MicrostockGroup
Microstock Footage Forum => General - Stock Video => Topic started by: thirdbornentertainment on January 21, 2021, 17:09
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I'm down to 3 agencies, pond5 adobe and dissolve. Earnings last December for my 1500 clip portfolio were over 1k usd. This year I barely cracked 300. I'm getting fewer sales no matter how much I add (quality clips). If you thought 2020 sucked just wait....
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I'm down to 3 agencies, pond5 adobe and dissolve. Earnings last December for my 1500 clip portfolio were over 1k usd. This year I barely cracked 300. I'm getting fewer sales no matter how much I add (quality clips). If you thought 2020 sucked just wait....
Woow that's a lot of money considering microstock nowadays. Your work must be outstanding! I only have still images, photos, renders and vectors. I barely made less than $60 last month (december). I have my work in five microstock sites, around 3000 images in each one. Maybe my work is a crap. :'(
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December 2020 was only about $800 less than December 2019. Overall, my 2020 year ended up about 11% less than 2019.
January 2021, however, won't come close to January 2020. Although we still have 10 more days, I predict January 2021 will be about $4,500 less than January 2020.
SS really is tanking. While my number of downloads are not too far off the usual, the income per download really is lacking. It seems as of January 1, 2021, I've had a bunch of low-earning sales. I don't think it's all due to the new commission structure. I feel like some deal SS implemented with buyers went into effect this year. A deal we're not privy to.
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2020 was about 5% better than 2019.
SS down about 20% from 2019; non-canva others about the same
SS share of total went from 45% to 35% mostly due to canva subscriptions
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My micro earnings used to be in the thousands of dollars per month. Now I earn enough for a family of four dinner at McDonalds. And I'm not talking the fancy stuff. Dollar menu.
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My micro earnings used to be in the thousands of dollars per month. Now I earn enough for a family of four dinner at McDonalds. And I'm not talking the fancy stuff. Dollar menu.
Same here thousands per month and now peanuts. Unbelievable change!
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Jan 2020 : $1893
Jan 2021 22th : $373
Thank you mister piece of crap Oringer. And don't tell me about Covid19. My earnings at AS and Vecteezy are still good ans steady
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My december 2020 total was 10% lower than 2019 total.
For SS so far, january 2021 is 65% lower than it would have been with the old earnings structure. And it's 85% lower than january 2020. But the month isn't over yet, so it will probably end at about 80% lower than january 2020.
It is going to be the first month ever, where I make less on SS than on AS.
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My micro earnings used to be in the thousands of dollars per month. Now I earn enough for a family of four dinner at McDonalds. And I'm not talking the fancy stuff. Dollar menu.
Same here thousands per month and now peanuts. Unbelievable change!
To be fair, I cut my portfolio down to about a third in 2015 and moved the other two thirds out of micro. However, my return per image per month used to be about $2. That was consistent for years until it started dropping in 2012 and continued trending downward over the next few years. My micro RPIPM is now at about 15 cents and still trending down. So I'd need to have a 25,000 image portfolio just to break even with what I was earning almost ten years ago with 2,000 images.
So I'm leaving my reduced port in micro but not adding anything new. Investing in adding new images would be a complete waste of time for me. Maybe other people aren't experiencing the downward trend.
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I wonder how people make thousands of $ per month, when microstock is supossed to downhill. :)
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My micro earnings used to be in the thousands of dollars per month. Now I earn enough for a family of four dinner at McDonalds. And I'm not talking the fancy stuff. Dollar menu.
Same here thousands per month and now peanuts. Unbelievable change!
[/
To be fair, I cut my portfolio down to about a third in 2015 and moved the other two thirds out of micro. However, my return per image per month used to be about $2. That was consistent for years until it started dropping in 2012 and continued trending downward over the next few years. My micro RPIPM is now at about 15 cents and still trending down. So I'd need to have a 25,000 image portfolio just to break even with what I was earning almost ten years ago with 2,000 images.
So I'm leaving my reduced port in micro but not adding anything new. Investing in adding new images would be a complete waste of time for me. Maybe other people aren't experiencing the downward trend.
Exactly the same here! took away about 50% of my port and leaving the rest here but no more uploading! still it should generate much more!
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December 2020 was only about $800 less than December 2019. Overall, my 2020 year ended up about 11% less than 2019.
January 2021, however, won't come close to January 2020. Although we still have 10 more days, I predict January 2021 will be about $4,500 less than January 2020.
SS really is tanking. While my number of downloads are not too far off the usual, the income per download really is lacking. It seems as of January 1, 2021, I've had a bunch of low-earning sales. I don't think it's all due to the new commission structure. I feel like some deal SS implemented with buyers went into effect this year. A deal we're not privy to.
I think part of the new earnings was just to take more per sale, the other part was to enable them to make sales for much much less but still make money. Before they had to average over at least .25 per image sold and really more likely closer to .38 to make any money for themselves (it was probably closer to over $1 per sale before) , now if they just need to be above .10 - so they can cut their prices over 50% and still make money - now they probably need to make the sale for over about .30 on average. Remember they also get to keep all the unused portion of the subs packs too. Wait until they do the same for video - get ready for your ultra sub .10 video sales.
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I wonder how people make thousands of $ per month, when microstock is supossed to downhill. :)
I'm sure there quite a few. But they're probably shooting topics that are an expensive investment and have tens of thousands of files. The return on investment used to be easy to justify. These days it must take a long time to break even on a shoot if at all.
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I wonder how people make thousands of $ per month, when microstock is supossed to downhill. :)
I'm sure there quite a few. But they're probably shooting topics that are an expensive investment and have tens of thousands of files. The return on investment used to be easy to justify. These days it must take a long time to break even on a shoot if at all.
This is the crux of the problem for photographers and agencies alike. If it’s not worth investing because the return on the shoot takes too long the images that are needed will not be there.
There’s only so many pictures of random stuff that are needed.
In the long term I think we’ll see the rebirth of more expensive collections with images that take investment to produce. Of course by that time, we’ll all have gone out of business and it’ll be the next generation that benefits.
I’ve reached the point where it’s no longer financially sensible to invest to produce images and the lifestyle photographers who are the last to be affected will get there soon.
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Really complicated.
Investing in new images is perhaps unfeasible.
In 2018 and 2019 they were excellent for me, with approximately 3000 images and videos
Today I have more than 10,000 images and videos, a lot of lifestyle, easy to photograph on a daily basis and with friends.
My sales fell 35% in 2020 compared to 2019.
Whoever made a lot of covid images / videos must have balanced, I think.
Anyway, every day the RPD down there.
We live in crazy and unstable times, difficult to predict.
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I just dropped Bigstock, leaving me only five agencies for now. (one of which is Canstock, which hardly counts) I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
I'll keep making and uploading new work because... well... it's what I do.
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December 2020 was only about $800 less than December 2019. Overall, my 2020 year ended up about 11% less than 2019.
January 2021, however, won't come close to January 2020. Although we still have 10 more days, I predict January 2021 will be about $4,500 less than January 2020.
SS really is tanking. While my number of downloads are not too far off the usual, the income per download really is lacking. It seems as of January 1, 2021, I've had a bunch of low-earning sales. I don't think it's all due to the new commission structure. I feel like some deal SS implemented with buyers went into effect this year. A deal we're not privy to.
I think part of the new earnings was just to take more per sale, the other part was to enable them to make sales for much much less but still make money. Before they had to average over at least .25 per image sold and really more likely closer to .38 to make any money for themselves (it was probably closer to over $1 per sale before) , now if they just need to be above .10 - so they can cut their prices over 50% and still make money - now they probably need to make the sale for over about .30 on average. Remember they also get to keep all the unused portion of the subs packs too. Wait until they do the same for video - get ready for your ultra sub .10 video sales.
Did they cut prices? How much did a 750 sub pack cost in 2019, 2018, 2017? I think that some of these places just cut commissions. Since you refer to 10c commissions, that's actually more then they charge for a download.
Example 2014 -
Subscribe and Save
Try our most popular plan and get 25 images a day, every day
1 Year SAVE 20% $199/month
750 images a month, (monthly billing contract) $199 which is .2653 collected per image. They were paying us up to 38¢ per download. That means, a loss of $0.11 for every download. Now they pay us a real 15%, 20% Etc. with a 10c minimum. The monthly is still the same. They did add an annual paid in advance, for a year, which IS less.
Now - still the same as 2014
$199
/month
$0.27/image — Requires annual commitment
New discount and I didn't go back to what year this started
$1,999
/year
$0.22/image — Requires annual commitment
No I don't like it, but I'm trying to deal with facts and real numbers. They charged 27c and image and paid us 38c an image. If I was running a business, not a charity, I'd want to make money on every sale, not lose money.
Now someone else will say raise the prices, which I've pointed out, the competition is charging even less as it is. Do you want to drive away most of the customers?
Highly competitive market, over supply of images, that's our real problem.
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I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
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I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
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Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. That's really sad.
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Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
I'm sorry to hear about your situation. That's really sad.
Yes, it is a very unfortunate situation, however despite everything, with my old Canon XT camera, I have taken very nice photos, which have been sold. But you know it is very few prices in microstock. :)
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POD tends more towards 'art' than 'stock', so it's a good addition. in theory. the artist is responsible for marketing.
i'm on FAA now and sell a few prints, merchandise/month - a bit better than lower tier agencies.
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I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
Between the declining income and the fact that micro sites have lowered submission quality standards, I don't think it's worth upgrading. Anyone who has a DSLR from the past 15 years should be fine.
That's unfortunate you have to work in fear. I travel for photography and have run into these situations here in the USA. Mostly in major cities in areas that are known for higher crime. And with all of the 2020 problems I now carry pepper spray and a heavy monopod. I'm now focusing more on beaches than cities. Usually more happy people there who don't want to rob or harm me. :-)
If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
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I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
Between the declining income and the fact that micro sites have lowered submission quality standards, I don't think it's worth upgrading. Anyone who has a DSLR from the past 15 years should be fine.
That's unfortunate you have to work in fear. I travel for photography and have run into these situations here in the USA. Mostly in major cities in areas that are known for higher crime. And with all of the 2020 problems I now carry pepper spray and a heavy monopod. I'm now focusing more on beaches than cities. Usually more happy people there who don't want to rob or harm me. :-)
If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
Caracas, is the capital of Venezuela, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Here we have a lot of crime, robberies, murders and all kind of crime you could think. I don't know much about the USA, but my brother live in Houston Texas and there according that told me, it's a quite, the county where he lives.
When i go to the downtown where some risk zones, i use a point and shot camera, Canon Power Shot A810, it's a $50 camera you can find used for sell on ebay. Sometimes police and militar forces when they look at you with a camera, they ask you what you are doing, and if you are lucky the don't take you your camera, this situation happened to me in 2012, i was taking some photos alone and two polices in a motorcicle ask me what i was doing, and have to show my camera (Canon XT), they look and go. Now i use my Canon XT in the street but in safe zones. Maybe i'm a very affortunate person, because i can eat three meals times a day, and can pay for medicines. But a lot of people here can't. I have some money help from my brother, also i sell things on Internet, photography accessories, cheap things like, lens hoods, filters and lens caps, and some old lens i don't use, and anothers things. Also i have some sporadics jobs. Well, this the third world :)
Here i let you a link, where you can see Caracas as the second most dangerous city in the world.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/)
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I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
Between the declining income and the fact that micro sites have lowered submission quality standards, I don't think it's worth upgrading. Anyone who has a DSLR from the past 15 years should be fine.
That's unfortunate you have to work in fear. I travel for photography and have run into these situations here in the USA. Mostly in major cities in areas that are known for higher crime. And with all of the 2020 problems I now carry pepper spray and a heavy monopod. I'm now focusing more on beaches than cities. Usually more happy people there who don't want to rob or harm me. :-)
If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
Caracas, is the capital of Venezuela, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Here we have a lot of crime, robberies, murders and all kind of crime you could think. I don't know much about the USA, but my brother live in Houston Texas and there according that told me, it's a quite, the county where he lives.
When i go to the downtown where some risk zones, i use a point and shot camera, Canon Power Shot A810, it's a $50 camera you can find used for sell on ebay. Sometimes police and militar forces when they look at you with a camera, they ask you what you are doing, and if you are lucky the don't take you your camera, this situation happened to me in 2012, i was taking some photos alone and two polices in a motorcicle ask me what i was doing, and have to show my camera (Canon XT), they look and go. Now i use my Canon XT in the street but in safe zones. Maybe i'm a very affortunate person, because i can eat three meals times a day, and can pay for medicines. But a lot of people here can't. I have some money help from my brother, also i sell things on Internet, photography accessories, cheap things like, lens hoods, filters and lens caps, and some old lens i don't use, and anothers things. Also i have some sporadics jobs. Well, this the third world :)
Here i let you a link, where you can see Caracas as the second most dangerous city in the world.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/)
D*mn buddy, that's a tough place to live and do business. You are almost like a war photographer, the danger is always present and you need to be careful at all times when leaving your home. Keep up the good spirit and I hope you get some great images that sell well on stock sites!
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My micro earnings used to be in the thousands of dollars per month. Now I earn enough for a family of four dinner at McDonalds. And I'm not talking the fancy stuff. Dollar menu.
My ss earnings used to go over a thousand dollars from time to time. This January my ss total is $2 (four $0.5 video sales).
No Happy Meal for my kids ; )
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I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
Between the declining income and the fact that micro sites have lowered submission quality standards, I don't think it's worth upgrading. Anyone who has a DSLR from the past 15 years should be fine.
That's unfortunate you have to work in fear. I travel for photography and have run into these situations here in the USA. Mostly in major cities in areas that are known for higher crime. And with all of the 2020 problems I now carry pepper spray and a heavy monopod. I'm now focusing more on beaches than cities. Usually more happy people there who don't want to rob or harm me. :-)
If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
Caracas, is the capital of Venezuela, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Here we have a lot of crime, robberies, murders and all kind of crime you could think. I don't know much about the USA, but my brother live in Houston Texas and there according that told me, it's a quite, the county where he lives.
When i go to the downtown where some risk zones, i use a point and shot camera, Canon Power Shot A810, it's a $50 camera you can find used for sell on ebay. Sometimes police and militar forces when they look at you with a camera, they ask you what you are doing, and if you are lucky the don't take you your camera, this situation happened to me in 2012, i was taking some photos alone and two polices in a motorcicle ask me what i was doing, and have to show my camera (Canon XT), they look and go. Now i use my Canon XT in the street but in safe zones. Maybe i'm a very affortunate person, because i can eat three meals times a day, and can pay for medicines. But a lot of people here can't. I have some money help from my brother, also i sell things on Internet, photography accessories, cheap things like, lens hoods, filters and lens caps, and some old lens i don't use, and anothers things. Also i have some sporadics jobs. Well, this the third world :)
Here i let you a link, where you can see Caracas as the second most dangerous city in the world.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/)
D*mn buddy, that's a tough place to live and do business. You are almost like a war photographer, the danger is always present and you need to be careful at all times when leaving your home. Keep up the good spirit and I hope you get some great images that sell well on stock sites!
Thanks, I hope so! I am very lucky, I live in a safe medium area, the thefts and murders are not high for this area. I think it is one of the safest areas in Caracas.
Well, you have to have good luck. It's a matter of not being in the wrong place and time. The chances of something happening to you are high, especially if you have a very attractive camera. The Canon XT even as old as it is can be striking. Here in Venezuela, journalists are persecuted a lot, and anyone they see with a camera thinks they are one, at least the security agents and paramilitary groups. And well, thieves are always looking for an opportunity to rob someone. Many cell phones are stolen here. Those crime statistics are true. :)
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As the year goes on we are going to see less downloads across the board, simply because the creative industries are using less, there is no demand for promotions and advertising.
Shutterstock have dug themselves a hole, dropping the commission rates to the contributors, this will over time finish them off.
Contributors have stopped recommending them, along with no fresh quality content, just means that the serious buyers will move.
It will take a couple of years, I expect to see them 5 or 6 down on the Middle Tier.
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today 2 video sales for a total of a little more than a dollar... level 2
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today 2 video sales for a total of a little more than a dollar... level 2
I've got five of those today... Level 2 here too
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I'm down to 3 agencies, pond5 adobe and dissolve. Earnings last December for my 1500 clip portfolio were over 1k usd. This year I barely cracked 300. I'm getting fewer sales no matter how much I add (quality clips). If you thought 2020 sucked just wait....
If I check three agencies you mention I made a $ 0.00 in December 2020 but it was my best year anyway. I am not sure you can do it right judgement this way. I do not have ,,high quality TV or movie theater,, footage but I am not complaining.Hope next month will be better for You.
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Nice!
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.....Investing in adding new images would be a complete waste of time for me. Maybe other people aren't experiencing the downward trend.
If we look at new images at various agencies they are mainly submitted by bright-eyed newcomers who believe there is a pot of gold in stock photography.
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.....Investing in adding new images would be a complete waste of time for me. Maybe other people aren't experiencing the downward trend.
If we look at new images at various agencies they are mainly submitted by bright-eyed newcomers who believe there is a pot of gold in stock photography.
With pictures from an iPhone...
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Fxxk Jon Oringer and Shutterstock management.
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.....Investing in adding new images would be a complete waste of time for me. Maybe other people aren't experiencing the downward trend.
If we look at new images at various agencies they are mainly submitted by bright-eyed newcomers who believe there is a pot of gold in stock photography.
With pictures from an iPhone...
Probably less of a pot of gold and more like a carrot hanging from a stick.
A long time ago I was hoping this all would reach bottom. I've realized what these companies have known all along. There is no bottom. There will always be newcomers who get the euphoric rush from realizing their work is good enough for someone to spend money on even if it's a penny. In the 1990s earnings were thousands of dollars per sale, 2000's hundreds of dollars, 2010's dollars, and now 2020's pennies. The newcomers will at some point experience lower income from "the wall" and also these companies reducing their commissions. They will probably become disgruntled and stop submitting or leave. Doesn't matter. There's a never ending supply of newcomers who don't bother reading contracts and are willing to accept anything. Look at the free sites where contributors are thrilled someone has downloaded or liked their work. Likes are the new currency.
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.....Investing in adding new images would be a complete waste of time for me. Maybe other people aren't experiencing the downward trend.
If we look at new images at various agencies they are mainly submitted by bright-eyed newcomers who believe there is a pot of gold in stock photography.
Thats it! and yet its thanks to these hopefulls that SS survives. Without these goggle eyed noobs the agency would fold and bye bye!
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If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
About a year ago i switched from a Sony DSLR to a bridge, fixed lens Lumix FX1000 - excellent Zeiss lens (i always kept my telezoom on the DSLR), great macro & i added a screw on macro that gets even closer
it's also about 1/2 the weight. (which for shaky hands results in sharper images - i routinely handhold for HDR)
it's a few MP less, but not a big deal when most DLs are subs so not missing out on buyers needing bigger images
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Hanna, What are the best POD sites?
I just dropped Bigstock, leaving me only five agencies for now. (one of which is Canstock, which hardly counts) I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
I'll keep making and uploading new work because... well... it's what I do.
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Sorry to hear how bad things are Alexander, it sounds pretty much like South Africa where i live. It's very difficult to take out a camera in public for me, which limits one so much cos there's so many important stories to capture.
I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
Between the declining income and the fact that micro sites have lowered submission quality standards, I don't think it's worth upgrading. Anyone who has a DSLR from the past 15 years should be fine.
That's unfortunate you have to work in fear. I travel for photography and have run into these situations here in the USA. Mostly in major cities in areas that are known for higher crime. And with all of the 2020 problems I now carry pepper spray and a heavy monopod. I'm now focusing more on beaches than cities. Usually more happy people there who don't want to rob or harm me. :-)
If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
Caracas, is the capital of Venezuela, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Here we have a lot of crime, robberies, murders and all kind of crime you could think. I don't know much about the USA, but my brother live in Houston Texas and there according that told me, it's a quite, the county where he lives.
When i go to the downtown where some risk zones, i use a point and shot camera, Canon Power Shot A810, it's a $50 camera you can find used for sell on ebay. Sometimes police and militar forces when they look at you with a camera, they ask you what you are doing, and if you are lucky the don't take you your camera, this situation happened to me in 2012, i was taking some photos alone and two polices in a motorcicle ask me what i was doing, and have to show my camera (Canon XT), they look and go. Now i use my Canon XT in the street but in safe zones. Maybe i'm a very affortunate person, because i can eat three meals times a day, and can pay for medicines. But a lot of people here can't. I have some money help from my brother, also i sell things on Internet, photography accessories, cheap things like, lens hoods, filters and lens caps, and some old lens i don't use, and anothers things. Also i have some sporadics jobs. Well, this the third world :)
Here i let you a link, where you can see Caracas as the second most dangerous city in the world.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/)
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Not great either, with Adobe being the exception. Heading to a best month in half a year there, which is the only good news to report. Smaller agencies continue to dry up even further, and for SS I see on par amount of downloads, but terrible RPD which has something to do with the big reset, but there's more to it if you ask me. Almost every sale is a 10-cent'er sub and in addition to that my best sellers suddenly dropped significantly during this month (going from several downloads a day or per week per image last year, to one or two downloads per image for the complete month). They were replaced by sometimes pretty odd sales from images that never sold before and I can't recall uploading, or images from which I think: commercial value? Where? :o Maybe I should rethink my position on the "our portfolio's are capped" conspiracy.
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Nope no conspiracy at all ^^. on top of that their geographical search and mixing with the servers in different continents/countries!...all the big 5 do but with SS its a slaughterhouse of earnings!
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Sorry to hear how bad things are Alexander, it sounds pretty much like South Africa where i live. It's very difficult to take out a camera in public for me, which limits one so much cos there's so many important stories to capture.
I'm currently making more from POD than from microstock.
Any good POD sites to recommend in particular?
MS generates a decent income for me, but nothing to write home about. It helps to buy some kick ass new camera gear every year and pay some bills. I'm a hobbyist-level stock photographer (portfolio size is currently under 3,000 photos).
Buy a new camera with microstock income for me, that impossible. My newer camera is a Canon 60D, the other a Canon XT. And i'm ok with those old cameras, because if i try to do some photos in the street some thief is probably would robbed to me. In some places police could take my camera and take it. In Caracas, Venezuela people with cameras have to be very alert, or go in big groups. When i go to street i use Canon XT. In my house for making some studio photos i use Canon 60D.
Between the declining income and the fact that micro sites have lowered submission quality standards, I don't think it's worth upgrading. Anyone who has a DSLR from the past 15 years should be fine.
That's unfortunate you have to work in fear. I travel for photography and have run into these situations here in the USA. Mostly in major cities in areas that are known for higher crime. And with all of the 2020 problems I now carry pepper spray and a heavy monopod. I'm now focusing more on beaches than cities. Usually more happy people there who don't want to rob or harm me. :-)
If you do want to get a new camera you may want to consider small mirrorless like a Sony a6600. DSLR quality images and the body and lenses are very compact. When walking with a DSLR and large backpack, I've found it draws a lot of attention. When using my Sony a6300 I can use a tiny bag and it draws almost no attention.
Caracas, is the capital of Venezuela, is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. Here we have a lot of crime, robberies, murders and all kind of crime you could think. I don't know much about the USA, but my brother live in Houston Texas and there according that told me, it's a quite, the county where he lives.
When i go to the downtown where some risk zones, i use a point and shot camera, Canon Power Shot A810, it's a $50 camera you can find used for sell on ebay. Sometimes police and militar forces when they look at you with a camera, they ask you what you are doing, and if you are lucky the don't take you your camera, this situation happened to me in 2012, i was taking some photos alone and two polices in a motorcicle ask me what i was doing, and have to show my camera (Canon XT), they look and go. Now i use my Canon XT in the street but in safe zones. Maybe i'm a very affortunate person, because i can eat three meals times a day, and can pay for medicines. But a lot of people here can't. I have some money help from my brother, also i sell things on Internet, photography accessories, cheap things like, lens hoods, filters and lens caps, and some old lens i don't use, and anothers things. Also i have some sporadics jobs. Well, this the third world :)
Here i let you a link, where you can see Caracas as the second most dangerous city in the world.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/ (https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/)
I don't know much about South Africa, but life here in Venezuela is very difficult.