Nov 2011 - Microstock Earnings Thread

[lagereek]

Seems to me, theyre palying some sort of a game?  the IS, search throws independat files way, way back, yet, slightly similar files I have in the RM, etc, have really premiere positions.
Now if IS, arent aware of that, well, I recon theyre getting fooled or something.
However thats me, dont know about anybody else?

[PixelsAway]

Nov 3% lover than October which was BME  (IS and SS slightly down, most of others up)
      50% up from Nov'10 (~1000 pictures added)

SS 34%  (23% a year ago)   
IS  28%  (44% a  year ago)
DT 12%
FT   5%
123 4%
PD,DP,VEER 3%

In November I've completed my 4th year in microstock.

[nicku]

After my first month as independent photographer:

SS --------- 51%
DT --------- 44%
123RF ----- 4%
FT---------- 2%
CanStock -- 0%

[antistock]

i can't see how the rise of SS and the fall of IS are good news.

this trend is only showing that buyers are more and more into finding the cheapest price and the cheapest deals.

if the real inflation rate in the western countries is 5-10% how this model can remain sustainable if prices keep going down and your files are getting diluted (and devalued !) in the millions of new photos uploaded each months ?

even feeding the beast, the point of non-return will soon be reached.

either prices go way up or producing stock will cost more than what it earns in all agencies combined.

 

[nicku]

i can't see how the rise of SS and the fall of IS are good news.

this trend is only showing that buyers are more and more into finding the cheapest price and the cheapest deals.

if the real inflation rate in the western countries is 5-10% how this model can remain sustainable if prices keep going down and your files are getting diluted (and devalued !) in the millions of new photos uploaded each months ?

even feeding the beast, the point of non-return will soon be reached.

either prices go way up or producing stock will cost more than what it earns in all agencies combined.

 

I believe the future of microstock is quality; Yes today many people contribute, but very soon we will start to see massive rejection from all agencies and the reason will be quality or concept ...

[Jo Ann Snover]

i can't see how the rise of SS and the fall of IS are good news.

this trend is only showing that buyers are more and more into finding the cheapest price and the cheapest deals.

...

But experience at SS isn't showing that at all. I made more at SS in November than I had before I went exclusive at iStock - higher RPD and higher total - because their prices are higher than they were. It's the on demand and single sales that are bring the numbers up. It is the other sites that have hiked prices more - perhaps too high and in ways that buyers find irritatingly confusing - that has helped funnel business to SS.

In the current economy, it doesn't surprise me that buyers are looking for value.

[antistock]

i can't see how the rise of SS and the fall of IS are good news.

this trend is only showing that buyers are more and more into finding the cheapest price and the cheapest deals.

...

But experience at SS isn't showing that at all. I made more at SS in November than I had before I went exclusive at iStock - higher RPD and higher total - because their prices are higher than they were. It's the on demand and single sales that are bring the numbers up. It is the other sites that have hiked prices more - perhaps too high and in ways that buyers find irritatingly confusing - that has helped funnel business to SS.

In the current economy, it doesn't surprise me that buyers are looking for value.

yes, for the moment it's still a profitable biz but how long it's gonna last ?

RF killed RM, and microstock and oversupply are killing RF as well ... i could be wrong of course but what's gonna happen when SS has 30-40 million images in store ?

i can tell you, they will make more money than ever while we photographers will struggle to even recoup the production costs.

do you think they care about us ? NO.

and rightfully so, we've no brand, we're not famous, we've no added value, we're all worth the other, most of us don't even use a real name/surname but just a nick name...

[antistock]

I believe the future of microstock is quality; Yes today many people contribute, but very soon we will start to see massive rejection from all agencies and the reason will be quality or concept ...

in my opinion quality in microstock is way more than enough at the moment considering the pittance clients are paying.

suffice to say even Yuri Arcurs gets rejections and is lamenting a fall in sales despite having a huge expensive studio with paid models and top-notch gear.

if he can't stay in biz, who will ?

[nicku]

i can't see how the rise of SS and the fall of IS are good news.

 

Considering the paranoic rejections from IS i believe is a very good news.... at least in my personal case.

[RacePhoto]

Yes I had earnings in November.



Closed StockXpert/ThinkStock Soon there will be only two that count, as BigStock is a SS Sister site only.

Still having fun.

[Elenathewise]

It wouldn't surprise me if iStock is booming as a business but individuals are seeing falls because of the increase in size of the library. Dilution might provide short term profits but in the long run it'll make full time stock shooting impossible.

The quality of the images will fall since no-one will be able to invest the time or money to create those professional photographs we see now.

This will be a problem for all the agencies in the long run; it may be that iStock - as has been the case from the start of this adventure - is leading the pack.

This is an interesting thought; however, if dilution was the only factor, Shutterstock would lead the pack in terms of decreased earnings since they have no ulpload limits, no exclusivity, very easy submission process, and their library is still growing very fast. What everyone sees though is the opposite: a big increase in earnings on SS. Istock may be booming as a business because of their extra-low payouts, extra-low sub and pp sales and other nasty practices like that.

[michaeldb]

... if dilution was the only factor, Shutterstock would lead the pack in terms of decreased earnings since they have no ulpload limits, no exclusivity, very easy submission process, and their library is still growing very fast...

Excellent point! There may be no such thing as 'dilution' in reality. What seems to really be happening is that buyers are shopping at the stores with the largest selection and most reasonable prices, and it means more sales to the suppliers who sell there. Why should this be so unbelievable?

On topic: my November sales were close to BME at both SS and DT, and I did have a BME at 123RF. I was pleasantly surprised at how strong Nov was considering that I have been submitting less in the last few months.

[gostwyck]

There may be no such thing as 'dilution' in reality. What seems to really be happening is that buyers are shopping at the stores with the largest selection and most reasonable prices, and it means more sales to the suppliers who sell there. Why should this be so unbelievable?

Of course dilution is a factor and it is inevitable that it will become more significant as time goes on. The effect of dilution at SS is simply being disguised slightly by their success in growing their share of what is probably a fairly stagnant market.

[antistock]

... if dilution was the only factor, Shutterstock would lead the pack in terms of decreased earnings since they have no ulpload limits, no exclusivity, very easy submission process, and their library is still growing very fast...

Excellent point! There may be no such thing as 'dilution' in reality. What seems to really be happening is that buyers are shopping at the stores with the largest selection and most reasonable prices, and it means more sales to the suppliers who sell there. Why should this be so unbelievable?

On topic: my November sales were close to BME at both SS and DT, and I did have a BME at 123RF. I was pleasantly surprised at how strong Nov was considering that I have been submitting less in the last few months.

or maybe buyers are simply joining SS in droves ?
in that case, wait a few months for the situation to stabilize.

another option is more and more RM buyers are moving to SS as well.

and finally that more and more new publishers who never before used stock images are now picking up something on SS to save money and cutting costs.

everything is possible but i remain skeptic about the long-term.

[antistock]

The effect of dilution at SS is simply being disguised slightly by their success in growing their share of what is probably a fairly stagnant market.

on top of this add the booming of piracy and free or CC-licenced images.

[lagereek]

No, its not a stagnant market at all!  the buyers are there and more are coming. The problem is:  only a handfull of agencies know how to handle it, how to entice the market, the buyers.
How many times havent we seen agencies do search-changes and for the worse, screwing up this and that and in the end they simply cant recover,  some of them are getting bad reputations, etc, internal and external politics problems, price increases, etc. Search-engines with so much irrelevant garbage that buyers fall asleep.

In our line of business, where we appoint agents to sell our products,  it is always the agencies Admins, their policies, know-how, good-will, their treatment of buyers/contributors, that finally will determine an agencies, failure or success.

[michaeldb]

...and finally that more and more new publishers who never before used stock images are now picking up something on SS to save money and cutting costs.

everything is possible but i remain skeptic about the long-term.

Yes, I also think that new publishers are still coming to microstock, and I think that will continue because microstock is making new kinds of publishing possible. Suppose that somebody has an idea for a new kind of, say, greeting card company but has little capital. A source of cheap images might make that business possible, when it would have have been impossible otherwise. Then if that business succeeds, others copy it. Microstock actually causes its market to increase qualitatively, i.e. by its very existence it creates new kinds of customers for its services.

Microstock is not a zero-sum game. The growth of the pie makes the size of the pie grow more.

I emphatically agree with Lagercreek, "No, its not a stagnant market at all!  the buyers are there and more are coming."

Antistock, it is never too late to become an optimist!

[antistock]

Antistock, it is never too late to become an optimist!

no problem, i'm open to any possible scenario actually.

but if price becomes really the only factor involved, well before or later clients will switch to Flickr or any other photo-sharing site .. it's 5-6 billions of images, mostly free or somewhat free, the only issue is to find what you need as they're not properly keyworded but if you have time it can be rewarding and there are excellent images you will never find in RF and RM agencies.

[Elenathewise]

...the only issue is to find what you need as they're not properly keyworded but if you have time it can be rewarding and there are excellent images you will never find in RF and RM agencies.

That is a big issue actually. Yes there are people who would go though thousands of images to find what they need for cheap or free, but people who do this for business don't have time for that. They need a good library with precise keywording and excellent search engine to find what they are looking for fast, and they don't mind paying for that convenience. Plus most free image sites are full of stuff that photographers shoot for their enjoyment, not commercially useful images.

[Noodles]

I've hardly looked in to check on things these past few weeks given the complete shambles IS is in, but at least my figure aint too bad.

iStockphoto Exclusive

Compared to last month
Dollars up 23%
Downloads up 42%

Compared to Nov last year
Dollars up 10%
Downloads up 21%

And to put it into perspective. Small portfolio (100+) averaging $350/month

[antistock]

...the only issue is to find what you need as they're not properly keyworded but if you have time it can be rewarding and there are excellent images you will never find in RF and RM agencies.

That is a big issue actually. Yes there are people who would go though thousands of images to find what they need for cheap or free, but people who do this for business don't have time for that. They need a good library with precise keywording and excellent search engine to find what they are looking for fast, and they don't mind paying for that convenience. Plus most free image sites are full of stuff that photographers shoot for their enjoyment, not commercially useful images.

exactly but precisely because they're non-edited collections you can often find a few gems in there, the only issue is about wasting maybe a couple hours browsing around but every time i try on Flickr and other photo-sharing sites i'm more and more surprised by the creativity and the freshness of some images posted there, it's no more like 10 yrs ago where people only posted images of their dog or their girlfriend, now there's plenty of skilled amateurs and hobbyist and some have talent, they're maybe just not interested in making money out of it, at least for now...