Author Topic: Shutterstock video sales getting worse every months now. (Read 24011 times)

Trippy · « **Reply #50 on:** June 14, 2019, 13:11 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on June 14, 2019, 12:59

Oh I think everyone understands why someone be upset if there was a cap in place... that's not the issue. I think everyone just doesn't understand why so many people think there's a cap in place without any evidence to support the theory. And having similar sales on a monthly basis doesn't really constitute evidence. These caps and whatever other theorys are doing the rounds at the time... they always just feel a little bit like:

"ok, my sales aren't what they used to be and/or aren't what I feel they should be. Who is to blame for this? I have no idea... so I should invent some kind of theory that would explain it, even if there's no evidence to support that theory. Great, now I have something/someone to blame and can sleep better and night."

Shutterstock = No video sales for ten days.
Pond5 = Several video files sold every day.
Adobe = At least one video file sold each day.

After ten days Shutterstock turned my portfolio back on and I now sell several files every day.

To me, that is evidence of a cap.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #51 on:** June 14, 2019, 13:46 »

Quote from: Trippy on June 14, 2019, 13:11

To me, that is evidence of a cap.

...but, we were just told that video sales weren't capped. That's what Fairplay said. It only applies to selected image sellers.

So...

...confused. :|

Anyway, going to go read up on the Loch Ness Monster.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #52 on:** June 14, 2019, 13:51 »

Isn't it just evidence that you had no Shutterstock sales for ten days?

Rage · « **Reply #53 on:** June 14, 2019, 22:22 »

Cap or no cap what ll hurt us a lot is the $7 video sales that keep coming in. What are these? Is it like a subscription model for videos, will all sales eventually move to this price point?

derby · « **Reply #54 on:** June 15, 2019, 02:19 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 14, 2019, 13:46

...but, we were just told that video sales weren't capped. That's what Fairplay said. It only applies to selected image sellers

Exactly!
It's easy to understand that there is a special team, very well payed guys, who stay all the day checking contributors portfolios, and choosing
"this can be free / the other should be capped
And every ten days (I suppose) they have to check again.

Hard work. And it's very expensive for SS to maintain the cap system!

trucic · « **Reply #55 on:** June 15, 2019, 02:26 »

... someone is constantly confusing people... OP mentioned sudden change on footage side of SS, with less then normal sales - changed suddenly, overnight few months ago! Image sales cap theories do exist and there is a logic to force lower tier contributor files, to get much money with less to pay...

MicroVet · « **Reply #56 on:** June 15, 2019, 02:41 »

As I said previously, at this time I have absolutely no doubt that the earnings are controlled. I'll exemplify what I said earlier which happened to me recently. Numbers are completely fictitious and used to exemplify what happened.

	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Week 1:		75			70
Week 2:	70	75	80	61	50
Week 3:	70	75	80	60	50
Week 4:	70				70
Week 5:					70

Are those sales pattern are a product of coincidence? Yeah... right... Not even with anyone selling 5 to 10 images per day that would be normal, much less when we're talking of a larger sales volume.

I've also noticed what others said, and happened to me for many months now. Like having very low sales half the month and all of the sudden buyers discover my portfolio. And this is not just on SS but on DT and 123RF is pretty evident too. Or sales drying up after a large SO or even EL sale.

I believe SS uses different methods to control the exposure/income of the contributors, not just one. And rotates the methods. Honestly, I would do the same in their position and in terms of programing it's not even that hard.

I think some people wouldn't believe in this even if Jon Oringer said it on video. They would probably argue that it was a doppelganger...

douglas · « **Reply #57 on:** June 15, 2019, 03:27 »

It’s hard to believe SS can implement this incredibly intelligent cap system when most of the IT ‘enhancements’ they have released over the last five years have been woefully poor. Equally, confronting conspiracy theorists with logic is the same as trying this approach with religious fundamentalists. However …

If you believe your sales are capped based on looking at your sales figures you are looking in the wrong place. It might give you an idea about a cap but the proof, if any, is on the supply side. ‘My portfolio is turned off’ is a testable assertion. Remove the possibility the evil demons at SS are tricking you by showing you one thing and buyers another by using a VPN (Nord or HMA) and browsing anonymously/use the browser incognito window. Choose four or five places in the world for the VPN and search from these every couple of days and check the position of your top sellers in the search results. If they are not found at any given point then perhaps the claim ‘my portfolio is turned off’ is not complete nonsense. If they drop down a couple of pages halfway through a month then come back to a higher place the following month, and repeat this pattern over a period of time, you could make a case for capping (the cyclical part removes the explanation that they have just been displaced by newer/cheaper/better contributions).

Brightontl · « **Reply #58 on:** June 15, 2019, 04:14 »

Quote from: derby on June 15, 2019, 02:19

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 14, 2019, 13:46

...but, we were just told that video sales weren't capped. That's what Fairplay said. It only applies to selected image sellers

Exactly!
It's easy to understand that there is a special team, very well payed guys, who stay all the day checking contributors portfolios, and choosing
"this can be free / the other should be capped
And every ten days (I suppose) they have to check again.

Hard work. And it's very expensive for SS to maintain the cap system!

No need at all of people to do this sort of things.
They use this new sort of machines. What they call them?
Oh, yes, computers

MicroVet · « **Reply #59 on:** June 15, 2019, 09:51 »

Quote from: douglas on June 15, 2019, 03:27

It’s hard to believe SS can implement this incredibly intelligent cap system when most of the IT ‘enhancements’ they have released over the last five years have been woefully poor. Equally, confronting conspiracy theorists with logic is the same as trying this approach with religious fundamentalists. However …

If you believe your sales are capped based on looking at your sales figures you are looking in the wrong place. It might give you an idea about a cap but the proof, if any, is on the supply side. ‘My portfolio is turned off’ is a testable assertion. Remove the possibility the evil demons at SS are tricking you by showing you one thing and buyers another by using a VPN (Nord or HMA) and browsing anonymously/use the browser incognito window. Choose four or five places in the world for the VPN and search from these every couple of days and check the position of your top sellers in the search results. If they are not found at any given point then perhaps the claim ‘my portfolio is turned off’ is not complete nonsense. If they drop down a couple of pages halfway through a month then come back to a higher place the following month, and repeat this pattern over a period of time, you could make a case for capping (the cyclical part removes the explanation that they have just been displaced by newer/cheaper/better contributions).

Unless you can explain how a portfolio with many thousands of images which has from isolated on white objects/seasonal images/travel and commercial and editorial content, plus video and illustrations has a sale pattern like the one I've posted I cannot accept that you call me a conspiracy theorist.

How is this mathematically possible if not by a controlled sales system? Isn't this beyond a coincidence?

Quote from: MicroVet on June 15, 2019, 02:41

Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
Week 1: 75 70
Week 2: 70 75 80 61 50
Week 3: 70 75 80 60 50
Week 4: 70 70
Week 5: 70

You claim that the IT enhancements at SS have been poor. That means nothing. I can argue that they may have diverted efforts to this project. Or outsourced the search results and earnings programing. Who knows.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #60 on:** June 15, 2019, 10:15 »

Quote from: MicroVet on June 15, 2019, 09:51

How is this mathematically possible if not by a controlled sales system? Isn't this beyond a coincidence?

Everything is mathematically possible, especially when you pick and choose the numbers that fit your theory. It's a good way to get fired if you're a research scientist.

I guess it's too much hard work to actually do what douglas suggested, use a VPN and search for your images over two months. That way you might actually get some usable data. When you reach 80 (or your actual number) next Wednesday, show us that your portfolio can not be found, or that it's impossible to make a purchase if you find it.

The range of likely sales numbers of any given portfolio is not unlimited. When I walk out the door at the same time every Wednesday, I am likely to see, say, 20 cars. I'm not likely to see 100 cars, or 0, unless something special is going on. Sometimes it's 18, sometimes 22, and if I note down the number 8 weeks in a row, it's quite likely that 4-5 of those Wednesdays will land on 20. Then I write to the government and tell them something strange is going on...

And one last thing that people seem to have trouble remembering:

Search rotation is not the same as capping.

derby · « **Reply #61 on:** June 15, 2019, 12:28 »

Quote from: Brightontl on June 15, 2019, 04:14

Quote from: derby on June 15, 2019, 02:19
Quote from: increasingdifficulty on June 14, 2019, 13:46

...but, we were just told that video sales weren't capped. That's what Fairplay said. It only applies to selected image sellers

Exactly!
It's easy to understand that there is a special team, very well payed guys, who stay all the day checking contributors portfolios, and choosing
"this can be free / the other should be capped
And every ten days (I suppose) they have to check again.

Hard work. And it's very expensive for SS to maintain the cap system!
No need at all of people to do this sort of things.
They use this new sort of machines. What they call them?
Oh, yes, computers

It was a joke 😁 referred to the "selected sellers" cap 😁

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Author Topic: Shutterstock video sales getting worse every months now. (Read 24011 times)

Trippy

increasingdifficulty

SpaceStockFootage

Rage

derby

trucic

MicroVet

douglas

Brightontl

MicroVet

increasingdifficulty

derby

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