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Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: muratani on November 03, 2018, 15:16

Title: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: muratani on November 03, 2018, 15:16
Is it normal to have very low Shutterstock sales? It is used to be better. Now even my Bigstock and Dreamstime sales are better than my Shutterstock sales. Is it mean ST, somehow put me on low profile? I heard other people ST sales are much more better than other agencies.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: derek on November 04, 2018, 02:53
Yeah tell us all about it!  thanks! ::)
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: qwerty on November 04, 2018, 03:53
Most people get more sales on Shutterstock hence it's No1 in the poll results.
However a lot of those people have been submitting for a long time and have a diversified portfolio, its harder to get new images to sell than sell old images that have already sold many times before. Search position and so many more images getting submitted.

You could search the other 20 threads where people complain about shrinking downloads at Shutterstock.

What are you going to do if people say its normal or they say its not normal ?

Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: DiscreetDuck on November 04, 2018, 05:22
Try any search you want, typing any word(s) you want... and compare "Fresh content" vs "Most Relevant"... Now you can understand why, from a buyer point of view, "Fresh content" will be used only  by buyers who have the time to sort out tons of images to find the good one.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: nobody on November 04, 2018, 07:58
Try any search you want, typing any word(s) you want... and compare "Fresh content" vs "Most Relevant"... Now you can understand why, from a buyer point of view, "Fresh content" will be used only  by buyers who have the time to sort out tons of images to find the good one.

+100 for your comments  8)
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 06, 2018, 01:47
Sales of the first week is horror.  :o Why are they playing with the site too much i really don't understand. What is the logic of removing Most Popular button in search page?
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Pauws99 on November 06, 2018, 03:14
Sales of the first week is horror.  :o Why are they playing with the site too much i really don't understand. What is the logic of removing Most Popular button in search page?
The "logic" is to give customers a wider choice than the same old images. Whether the way it is implemented achieves that is the real issue. My sales so far this month are horrible...looks like the latest change has gone against me.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Artist on November 06, 2018, 04:34
Sale are normal here but I expect them to grow as we have christmas and new year month close.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: dpimborough on November 06, 2018, 04:48
Sale are normal here but I expect them to grow as we have christmas and new year month close.

Really? Xmas and the new year are usually low sales months as all the buyer go on vacation
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: kelomang on November 06, 2018, 05:05
Yes, October was good but November has been slow so far.

December is usually crap in terms of sales too.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: jonbull on November 06, 2018, 11:58
Yes, October was good but November has been slow so far.

December is usually crap in terms of sales too.

sme..rea october but first 6 days of nvember less than a good day of october...semms like i reached already my annual quota
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: msg2018 on November 06, 2018, 16:22
semms like i reached already my annual quota

Oh no, please! We already had the daily cap and the monthly cap conspiracy, do we need a yearly one too?

Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Pauws99 on November 06, 2018, 16:47
semms like i reached already my annual quota

Oh no, please! We already had the daily cap and the monthly cap conspiracy, do we need a yearly one too?
You forgot the weekly one ;-).
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: nobody on November 06, 2018, 16:54
semms like i reached already my annual quota

Oh no, please! We already had the daily cap and the monthly cap conspiracy, do we need a yearly one too?
You forgot the weekly one ;-).

Heck, what about hourly cap... 8)
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Uncle Pete on November 06, 2018, 17:21
semms like i reached already my annual quota

Oh no, please! We already had the daily cap and the monthly cap conspiracy, do we need a yearly one too?

Wait you missed the news, if you complain on the SS forum, you will suddenly get more sales.

Just amazing what people will come up with, superstitions, but more so, how many others will be taken in by these off these high imaginative theories. If more people would look at this as a business, instead of some game, they would understand, there are good days and not so good, and periods where sales slump. Also if someone has a good balance offering, they will have a fairly stable flow of sales, but still have ups and down. Just not as big as someone who has a smaller or less diverse portfolio.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: nobody on November 06, 2018, 19:25
Shutter has lost it's glitter! Adobe and Canva have gain market share so of course our sales are going to go down on Shutter...
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: derek on November 07, 2018, 03:11
Shutter has lost it's glitter! Adobe and Canva have gain market share so of course our sales are going to go down on Shutter...

plus 100%!   dead right!
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 07, 2018, 07:23
Wasn't there a MOST DOWNLOADED button in search page? I think they removed this button and it affected sales of most downloaded images. Now ı can only see MOST RELEVANT and FRESH CONTENT buttons. November sales are horror. I can not imagine December and the rest.

What about asking this subject to shutterstock admins in contributor forum?


Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: dpimborough on November 07, 2018, 07:27
Wasn't there a MOST DOWNLOADED button in search page? I think they removed this button and it affected sales of most downloaded images. Now ı can only see MOST RELEVANT and FRESH CONTENT buttons. November sales are horror. I can not imagine December and the rest.

What about asking this subject to shutterstock admins in contributor forum?

You are thinking of "Popular" which has been relabeled to Most Relevant (there never was a MOST DOWNLOADED button)

"Popular" never related to most downloaded, it was the result of a gobbledygook algorithm of newest images, downloads and clicks which resulted in some form of relevancy according to SS.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 07, 2018, 07:29
Yes i mean POPULAR button. When did they remove this button? Sales are horror and i think it is not related to New year period.



Wasn't there a MOST DOWNLOADED button in search page? I think they removed this button and it affected sales of most downloaded images. Now ı can only see MOST RELEVANT and FRESH CONTENT buttons. November sales are horror. I can not imagine December and the rest.

What about asking this subject to shutterstock admins in contributor forum?

You are thinking of "Popular" (there never was a MOST DOWNLOADED button) which never related to most downloaded, it was the result of a gobbledygook algorithm of newest, downloads and clicks which resulted in some form of relevancy according to SS.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: jonbull on November 07, 2018, 07:38
Wasn't there a MOST DOWNLOADED button in search page? I think they removed this button and it affected sales of most downloaded images. Now ı can only see MOST RELEVANT and FRESH CONTENT buttons. November sales are horror. I can not imagine December and the rest.

What about asking this subject to shutterstock admins in contributor forum?

i agree totally hour sales for november...fotolia and is are growing but not to match the lose in ss......they kill relevant and it was an error..buyers only search for popular due to the fact ss accepts all craps in the world...that's why established contributor sen not uploading for years still sells a lot, especially christmas   and new year content sold are always the same for years. the sites of micro are biased towards old and establish contributor who uploaded in the past. new content fight with thousand of crap. i hope they kill popular tab and change it wth the old relevant.   
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 07, 2018, 07:45
I opened a topic in contributor forums. Please join.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Open_ on November 07, 2018, 07:46
September was a 12month high for me, then October topping it with another 12 month high - wow.

I feel that November will be a start of bearish month. I just hope it will not be a complete nosedive >.<
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 07, 2018, 07:47
My sales decreased to 1/3. My loss is 2/3.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: jonbull on November 07, 2018, 08:07
i have a photo of dubai who was in first line in a search of more than 75000 image of dubai ...it sells everyday ..near 1000 sales, now slipped already in 2 page...and clearly not sold for the last days...thanks shuttestock. now i understand the lost of sales of last days...good job ss
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Fairplay on November 07, 2018, 08:11
Really bad start of the month, down about 30%
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 07, 2018, 08:17
Please join my topic and share your experience in shutterstock contributor forums.

i have a photo of dubai who was in first line in a search of more than 75000 image of dubai ...it sells everyday ..near 1000 sales, now slipped already in 2 page...and clearly not sold for the last days...thanks shuttestock. now i understand the lost of sales of last days...good job ss
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: ShadySue on November 07, 2018, 08:19
i have a photo of dubai who was in first line in a search of more than 75000 image of dubai ...it sells everyday ..near 1000 sales, now slipped already in 2 page...and clearly not sold for the last days...thanks shuttestock. now i understand the lost of sales of last days...good job ss

Again, that's just SS replicating what iS did a few years back. I had some of my iS best-sellers disappear without trace overnight, went from the top line of best match search to below page 100.
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: nobody on November 07, 2018, 08:42
Complaining to SS will not stop the fact that other companies are taking their customers.  Look at the poll. Just a few years back SS was like 97! Now it is in the low 80's and it's going to get worse for them.  Sure I've lost about 40% of my sales from just the last two years but that's life in the business world- nothing I can do but to move forward with the other companies or find work outside of the MS world  :-\





Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Stocker2015 on November 07, 2018, 08:45
Please join my topic in contributor forum. Unfortunately, there are only 3 big firms in microstock industry.


Complaining to SS will not stop the fact that other companies are taking their customers.  Look at the poll. Just a few years back SS was like 97! Now it is in the low 80's and it's going to get worse for them.  Sure I've lost about 40% of my sales from just the last two years but that's life in the business world- nothing I can do but to move forward with the other companies or find work outside of the MS world  :-\
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: nobody on November 07, 2018, 08:58
Please join my topic in contributor forum. Unfortunately, there are only 3 big firms in microstock industry.


Complaining to SS will not stop the fact that other companies are taking their customers.  Look at the poll. Just a few years back SS was like 97! Now it is in the low 80's and it's going to get worse for them.  Sure I've lost about 40% of my sales from just the last two years but that's life in the business world- nothing I can do but to move forward with the other companies or find work outside of the MS world  :-\

I don't agree with there being only 3 big firms. Personally, I know some folks that make more on Fine Art of America, Pond 5, Alamy, Creative Markets than most on this site make with SS! SS isn't the only game in town and I've accepted this... 8)
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: dpimborough on November 07, 2018, 11:38
Please join my topic in contributor forum. Unfortunately, there are only 3 big firms in microstock industry.


Complaining to SS will not stop the fact that other companies are taking their customers.  Look at the poll. Just a few years back SS was like 97! Now it is in the low 80's and it's going to get worse for them.  Sure I've lost about 40% of my sales from just the last two years but that's life in the business world- nothing I can do but to move forward with the other companies or find work outside of the MS world  :-\

You mentioned this three times now.  Once is quite sufficient. 

Anyway I'll never darken the SS forum its full of people who don't know how to take photos  complaining about lack of sales  ;D
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: Pauws99 on November 07, 2018, 17:18
i have a photo of dubai who was in first line in a search of more than 75000 image of dubai ...it sells everyday ..near 1000 sales, now slipped already in 2 page...and clearly not sold for the last days...thanks shuttestock. now i understand the lost of sales of last days...good job ss
"content sold are always the same for years. the sites of micro are biased towards old and establish contributor who uploaded in the past."

 :o
Title: Re: Poor Shutterstock sales
Post by: OM on November 09, 2018, 04:11
i have a photo of dubai who was in first line in a search of more than 75000 image of dubai ...it sells everyday ..near 1000 sales, now slipped already in 2 page...and clearly not sold for the last days...thanks shuttestock. now i understand the lost of sales of last days...good job ss

Again, that's just SS replicating what iS did a few years back. I had some of my iS best-sellers disappear without trace overnight, went from the top line of best match search to below page 100.

FT did that too in 2010-2012. That was the reason I went to SS in 2012. Thanks FT. :) At the time, I didn't think I'd get into SS but got 10/10 selected on my first submission. The image that had sold most (500+ dls) at FT in 4 years (and suddenly went to zero) has gone on to sell 3K+ at SS.
However, my SS experience now mirrors many others here. $$$ sales down by 2/3rds compared to 2 years ago and dls down by 50+%. No incentive to upload more as new stuff mostly disappears without a single sale. This business is back to being a hobby.....nice pocket money but not a real reward for energy expended.