Author Topic: June Microstock Earnings (Read 19902 times)

steheap · « **on:** June 30, 2012, 21:28 »

Looks like I am the first this month - a late evening working on stats has given me the edge (plus it isn't really the end of the month yet!)

I had a great June - easily my best ever. Total earnings came in at around $1750, and I still need to add earnings from Cutcaster and YayMicro which seem to be off the air because of that very bad storm in Northern VA last night. I don't think those two sites will make a great deal of difference though! SS and iStock continue to be very reliable for me, but I sold one image on Veer for $99, and a total of 5 sold on Alamy for a net payment of almost $250. Those made a fantastic difference to the month's totals. Photocase came from nowhere with one sale of $58 this month! I only have 3 images online with that site (all others rejected as being too boring) so it is nice to get an occasional sale there!

More details (and examples of the big sellers) on my blog as usual, but here is the headline graph:

Steve

stockmarketer · « **Reply #1 on:** June 30, 2012, 22:38 »

Pretty happy about June overall.

Up 50% vs June 2011. Port size was up about 75%, which means RPI was down... thanks entirely to DT and FT's sudden downturn earlier this year.

Down about 5% from May 2012. But... there were 31 days in May vs 30 in June, plus May had 4 Saturdays vs 5 Saturdays in June... so in reality I'm flat from May to June, which I can live with.

mtkang · « **Reply #2 on:** July 01, 2012, 01:21 »

by the way, how do u plot this graph? issit some kind of software? thanks.

Quote from: steheap on June 30, 2012, 21:28

Looks like I am the first this month - a late evening working on stats has given me the edge (plus it isn't really the end of the month yet!)

I had a great June - easily my best ever. Total earnings came in at around $1750, and I still need to add earnings from Cutcaster and YayMicro which seem to be off the air because of that very bad storm in Northern VA last night. I don't think those two sites will make a great deal of difference though! SS and iStock continue to be very reliable for me, but I sold one image on Veer for $99, and a total of 5 sold on Alamy for a net payment of almost $250. Those made a fantastic difference to the month's totals. Photocase came from nowhere with one sale of $58 this month! I only have 3 images online with that site (all others rejected as being too boring) so it is nice to get an occasional sale there!

More details (and examples of the big sellers) on my blog as usual, but here is the headline graph:

Steve

ShadySue · « **Reply #3 on:** July 01, 2012, 05:05 »

Scarily dire.

iStock:
Compared to June 2011: $$ down c35%, dls down c40%
Compared to May 2012: $$ down c20%, dls down c20%
Added: compared to June 2010: $$ down c12%

That was despite having a decent EL in June 2012, but none in either June 2011 or 2010.

Worst month for dls since Feb 11: before that, the last month that was lower than these two was July 2007, the month I went exclusive (right at the end of the month). If not for the EL, it would have been my worst month for $$ since Sept 09.

Alamy RF: like last month, two sales only, 1 low-average, one newspaper (very low $$).

Perry · « **Reply #4 on:** July 01, 2012, 05:17 »

IS: Business as usual
SS: BME!
DT: Up, just a bit from BME (my last BME was in 2010 if I remember correctly, so this seems like a nice rebound)
FT: Weaker and weaker (FT has always been a steady number 3 or 4 on my list, but now it's behind 123rf and even Veer.)
Veer: pretty weak month, lacking in extended licences.

A Good month, and a very good month for a June, no summer slowdown here!

rubyroo · « **Reply #5 on:** July 01, 2012, 05:34 »

By the time iStock's figures catch up with the end of June and Thinstock's figures come in, it looks as though I'll be down about 25% from last month. Not very surprised though as last month was exceptional. In more usual terms this month was fairly average with no BME's at any agency.

Top four:

1. SS
2. iStock
3. 123RF
4. DT

THP Creative · « **Reply #6 on:** July 01, 2012, 05:55 »

June - what a surprise! Thought this was meant to be a slow month but thanks to good sales at SS, Veer, amazing month at Alamy and quite a few EL's at various sites turns out to be a BME by quite a bit (and thats without the iStock PP sales yet to come).

So pretty happy really. HUGE improvement from 1 yr ago.

Karimala · « **Reply #7 on:** July 01, 2012, 06:24 »

I'll write a complete report later after I get up for the day (still the middle of the night here), but in the meantime I wanted to share my disasterous Fotolia numbers.

Even with an EL sale, this was my worst month since Fotolia made its first major search engine tweek back in September 2007, which had more than doubled my earnings. And thanks to the EL, I did reach payout level in May, but I would not have reached it without the EL. That hasn't happened since August 2007. Ugh.

Down 55% w/o EL from April; with EL down 25% (no EL in April)
Down 81% w/o EL from BME of 2012; with EL down 52% (no EL in 2012 BME)
Down 90% w/o EL from BME overall; with EL down 80% (no EL in BME overall)

Part of the decrease can be explained by losing referral income. All of my referrals hit their five-year limit this year, so those earnings no longer exist. One of those referrals brought in a decent chunk of my monthly income, so his loss really hurts. But...losing my referrals doesn't explain everything. I also haven't uploaded in two years, which we now know affects our search placement.

borg · « **Reply #8 on:** July 01, 2012, 06:32 »

10% Less than in May, but DT -60%

fritz · « **Reply #9 on:** July 01, 2012, 07:27 »

IS and SS same port size but IS 50% more $ than SS.
Others sYcks

steheap · « **Reply #10 on:** July 01, 2012, 07:41 »

Quote

by the way, how do u plot this graph? issit some kind of software? thanks.

I just use one of the graphs in Excel - the stacked line graph and then copy into Powerpoint as a graphic image.

Steve

Mantis · « **Reply #11 on:** July 01, 2012, 08:38 »

Quote from: borg on July 01, 2012, 06:32

10% Less than in May, but DT -60%

$200 down mostly due to a sudden drop at DT. FT continues to fall; I used to get about $200 a month now it's $70. Bigstock even beat FT this month, first time ever for me.

disorderly · « **Reply #12 on:** July 01, 2012, 08:49 »

A good month for me. June is usually down, but this time I was up 5% vs. May. Even better, June 2012 was up 57% over June 2011.

Shutterstock was down 20% but still led the pack at 29% of my total. 123RF was 2nd at 18%, up 34% from May. Deposit was 3rd at 14%, up 50%. iStock dropped to 4th at 12%, up 14%. Dreamstime was 5th at 7%, CanStock 6th at 6%, PhotoDune 7th also at 6%, BigStock 8th at 4%, Fotolia 9th at 2%, StockXpert 10th at 1%, Veer and StockFresh 11th and 12th at .6% and a few others doing even less.

Bauman · « **Reply #13 on:** July 01, 2012, 08:58 »

Quote from: Mantis on July 01, 2012, 08:38

Quote from: borg on July 01, 2012, 06:32
10% Less than in May, but DT -60%

FT continues to fall; I used to get about $200 a month now it's $70. Bigstock even beat FT this month, first time ever for me.

Hi Mantis,

i'm a newbie with an avg port of 180 images ... Last two month FT was my best agency, better than SS.

May and June i sold 65 images on FT (and reach my first payout) and 0 (zero) on BigStock ... very, very different.

Best

nicku · « **Reply #14 on:** July 01, 2012, 09:19 »

Overall a good month.

1. SS - 2nd BME. No comment

2. FT BME very good earner.

3. DT desastruos (-60% compared with May) worst month from March 2011. DT is gowing down, down, down....

4. 123 RF under average $:-\$
5.DP - steady rising

the pye:

SS 55% FT 20% and the rest....

sgoodwin4813 · « **Reply #15 on:** July 01, 2012, 09:51 »

No BMEs for $$$ but steady at most sites. Just missed a BME at DT. BME for DLs at FT and tied my BME for DLs at CS, but $$$ way down at both due to low RPD. Overall about 10% down from last month, but up 71% from June 2011 so no complaints.

#1: SS
#2: iS (~51% of SS with estimated PP earnings)
#3: DT (43% of SS)
#4: 123 (33% of SS)
all others 11% of SS or less.

cthoman · « **Reply #16 on:** July 01, 2012, 11:31 »

June started out fast, but it slowed down at the end. I was down form the last couple months, but up over June 2011. Although, I was down from June 2010.

Karimala · « **Reply #17 on:** July 01, 2012, 12:31 »

Quote from: Mantis on July 01, 2012, 08:38

Quote from: borg on July 01, 2012, 06:32
10% Less than in May, but DT -60%

$200 down mostly due to a sudden drop at DT. FT continues to fall; I used to get about $200 a month now it's $70. Bigstock even beat FT this month, first time ever for me.

That's my story with Fotolia, Dreamstime and BigStock, too. BigStock started taking off for me in March, and I've had two BMEs so far this year (last one was in 2010). In May, for the first time ever, they were my #3 and beat both Dreamstime and Fotolia, which for years had battled for the #3 spot behind SS and IS. In May, DT ended up in 4th place and FT was in 6th with 123RF in the middle (also a first).

jm · « **Reply #18 on:** July 01, 2012, 12:44 »

Good month, similar to April but 10% less compared to May.
Believe it or not - BME both at FT and DT. Very good month at SS and 123 RF.
Only 10% at Alamy compared to May.
Slow sales on BS - 3% of SS sales (as usually).

Anyka · « **Reply #19 on:** July 01, 2012, 12:47 »

13% down from May, but 9% up from June 2011, so I'm very happy with June.
This 9% was thanks to FT, SS and 123rf, and - believe it or not - also thanks to IS (14% up since June 2012!).
Dreamstime was the BIG disappointment of the month with 27% down since last June.

Karimala · « **Reply #20 on:** July 01, 2012, 13:21 »

Okay...now that I've had a chance to wake up n' join the living, here's my breakdown:

#1 SS: No ELs for the 2nd month in a row, which hasn't happened since they first initiated the program. Beginning to wonder if there is a problem with reporting, so if I don't have one by the 9th (marking 3 months since my last EL), I'm going to contact them to find out. April was my worst month in a long time due to a sudden drop in ODs, which improved enough in May to increase my earnings by 10%. However, compared to my BME of the year, SS was still down by 33%.

#2 IS: Up 35% from May. Down 26% from BME 2012. Down 64% from BME overall. 0 ELs. April Thinkstock earnings were down 20% from March, down 23% from BME 2012, and down 58% from overall BME. Looks like they are expanding the database faster then they are getting customers, because earnings have steadily been going downhill since my BME in May 2011. If trends continue, more than likely I earned less in May than in April.

#3 BigStock: BME. Up 29% from May. Up 6% from BME 2012 (which was also overall BME). 1 EL.

#4 DT: Down 49% from May. Down 66% from BME 2012 (which was also overall BME). 0 ELs.

#5 123RF: Up 21% from May. Down 13% from BME 2012. Down 39% from overall BME. 0 ELs.

#6 Fotolia: See previous post for comments. Down 55% w/o EL from April; with EL down 25% (no EL in April). Down 81% w/o EL from BME of 2012; with EL down 52% (no EL in 2012 BME) Down 90% w/o EL from BME overall; with EL down 80% (no EL in BME overall). Worst month since September 2007.

#7 StockXpert/Thinkstock: Down 13% from May. Down 37% from BME 2012 (which was also my overall TS BME). Down 83% from StockXpert's heyday before Getty destroyed them. Worst month since September 2006.

#8 All the rest. I only add payments received from my remaining sites to my spreadsheet, instead of tracking them every month. Payment received from Mostphotos.

Alamy was down 76%, but that's only because May was a BME with all sales over $100. June had the same number of sales, but with much lower royalties. Overall trend continues seeing an increase in the number of sales.

POD sites remain steady. RedBubble has officially picked up speed, and I've had multiple sales every month since July 2011 with a portfolio around 250. Sales used to be practically non-existent. Art of Business Cards is also steady and earned more than Fotolia. On pace to double my yearly earnings despite not adding any new cards this year. Zazzle has remained steady, but I expect to start seeing increases soon as I've quadrupled my available products. Takes a few months for new stuff to start selling regularly.

aeonf · « **Reply #21 on:** July 01, 2012, 15:47 »

Another bad month for us

2,070$ as IS exclusives at 35% with another ~50$ expected from the PP.
Down 16% from last month and up 31% from last year.

smarnad · « **Reply #22 on:** July 01, 2012, 18:43 »

Has been a BME on SS, DT, FT, CS and DP. Others didnt fare too badly. I am a few dollars shy of hitting my increment at SS and hope to see a bigger BME for July.

I just joined microstock a year and a half ago and seeing a growth of 15% increase in revenue every month. I have an average of 400 files in most of the sites(increasing at the rate of 50-70 files a month). Infact my revenue growth for last 6 months is 21%. Is this growth sustainable?

wut · « **Reply #23 on:** July 01, 2012, 18:56 »

Didn't have the time to do the math yet, but a big a$$ BMEs at SS, IS and FT. DT was pathetic. Of course it was a BME overall

wut · « **Reply #24 on:** July 01, 2012, 19:06 »

Quote from: freeimagecollection on July 01, 2012, 18:43

Has been a BME on SS, DT, FT, CS and DP. Others didnt fare too badly. I am a few dollars shy of hitting my increment at SS and hope to see a bigger BME for July.

I just joined microstock a year and a half ago and seeing a growth of 15% increase in revenue every month. I have an average of 400 files in most of the sites(increasing at the rate of 50-70 files a month). Infact my revenue growth for last 6 months is 21%. Is this growth sustainable?

To be honest, this is very bad for someone just starting out and adding 50-70 files/month. Probably should have been over 100%. What are you going to do when you get over 1000 files? Now you're growing your port by 15-20%/month. How do you plan to shoot 150-200 files /month after another 10 months (when you'll hit 1k files)?

redo · « **Reply #25 on:** July 02, 2012, 03:35 »

shutterstock 39% with 0,56 USD
dreamstime 16% with 3,58 USD
fotolia 13% with 1,18 USD
canstock 9% with 2,81 USD
istock 8% with 2,39 USD
stockfresh 5% with 9,07 USD
bigstock 4% with 1,66 USD
123rf 3% with 0,98 USD
deposit 1% with 0,36 USD
veer 1% with 1,02 USD

smarnad · « **Reply #26 on:** July 02, 2012, 04:29 »

Quote from: wut on July 01, 2012, 19:06

Quote from: freeimagecollection on July 01, 2012, 18:43
Has been a BME on SS, DT, FT, CS and DP. Others didnt fare too badly. I am a few dollars shy of hitting my increment at SS and hope to see a bigger BME for July.

I just joined microstock a year and a half ago and seeing a growth of 15% increase in revenue every month. I have an average of 400 files in most of the sites(increasing at the rate of 50-70 files a month). Infact my revenue growth for last 6 months is 21%. Is this growth sustainable?

To be honest, this is very bad for someone just starting out and adding 50-70 files/month. Probably should have been over 100%. What are you going to do when you get over 1000 files? Now you're growing your port by 15-20%/month. How do you plan to shoot 150-200 files /month after another 10 months (when you'll hit 1k files)?

Thanks for the reply.. I am uploading around 80-100 images of which 75% are accepted.. And actually I am happy with that.. My goal is to make a $1000/month income by next march and this is very much feasible if the 15% per month revenue increase sustains. My only concern is will my 15% growth month on month sustainable in long term? Even 10% per month increase over next 2-3 years is fantastic for me(as it would be a compounding increase)!

Meanwhile I am researching on what kind of images make a candidate for an EL sale.. If I come to know the trick, that would be it!

wut · « **Reply #27 on:** July 02, 2012, 05:29 »

Quote from: freeimagecollection on July 02, 2012, 04:29

Quote from: wut on July 01, 2012, 19:06
Quote from: freeimagecollection on July 01, 2012, 18:43
Has been a BME on SS, DT, FT, CS and DP. Others didnt fare too badly. I am a few dollars shy of hitting my increment at SS and hope to see a bigger BME for July.

I just joined microstock a year and a half ago and seeing a growth of 15% increase in revenue every month. I have an average of 400 files in most of the sites(increasing at the rate of 50-70 files a month). Infact my revenue growth for last 6 months is 21%. Is this growth sustainable?

To be honest, this is very bad for someone just starting out and adding 50-70 files/month. Probably should have been over 100%. What are you going to do when you get over 1000 files? Now you're growing your port by 15-20%/month. How do you plan to shoot 150-200 files /month after another 10 months (when you'll hit 1k files)?

Thanks for the reply.. I am uploading around 80-100 images of which 75% are accepted.. And actually I am happy with that.. My goal is to make a $1000/month income by next march and this is very much feasible if the 15% per month revenue increase sustains. My only concern is will my 15% growth month on month sustainable in long term? Even 10% per month increase over next 2-3 years is fantastic for me(as it would be a compounding increase)!

Meanwhile I am researching on what kind of images make a candidate for an EL sale.. If I come to know the trick, that would be it!

That's what I was talking about.

If it's feasible for you to make 1k after a year with just 15% growth of earnings every month, than you must have had an incredible first month in MS (around 200$ with 50-70 files). But that really doesn't make sense, since if you'd make 200$ with 50-70 files, you'd have growth over 100% month, unless you suddenly started to UL crap (but that doesn't make sense either, if the first 50-70 were great, why would newer be worse).

luissantos84 · « **Reply #28 on:** July 02, 2012, 08:35 »

- no 6th BME in a row (Jan 1073$, Feb 1090$, Mar 1341$, Apr 1405$, May 1445$, June 1225$)
- from June 2011 +55%
- 38 months of stock
- 45$ left to the 10k $ milestone at SS (3 years there)

TOP 8 - 82.4% (82.2%)
SS 34.5% (42.9%) (only 1 EL and 1 very cheap SOD for 2.8$)
IS 14.2% (11.9%) (BME in downloads (91) and close in $$$, 4 months with no new uploads)
FT 9.8% (7.1%) (2 EL) (BME in $$$)
Z 7.5% (5.1%) (very close to BME)
123RF 5.5% (6.2%) (Jan 70$, Feb 114$, March 108$, April 59$, May 90$, June 68$)
ISIGN 4.7% (4.3%)
XX 3.3% (3.4%)
DT 2.9% (4.7%) (May - 58 (69$), June - 30 (35$)) (lowest only before December 2010)

MIDDLE - 11.4% (13.6%)
PD 2.7% (1.2%) (2 EL)
XY 2.5% (3%)
XZ 2.5% (2.5%)
DP 2.5% (2.5%)
V 1.2% (1.3%)

LOW - 6.2% (6%)
(15 agencies all below 1% each)

0 sales:
- 3DStudio
- Alamy
- AllYouCanStock
- Clipdealer
- ImageGate
- iRockstock
- Photaki
- PhotoKore
- ViscoImages
- SuperHug

PixelsAway · « **Reply #29 on:** July 02, 2012, 10:04 »

I am trying no look at these month to month variation in microstock earnings, but I calculated a payout structure from different agencies in the first half of 2012:

http://microstock.pixelsaway.com/payout-structure-from-microstock-agencies-in-2012/

steheap · « **Reply #30 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:46 »

Quote

- 45$ left to the 10k $ milestone at SS (3 years there)

Luis

Should only be a matter of days now! I have the champagne on ice...

Steve

luissantos84 · « **Reply #31 on:** July 02, 2012, 11:48 »

Quote from: steheap on July 02, 2012, 11:46

Quote
- 45$ left to the 10k $ milestone at SS (3 years there)

Luis

Should only be a matter of days now! I have the champagne on ice...

Steve

cheers! $9986.92

pancaketom · « **Reply #32 on:** July 02, 2012, 12:47 »

It looks like no obvious trends, it seems like some sites are doing well for people and horrible for others.

BME for me with BME at Alamy and SS making most of it - in fact it would have only been a slightly disappointing month with just those 2 sites.

DT ended up OK after a horrible start, still I have to go back to June 2010 for a lower # of downloads - the high RPD made it an ok but below average for the last 12 months there though.

Looking at the overall numbers I see no evidence of a summer slowdown, although it was mostly Alamy and SS which could easily slow down and make a huge difference.

leaf · « **Reply #33 on:** July 02, 2012, 13:45 »

Here's my pretty graph. Overall earnings were down 10% from last month but still up lots from last year.

Fotolia up
iStock down
Shutterstock down
Dreamstime down

lisafx · « **Reply #34 on:** July 02, 2012, 14:04 »

Not a great month for me. Better when I totaled it up than I ~~hand~~ had thought, though. Istock and FT, which were way down, seem to have rallied a bit. Still a long way to go to make up lost income.

Overall down 5% from May (which is pretty typical for summer), but what is worrying is that I am down 9% from last June.

My 7 month break from uploading really hurt me. Been uploading again since April, so hopefully after the summer that will pay off more substantially.

leaf · « **Reply #35 on:** July 02, 2012, 14:12 »

Quote from: lisafx on July 02, 2012, 14:04

Not a great month for me. Better when I totaled it up than I hand thought, though. Istock and FT, which were way down, seem to have rallied a bit. Still a long way to go to make up lost income.

Overall down 5% from May (which is pretty typical for summer), but what is worrying is that I am down 9% from last June.

My 7 month break from uploading really hurt me. Been uploading again since April, so hopefully after the summer that will pay off more substantially.

Agreed about the summer work pay-off in the fall. It's pretty hard to really gauge how things are improving (or not) until August / Sept.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #36 on:** July 02, 2012, 15:35 »

pie graph made based on iStock exclusives reports at "their" forum

ShadySue · « **Reply #37 on:** July 02, 2012, 15:53 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on July 02, 2012, 15:35

pie graph made based on iStock exclusives reports at "their" forum

From the exclusivity page:
As an Exclusive iStock contributor, you get plenty of special perks and benefits.
Increased sales potential
iStockphoto is the world's most popular stock media website. Exclusivity brings more attention to your portfolio and makes the most out of all that traffic.

So, with 74.68% of whose exclusives who chose to, or were allowed to, report on iStock's sales thread reporting falls, that has to be an admission that traffic is falling.

wut · « **Reply #38 on:** July 02, 2012, 16:12 »

Luis make that graph for indies as well. I'm interested to see what story it tells, the comparison

Reef · « **Reply #39 on:** July 02, 2012, 16:41 »

Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

Then again, a recent study found that my stock images are better than the rest" (my mother said so).

ShadySue · « **Reply #40 on:** July 02, 2012, 16:48 »

Quote from: Reef on July 02, 2012, 16:41

Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

That is significant in itself.
In the glory days, even after I started contributing, those doing badly often didn't report their stats when so many were reporting burgeoning sales.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #41 on:** July 02, 2012, 17:02 »

Quote from: wut on July 02, 2012, 16:12

Luis make that graph for indies as well. I'm interested to see what story it tells, the comparison

there were only 8 indies reporting there (2 +, 1 ok, 5 -)

so far (and perhaps always) the universe here at MSG is quite small

more stats for istock exclusives, from the 79 entries:

- 32 have less than 10k downloads
- 10 from 10k to 17k downloads
- 16 from 20k to 36k downloads
- 14 from 57k to 96k downloads
- 4 from 120k to 190k downloads
- 3 have more than 260k downloads

KB · « **Reply #42 on:** July 02, 2012, 22:03 »

I'm an iStock exclusive (with < 10k DLs) who didn't post on the iStock forum thread. You can add me to the negative count.

Compared to June 2011: $$ -20%, DLs -42%, portfolio size +75% (I've worked HARD ... but apparently not smart).
Compared to May 2012: $$ -36% , DLs -21%, portfolio +4%.

My worst month for DLs since February 2011.

leaf · « **Reply #43 on:** July 03, 2012, 00:00 »

Quote from: Reef on July 02, 2012, 16:41

Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

Then again, a recent study found that my stock images are better than the rest" (my mother said so).

The problem is, people use that same argument when people are doing too well to believe. A problem with the yearly microstock poll (at least one that's always mentioned) is that the people who are doing well are the ones that are going to happily report how they're doing.

Perhaps what is actually true, is that the people who are involved and interested in the industry are going to report how they are doing, regardless of the information they are reporting.

cobalt · « **Reply #44 on:** July 03, 2012, 02:33 »

It would be nice to see a comparable pie chart with the reported results from msg. I know that because of the low amount of data it may not tell the real picture but if someone was to follow this over a longer time period I think it would give interesting insights.

I am really worried that exclusives might be leaving or simply deciding to focus on other business and stop uploading (without officially giving up exclusivity).

Without the exclusive collections, what is the reason to prefer istock over the competitors? I believe the collections plus a lot of very interesting content from Getty (Hulton Archive etc...) is the thing that will attract a certain type of clients that are willing to pay more.

So I hope that there still is enough new talent choosing to go exclusive, to keep istock fresh and interesting. I know it is not for everyone, but some people and their portfolios are doing extremely well at istock, inspite of all the negativity. I hope by next year I´ll be one of them (again).

ShadySue · « **Reply #45 on:** July 03, 2012, 05:28 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 03, 2012, 02:33

I am really worried that exclusives might be leaving or simply deciding to focus on other business and stop uploading (without officially giving up exclusivity).

They don't seem to want people to become exclusive. The incentives to become exclusive have been getting fewer and fewer and it's difficult to see them in practice.
One of my best-selling pics is in position 203 in best match for its main keyword - it used to sell a few times a week (I'm not a big-hitter!) and now it's gone right down.
I reported one of my pics, plus three others, being used with watermarks on a website on 22nd June, and have only had the auto-receipt email back so far. They asked us to chase up infractors through them, but I do better when I chase them up myself. (When I say 'do better', neither of us have converted a misuse into a sale, but everyone I've contacted has taken the pics down immediately; it seems to take them a lot longer to contact them, then they don't always take down. I've got an editorial photo in a commerical web use which I reported at the end of last year and it was still up yesterday when I checked. To be fair, they did assure me that if it came to it, I would not personally be held liable for the misuse.
There's still incredible inconsistency among inspectors re looking at keywords. I've had perfectly good keywords taken out of files recently, whereas just have a look at "commercial kitchen" by age to see what other inspectors are letting through. I still regularly see files just popped in with over eight completely irrelevant keywords (nouns which aren't there, not subjective adjectives like 'beautiful' or 'adorable'). It's usually pretty easy to work out which were added after acceptance and which were there all the time. And it takes over a year for wikied files to be looked at, if they are even doing that now. Maybe team keywords was reduced in the staff cull (?) - I'm sure they're always overworked at any staffing level.

I'm sticking as an exclusive for now at least as it makes some sort of sense for me, but I'm not sure I'd rush to become exclusive if I weren't already. There's only one person who's posted above on this thread for whom I think, "They might consider iStock exclusivity".

What are istock going to do about it? Do they even care?

luissantos84 · « **Reply #46 on:** July 03, 2012, 07:24 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 03, 2012, 02:33

It would be nice to see a comparable pie chart with the reported results from msg. I know that because of the low amount of data it may not tell the real picture but if someone was to follow this over a longer time period I think it would give interesting insights.

I am really worried that exclusives might be leaving or simply deciding to focus on other business and stop uploading (without officially giving up exclusivity).

Without the exclusive collections, what is the reason to prefer istock over the competitors? I believe the collections plus a lot of very interesting content from Getty (Hulton Archive etc...) is the thing that will attract a certain type of clients that are willing to pay more.

So I hope that there still is enough new talent choosing to go exclusive, to keep istock fresh and interesting. I know it is not for everyone, but some people and their portfolios are doing extremely well at istock, inspite of all the negativity. I hope by next year I´ll be one of them (again).

you are one of the biggest examples of iStock disgrace, having 60k downloads all time and only 150 sales in June is just incredible, don´t know how you can keep up the faith in them really..

ayzek · « **Reply #47 on:** July 03, 2012, 08:42 »

Good month.
%0,5 down from May. %1 UP from last June.

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #48 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:05 »

Quote from: Reef on July 02, 2012, 16:41

Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

Believe me, I would happily report an increase in sales. Nothing would please me more than to report iStock is finally giving exclusives the support they need to survive. Unfortunately my sales figures show otherwise:

Compared to June 2011:

$ -20.5% DL -45%

Compared to June 2010:

$ -23.3% DL - 65%

wut · « **Reply #49 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:08 »

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 03, 2012, 10:05

Quote from: Reef on July 02, 2012, 16:41
Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

Believe me, I would happily report an increase in sales. Nothing would please me more than to report iStock is finally giving exclusives the support they need to survive. Unfortunately my sales figures show otherwise:

Compared to June 2011:

$ -20.5% DL -45%

Compared to June 2010:

$ -23.3% DL - 65%

At least it's not that bad for you as it was in the past months

luissantos84 · « **Reply #50 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:20 »

Quote from: wut on July 03, 2012, 10:08

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 03, 2012, 10:05
Quote from: Reef on July 02, 2012, 16:41
Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

Believe me, I would happily report an increase in sales. Nothing would please me more than to report iStock is finally giving exclusives the support they need to survive. Unfortunately my sales figures show otherwise:

Compared to June 2011:

$ -20.5% DL -45%

Compared to June 2010:

$ -23.3% DL - 65%

At least it's not that bad for you as it was in the past months

that gonna be a very bad joke.. fotoVoyager is doing less 23.3% $ of what he have made 2 years ago with less 2466 files (representing a 29% portfolio increase)

wut · « **Reply #51 on:** July 03, 2012, 10:22 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on July 03, 2012, 10:20

Quote from: wut on July 03, 2012, 10:08
Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 03, 2012, 10:05
Quote from: Reef on July 02, 2012, 16:41
Those doing well are far less likely to report their stats.

Believe me, I would happily report an increase in sales. Nothing would please me more than to report iStock is finally giving exclusives the support they need to survive. Unfortunately my sales figures show otherwise:

Compared to June 2011:

$ -20.5% DL -45%

Compared to June 2010:

$ -23.3% DL - 65%

At least it's not that bad for you as it was in the past months

that gonna be a very bad joke.. fotoVoyager is doing less 23.3% $ of what he have made 2 years ago with less 2466 files (representing a 29% portfolio increase)

Not a joke, just an observation and trying to look at it from the bright side, optimistically. If I remember correctly his losses were as big as 40-45%.

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #52 on:** July 03, 2012, 11:08 »

If you didn't laugh you'd cry.

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. I can't understand anyone turning exclusive anywhere any more - it'd be madness unless the agencies aggressively promote exclusive content more.

How do you know how many images I've added in the past year? I've never been able to work that out.

traveler1116 · « **Reply #53 on:** July 03, 2012, 11:11 »

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 03, 2012, 11:08

If you didn't laugh you'd cry.

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. I can't understand anyone turning exclusive anywhere any more - it'd be madness unless the agencies aggressively promote exclusive content more.

How do you know how many images I've added in the past year? I've never been able to work that out.

The fastest way I know is to go to deepmeta and sort by age and highlight (click the newest, scroll down to one year ago and shift click that one) then right click and it will tell you how many images selected.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #54 on:** July 03, 2012, 11:20 »

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 03, 2012, 11:08

How do you know how many images I've added in the past year? I've never been able to work that out.

browsing your portfolio, found the last picture from before the end of June 2010 (by file date, page 13, row 7, 4th picture)

http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-13100297-siena-medieval-cathedral-campanile-piazza-duomo-aerial-banner-tuscany-italy.php?st=10c4eef

ahah actually I am wrong thats until May 2010 but it works either way

fotoVoyager · « **Reply #55 on:** July 03, 2012, 12:22 »

Quote from: traveler1116 on July 03, 2012, 11:11

Quote from: fotoVoyager on July 03, 2012, 11:08
If you didn't laugh you'd cry.

Ah well, it was fun while it lasted. I can't understand anyone turning exclusive anywhere any more - it'd be madness unless the agencies aggressively promote exclusive content more.

How do you know how many images I've added in the past year? I've never been able to work that out.
The fastest way I know is to go to deepmeta and sort by age and highlight (click the newest, scroll down to one year ago and shift click that one) then right click and it will tell you how many images selected.

Good tip, thanks.

cobalt · « **Reply #56 on:** July 03, 2012, 15:12 »

[/quote]

you are one of the biggest examples of iStock disgrace, having 60k downloads all time and only 150 sales in June is just incredible, don´t know how you can keep up the faith in them really..
[/quote]

In the last three years I have uploaded less than 900 files. Half of those were leftovers from older shootings. Basically I am not an active contributor for many reasons.

So for "not really working" to get around 2000 USD (on average between istock+getty+thinkstock) is a very good income IMO and I am grateful.

I will be more active in the coming months, but what I find very scary is people who are uploading 1500 good files a year and reporting a loss in downloads and royalties. So I am not sure if I really should make a big push at shooting and uploading or if it is better to look at other income streams first and accept that even with regular uploads I´ll probably be stuck with the returns I am getting now.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #57 on:** July 03, 2012, 15:24 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 03, 2012, 15:12

In the last three years I have uploaded less than 900 files. Half of those were leftovers from older shootings. Basically I am not an active contributor for many reasons.

So for "not really working" to get around 2000 USD (on average between istock+getty+thinkstock) is a very good income IMO and I am grateful.

I will be more active in the coming months, but what I find very scary is people who are uploading 1500 good files a year and reporting a loss in downloads and royalties. So I am not sure if I really should make a big push at shooting and uploading or if it is better to look at other income streams first and accept that even with regular uploads I´ll probably be stuck with the returns I am getting now.

thanks for sharing! I understand what you mean but in the past you made a lot more no?

gostwyck · « **Reply #58 on:** July 03, 2012, 15:45 »

Not too bad. Overall earnings were up just a tad over June 2011 (with PP earnings projected).

Agencies as follows with % gain or loss compared to June 2011.

SS +9%
IS +15%
FT -37% (Good job I recently made Emerald eh?)
DT -34%

cobalt · « **Reply #59 on:** July 03, 2012, 15:59 »

[/quote]

thanks for sharing! I understand what you mean but in the past you made a lot more no?
[/quote]

Yes I did, although it is very hard to compare, because the return per download was much lower. My best year was 2009 and unfortunately I didn´t upload much after that.

If I could get back to those levels I would be very happy, but obviously I won´t find out unless I upload a lot for at least two years. I also need to increase the quality of my work, there is so much more competition now.

wut · « **Reply #60 on:** July 03, 2012, 18:01 »

Quote from: cobalt on July 03, 2012, 15:12

So for "not really working" to get around 2000 USD (on average between istock+getty+thinkstock) is a very good income IMO and I am grateful.

So you're getting a 15$ RPD. Wow, that's really impressive

lisafx · « **Reply #61 on:** July 03, 2012, 19:24 »

Quote from: gostwyck on July 03, 2012, 15:45

Not too bad. Overall earnings were up just a tad over June 2011 (with PP earnings projected).

Agencies as follows with % gain or loss compared to June 2011.

SS +9%
IS +15%
FT -37% (Good job I recently made Emerald eh?)
DT -34%

Congrats on making Emerald. Were you Emerald all month? If not, maybe you will benefit from the price bump in July. Hopefully...

gostwyck · « **Reply #62 on:** July 03, 2012, 19:56 »

Quote from: lisafx on July 03, 2012, 19:24

Quote from: gostwyck on July 03, 2012, 15:45
Not too bad. Overall earnings were up just a tad over June 2011 (with PP earnings projected).

Agencies as follows with % gain or loss compared to June 2011.

SS +9%
IS +15%
FT -37% (Good job I recently made Emerald eh?)
DT -34%

Congrats on making Emerald. Were you Emerald all month? If not, maybe you will benefit from the price bump in July. Hopefully...

I actually turned Emerald at the end of April ... and bizarrely it's been downhill every since! Heigh-ho.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #63 on:** July 04, 2012, 15:12 »

please delete!

cobalt · « **Reply #64 on:** July 04, 2012, 16:17 »

Quote from: wut on July 03, 2012, 18:01

Quote from: cobalt on July 03, 2012, 15:12

So for "not really working" to get around 2000 USD (on average between istock+getty+thinkstock) is a very good income IMO and I am grateful.

So you're getting a 15$ RPD. Wow, that's really impressive

No, this figure includes also all the downloads from thinkstock and getty, so it would be a lot more than 150 downloads in total. But thinkstock is a sub site, so I get 42 cents per sale.

On istock my RPD is somewhere between 2-6 Dollars on average, depending on the collection. Vetta and E+ as an XXXL can give really high returns, but you don´t get them all the time. Getty also sometimes has returns with over 150 Dollars for one license, but they also have licenses for less than a dollar.

My monthly returns has become a lot less predictable with the higher prices. Because one large sale or extended license of a Vetta file etc...can really have a strong impact. The 2000 is an average.

lisafx · « **Reply #65 on:** July 04, 2012, 17:26 »

Quote from: gostwyck on July 03, 2012, 19:56

I actually turned Emerald at the end of April ... and bizarrely it's been downhill every since! Heigh-ho.

Interesting... Lends support to the notion that emeralds are penalized in the search.

klsbear · « **Reply #66 on:** July 04, 2012, 17:55 »

Quote from: lisafx on July 04, 2012, 17:26

Quote from: gostwyck on July 03, 2012, 19:56

I actually turned Emerald at the end of April ... and bizarrely it's been downhill every since! Heigh-ho.

Interesting... Lends support to the notion that emeralds are penalized in the search.

I wouldn't be surprised to find that they include rank in the search algorithm. Immediately after I turned bronze it seemed like sales started to increase and I could count on some regular DL's rather than the previous random DL's with long dry periods. Could be that they are boosting the lower and middle ranks which in effect penalizes the higher ranks.

sharpshot · « **Reply #67 on:** July 05, 2012, 01:34 »

I'm a silver rank and my earnings have been decimated. I'm still not sure it's anything to do with ranking because people are reporting that they're falling in the rankings. So some emeralds are missing out but others are doing better. My earnings have crashed but according to the rankings, hundreds of other silvers are now selling more than me. That's if the rankings are accurate, we don't seem to have many people talking about a boost in sales here. They have remained above DT in the earnings ratings here though.

stockmarketer · « **Reply #68 on:** July 05, 2012, 05:50 »

I'm Emerald, and my earnings took a steep plunge around March, though my ranking has held steady. This suggests much of the top hundred or so contributors have seen a similar crash, otherwise, my ranking would have plunged along with my downloads.

oboy · « **Reply #69 on:** July 05, 2012, 12:07 »

For me it was only a little down. 5% decrease compared to May, but still a 42% increase compared to June 12011. My best four were: SS, Alamy, DP, IS

Full statistic: http://microstockinfos.blogspot.com/2012/07/stock-photography-sales-statistic-june.html

(This statistic include referral earning at the different agencies)

Lagereek · « **Reply #70 on:** July 05, 2012, 13:48 »

June has been extremely good, BME, at 3 sites, 3 four figured sales in the RF, and RM, is booming. Must be x-mas.

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