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Author Topic: September 2013 Microstock Income  (Read 12969 times)

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« on: October 01, 2013, 08:25 »
+1
How was your month.  For me it was not bad but still a little disappointing.  It was essentially the exact same as last month, but every year previous saw a big jump for Sept.  It was higher than last year but not by as much as I had hoped.

.. and don't forget to vote in the poll
http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?page=microstockmonthlysurvey
« Last Edit: October 01, 2013, 08:30 by leaf »


« Reply #1 on: October 01, 2013, 08:30 »
0
I don't see Stocksy on your chart.

« Reply #2 on: October 01, 2013, 08:32 »
0
I don't see Stocksy on your chart.

whoops, you're right - it was an old chart template that I just plugged my new numbers in and Stocksy wasn't included.  They would have been .4% .. pretty small for me still but the number of images I have on there is pretty miniscule.  I've been happy with my sales there so far actually.

Ron

« Reply #3 on: October 01, 2013, 08:33 »
+1
2 sales via my own site, and 1 sale on FAA, Alamy came out dead again, CanStockPhoto one nice sale so not a total disaster, Deposit, GL, Photodune and Fotolia all down the drain. 123rf did ok. Shutterstock 2nd BME.

Basically, I am only paying attention to SS, FAA, 123 and my own site. All the rest is just whatever.

Cant be bothered to do any percentages because the only significant player in this business, for me, is Shutterstock.

« Reply #4 on: October 01, 2013, 08:34 »
0
For me everything is going down compared to last year or the year before that, I do not have such an elaborate graph but mine would be similar to yours. Except DT and 123RF is stronger for me as IS and FTL is.
The biggest loser in my case is FTL. A few years ago they were my second biggest earner now they are back to the 5th place. My income at FTL is down TO 30% compared to 2010-2011.

Ron

« Reply #5 on: October 01, 2013, 08:47 »
+1
Says it all really

Stock Site      ------------  Your vote
Shutterstock   ------------   $400
Self-Hosted   ------------   $20
Fotolia   -------------------   $20
Canstockphoto   -------   $20
123RF   ---------------------   $20
iStock   ---------------------   $20
DepositPhotos   -----------   $10
Envato   --------------------   $10
GLStockImages   -----------   $0
Alamy   --------------------   $0


ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #6 on: October 01, 2013, 08:53 »
+1
Says it all really

Stock Site      ------------  Your vote
Shutterstock   ------------   $400
Self-Hosted   ------------   $20
Fotolia   -------------------   $20
Canstockphoto   -------   $20
123RF   ---------------------   $20
iStock   ---------------------   $20
DepositPhotos   -----------   $10
Envato   --------------------   $10
GLStockImages   -----------   $0
Alamy   --------------------   $0

It tells 'a' story, but it doesn't 'tell it all'.
The whole story would include how many files you have on each site and how long they have been there.
(I've said before, there's a guy over on the Alamy forum who regularly states how poor his iS sales are compared to his Alamy sales. It would be astonishing if they weren't: he's got fewer than 20 files on iStock, and last time I looked well over 5000 files on Alamy and increasing rapidly.
Therefore his conclusion that "Alamy sells much better than iStock" makes no logical sense.
NB, I don't mean this to fuel any sort of iS/Alamy debate, just saying that one set of figures don't even tell the full story for one person.)

ACS

« Reply #7 on: October 01, 2013, 08:53 »
0
Better than last year but same as August.

I had ecpected at least %10 jump in September compared to August.

By Agency:

1)   SS: %64
2)   DT: %18
3)   IS: %9
4)   FT:%5
5)   Rest: %4

By Product:

1)   Photo: %80
2)   Vector: %11
3)   Footage: %9

Ron

« Reply #8 on: October 01, 2013, 09:03 »
+1
Says it all really

Stock Site      ------------  Your vote
Shutterstock   ------------   $400
Self-Hosted   ------------   $20
Fotolia   -------------------   $20
Canstockphoto   -------   $20
123RF   ---------------------   $20
iStock   ---------------------   $20
DepositPhotos   -----------   $10
Envato   --------------------   $10
GLStockImages   -----------   $0
Alamy   --------------------   $0

It tells 'a' story, but it doesn't 'tell it all'.
The whole story would include how many files you have on each site and how long they have been there.
(I've said before, there's a guy over on the Alamy forum who regularly states how poor his iS sales are compared to his Alamy sales. It would be astonishing if they weren't: he's got fewer than 20 files on iStock, and last time I looked well over 5000 files on Alamy and increasing rapidly.
Therefore his conclusion that "Alamy sells much better than iStock" makes no logical sense.
NB, I don't mean this to fuel any sort of iS/Alamy debate, just saying that one set of figures don't even tell the full story for one person.)

My portfolio is almost identical on all sites, except for GL and PD where there are a bit less files. All sites have my portfolio for almost the same period, except GL and PD. But it doesnt really matter because those numbers for the smaller agencies havent changed for over a year. There is no growth on any agency no matter how many files I added. The only agency working for me is Shutterstock.

A different story is IS/PP because with 33 files the performance is exceptional compared to 900 files on other agencies. However, the devil would turn in his grave if I added more files to IS/PP. I have said this many times before, I would love to see my portfolio perform on IS/PP but I just cant get it over my heart to do it.
« Last Edit: October 01, 2013, 09:05 by Ron »

« Reply #9 on: October 01, 2013, 09:29 »
+1
After a dismal August and an equally weak start, September finished surprisingly strong for me.  Up 21% over August, up 7% over September 2012.  Year over year I was only up .5%, but it sure beats a decline.

SS was #1 as usual at 31%, up 20% on August but down 11% on last September.  123RF was #2 at 26%, up 31% and 102% respectively.  iStock was a surprising strong #3 at 16%, up 82% and 61%.  Deposit was #4 at 9% thanks to a last minute EL, up 60% and 72%.  PhotoDune was #5 at 7%, down 5% and 8%.  DT was #6 at 5%, down 27% and 2%.

« Reply #10 on: October 01, 2013, 10:53 »
+7
I'm frustrated and annoyed. The first half of the year was going great. I was having some of my best months ever. Now, things look like they are back at 2011 rebuilding levels. This seems to be the way things are going. I feel like I'm plugging holes in a dam. You get one plugged, then another one pops up. Shutterstock has basically gotten to the point where I'm not sure they are worth it (very similar to iStock when I left there). I can't say I'm doing well enough everywhere else though to give up the little amount they provide. Maybe, I should just go get a job and stop worrying about all this garbage.  >:(

« Reply #11 on: October 01, 2013, 11:32 »
+1
its fine, business is back.

« Reply #12 on: October 01, 2013, 11:37 »
+1
.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 09:35 by Audi 5000 »

« Reply #13 on: October 01, 2013, 11:41 »
0
I was 6% down on Sept 2012 but that was entirely due to IS (45% down) and FT (24% down).

SS, DT and BigStock were all up but not quite enough to make up the losses at IS & FT.

« Reply #14 on: October 01, 2013, 11:45 »
0
Ok..... September was a fantastic month.....  8) 8) 8)

SS - $30 short to become my new BME, lots of EL's and OD's  ;D
FT - slightly under average  :(
DT - Very, very good month ,my best month since I quit exclusivity there ( nov. 2011)  ;D
123RF - under average  :(
Canstock - good month
DP - average
Alamy - one average sale
FAA - my first sale  ;D
Bigstock - dead

The pie slices:

SS - 60%
DT - 15%
FT - 9%
Canstock - 4%
DP - 1%
Alamy - 5%
FAA - 5%

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #15 on: October 01, 2013, 13:21 »
0
IS: Worst Sept since 2009. Compared to Sept 2012: dls and $$ down 10%
But at least compared to Aug 2012 dls and $$ up almost 20%.
I've been wondering why ELs are down, but it's probably proportionately not too much below the downfall in overall dls.
GI: best this year (not saying much - 6 months I had 0) None of my long-term pending files moved over in Sept.
Alamy: down compared to last month.
FAA: 1 sale.  :)

« Reply #16 on: October 01, 2013, 14:19 »
+7
Well, thanks to my pals at Getty, I made about 1/20th what I did last year.

However, Stocksy sales doubled from last month, so that's a plus :)

DP, GL, Pond and my PS site may have added $1-150 in there too.


Beppe Grillo

« Reply #17 on: October 01, 2013, 14:27 »
0
Shutterstock 57%
Fotolia 13%
Bigstock 10 %
Dreamstime 8%
123RF 4%
iStock 3%
DepositPhoto 2%
Photodune 2%

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #18 on: October 01, 2013, 14:35 »
+1
A different story is IS/PP because with 33 files the performance is exceptional compared to 900 files on other agencies. However, the devil would turn in his grave if I added more files to IS/PP. I have said this many times before, I would love to see my portfolio perform on IS/PP but I just cant get it over my heart to do it.
I see your pov; I feel kicked in the stomach when I get a Main sale for <$1 or even <50c, when it's a unique low-supply, low demand file so wouldn't sell any more often at $1 than it would at $50; and I know that's much more than indies get.

« Reply #19 on: October 01, 2013, 14:40 »
0
A different story is IS/PP because with 33 files the performance is exceptional compared to 900 files on other agencies. However, the devil would turn in his grave if I added more files to IS/PP. I have said this many times before, I would love to see my portfolio perform on IS/PP but I just cant get it over my heart to do it.
I see your pov; I feel kicked in the stomach when I get a Main sale for <$1 or even <50c, when it's a unique low-supply, low demand file so wouldn't sell any more often at $1 than it would at $50; and I know that's much more than indies get.

yep!

« Reply #20 on: October 01, 2013, 15:17 »
+1
I feel kicked in the stomach when I get a Main sale for <$1 or even <50c, when it's a unique low-supply, low demand file so wouldn't sell any more often at $1 than it would at $50; and I know that's much more than indies get.

So upload your 'unique low-supply, low demand' stuff as RM on more appropriate places like Alamy, etc.

mlwinphoto

« Reply #21 on: October 01, 2013, 15:19 »
+4
Better than last September by 10-20% depending on Getty  and Thinkstock sales.  It is a little worrying that only one image uploaded in the last year has made more than $500 though.  I'm cautiously optimistic about the final few months of the year.

Have you been reading iStock's Sept sales thread?  Better make that very cautiously optimistic.   ;)

« Reply #22 on: October 01, 2013, 15:24 »
+2
Better than last September by 10-20% depending on Getty  and Thinkstock sales.  It is a little worrying that only one image uploaded in the last year has made more than $500 though.  I'm cautiously optimistic about the final few months of the year.

Have you been reading iStock's Sept sales thread?  Better make that very cautiously optimistic.   ;)

Hmm. I must admit the word 'optimistic' is not exactly the first one that springs to mind when it comes to Istock. There are however many other words, mostly utilising industrial language, that come to mind instead.

« Reply #23 on: October 01, 2013, 15:44 »
0
.
« Last Edit: May 12, 2014, 09:35 by Audi 5000 »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #24 on: October 01, 2013, 15:48 »
0
I feel kicked in the stomach when I get a Main sale for <$1 or even <50c, when it's a unique low-supply, low demand file so wouldn't sell any more often at $1 than it would at $50; and I know that's much more than indies get.

So upload your 'unique low-supply, low demand' stuff as RM on more appropriate places like Alamy, etc.
Obviously, I do when I can.


 

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