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Poll

Which do you prefer - high commissions or more sales?

High commissions
21 (38.2%)
More sales
6 (10.9%)
Doesn't matter
4 (7.3%)
Combination of both
24 (43.6%)

Total Members Voted: 46

Voting closed: June 11, 2013, 02:44

Author Topic: High sales vs high commissions  (Read 11842 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

« on: April 22, 2013, 02:43 »
0
When you choose where to sell your photos, what do you prefer - high commissions or more sales? Obviously selling 10 photos and earning $1 is the same as selling 1 photo and earning $10, but which is better? I see most people have their photos on a few sites, that's why I ask how you make your choose.


« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2013, 02:46 »
+1
When you choose where to sell your photos, what do you prefer - high commissions or more sales? Obviously selling 10 photos and earning $1 is the same as selling 1 photo and earning $10, but which is better? I see most people have their photos on a few sites, that's why I ask how you make your choose.

The truth is (at least my take on it) that you rarely ever have a choice between 10 * $1 or 1 * $10. It's more like 100 * $0.25 or 1 * $5.

At least my sales so far as an independent are mostly coming from Shutterstock (low royalties per sale) and iStock (low percentage) while sites with higher price/higher royalties are hardly selling at all.

I don't see how I have much of a choice if the overall payment is my main focus.

Veneratio

« Reply #2 on: April 22, 2013, 04:54 »
0
Preference would have to be 1 x $10 as it places a higher value on the work. If the work is good enough, and commerical enouigh,  there would still be demand for the 10 downloads anyway.

RacePhoto

« Reply #3 on: April 22, 2013, 05:05 »
+4
You left off my choice = More Money. I don't care if it's "friendly staff", fancy stats, charts and graphs, views, RPI, RPD, Percentage or Sales numbers.

Show Me The Money!

So I guess I want high sales at high commissions? Is that a choice?

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #4 on: April 22, 2013, 07:11 »
+2
Although Michael Jay is correct in what he says above, given a straight choice of 10 sales at $1 or one sale at $10 I'd choose the latter. Fewer instances of the image out there to be lifted, easier to track what's likely to be genuine sales.

gillian vann

  • *Gillian*
« Reply #5 on: April 22, 2013, 07:18 »
+1
Although Michael Jay is correct in what he says above, given a straight choice of 10 sales at $1 or one sale at $10 I'd choose the latter. Fewer instances of the image out there to be lifted, easier to track what's likely to be genuine sales.
ditto.

at first I though, more sales = more ppl who like my work, but it also means more "cheap" ppl who like my work, more and even more ppl who won't pay get to see my work. my brain works slower but....... what she said. :)
« Last Edit: April 22, 2013, 19:09 by gillian »

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #6 on: April 22, 2013, 09:07 »
0
The fact is that the site(s) that sell(s) a lot (to low price) sell 500 times more that the sites that sell (almost nothing) to high price
So

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #7 on: April 22, 2013, 09:13 »
0
The fact is that the site(s) that sell(s) a lot (to low price) sell 500 times more that the sites that sell (almost nothing) to high price
So
Depends totally on the image type, or so I'm hearing off here.
I'm certainly not hearing 500x very often, so your images must really suit their buyers, which is great.

« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2013, 09:36 »
0
Thanks. very interesting. the reason i ask is because I have limited time to post pictures - i cannot post to 30 sites, so I wondered what is better - the ones that sell a lot or the ones that earn more. obviously the best would be to be on a site that sells a lot with high commissions, tho i like what Shady Sue said about less copies out there.

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2013, 10:01 »
+1
The fact is that the site(s) that sell(s) a lot (to low price) sell 500 times more that the sites that sell (almost nothing) to high price
So
Depends totally on the image type, or so I'm hearing off here.
I'm certainly not hearing 500x very often, so your images must really suit their buyers, which is great.

500x is not real of course, it is just a way of saying.

But 250 is close to a real figure, in my case, as I sold nothing on the "Low Earners" except PD and only on DP for the "Middle Tiers"
About the Top Tier my sales, in term of money, are almost equivalent for FT iS and DT, and 10 times more on SS.

I am very new on stocks, I have begun 3 months ago but I am operative only for a little more than one month, so probably my "numbers and opinions" cannot make good statistics ;)

« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2013, 10:02 »
0
The fact is that the site(s) that sell(s) a lot (to low price) sell 500 times more that the sites that sell (almost nothing) to high price
So
Depends totally on the image type, or so I'm hearing off here.
I'm certainly not hearing 500x very often, so your images must really suit their buyers, which is great.

500x is not real of course, it is just a way of saying.

But 250 is close to a real figure, in my case, as I sold nothing on the "Low Earners" except PD and only on DP for the "Middle Tiers"
About the Top Tier my sales, in term of money, are almost equivalent for FT iS and DT, and 10 times more on SS.

I am very new on stocks, I have begun 3 months ago but I am operative only for a little more than one month, so probably my "numbers and opinions" cannot make good statistics ;)


HOw many pictures did you uploaded to the sites? You are on 5 sites?

Beppe Grillo

« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2013, 10:30 »
0

HOw many pictures did you uploaded to the sites? You are on 5 sites?

I am on 14 sites now, with a little more than 300-350 images on the ones where it is faster to upload.
Stockphoto is new for me too. I have worked for 35 years as advertising photographer but paradoxically I have no images for stocks as the images that I have produced during all these years are exclusive to my customers.

« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2013, 11:03 »
+11
"You'll make it up in volume" isn't just an ancient lie, it's an ancient joke.   Slash prices today and you'll make more in the short run, at the expense of the future.   Bargain basement prices just reduce the perceived value of our product and once that's gone there's no way to get it back.   These facts haven't changed in 10,000 years and it doesn't matter if sales are "on the internet" or out of an oxcart.

« Reply #13 on: April 22, 2013, 14:11 »
0
"You'll make it up in volume" isn't just an ancient lie, it's an ancient joke.   Slash prices today and you'll make more in the short run, at the expense of the future.   Bargain basement prices just reduce the perceived value of our product and once that's gone there's no way to get it back.   These facts haven't changed in 10,000 years and it doesn't matter if sales are "on the internet" or out of an oxcart.

The microstock concept slashed prices and made it up in volume and it's not been a short run. Unfortunately it started with low commissions, so although there are many more people who successfully sell their work because of microstock, who are naturally grateful that the concept exists, they got the short end of the stick from the start. Something which is difficult to reverse.

dbvirago

« Reply #14 on: April 22, 2013, 14:35 »
0
My opinion has always been that once the images are ready to submit, that part of the work is done - sunk cost, in accounting terms. Once I submit, all I care about is gross revenue. How I get there is irrelevant. I have one image for which I was paid a lot in a single sale, but I have others that have made more in micros. I put approximately the same amount of time into all of them. Other than bragging rights, the single sale is no more valuable to me than the micro sales.

« Reply #15 on: April 22, 2013, 15:02 »
+1
Every time I give away sell an image for 25c, 33c, 8c ...or for whatever ridiculously low subscription price I feel slightly sick, as this happens frequently throughout the day I'm beginning to think that stock photography is making me ill  ;)

gillian vann

  • *Gillian*
« Reply #16 on: April 22, 2013, 19:13 »
0
Every time I give away sell an image for 25c, 33c, 8c ...or for whatever ridiculously low subscription price I feel slightly sick, as this happens frequently throughout the day I'm beginning to think that stock photography is making me ill  ;)
true, although I don't put my favourites across all sites. and I put some of my favourites on just one site, where I'm hoping for higher comms and infrequent sales.


Beppe Grillo

« Reply #17 on: April 22, 2013, 23:29 »
+1
Every time I give away sell an image for 25c, 33c, 8c ...or for whatever ridiculously low subscription price I feel slightly sick, as this happens frequently throughout the day I'm beginning to think that stock photography is making me ill  ;)

It is true, I agree.

But one question: does somebody oblige you to upload your images on these sites?
If you don't want to feel sick just don't do it!

Microbius

« Reply #18 on: April 23, 2013, 03:09 »
+1
Although Michael Jay is correct in what he says above, given a straight choice of 10 sales at $1 or one sale at $10 I'd choose the latter. Fewer instances of the image out there to be lifted, easier to track what's likely to be genuine sales.

Agreed, also you don't do any harm to your existing sales by uploading to sites that sell for higher prices. You risk undercutting your sales on existing sites if you sign up for lower priced sites.

shudderstok

« Reply #19 on: April 23, 2013, 03:49 »
+2
"You'll make it up in volume" isn't just an ancient lie, it's an ancient joke.   Slash prices today and you'll make more in the short run, at the expense of the future.   Bargain basement prices just reduce the perceived value of our product and once that's gone there's no way to get it back.   These facts haven't changed in 10,000 years and it doesn't matter if sales are "on the internet" or out of an oxcart.

it was 1 sale for $10 (more accurately 1 sale for $100) until the new generation of 10 sales for $1 came along and essentially started to cannibalize the whole industry. now everyone seems to be running to submit to these very agencies that support this whole process by becoming indie - the subscription sites are the worst of the lot in terms of devaluing your work. that is the kiss of death and not too smart, but the cat has been out of the bag since this whole microstock concept of selling 10 images for $1 concept took off. it could have never happened without your continued support and sad to say the slide will only continue with your continued support.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #20 on: April 23, 2013, 03:56 »
0
The queue is up almost 4000 in the past 9 hours.

« Reply #21 on: April 23, 2013, 05:24 »
+1

It is true, I agree.

But one question: does somebody oblige you to upload your images on these sites?
If you don't want to feel sick just don't do it!
I know, I was being tongue in cheek :D but on a more serious note it's hard to see where the industry is heading when images are offered so cheaply and surely it must be devaluing them in the long term.

« Reply #22 on: April 23, 2013, 09:33 »
0
I'm in favor of higher commissions versus higher sales, because it places more value on my work.

« Reply #23 on: April 23, 2013, 14:19 »
-1
Every time I give away sell an image for 25c, 33c, 8c ...or for whatever ridiculously low subscription price I feel slightly sick, as this happens frequently throughout the day I'm beginning to think that stock photography is making me ill  ;)

LOL - funny doesn't do this justice - if you could sell comedy on microstock, you'd be rich.

« Reply #24 on: April 25, 2013, 06:56 »
0
Thank you! I think what is best for me may be to start on lower commission and more popular sites than smaller sites with higher commissions. I probably need to see sales to continue to try in the field.


 

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