MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: SME on November 02, 2014, 00:41
-
I find that my new images don't sell any better compared to my old ones, and so, I kind of view every new image as a permanent addition to my residual income. Is this what you guys find to be the case too? Perhaps the new ones sell a bit better initially, but overall there is no real expiry on them and they don't seem to be completely buried.
-
It depends how long you've been uploading to microstock agencies. If it were less than 3 years for example then all your images are still 'new'. I reckon the average stock image to have a working life of about 5 years with peak earnings between years 2-3.
I've been doing microstock for exactly 10 years and, although my early stuff still sells (particularly niche subjects), I reckon 80%+ of my earnings is from images uploaded in the last 5 years. Of course your knowledge and skills improve with time so it is also the case that my newer images are generally much better than what I was producing several years ago. Just as well as there is literally 50x more competition, in terms of uploaded images, as there was say 8 years ago.
-
Files newer than 6 months account for 11% of sales in the last 6 months but represent 9% of images so they seem to do slightly better. Tracking sales by file age shows a slight upward trend.
-
Thanks for that statistic woody - awesome information.
Same for your gostwyk - great input. Thanks.
-
It's not scientific as I didn't upload the same number in each year since I started in Dec 2006; but on iS only, where many people have been reporting that new sales aren't doing as well as older files, my last 100 sales (not counting repeat sales) have been:
2006: 2
2007: 19
2008: 17
2009: 0
2010: 6
2011: 40
2012: 7
2013: 7
2014: 2
Clearly I need to avoid the sort of files I uploaded in 2009, and try to re-find my 2011 mojo. ::)
Clearly, this will be different at different agencies as to some degree, you're at the mercy of their search algorithm.
-
It's not scientific as I didn't upload the same number in each year since I started in Dec 2006; but on iS only, where many people have been reporting that new sales aren't doing as well as older files, my last 100 sales (not counting repeat sales) have been:
2006: 2
2007: 19
2008: 17
2009: 0
2010: 6
2011: 40
2012: 7
2013: 7
2014: 2
Clearly I need to avoid the sort of files I uploaded in 2009, and try to re-find my 2011 mojo. ::)
Clearly, this will be different at different agencies as to some degree, you're at the mercy of their search algorithm.
You're lucky! at least you had the mojo where I still haven't found it...
-
It's not scientific as I didn't upload the same number in each year since I started in Dec 2006; but on iS only, where many people have been reporting that new sales aren't doing as well as older files, my last 100 sales (not counting repeat sales) have been:
2006: 2
2007: 19
2008: 17
2009: 0
2010: 6
2011: 40
2012: 7
2013: 7
2014: 2
Clearly I need to avoid the sort of files I uploaded in 2009, and try to re-find my 2011 mojo. ::)
Clearly, this will be different at different agencies as to some degree, you're at the mercy of their search algorithm.
You're lucky! at least you had the mojo where I still haven't found it...
With 400 downloads last month, and only uploading since Jan, you have far more mojo than I have!
-
I've been doing microstock for exactly 10 years and, although my early stuff still sells (particularly niche subjects), I reckon 80%+ of my earnings is from images uploaded in the last 5 years. Of course your knowledge and skills improve with time so it is also the case that my newer images are generally much better than what I was producing several years ago. Just as well as there is literally 50x more competition, in terms of uploaded images, as there was say 8 years ago.
After almost 10 at various agencies myself, I have to agree. Niche stuff still sells but newer files tend to do better for me for the mainstream subjects. I think some photos have a shelf life, which is why I'm not averse to some of the lower sales offerings for some things that have stopped selling at other agencies.
-
I consider "old" everything that is over 1 year old.
On SS, files uploaded in the last year account for 50% of my income.