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Author Topic: What's your experience with macro compared to micro??  (Read 4291 times)

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« on: January 20, 2017, 12:01 »
0
Just thinking of starting macro soon, advice me, and share your experiences please. Thank you


angelawaye

  • Eat, Sleep, Keyword. Repeat

« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2017, 13:12 »
+1
I would also like some up-to-date info from fellow "macroers"

I'm about to submit an application to OFFSET. I searched the forums but no one talks about Offset, Maybe that is a rule they have when you become an artist ...

I'm considering these agencies too:
ArcAngel and Trevillion

Any insights would be great.

JaenStock

  • Bad images can sell.
« Reply #2 on: January 20, 2017, 15:46 »
+1
Offset have good sales but is picky picky picky.... Offset. Getty. Fotolia infinite in this order for me but try get great pictures with good models accepted... Average images work best in micro. Learning in mistakes experience

angelawaye

  • Eat, Sleep, Keyword. Repeat

« Reply #3 on: January 20, 2017, 16:15 »
0
Jaen - you have an outstanding gallery!

I thought you had to have thousands of images to be in FT Infinite or some company?

« Reply #4 on: January 23, 2017, 00:50 »
0
I've got about 180 photos up on Arcangel and have not had a sale. It takes more time to build a portfolio there as they are far stricter with similars than micro sites.

Brasilnut

  • Author Brutally Honest Guide to Microstock & Blog

« Reply #5 on: January 23, 2017, 03:40 »
+1
Quote
I've got about 180 photos up on Arcangel and have not had a sale. It takes more time to build a portfolio there as they are far stricter with similars than micro sites.

I got 410 and also no sales after about a year.

Apparently, they are looking for images like this which I shot last month...

« Reply #6 on: January 23, 2017, 04:00 »
+3
Used to do very well with Getty/macro but it seems over supply and micros have diminished the price and turnover. All in all both macro and micro have fallen badly in the last year or two. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it's oversupply of high quality images. The buyers are spoiled for choice.

« Reply #7 on: January 23, 2017, 05:14 »
+6
That's a complex question. 10 years ago I would have said macro, 5 years ago micro and now it depends. I have made single sales over 20k in macro in the "good macro times" and 5 figure monthly revenue in the "good micro times". Now we face oversupply in all fronts it is a full blown buyers market where they can find quick alternatives to nearly every image on sale in a second. I make my full time income from stock and my present strategy is:

1- Everything that is in good quantities out there has to go to micro RF. You might get a lucky sale on RM but if you consider that you might put on sale many more similars on micro RF and than 99% of the time the customer will  take another choice if he/she finds it for a much lower price. One of the reason you see so many Macro RF sold at micro prices. My experience in the last years has been that micro RF trumps traditional RF by a large margin.

2- Rare,extraordinary and very difficult access shoots RM all the way. By extraordinary I don't mean well crafted landscape shoots. The most perfect sunrise over Manhattan has dozens of similars everywhere, same with the perfect food shots,etc,etc. Now if you have the access to do a high quality shoot of workers inside a nuclear plant, a team of doctors and nurses working in a unit for prematures (not only the shot of the premature baby), creative portraits of ancient samurais (well researched and replicated),base jumping from city buildings etc........you can ask for big money as to organize such a shoot will be always be more expensive and take time.

Now there is a big problem with this type of shoots were you can ask for 4 and sometimes 5 figures per sale. There are no longer capable agencies for selling this type of material. Getty doesn't care if the image is a RM seascape or a an exclusive image of the first alien creature discovered by you. They will make the same silly discount and they will sell that unique image for cents sometimes, small figures most times and maybe a larger figure once in a while.

If you take control and sell the image by yourself you can ask for much higher figures than those agencies that sell RM but your face the problem being found. A few images that I have pulled from Getty are selling for much higher figures than before for the same usages when they were represented there. BUT most buyers found the images and were added to lightboxes at the time they were in the stock library and had to negotiate directly with me later once they were under my control again. I have not encountered much price resistance and I always wonder why Getty leaves so much money on the table.

Marketing, making images visible,tracking payments takes effort, time, money......you can sell for higher prices, take no commision cut and control to who you sell. Again, I think this route only works for speciallized and unique content.

And at last there is the medium stock priced option of the Stocksy likes. Everyday shots not difficult to craft from a production point of view but with a very "real life" feeling. The demand of this type of images is growing and growing. At one point they will face the same oversupply problems that the "traditional" stock has but now they are on the wave and can command higher prices. I would definetely say this is one of the best options to go if you produce this kind of content.


« Reply #8 on: January 23, 2017, 09:09 »
+5

There are no longer capable agencies for selling this type of material. Getty doesn't care if the image is a RM seascape or a an exclusive image of the first alien creature discovered by you. They will make the same silly discount and they will sell that unique image for cents sometimes, small figures most times and maybe a larger figure once in a while.


100% true.. I was very happy when Getty called me to be a contributor 3 months ago. Later I uploaded some of my best clips (I'm video only) as exclusive, many of those are completely unique. This type of shots I usually price at 500-1000$ at Pond5 and get some sales almost every month there.
I was completely surprised that most Getty sales are under 25$ for those clips, and what I get for selling 5 unique clips there is less then what I get for one sale at SS!! I don't say at P5, but at SS!!
I wrote to the support yesterday to close my account, and I hope this nightmare ends soon


 

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