Author Topic: Sales stopped at Videoblocks? (Read 15056 times)

SpaceStockFootage · « **on:** February 14, 2017, 05:08 »

I appreciate that two weeks isn't enough time to indicate a worrying trend, I am just one contributor out of thousands, and variance can and does happen.... but I've had about ten sales a month at Videoblocks over the past four to six months or so, and I've not had a single sale yet this month.

Anyone else?

Noedelhap · « **Reply #1 on:** February 14, 2017, 05:22 »

I had a sale this month. Coincidentally it was a sale of a space-related animation, so I guess that explains it

cg3dphoto · « **Reply #2 on:** February 14, 2017, 07:12 »

6 so far this month, not bad for me, but sales at Videoblocks usually varies a lot from month to month

Brightontl · « **Reply #3 on:** February 14, 2017, 08:17 »

I always found Videoblock very, very strange.
I had my best ever the first month, when I had about 100 clips: I got about 6 clips sold, sort of welcome aboard.
After that I always got 2 to 3 sales a month, with 1,700 clips now. Increasing portfolio size does not seem to matter.
I have never sold a file more than once, in other words all sales come from different files.
The sales I get are generally from my worst clips, the one that never get a view anywhere else and the ones I am ashamed of

alno · « **Reply #4 on:** February 14, 2017, 08:51 »

3 sales so far, relatively slow first two weeks of February, but I still like them for being completely anti-istock: highest commision, highest single sale ($191 for 4K), nice minimalistic design, easy uploading for those who upload manually, lowest number of rejections, very good support.

click_click · « **Reply #5 on:** February 14, 2017, 08:55 »

I'm making a 1/10 of what I used to in the first couple of months when they started. So, you're not alone.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #6 on:** February 14, 2017, 09:21 »

Yes, Videoblocks varies more than the other sites for me too. December was nice, January and February very slow...

spike · « **Reply #7 on:** February 14, 2017, 11:47 »

Sales disappeared here as well.

trek · « **Reply #8 on:** February 14, 2017, 12:30 »

Millions of new clips flooding in.... dilution of sales should be expected.

Stockvideo99 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 14, 2017, 14:15 »

Something isn't right. It is like they turn a tap on and off and leave it off for a few weeks or is it a bypass lever and sales not being reported?. Nothing is free, repeat after me, nothing is free. So when they say they don't take a commission who pays their costs?. Think about it.

Noedelhap · « **Reply #10 on:** February 14, 2017, 15:38 »

Quote from: Stockvideo99 on February 14, 2017, 14:15

Something isn't right. It is like they turn a tap on and off and leave it off for a few weeks or is it a bypass lever and sales not being reported?. Nothing is free, repeat after me, nothing is free. So when they say they don't take a commission who pays their costs?. Think about it.

The subscribers who get unlimited downloads from VB's own collection.

RAW · « **Reply #11 on:** February 14, 2017, 16:44 »

Videoblocks does a lot of third party newsletter promotions.
I think that is why the sales are so erratic.
When they aren't advertising: 'Free Unlimited Downloads' they are not selling so much.

trucic · « **Reply #12 on:** February 14, 2017, 16:47 »

... we`ve discussed about sales on VB few months ago and no sale effect have happened to me then... here:
http://www.microstockgroup.com/videoblocks/no-sales-28787/
.. it`s very strange and almost on same level after that with very sporadic sales after I noticed huge drop...

stuttershock · « **Reply #13 on:** February 15, 2017, 08:49 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 14, 2017, 05:08

I appreciate that two weeks isn't enough time to indicate a worrying trend, I am just one contributor out of thousands, and variance can and does happen.... but I've had about ten sales a month at Videoblocks over the past four to six months or so, and I've not had a single sale yet this month.

Anyone else?

off the top of my head, I seem to remember that I have seen your content, and that you are not a small contributor. So that that sounds, indeed, worrying...

I still like them.

Sorry to hear it.

Mantis · « **Reply #14 on:** February 17, 2017, 08:46 »

I'm seeing my third month of "regular sales", which is VERY unusual. As I have stated several time in the past, I typically get a flood of sales 8-10 in a month then silence for two more months. The cycle has been repeated with predictability until November. It's a mix of what is selling, animations and regular video. Not complaining but it almost feels like the Dreamtime model where they cycle placement to give everyone a fair shot at sales.

robsters · « **Reply #15 on:** February 17, 2017, 17:13 »

I made an account with video blocks months ago but never uploaded i was never sure if they were trust worthy or not ironically them bragging about 100% commission is what put me off uploading....are they worth it are they safe?

motionguy · « **Reply #16 on:** February 18, 2017, 03:20 »

@robsters
Yes, they are safe and even have a great contributor support.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #17 on:** February 21, 2017, 02:38 »

Only one week to go until the end of the month, and still nothing. Sales have been normal on all other sites. Ah well, these things happen! One thing I have found a few times, which is a bit strange, is that if I've not had any sales for the last week, or last few days of the month..... I get like two or three in the first hour of the next month. Could be some cunning ploy to delay payouts for a month, could be pure coincidence. Ah well... tomorrow is another day!

sinnlos · « **Reply #18 on:** February 21, 2017, 02:48 »

I got a mail the last days from videoblocks, offering to download any video for free the next 7 days (would lead into a Membership if not cancelled)
maybe thats the reason?

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #19 on:** February 21, 2017, 03:20 »

Quote from: sinnlos on February 21, 2017, 02:48

I got a mail the last days from videoblocks, offering to download any video for free the next 7 days (would lead into a Membership if not cancelled)
maybe thats the reason?

I think they send those emails out every day of the year! They more or less do with their 50% off subscription emails anyway. Even though... most, if not all sales, come from people who are already subscribers, who can download whatever they want for free anyway. Such an email, in theory, should only result in the same amount of sales... possibly a few more. That's 'in total, on average' though... I appreciate that individuals sales can rise and fall with natural variance.

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #20 on:** February 21, 2017, 07:28 »

Has been a slower month, but have had a reasonable amount of sales on VB. Then again, I'm not competing against myself, undercutting a $50/100% royalty rate company with an $8/36% company. Of course customers will spend as little as you give them the option to. If I could buy a car for $200 instead of $20,000, I would too. But then the car manufacturing industry would collapse...

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #21 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:01 »

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 07:28

Has been a slower month, but have had a reasonable amount of sales on VB. Then again, I'm not competing against myself, undercutting a $50/100% royalty rate company with an $8/36% company. Of course customers will spend as little as you give them the option to. If I could buy a car for $200 instead of $20,000, I would too. But then the car manufacturing industry would collapse...

Isn't it strange that you support a company that offers a subscription service with unlimited downloads?

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #22 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:32 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 21, 2017, 08:01

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 07:28
Has been a slower month, but have had a reasonable amount of sales on VB. Then again, I'm not competing against myself, undercutting a $50/100% royalty rate company with an $8/36% company. Of course customers will spend as little as you give them the option to. If I could buy a car for $200 instead of $20,000, I would too. But then the car manufacturing industry would collapse...

Isn't it strange that you support a company that offers a subscription service with unlimited downloads?

Not exactly sure what the relevance is there, I don't participate in the subscription program at Videoblocks. I make $47.16 a sale, and don't compete against myself by accepting $2.88 elsewhere instead.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #23 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:35 »

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:32

Not exactly sure what the relevance is there, I don't participate in the subscription program at Videoblocks. I make $47.16 a sale, and don't compete against myself by accepting $2.88 elsewhere instead.

It's extremely relevant since you were concerned about hurting the business as a whole.

Uploading to VB means you support them and help them in their marketing to get membership customers who download thousands of clips for next to nothing. Much cheaper than VH.

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #24 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:47 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 21, 2017, 08:35

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:32
Not exactly sure what the relevance is there, I don't participate in the subscription program at Videoblocks. I make $47.16 a sale, and don't compete against myself by accepting $2.88 elsewhere instead.

It's extremely relevant since you were concerned about hurting the business as a whole.

Uploading to VB means you support them and help them in their marketing to get membership customers who download thousands of clips for next to nothing. Much cheaper than VH.

Those membership customers don't have access to my clips. I do not participate. Of course I'm not a fan of the sub programs. It's called picking battles. Just because I state that getting punched in the face by VH is bad, it doesn't mean I think getting kicked in the stomach by VB's sub program is good. The world isn't that black and white. IF my clips were included, I would not support them. And much like Pond5's sub, often the better clips are not included, so my $50/100% clips are there available for purchase.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #25 on:** February 21, 2017, 08:51 »

Again, it comes down to YOUR clips. Which is completely natural, you should do what you want with YOUR clips. Just like ANYONE should do what THEY want with THEIR clips.

I look at my bottom line. I see the numbers I get from each agency and then I decide what works or not.

If I make 8 sales from VB in a month that's nice, but 150 sales from a cheaper site is nicer if that means more $.

Brightontl · « **Reply #26 on:** February 21, 2017, 09:01 »

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:47

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 21, 2017, 08:35
Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:32
Not exactly sure what the relevance is there, I don't participate in the subscription program at Videoblocks. I make $47.16 a sale, and don't compete against myself by accepting $2.88 elsewhere instead.

It's extremely relevant since you were concerned about hurting the business as a whole.

Uploading to VB means you support them and help them in their marketing to get membership customers who download thousands of clips for next to nothing. Much cheaper than VH.

Those membership customers don't have access to my clips. I do not participate. Of course I'm not a fan of the sub programs. It's called picking battles. Just because I state that getting punched in the face by VH is bad, it doesn't mean I think getting kicked in the stomach by VB's sub program is good. The world isn't that black and white. IF my clips were included, I would not support them. And much like Pond5's sub, often the better clips are not included, so my $50/100% clips are there available for purchase.

Sorry, but I do not understand your battle, although I was with you until a year ago.
VH I believe sells their clips for $10, P5 for as little as $4.
VH pays a royalty to artists for each sale, I believe in average more than 30%, which is not bad compared to others.
P5 as far as I know doesn't pay anything to artists for each sale, just half a peanut per month per file, regardless of the tens of thousand of sales

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #27 on:** February 21, 2017, 09:06 »

"150 sales from a cheaper site is nicer if that means more $."

And this is where people like you and people like me can never seem to agree. It's short-term thinking for a life-long business.

"Again, it comes down to YOUR clips. Which is completely natural, you should do what you want with YOUR clips. Just like ANYONE should do what THEY want with THEIR clips."

I can only control where I put my clips. You can do what you want. I choose to keep the value up, you choose to drive the value down. Never said you can't. Just pointing out why undercutting is flawed logic.

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #28 on:** February 21, 2017, 09:12 »

Quote from: Brightontl on February 21, 2017, 09:01

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:47
Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 21, 2017, 08:35
Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:32
Not exactly sure what the relevance is there, I don't participate in the subscription program at Videoblocks. I make $47.16 a sale, and don't compete against myself by accepting $2.88 elsewhere instead.

It's extremely relevant since you were concerned about hurting the business as a whole.

Uploading to VB means you support them and help them in their marketing to get membership customers who download thousands of clips for next to nothing. Much cheaper than VH.

Those membership customers don't have access to my clips. I do not participate. Of course I'm not a fan of the sub programs. It's called picking battles. Just because I state that getting punched in the face by VH is bad, it doesn't mean I think getting kicked in the stomach by VB's sub program is good. The world isn't that black and white. IF my clips were included, I would not support them. And much like Pond5's sub, often the better clips are not included, so my $50/100% clips are there available for purchase.
Sorry, but I do not understand your battle, although I was with you until a year ago.
VH I believe sells their clips for $10, P5 for as little as $4.
VH pays a royalty to artists for each sale, I believe in average more than 30%, which is not bad compared to others.
P5 as far as I know doesn't pay anything to artists for each sale, just half a peanut per month per file, regardless of the tens of thousand of sales

I don't and wouldn't participate in Pond5's sub program. My HD/4K clips are not available at that $4 price point, and I make 50% a sale. All I can personally do is be responsible to myself as to where I choose to sell, and do my best to offer my reasoning. We all have to make our own decisions.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #29 on:** February 21, 2017, 09:18 »

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 09:06

"150 sales from a cheaper site is nicer if that means more $."

And this is where people like you and people like me can never seem to agree. It's short-term thinking for a life-long business.

"Again, it comes down to YOUR clips. Which is completely natural, you should do what you want with YOUR clips. Just like ANYONE should do what THEY want with THEIR clips."

I can only control where I put my clips. You can do what you want. I choose to keep the value up, you choose to drive the value down. Never said you can't. Just pointing out why undercutting is flawed logic.

I respect anyone's personal choices. Just not double morals and telling others where and where not to sell...

Why on earth should prices for something remain the same for all eternity when the cost of producing is a fraction of what it used to be and the limited budget market demand is 100,000 times higher than it used to be? Just to satisfy one's ego with single pricing?

Why do the world's biggest artists sell tracks for $0.99? Don't they value their work? They do, and they sell lots of those tracks.

I know I just look for the best ratio between buyers/supply as that's where I stand the best chance of selling the most.

Daryl Ray · « **Reply #30 on:** February 21, 2017, 09:31 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 21, 2017, 09:18

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 09:06
"150 sales from a cheaper site is nicer if that means more $."

And this is where people like you and people like me can never seem to agree. It's short-term thinking for a life-long business.

"Again, it comes down to YOUR clips. Which is completely natural, you should do what you want with YOUR clips. Just like ANYONE should do what THEY want with THEIR clips."

I can only control where I put my clips. You can do what you want. I choose to keep the value up, you choose to drive the value down. Never said you can't. Just pointing out why undercutting is flawed logic.

I respect anyone's personal choices. Just not double morals and telling others where and where not to sell...

Why on earth should prices for something remain the same for all eternity when the cost of producing is a fraction of what it used to be and the limited budget market demand is 100,000 times higher than it used to be? Just to satisfy one's ego with single pricing?

Why do the world's biggest artists sell tracks for $0.99? Don't they value their work? They do, and they sell lots of those tracks.

I know I just look for the best ratio between buyers/supply as that's where I stand the best chance of selling the most.

Never once told anyone what to do, only offered my opinion. My "morals" have been consistent, feel free to point out specifically where they haven't. If you misunderstood me, I'm sorry about that.

Brightontl · « **Reply #31 on:** February 21, 2017, 09:54 »

Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 09:12

Quote from: Brightontl on February 21, 2017, 09:01
Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:47
Quote from: increasingdifficulty on February 21, 2017, 08:35
Quote from: Daryl Ray on February 21, 2017, 08:32
Not exactly sure what the relevance is there, I don't participate in the subscription program at Videoblocks. I make $47.16 a sale, and don't compete against myself by accepting $2.88 elsewhere instead.

It's extremely relevant since you were concerned about hurting the business as a whole.

Uploading to VB means you support them and help them in their marketing to get membership customers who download thousands of clips for next to nothing. Much cheaper than VH.

Those membership customers don't have access to my clips. I do not participate. Of course I'm not a fan of the sub programs. It's called picking battles. Just because I state that getting punched in the face by VH is bad, it doesn't mean I think getting kicked in the stomach by VB's sub program is good. The world isn't that black and white. IF my clips were included, I would not support them. And much like Pond5's sub, often the better clips are not included, so my $50/100% clips are there available for purchase.
Sorry, but I do not understand your battle, although I was with you until a year ago.
VH I believe sells their clips for $10, P5 for as little as $4.
VH pays a royalty to artists for each sale, I believe in average more than 30%, which is not bad compared to others.
P5 as far as I know doesn't pay anything to artists for each sale, just half a peanut per month per file, regardless of the tens of thousand of sales

I don't and wouldn't participate in Pond5's sub program. My HD/4K clips are not available at that $4 price point, and I make 50% a sale. All I can personally do is be responsible to myself as to where I choose to sell, and do my best to offer my reasoning. We all have to make our own decisions.

Well, if you don't have files in the membership, then you are standing for your ideas and I appreciate it.
I was thinking just like you until the membership started and hoping that we could enjoy nice prices for another few years.
I cannot afford it anymore after the price dumping of P5 and I am under the impression that single digit for a file is now the new normal

alexzappa · « **Reply #32 on:** February 21, 2017, 11:31 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 21, 2017, 02:38

Only one week to go until the end of the month, and still nothing. Sales have been normal on all other sites. Ah well, these things happen! One thing I have found a few times, which is a bit strange, is that if I've not had any sales for the last week, or last few days of the month..... I get like two or three in the first hour of the next month. Could be some cunning ploy to delay payouts for a month, could be pure coincidence. Ah well... tomorrow is another day!

I already read about this behaviour in a Stock Footage blog (in Italian), and the author draws the same conclusion as yours.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #33 on:** February 21, 2017, 13:34 »

It's raining sales today after a long period of silence.

I also think they're holding sales since unrelated clips always seem to sell on the same day followed by longer periods of nothing.

Tyson Anderson · « **Reply #34 on:** February 21, 2017, 15:21 »

I've seen multiple sales on the first day of the month and then only a few scattered throughout the rest of the month. Might have to do with a subscription, not sure. Either way, sales have been good with Videoblocks.

unnonimus · « **Reply #35 on:** February 21, 2017, 17:38 »

VB told me that they were not reporting sales since the 15th, but today it is working again. I was receiving the emails and suddenly today the sales appeared on the site from the past week.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #36 on:** February 23, 2017, 03:50 »

Just got my first sale of the month. Happy days. Hopefully I'll get another nine in the six remaining days of the month! Won't hold my breath though.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #37 on:** February 23, 2017, 04:08 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 23, 2017, 03:50

Just got my first sale of the month. Happy days. Hopefully I'll get another nine in the six remaining days of the month! Won't hold my breath though.

Judging by previous sales behavior it's not entirely unlikely!

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #38 on:** February 23, 2017, 04:41 »

Fingers crossed... a handful of 4K ones would be nice! Only had one there so far, but an email saying you've made $191.54 from one sale is always a welcome surprise.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #39 on:** February 23, 2017, 05:11 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 23, 2017, 04:41

a handful of 4K ones would be nice! Only had one there so far

Me too, but at the other site I sell 4k almost every day... That tells you something about pricing all 4k at $199... even if it's a static clip of grass.

WindyTai · « **Reply #40 on:** February 23, 2017, 12:27 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 23, 2017, 03:50

Just got my first sale of the month. Happy days. Hopefully I'll get another nine in the six remaining days of the month! Won't hold my breath though.

Can you please tell me how many downloads you get at Videoblocks per month?

For me I get around 3-8 downloads per month... but this month (Feb) get 4 until now ... all with 44.8$ per download (never get 4k though).

I make animations.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #41 on:** February 23, 2017, 19:02 »

Quote from: WindyTai on February 23, 2017, 12:27

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 23, 2017, 03:50
Just got my first sale of the month. Happy days. Hopefully I'll get another nine in the six remaining days of the month! Won't hold my breath though.

Can you please tell me how many downloads you get at Videoblocks per month?

For me I get around 3-8 downloads per month... but this month (Feb) get 4 until now ... all with 44.8$ per download (never get 4k though).

I make animations.

For the last six months or so, it's been pretty consistent with 10 or 11 downloads per month, with one month where there was five. Just one so far this month.

sauletas · « **Reply #42 on:** February 28, 2017, 02:39 »

I'm very happy with Videoblocks this year. Sales are more than double compared to VB average of 2016.

outoftheblue · « **Reply #43 on:** February 28, 2017, 03:22 »

My sales at Videoblocks are already literally infinitely better this year than last year.

Perhaps I should add that I had 0 sales in 2016 and 1 sale in 2017.

WindyTai · « **Reply #44 on:** March 03, 2017, 11:37 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 23, 2017, 19:02

Quote from: WindyTai on February 23, 2017, 12:27
Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on February 23, 2017, 03:50
Just got my first sale of the month. Happy days. Hopefully I'll get another nine in the six remaining days of the month! Won't hold my breath though.

Can you please tell me how many downloads you get at Videoblocks per month?

For me I get around 3-8 downloads per month... but this month (Feb) get 4 until now ... all with 44.8$ per download (never get 4k though).

I make animations.

For the last six months or so, it's been pretty consistent with 10 or 11 downloads per month, with one month where there was five. Just one so far this month.

Thanks for sharing

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #45 on:** March 04, 2017, 00:48 »

No worries. Ended up with two sales last month. Hopefully this month will be a bit better.

Sstr · « **Reply #46 on:** April 04, 2017, 06:01 »

Last sale december 21th.
Before that minimum of 5 sales a month.

Still someone else with zero sales this year?

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #47 on:** April 04, 2017, 06:16 »

Going pretty steady here. June/July last year were slow though.

Mantis · « **Reply #48 on:** April 04, 2017, 08:17 »

Had three sales just yesterday.

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Author Topic: Sales stopped at Videoblocks? (Read 15056 times)

alno

Stockvideo99

RAW

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