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Author Topic: RPI is it by month or year and whats average  (Read 12173 times)

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« on: August 05, 2013, 00:30 »
+1
So I'm curious as I hear the term RPI quite often. I understand it's how much you made vs how many files you have up, but is this number on a per year basis that most people give or a per month?

Also what is considered a normal number for RPI.



Beppe Grillo

« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2013, 01:47 »
0
I think that you can have RPI/month, RPI/year, RPI/all time

But I am like you, I don't know which one s the right one. ;)
Personally I consider RPI/all time, that is to say from the moment I begun to "play" with microstock.
After that you can have RPI/site and RPI/all site, so RPI/site/month or RPI/all sites/all time
Ah ah I am a little confused too!!  ;D

« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2013, 01:55 »
+1
More or less trying to compare to others. I've seen numbers thrown about from .40 or so up to 5 or so. Doesn't help though unless I know are we comparing by the month or by the year.


Veneratio

« Reply #3 on: August 05, 2013, 09:37 »
0
Although I record RPI each month by agency I record and measure the success of an image/series by the RPI ongoing. For example, if I have paid out 1000 on a location shoot - hotel, transport, etc - I want to know how much that trip is returning and how quickly I get back my investment. This information will then effect future location shoots.

For example - if I spent 1000 on a coastal shoot and it takes me 6 months to make that back and get into profit from it, but a landscape shoot returns my investment in three months you can probably guess where I will more likely spend my investment in the future.

I record monthly RPI to enable me to see how sales profiles are changing at each agency e.g. when new sub plans are introduced, or single image pricing is changed.

« Reply #4 on: August 05, 2013, 09:44 »
0
Most microstockers refer to rpi by month.

« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2013, 10:50 »
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What would be considered an average for RPI?

« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2013, 10:57 »
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People have varying methods depending on what they are using RPI for. I just use it as a guideline to predict what I'll make with x number of images at a particular agency, but others use it to determine success of a particular shoot.

« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2013, 11:18 »
-1
What would be considered an average for RPI?

there is no average since the content differs so much -- an RPI of $1 on 1000 images is the same as an RPI of $.10 on 10,000   -- so people with a small, high sales portfolio will have higher rpi, those with larger portfolio in a competitive area like travel will tend to have lower RPI

Uncle Pete

« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2013, 17:54 »
-1
You guys are hot (if Veneratio is a guy?) Measuring the cost of production vs RPI from that work, is excellent for evaluating your real profits.

I believe some people have also quoted RPI per year, for their entire collection.

Like everything else, it can mean many things and depending on the person, the time period can be different. I don't think there is  a standard. It's an average anyway.

If lifetime RPI by agency was one number, lifetime RPI for a collection on all agencies, would be another nice indicator?  Although the collection varies between places, because of what one agency or another accepts.

Then the problem. If my RPI on site X is $$$ and I delete the 25% worst dogs, my RPI will now be much higher. Wow I'm happy and I'm improving? LOL

txking, RPI is what it is. If someone says it's annual, that's it. If they record monthly for each agency, that's what it is. I really don't think there's any "standard" for an average return? So you'll need to be specific and ask the people reporting numbers to explain what they mean.

My monthly RPI for the images I have on SS right now (and I calculated it just for you txking)  :) is 10c a month? or $1.20 a year.



People have varying methods depending on what they are using RPI for. I just use it as a guideline to predict what I'll make with x number of images at a particular agency, but others use it to determine success of a particular shoot.

« Reply #9 on: August 05, 2013, 22:10 »
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What would be considered an average for RPI?


I've heard people quote a monthly RPI anywhere from around $0.25/month on all agencies to $5.00/month

« Reply #10 on: August 05, 2013, 22:51 »
+1
To add to the confusion:

I calculate my RPI not by images I have online but by images I have submitted. After all, I spent money and work time also on those images that have been rejected, thus they need to be part of the equation as well. This way I can't even fool myself by deleting those "25% worst dogs".  ;D

So depending on what you shot, mode of submission (only the best, everything, whatever...), rejection percentage, etc. RPI varies widely. Comparisons with other photographers don't help you much. But watching your RPI over time can give you insights about your/your agencies progress...

« Reply #11 on: August 06, 2013, 04:55 »
0
I think a more useful and less confusing stat is total earnings.

« Reply #12 on: August 06, 2013, 07:56 »
+4
RPI is your best measurement of how well you are doing, at least compared to yourself (unless you know an accurate industry average... which I don't.  Numbers you see in a forum like this will be all over the map.)

I track daily and monthly RPI.  In case it helps, my average daily RPI in the summer is usually around $.08 and in the better selling seasons, it's more like $.10. 

Others here will say that the only number that matters is your earnings.  True enough... you can't pay your mortgage with RPI.  But that kind of attitude is sticking one's head in the sand.  If you want to know the direction you're going, you need a number that is independent of the size of your port.  How are you doing in year 5 vs how you did in year 1?  RPI is a significant key to understanding your performance.

« Reply #13 on: August 06, 2013, 08:54 »
+1
Others here will say that the only number that matters is your earnings.  True enough... you can't pay your mortgage with RPI.  But that kind of attitude is sticking one's head in the sand.

Since I've switched to a smaller agency/fewer downloads approach, my numbers can really fluctuate from month to month wildly. It's a lot less now about what I do and more about how the agencies do or if a big customer comes in that month. I still track RPI, but there is very little that is informative about it anymore.

« Reply #14 on: August 06, 2013, 10:16 »
0
Yeah, it really is about volume.  If you take a scaled back approach and figure out a way to sell at a higher price but get fewer downloads, your RPI will be all over the map.

But since my pictures are everywhere and now I have a big port and lots of daily downloads, I can look at RPI, take a cue from what I made on this day last year (first Tuesday in August as opposed to specific date which might result in a weekday vs weekend comparison), and predict almost to the dollar what I will make today.  There's always the oddball ELs that will throw things off, but by and large, I can now predict with startling accuracy what I'll earn today, this week or this month.  Even if an agency makes a best-match change, these often get balanced out by another agency making a tweak that impacts me in the other direction.

Uncle Pete

« Reply #15 on: August 07, 2013, 13:19 »
0
RPI is your best measurement of how well you are doing, at least compared to yourself.

The end, and that's why the OP needs to look at his/her own RPI, not yours or mine or anyone else.

The data is interesting and useful and measures progress, but:

The bottom line IS the bottom line. RPI is a statistic and bottom line, puts food on the table, pays for discretionary spending, helps finances, or buys equipment. (a pint of beer, sandwich, or a glass of Scotch are other good choices)

« Reply #16 on: August 07, 2013, 13:53 »
0

I calculate my RPI not by images I have online but by images I have submitted. After all, I spent money and work time also on those images that have been rejected, thus they need to be part of the equation as well.

Absolutely the right way to go about this.  Otherwise you can manipulate your RPI to be more to your liking which isn't the point of RPI at all. 


« Reply #17 on: August 07, 2013, 16:20 »
0
Imagine you submit 1000 images to two agencies one accepts all of them the the other only 10.

On the site with 1000 images you make $100 on the one with 10 you make $10.

Which is 10X better?

The key stats are production costs, your cost of your time, income.
« Last Edit: August 07, 2013, 16:24 by Pauws99 »

« Reply #18 on: August 07, 2013, 16:38 »
+1
Imagine you submit 1000 images to two agencies one accepts all of them the the other only 10.

On the site with 1000 images you make $100 on the one with 10 you make $10.

Which is 10X better?

The key stats are production costs, your cost of your time, income.

Umm... The train gets to Cleveland at 4:00. Dang it! I was never good at these word problems.

« Reply #19 on: August 08, 2013, 06:55 »
+1
RPI is a big topic in microstock analytics, so let me chip into the discussion :-)

For us, RPI/m is one of the most important metrics because it is great at comparing one set of images against another. For instance, if you want to know whether your cat images sell better than your dog images, you would compare the RPI/m of both sets of images.

Imagine cats brings you $2 per month per image and dogs brings you $3. That clearly indicates that dog pictures outsell cat pictures and you should produce more dog pictures. (Sorry if anybody here is a big fan of cats ;-)  )

The nice thing of RPI/m or RPI/yr is that it normalises the value and facilitates comparison. If you only compared general RPI then you would not be able to compare two sets of images, therefore general RPI is of limited use. We prefer measuring overall return on investment instead of general RPI.

Use RPI/m to identify your strongest themes and produce more of those! It should help you increase your revenue.

We once wrote a glossary to help make these terms understandable. Feel free to have a read here: https://www.stockperformer.com/glossary

hope that helps!
Luis

« Reply #20 on: August 08, 2013, 11:58 »
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I've heard quite a few different rates as to what peoples RPI's are but nobody I've seen ever really gave over what the time range was just that they had a RPI of X. That's why I was curious as to if there was a standard time frame RPI is given over. Usually I just hear that the average for an RPI is $1 but I've never heard someone say is that per month or per year so I was curious from there.

I'm curious on what others RPI's are for just to compare to see how my portfolio is doing vs other peoples. I know it's not a tell all and that depending upon what you are photographing you can get different RPI's. I can see that in my own portfolio even comparing editorial vs non-editorial shots, or even comparing my prison photo's vs photos of me laying on the couch. I've used it for that for a while though to see what sets are working out and which ones are not working out. I already have done that and have my images seperated out by sets, whole portfoilo, editoria vs commercial, even among different topics. This way I can compare images within my own portfolio vs others within my own port.

Still curious though where my portfolio stands compares to others. With that it gives me somewhat of an idea of how my images are earning against the "average" portfolio. Comparing only among myself might help out with seeing which of my sets work well against each other but if I'm taking images of crap compared to other peoples gold and I don't realize it then I'm going to keep doing crap. Here at least if I see my RPI is crap I realize that I am doing something wrong somplace compared to that "average" and from there I need to either change my images or something.

Yes I know in the end the goal is to always drive to higher sales and get a stronger bottem end as that is what pays the bills, and either way I'm going to go out and take more images and always try to get better this I believe can still be used as a tool to see my standing and see how far off from where I should/could be.

Unless anywants to look at my portfolio and point out things that can be improved but usually when someone does that I start hearing complaints about eyes getting poked out and needing bleach to wash the crap away, so with that I think RPI is where I'm going to stay :-)

« Reply #21 on: August 08, 2013, 13:42 »
0
.....
Imagine cats brings you $2 per month per image and dogs brings you $3. That clearly indicates that dog pictures outsell cat pictures and you should produce more dog pictures. (Sorry if anybody here is a big fan of cats ;-)  )

The nice thing of RPI/m or RPI/yr is that it normalises the value and facilitates comparison. If you only compared general RPI then you would not be able to compare two sets of images, therefore general RPI is of limited use. We prefer measuring overall return on investment instead of general RPI.....

no, statistically, those conclusions aren't correct -- you're  assuming cats & dogs are completely independent factors, and not allowing for actual income or for COST to produce each image, among other things -- eg, you might have 1000 cat pictures and 100 dog pictures, in which case your income would be $2000 for cats and only $300 for dogs, even though dog has a 50% higher RPI.  or it might cost you $1 to produce a cat picture but $10 to produce a dog, etc

in this case normalizing ignores or erases many important factors

and once you start trying to compare RPI across portfolios, it becomes even harder to make any valid conclusions.  at best RPI is helpful for gauging an individual portfolio's performance over time  (and even here, you need to account for quantity & quality of the competition, growth or decline in demand, growth or decline in the individual agencies, etc)

« Reply #22 on: August 08, 2013, 17:00 »
0
"For us, RPI/m is one of the most important metrics because it is great at comparing one set of images against another. "

I see your point but I suspect you would need a very large port for this to be statistically meaningful and there are a lot of other factors to consider as stated above e.g production cost. I think for most there are fairly obvious pointers without delving into complex and potentially misleading analysis

« Reply #23 on: August 12, 2013, 12:37 »
0
Honestly I don't factor cost into a lot of stuff as most all my shoots don't have any cost. For models I use myself, or my kids if needed. If I need supplies I use what is around the house. Generally if I need to buy anything then I don't photograph it cause I'm a broke bum. The only shots I do that have a cost are interesting enough my lowest earners anyway which would be the editorial stuff. Even then though the only real cost I have is the gas to get there and whatever food I eat while I'm there if I don't pack anything with me.

Let me ask then though if I want to compare only the earnings potential of my images vs someone else how would I do so? My goal is to find out how my images earn compared to someone else or the average. Most seem to say that RPI is not the way to do it and so how can I compare my works potential vs someone else?

« Reply #24 on: August 12, 2013, 13:07 »
+1
What about the cost of your time - if you spend an hour photoshopping each of your images and someone else 5 minutes this is a huge factor. I would say don't worry about comparison just look to improve your own performance over time.


 

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