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #209 on: March 18, 2013, 16:12 »
+1
Thanks Lisa, you're always so supportive. I'm taking it one day at a time but certainly have been planning the move carefully. There are lots of irons in the fire and it's an exciting time. I know it's going to take hard work and I have realistic expectations, but having control over my work and feeling good about the agenc(ies) selling my work is most important to me. As I said, it was time and the decision wasn't difficult, which tells me it's right.

as for my research, it's just common sense. contacting support, reading forums, speaking to those in the know and jumping in head first....that's about it.


lucato

  • [<o>] Brasil


« Reply #210 on: March 18, 2013, 16:33 »
+1
Welcome aboard SNP and good luck in your new steps.
Feel free to share your experiences as indie here and free also to contact me if you want to.
Have a nice week.

rubyroo

« Reply #211 on: March 18, 2013, 16:38 »
+1
Wow!  SNP too!  I never thought that would happen.  Good luck to you 'out here'.  I'm sure you'll do well.

mlwinphoto

« Reply #212 on: March 18, 2013, 18:56 »
+1
Wow, Stacey.  Actually, based on some of the questions you've been asking recently in the forums over there I thought you may be dropping the crown.
Best of luck to you.  You've made the right decision and I'm sure there will be many following you shortly, myself included.

« Reply #213 on: March 18, 2013, 19:09 »
+3
some people need to get a life really, why giving a minus to Stacey post?

best of luck ;D

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #214 on: March 18, 2013, 19:32 »
+7
thanks all. I've been a little quiet about it, it's a bittersweet thing. I really dislike that iStock and Getty put us in a position to have to make such drastic changes, but they did and many some of us exclusives were primed to walk the plank. who knew that the sharks were actually kinda friendly  :P

I'm excited about things to come, felt like posting in here today for advice as I begin life as an indie on March 20.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #215 on: March 18, 2013, 19:34 »
+1
thanks all. I've been a little quiet about it, it's a bittersweet thing. I really dislike that iStock and Getty put us in a position to have to make such drastic changes, but they did and many some of us exclusives were primed to walk the plank. who knew that the sharks were actually kinda friendly  :P

I'm excited about things to come, felt like posting in here today for advice as I begin life as an indie on March 20.

Good luck with your future endeavours.
They certainly seem to be going out all guns blazing to alienate contributors.

« Reply #216 on: March 18, 2013, 20:10 »
+3
some people need to get a life really, why giving a minus to Stacey post?

best of luck ;D


Well, if i had to guess i would say it might be because of the many millions of time she called people here names because we all knew where this was headed months/years ago while she remained loyal to istock. The many times she said we were all naysayers and paranoid and we needed tin foil hats. And it was our fault what was happening to istock. Blah,blah, blah. Need i go on?


For me, she isnt worth a plus or a minus. Sure would be nice to see an apology from her for all those nasty things she said about how ignorant everyone here was, but i seriously doubt THATS ever going to happen here.  ::)


She even went a couple of rounds with lisafx but looks like they are on the same team now.  :D


« Reply #217 on: March 18, 2013, 20:16 »
+6
thanks all. I've been a little quiet about it, it's a bittersweet thing. I really dislike that iStock and Getty put us in a position to have to make such drastic changes, but they did and many some of us exclusives were primed to walk the plank. who knew that the sharks were actually kinda friendly  :P

I'm excited about things to come, felt like posting in here today for advice as I begin life as an indie on March 20.

Good luck Stacey and well done on making a tough decision. I think you've probably got the timing about right.

Concentrate your efforts on uploading to SS first. Trust me, nothing else really matters as much as that to an indie. Most indies report that SS generates about 50% of total income (and growing) and IS nowadays maybe 18-25%. All the other agencies together might amount to the other 25% and even the more important of them, DT and FT, tend to be slow starters when it comes to generating income. Always upload an image, any image, to SS first because that is where it is most likely to earn the most money. Much better that you have your entire portfolio on SS and none whatsoever anywhere else rather than you try to upload uniformly to all agencies. (NB: See Lucato's stat's for the proof of that.)

I would be extremely cautious about uploading early before you images can go 'live'. Early sales can be critical to a file's long-term success. Having a file go 'live' when it is already 2-3 weeks old (by file number) could shove it so far down the New Images order that it might never be seen. Subscription buyers in particular are always interested in new content but I'm not sure how far down they delve, especially if they think they've already seen 'those' new images when they come across some that might actually have been uploaded well after yours.

Welcome to the Dark Side and the very best of luck to you! Don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions.

« Reply #218 on: March 18, 2013, 21:52 »
0
some people need to get a life really, why giving a minus to Stacey post?

best of luck ;D


Well, if i had to guess i would say it might be because of the many millions of time she called people here names because we all knew where this was headed months/years ago while she remained loyal to istock. The many times she said we were all naysayers and paranoid and we needed tin foil hats. And it was our fault what was happening to istock. Blah,blah, blah. Need i go on?


For me, she isnt worth a plus or a minus. Sure would be nice to see an apology from her for all those nasty things she said about how ignorant everyone here was, but i seriously doubt THATS ever going to happen here.  ::)


She even went a couple of rounds with lisafx but looks like they are on the same team now.  :D

Fine IS sucks... but it's hard to replace the GI/IS royalty per download.  I have a PM from Yuri  commenting to tiny royalties of Indies.  IS dl's are averaging over $13 per download while GI sales averaged $43 per download for me in Jan.  And not only a few dls.  So no wonder it is hard to give that up, facing $.25 downloads is a hard decision.   It will be interesting if Sean reveals his changes in earnings.


« Reply #219 on: March 18, 2013, 22:19 »
+2
some people need to get a life really, why giving a minus to Stacey post?

best of luck ;D


Well, if i had to guess i would say it might be because of the many millions of time she called people here names because we all knew where this was headed months/years ago while she remained loyal to istock. The many times she said we were all naysayers and paranoid and we needed tin foil hats. And it was our fault what was happening to istock. Blah,blah, blah. Need i go on?


For me, she isnt worth a plus or a minus. Sure would be nice to see an apology from her for all those nasty things she said about how ignorant everyone here was, but i seriously doubt THATS ever going to happen here.  ::)


She even went a couple of rounds with lisafx but looks like they are on the same team now.  :D

Fine IS sucks... but it's hard to replace the GI/IS royalty per download.  I have a PM from Yuri  commenting to tiny royalties of Indies.  IS dl's are averaging over $13 per download while GI sales averaged $43 per download for me in Jan.  And not only a few dls.  So no wonder it is hard to give that up, facing $.25 downloads is a hard decision.   It will be interesting if Sean reveals his changes in earnings.

Tough *. Suck it up.

No harder or different than original trad shooters having to accept vastly fewer sales, and later at lower prices, when microstock arose. You have no right to expect or demand $13 per sale in microstock. That's not what it's about or ever was. When Istock's prices went through the roof it was only ever going to be a matter of time before sales went through the floor. Economics 1.01.

The stupid thing is that IS claim to have 'invented' microstock ... and then gave it all away, without even a fight, to another business that simply stuck, more or less, to Istock's own original business plan. That's Getty for you though. Too arrogant to learn, accept and adapt to the new market. The perfect recipe for the demise of a previously successful business. More fool you for believing in them.

SNP

  • Canadian Photographer
« Reply #220 on: March 18, 2013, 22:46 »
-1
I'm not interested in resurrecting any drama around here. I thought we'd all grown up by now.

I appreciate the majority of the well wishes and as those of you know who I chat with via messages etc., at the end of the day our interests are the same. I'm not looking for handouts or wooyays. it will be tough for a while and I know it.
« Last Edit: March 18, 2013, 22:50 by SNP »

lucato

  • [<o>] Brasil


« Reply #221 on: March 19, 2013, 03:35 »
0
Concentrate your efforts on uploading to SS first. Trust me, nothing else really matters as much as that to an indie. Most indies report that SS generates about 50% of total income (and growing) and IS nowadays maybe 18-25%. All the other agencies together might amount to the other 25% and even the more important of them, DT and FT, tend to be slow starters when it comes to generating income.

Hey Gostwyck and folks, other day I saw a graphic and seems that ALAMY is a good seller agency too, I don't know this one. Do you know it, upload to it, have any comments on it? Does anybody else upload to ALAMY? How is it compared to the other agencies?

Thanks in advance.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #222 on: March 19, 2013, 03:56 »
0
  IS dl's are averaging over $13 per download while GI sales averaged $43 per download for me in Jan.
Grief, I don't have half that rpd. Even though I'm only on 30%, it still wouldn't be anything like that if I were on 40%.
Of course, I don't have any agencies and almost no Vettas, and that would make a big difference.
However, that would indeed be very difficult to give up - if the dls kept pace.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2013, 06:28 by ShadySue »

« Reply #223 on: March 19, 2013, 04:11 »
+2
I am also surprised by those numbers. I was on 35% and got around 7 dollars on average. Only for vetta files was I seeing an average of maybe 12 - 16 dollars. And my average for vetta was higher than my average for gettyimages. They only pay 20% and have so many 1 dollar downloads that the average is brought down significantly. I have been a Getty house contributor since 2008.

For most of the people I know the average for Vetta or agency files was always higher than on getty, whch is why so many good artists stopped supplying getty directly and only upload via istock/vetta, agency or E+.

Just look at the size of the portfolios of the istock brass on getty and istock and you will usually see they hardly upload directly to getty.

But good for you if these are your numbers. You should obviuosly focus all your energy on getty itself.

But this is the first time ever, I hear numbers like this.

Are you perhaps doing a lot of high end video?

ETA: just saw you said "in January". Ok, then you probably had a good month with a few higher downloads and not so many 1 dollar downloads. But if you look at your average over the 12 months and especially the trend over the last two years, is your average going up or down?

If the average royalty on Getty was 43 dollars everybody would be fighting to get in there! And you would never hear the macro shooters whine and complain on all the stock forums of the internet.
« Last Edit: March 19, 2013, 04:21 by cobalt »

« Reply #224 on: March 19, 2013, 04:47 »
0
...

ETA: just saw you said "in January". Ok, then you probably had a good month with a few higher downloads and not so many 1 dollar downloads. But if you look at your average over the 12 months and especially the trend over the last two years, is your average going up or down?

...

For my part, I can't match prostock's figures but my average RPD has indeed gone up over the years - figures for iStock royalties only:

2011:   $4.11
2012:   $6.59
2013:   $9.05  (so far)

And yes, the total DLs has gone down, but I'm still ahead overall - though not by a lot.

I'd concur with the comments on GI sales;  the amounts are highly variable. I usually get a couple of high ones and a number of low ones, so the average isn't very meaningful - my average RPD for GI in January would be about $16, but I can see that if I had a lucky month with few low ones it could easily be a lot more.  Not enough data yet for any meaningful conclusion.


 

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