pancakes

MicrostockGroup Sponsors


Author Topic: Sept 2014 Microstock Earnings Breakdown  (Read 10651 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

« on: September 30, 2014, 06:30 »
+1
How were your earnings for Sept. 2014?
... mine are coming soon


Tror

« Reply #1 on: September 30, 2014, 06:53 »
0
How were your earnings for Sept. 2014?
... mine are coming soon

Still waiting for the last hours, but looks like a solid month so far...

« Reply #2 on: September 30, 2014, 06:54 »
+1
The second place on BME top, with 50% from Shutterstock (BME there).

« Reply #3 on: September 30, 2014, 07:59 »
+1
Dreamstime down 50%

Shutterstock down on downloads by 30% but up to normal (avg) on revenue thanks to a few SOD's and video sales.  Some may say it's all about the revenue but I disagree, at least in part. A declining frequency of downloads means more and more reliance on big SOD's and EL's. Those do not happen very often, so as frequency declines we can expect to see more and more wild swings in revenue.

Istock up a little. I had two EL's this month that took me to over $200 (before PP, of course). The thing I noticed here was a lot more $1 to $1.30 commissions but for XXXL sizes. This is frustrating.

Pond 5: Interestingly, my still images have sold fairly well there this month, maybe 5-7 downloads, but with good commissions ($5 each). Several video downloads, too.

Alamy while not micro yet, WAYYY down. $73 gross with one of those sales a distributor sales.  For real feedback for this community I went back and looked at my sales spreadsheet for alamy. Here are my real NET numbers (averages) and the drastic decline.  2009 - avg monthly net: $350; 2010 - avg monthly net: $240; 2011 - avg monthly net: $180; 2012 - avg monthly net: $120; 2013: avg monthly net: $80; 2014 - avg monthly net: $45

123: Significantly up from ~$100 avg to $160

« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2014, 10:54 »
+4
Up about 10 percent from August, but that's a non-story.  We should all expect that.  We're going from what is traditionally one of the worst months to one of the best months.  If you're not up at least 10 percent from Aug to Sep, there's something seriously wrong.

The bigger story for all of us should be how are we compared to Sept 2013.  It looks like I'll be flat, almost to the dollar.  Yes, Sept 2013 was a great month, and I'm happy to have a nice chunk of extra income again in Sept 2014, but looking at the month as returns for a business where I invested a lot of my time over the past year growing my port significantly, this is a big disappointment.

As for the agency mix, comparing Sept 2013 to 2014:  SS, FT, iS, 123 down slightly or flat.  DT up significantly.  The rest up slightly.

« Reply #5 on: September 30, 2014, 11:11 »
+5
Best month ever!

Just kidding. Still waiting for the month to end and be put out of its misery here.

« Reply #6 on: September 30, 2014, 13:07 »
0
It depends on the PP, but it could be BME.

« Reply #7 on: September 30, 2014, 14:06 »
+6
Folks, as it is not yet October in some places of the world, this thread is completely premature and was opened unauthorized. It will therefore be closed at this point.

Please wait until we(!) open the official "How was your September?"-thread. All other attempts to discuss this topic will be shut down immediately...


Sorry, guys and gals, I always wanted to do a Lobo  :o ;D

As for September, it was meh. Thankfully someone switched ODs back on at SS, and, surprisingly IS was really strong this month, new credits or not. Apart from that, everybody is still on summer vacation or already hibernating. SS still doesn't feel "normal" - today, a weekday at the end of the month and still only three sales - that's not right, European sales are completely gone in the last few months for me...

« Reply #8 on: September 30, 2014, 21:59 »
0
I still have a few hours in Sept, but I doubt there will be many or any more sales. Sept was my 2cd best month of 2014 and it was my BSE (best September ever).  I had a BME at stockfresh - which isn't saying much, but is a sign of life. An EL at GL was appreciated as was my one big sale at Alamy.  The top 4 this month were SS, Alamy,  DT, 123RF (nice surprise - due to an LEL).

I did upload a lot (for me) this month, so hopefully that will help boost Oct - which has been my best month of the year a few years in the past.

« Reply #9 on: September 30, 2014, 22:42 »
0
I have not had time to do the charts yet but generally I see a good uptrend from August.  August was terrible.  This is not near my best Sept. but any growth over August is pleasing. 

« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2014, 07:58 »
+11
Interestingly enough, I made more on Canva than I did on GL, so nice work to the Canva marketers.  Another BME on Stocksy and SS push this to the best month I've had since I was forced to go indy.

Valo

« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2014, 08:47 »
0
Sean, without revealing too much, at how many percent of your exclusive days are you now? If you cannot share, I understand. Thanks anyways.

And congrats on the BME.

« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2014, 08:51 »
+4
From my peak, I'd say about 1/6, from a more normal average, probably about 1/4.  As I've said before, a lot of that came from the Agency collection sales, which wouldn't be there now.  Add that to all the recent drops I read of though, I'm guessing I'm doing about 1/2 of what I'd currently make if still exclusive.  Who knows.

Valo

« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2014, 08:57 »
+2
Thank you Sean. It is somewhat depressing to read that you are at 25%, but I am hoping you get back to previous earnings soon, someway.

« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2014, 10:06 »
+3
Interestingly enough, I made more on Canva than I did on GL, so nice work to the Canva marketers.  Another BME on Stocksy and SS push this to the best month I've had since I was forced to go indy.

I am not on Canva but I made more money looking for change in the couch than I did on GL.

« Reply #15 on: October 01, 2014, 10:13 »
0
I had my first very decent month in about 15 months.  Gosh, I'm almost motivated to shoot some stock again!

The problem is, 63% of earnings were from SS.  The SS income was curiously almost evenly split 4 ways between Subs, OD, EL and SOD.   Haven't had this many total downloads since 2011. 

All of the sites were up a bit excluding DT.  Cummon DT!!! What is the problem?  It looks like they will be down 15-20% from 2013 if I don't have 3 spectacular months.

« Reply #16 on: October 01, 2014, 10:59 »
+2
Shutterstock had a good month - up 18% over August and up 10% on last September (and I haven't uploaded much this year)

Canva is still tiny overall, but as Sean mentioned, they beat GL Stock (and I have only about 250 of my portfolio on Canva)!

Dreamstime was disappointing - 20% down on August and 25% down on last September

123rf fell off a cliff - sales were half what they were last September. They had been doing well prior to some time in August - I wonder if the Dollar Photo Club is having an impact on them (123rf is one of the cheaper agencies).

CanStock would have been a wreck but for one distribution sale that ended them flat with August

PhotoDune was down too - sales were half of August's (but they don't seem to have the clear seasonal rhythms I see at other sites).

Alamy's virtually dead (but I did get paid as some prior sales *finally* cleared). Stockfresh and GL Stock get occasional sales, but the volume is so low that comparisons are meaningless. I get sales every month from my 109 images left on iStock, but again, it's not significant.

FAA isn't regular enough, but two sales in Sept beat my entire month at 123rf (given how low the latter fell) so I'm happy to take another little chunk.


« Reply #17 on: October 01, 2014, 11:17 »
0
A strange month.  Up 16% on August, dead even with September 2013.  SS, DT, DP up significantly on August.  123RF continues to slide, as did BigStock and PD.  In order, SS was 47% of my total, 123RF was 17%, DT was 9%, DP was 7%, PD was 6%, iS was 5%, BigStock and CanStockPhoto were 2% each.  Canva was 1%; not bad for my 2nd month there.  I'll be curious to see how it does, now that I have a good number of my images online there.

« Reply #18 on: October 01, 2014, 13:22 »
+1
From my peak, I'd say about 1/6, from a more normal average, probably about 1/4.  As I've said before, a lot of that came from the Agency collection sales, which wouldn't be there now.  Add that to all the recent drops I read of though, I'm guessing I'm doing about 1/2 of what I'd currently make if still exclusive.  Who knows.

I'm at 25% of my peak at IS (exc.) , maybe 33-35% projecting subs and getty sales. Taking hits everetime they make a change.

« Reply #19 on: October 01, 2014, 13:26 »
0
Not a WMY but close - way behind compared to 2013 and 2012 but at least beat Sept. 2011.  Surprisingly had BMYs at DT and DP.  Had a WMY at CS, and most of the others were at 2011 levels.  SS DL volume down about 20% from earlier this year but money hanging in there due to more than usual ELs and SODs.  SS about 60% of the total.  Like some others, I made more on Canva than GL, even though I only made a small test upload to Canva and only have 11 images online - need to increase that.  iS very weak - the new changes don't seem to have helped my bottom line.

Uncle Pete

« Reply #20 on: October 01, 2014, 13:39 »
+4
Oddly enough I found more money laying on the ground than I made on Pond5, DP, Alamy and BS, all added together. Lets say, those were pretty dead.

Meanwhile IS and SS have come to life, which has led me to continue the "less is more" agency theory.

I'm looking forward to being with two actively before the year ends.

Plus I sold two books from a box lot, while I was still at the auction, that covered the purchase of 100 more that I brought home. (future eBay sales) Problem with books is, about 25% sell for a profit and the rest, never sell. Now what do I do with them.

I hear sitting by the fire with a good book is relaxing... and they burn slow.  :)



Interestingly enough, I made more on Canva than I did on GL, so nice work to the Canva marketers.  Another BME on Stocksy and SS push this to the best month I've had since I was forced to go indy.

I am not on Canva but I made more money looking for change in the couch than I did on GL.

« Reply #21 on: October 01, 2014, 14:07 »
+3
BEST MONTH EVER on Shutterstock!!!   YAY!!!!!

« Reply #22 on: October 01, 2014, 14:50 »
0
14% up from last month, and 25% up compared to last year September.
Best four: Shutterstock, DepositPhotos, Zazzle, iStockPhoto

Blog Post: http://microstockinfos.blogspot.com/2014/10/stock-photography-sales-statistic.html






(This statistic include referral earning at the different agencies)

« Reply #23 on: October 01, 2014, 15:07 »
+3
I had a BME on Shutterstock, thanks to some extended licenses. istock was up a little with seasonal sales and one large extended license for nearly 60 dollars, then came pond5,then fotolia,stocksy,dreamstime and a few others.

I really like the new SS app, hope they expand the concept. It is really helpful to read that a file has been lightboxed many times, even if it hasnt sold yet.

I am very impressed that pond5 has moved up to number three and that photo sales are picking up, even if most of the income is still from video. And they sell editorial files well, even had an editorial video sale on dreamstime this month. So I think I will try to do a bit more things locally.

I am at around 30-40% of what I would probably be making if I was exclusive. Extended licenses and video sales and stocksy are the most interesting.

Sub sales are extremely low on all agencies. There is clearly a total oversupply of files, unless you can produce huge numbers every week, I dont see how I can ever recover my income with subs.

So the agencies that have the most extended licenses or "special" deal sales that bring in 20 dollars or more, are what will get me back into doing stock full time again.

« Reply #24 on: October 01, 2014, 15:32 »
+3
Compared to previous September:

2013: DL -35%  $ -38%

2012: DL -43%  $ -43%

2011: DL -71%  $ -62%

2010: DL -85%  $ -72%

2009: DL -87%  $ -54%

2008: DL -92%  $ -57%

iStock Exclusive. Standard downloads.


 

Related Topics

  Subject / Started by Replies Last post
46 Replies
11027 Views
Last post October 19, 2007, 10:33
by leaf
35 Replies
13038 Views
Last post November 24, 2010, 22:15
by MicrostockExp
58 Replies
21914 Views
Last post April 09, 2011, 20:37
by Petkov
0 Replies
2456 Views
Last post September 02, 2014, 12:29
by Sean Locke Photography
30 Replies
9611 Views
Last post October 06, 2019, 20:02
by jpbarcelos

Sponsors

Mega Bundle of 5,900+ Professional Lightroom Presets

Microstock Poll Results

Sponsors