Author Topic: Getty and Shutterstock officially merging together? (Read 6579 times)

pfongabe33 · « **Reply #25 on:** January 07, 2025, 10:41 »

Yeah, more than exciting news... minimum per sale 10 cents on SSTK + minimum per sale 1 cent on Getty => new historic low... long live microstock!

gnirtS · « **Reply #26 on:** January 07, 2025, 11:05 »

Quote from: Danybot on January 07, 2025, 10:13

I have been a contributor to both, but my portfolio on SSTK is somewhat larger, both because iStock is pickier, and I have not bothered to upload as much there, as it is more trouble.

That seems to go even more for others, as apparently the total number of files at SSTK is more than double what it is at iStock: https://photutorial.com/shutterstock-vs-istock/#shutterstock-has-2-times-more-content-but-i-stock-is-more-curated

iStock has taken a more restrictive view of what is acceptable, based on no known legal principles of IP. For example, I have found that they have zero tolerance for interior shots for editorial, even of public buildings where photography is permitted.

It will be interesting to see how they handle that, and whether they will cull the SSTK portfolio to eliminate images that iStock would not have accepted.

As a side on that, the first that changed when SS bought Pond5 was the enforcing of user-declared editorial and the SS format captions on new content. That came very early on. Its quite possible the first changes will be to standardise the legal aspects, IP and so on. And i guess it'll move to the strictest (ie Getty).

I do a fair bit of editorial but a lot of what i do is fine for SS and elsewhere but not on iStock.

Lev · « **Reply #27 on:** January 07, 2025, 12:09 »

iStock is paying 15% flat commissions to photo contributors. SS currently is paying 15% to 40%. My gut feeling says there's a huge screaming "cost optimization" opportunity for managers after this merger. $:-\$

pancaketom · « **Reply #28 on:** January 07, 2025, 12:26 »

Quote from: Lev on January 07, 2025, 12:09

iStock is paying 15% flat commissions to photo contributors. SS currently is paying 15% to 40%. My gut feeling says there's a huge screaming "cost optimization" opportunity for managers after this merger. $:-\$

Just think about how more motivated we will be with the exciting news of no reset every January. Instead it will just stay at a flat 15% forever (until daddy needs a stock bump and they drop it again).

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #29 on:** January 07, 2025, 12:41 »

Quote from: Shuttershock on January 07, 2025, 08:42

Potential to loose 30% of my earnings if they merge to one website, basically my earnings are 30% SS, 30% iStock and 30% Abode, 10% Dreamtime, Pond5 etc…….based on image sales only

So the 30% of people, that bought from IS will suddenly not need your images anymore? I always thought that downloads were from buyers, not from agencies?

Quote from: Lev on January 07, 2025, 12:09

iStock is paying 15% flat commissions to photo contributors. SS currently is paying 15% to 40%. My gut feeling says there's a huge screaming "cost optimization" opportunity for managers after this merger. $:-\$

Yes, that sounds logical.

Quote from: pfongabe33 on January 07, 2025, 10:41

Yeah, more than exciting news... minimum per sale 10 cents on SSTK + minimum per sale 1 cent on Getty => new historic low... long live microstock!

While I'm trying to wait and see and be positive, instead of just Gloomy Gus, you're right. If we loose that minimum on SS and lose the reset, we could be getting more of those wonderful Connect sales for fractions of a cent. However, being locked at 15% makes me feel better than the phony levels on SS that after rising through the year, I still got 10¢ for most downloads. Because they wanted to "reward us" for our level of effort.

The truth was, SS was discounting so heavily that the only reason we got the 10¢ was because it was their minimum, not our true percentage. 15% of that lowball discount price number, is going to be less.

It's going to be interesting and changing, for many months, while we wait for the dust to settle on the New And Improved Getty/iStock/Shutterstock, and whatever else happens. Here's the Game Changer that people asked for. Watch out what you ask for, you might get it.

Microstock will never be the same, and never be what it was.

I'm in wait and see mode.

So I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
No way to delay
That trouble comin' every day

Remember the landfill fires, that you could only observe, as they burn, and there's nothing anyone can do to put them out. The Merger of Getty and Shutterstock is a flaming Dumpster fire at the least, and could be a landfill full of old tires.

All the talk and wringing of hands, isn't going to change what happens to us. We might as well buckle up and hang on for the ride. Then see what's left after the smoke clears.

cobalt · « **Reply #30 on:** January 07, 2025, 13:39 »

the merger is obviously screaming "exciting neewwwws...less royalties...but...you will make it up in volume...winkie, winkie..."

I hope it doesn't happen.

by my stats istock has an rpd of 59 cents, adobe 85. so it is lower than adobe, but the average is not 5 cents.

elliottcowand · « **Reply #31 on:** January 07, 2025, 14:54 »

Quote from: HalfFull on January 07, 2025, 07:09

I pray to god that they use Shutterstocks submission process and not that PITA one iStock use. It's one reason I don't submit much too them, takes way too long.

. I'm used to Shutterstock's submission process, so I hope it stays the same.

stock shooter · « **Reply #32 on:** January 07, 2025, 14:55 »

For me, the last few years most of my sales on Getty have been basically micro stock prices. I stopped submitting to the micros seven or eight years ago (maybe longer) to focus on Getty, only to have Getty essentially turn into another micro. For years my sales on Getty were always in the hundreds of dollars per sale, but that changed a while ago and now most are micro prices. I'm not sure if this merger means anything, if it does, probably nothing good for us.

stoker2014 · « **Reply #33 on:** January 07, 2025, 15:38 »

I know there are authors who are exclusive to Getty. They sell videos very expensively and Getty pays a lot of money for these sales. How things are going for them now, I don't know.

stoker2014 · « **Reply #34 on:** January 07, 2025, 15:45 »

Shutterstock pays good money for AI. I don't remember Getty paying for it. Now we're going to lose that income. And it was big.

Pacesetter · « **Reply #35 on:** January 07, 2025, 15:49 »

Luka Azman on Youtube www.youtube.com/@LukaAzman is (in his own words) 'a full time stock photographer and videographer' and exclusive to iStock.

I've reached out to him on his channel to ask how he feels about microstock and again just now to ask how he feels about the merger but lately he has not been answering my questions. $:-\$

Stock4Me · « **Reply #36 on:** January 08, 2025, 06:08 »

Quote from: pfongabe33 on January 07, 2025, 10:41

Yeah, more than exciting news... minimum per sale 10 cents on SSTK + minimum per sale 1 cent on Getty => new historic low... long live microstock!

Things will only get worse with the monopoly.

Bauman · « **Reply #37 on:** January 15, 2025, 09:15 »

Quote from: Lev on January 07, 2025, 12:09

iStock is paying 15% flat commissions to photo contributors. SS currently is paying 15% to 40%.

But ... the IS percentage is on the selling price of the image, the SS percentage is on the cost of the customer's subscription.

If a customer has a subscription of 100 USD per month for 100 photos and downloads 25 of them, the contributor earns:

Shutterstock
- 100USD/100 photos * 15% = 0.15 cents

Istock
- 100USD/25 photos (those downloaded) *15% = 0.60 cents

Shutterstock knew very well the rate of use of its subscriptions and therefore moved its entire business from on-demand sales to subscriptions. In this way it increased its earnings significantly.

SimonSays · « **Reply #38 on:** January 15, 2025, 10:04 »

Quote from: Bauman on January 15, 2025, 09:15

Quote from: Lev on January 07, 2025, 12:09
iStock is paying 15% flat commissions to photo contributors. SS currently is paying 15% to 40%.

But ... the IS percentage is on the selling price of the image, the SS percentage is on the cost of the customer's subscription.

If a customer has a subscription of 100 USD per month for 100 photos and downloads 25 of them, the contributor earns:

Shutterstock
- 100USD/100 photos * 15% = 0.15 cents

Istock
- 100USD/25 photos (those downloaded) *15% = 0.60 cents

Shutterstock knew very well the rate of use of its subscriptions and therefore moved its entire business from on-demand sales to subscriptions. In this way it increased its earnings significantly.

Precisely, that's why I like Istock better and have no problem waiting for a month to see for which amount something was sold and the calculation of the commission. Because their system is much more fair then what SS and AS do, namely giving you commission based on all the possible downloads that the client can do with their subscription.

The Mighty Jungle · « **Reply #39 on:** January 15, 2025, 10:26 »

Quote from: DaLiu on January 07, 2025, 09:57

Quote from: cobalt on January 07, 2025, 09:45
Quote from: gnirtS on January 07, 2025, 09:39
One thing Getty is hot on is IP/copyright violation. It'll be interesting to see how they handle the Shutterstock library which is absolutely full of violations.

They will have to clean that up. Also get rid of all the ai content that is creeping in without being declared ai.

I'll be glad if they will be doing that.

I keep jumping up and down about this and am not getting an answer. As one who has had my images stolen from istockphoto and uploaded to shutterstock, I do wonder how Getty is going to handle the large number stolen images in the shutterstock collection. I hope they are not depending on us photographers to spend our time locating and reporting them, as shutterstock did.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #40 on:** January 15, 2025, 13:19 »

Quote from: SimonSays on January 15, 2025, 10:04

Quote from: Bauman on January 15, 2025, 09:15
Quote from: Lev on January 07, 2025, 12:09
iStock is paying 15% flat commissions to photo contributors. SS currently is paying 15% to 40%.

But ... the IS percentage is on the selling price of the image, the SS percentage is on the cost of the customer's subscription.

If a customer has a subscription of 100 USD per month for 100 photos and downloads 25 of them, the contributor earns:

Shutterstock
- 100USD/100 photos * 15% = 0.15 cents

Istock
- 100USD/25 photos (those downloaded) *15% = 0.60 cents

Shutterstock knew very well the rate of use of its subscriptions and therefore moved its entire business from on-demand sales to subscriptions. In this way it increased its earnings significantly.

Precisely, that's why I like Istock better and have no problem waiting for a month to see for which amount something was sold and the calculation of the commission. Because their system is much more fair then what SS and AS do, namely giving you commission based on all the possible downloads that the client can do with their subscription.

And that's why we'll make more when SS and IS raise prices, as they are no longer trying to beat each other, by offering buyers the lowest prices. Now they can sell higher priced credit packages to the largest and best image library in the world. We will get 15% of a bigger number.

slobelix · « **Reply #41 on:** February 09, 2025, 03:22 »

Quote from: HalfFull on January 07, 2025, 07:09

I pray to god that they use Shutterstocks submission process and not that PITA one iStock use. It's one reason I don't submit much too them, takes way too long.

Hope so.

slobelix · « **Reply #42 on:** February 09, 2025, 03:22 »

Quote from: dbvirago on January 07, 2025, 07:06

These beliefs will not change with the transaction.

We Come in Peace.

We Mean You No Harm.

Trust Us.

Resistance is futile.

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #43 on:** February 09, 2025, 11:10 »

Quote from: Bauman on January 15, 2025, 09:15

Shutterstock knew very well the rate of use of its subscriptions and therefore moved its entire business from on-demand sales to subscriptions. In this way it increased its earnings significantly.

Did you mean from Subscriptions to Single and Other? That's the way mine changed last year. I had one month with Subs totaling under $1 for the entire month. May 2024 was the only month that Subs equaled or beat S&O and that was by one cent.

It looks to me, like they either lost the subscription clients or they moved them over to image plans, for less. I made more in 2009 with probably 200 images, @25¢ a DL, than I do now with 5,500 images. RPD is down and so are the total sales.

I sure hope this merger goes through and they get more sales. Otherwise it's just rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic.

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Author Topic: Getty and Shutterstock officially merging together? (Read 6579 times)

pfongabe33

gnirtS

Lev

pancaketom

Uncle Pete

cobalt

elliottcowand

stock shooter

stoker2014

stoker2014

Pacesetter

Stock4Me

Bauman

SimonSays

The Mighty Jungle

Uncle Pete

slobelix

slobelix

Uncle Pete

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