Author Topic: iStock - is it still worth the effort?? (Read 16700 times)

StockStudio · « **on:** July 23, 2017, 09:09 »

I see here that most people are saying iStock\Getty are not worth the time when it comes to video.
Weather it be the low commissions and the 4K pricing, or the horrible upload process.
I have about 400 clips there (small part of my protfolio)- making a little money here and there.
Just wondering if it's worth the time uploading the rest of my portfolio when I have the time (between shooting periods)
I mean - I already shot the clips. Why not put them for sale on another platform?

I'd like to hear some people's experiences from the past months regarding video sales there.

Brightontl · « **Reply #1 on:** July 23, 2017, 10:42 »

In the past I have asked the same question a couple of time. I never got a reply from someone that actually uploads videos there.
I have always decided not to upload there, for the obvious reasons: incredibly low commissions, complexity of uploading and arrogant attitude.
Like in your case, I already upload to other agency, so it would not be a big effort, but still the effort is not worth in my opinion.

I believe they are still reasonably strong in photo (I do not upload photo there either), but IMO this is not the case for video.
If I search their video database with a specific keyword the number of files is extremely low compared to the others and the quality is amateurish. None of the big guns uploads there.
They are the sinking ship, let them die as they deserve

Bad Company · « **Reply #2 on:** July 23, 2017, 12:16 »

Quote from: Brightontl on July 23, 2017, 10:42

In the past I have asked the same question a couple of time. I never got a reply from someone that actually uploads videos there.
I have always decided not to upload there, for the obvious reasons: incredibly low commissions, complexity of uploading and arrogant attitude.
Like in your case, I already upload to other agency, so it would not be a big effort, but still the effort is not worth in my opinion.

I believe they are still reasonably strong in photo (I do not upload photo there either), but IMO this is not the case for video.
If I search their video database with a specific keyword the number of files is extremely low compared to the others and the quality is amateurish. None of the big guns uploads there.
They are the sinking ship, let them die as they deserve

One of the best answers I've ever read on this site! I personally know a few 'High End' (making almost $100,000 USD per year) video folks and they either never submitted or took their videos off the site due to horrible prices!

helloitsme · « **Reply #3 on:** August 06, 2017, 00:23 »

You got to treat your stock video/photo business like a brand. Don't sell it cheap. Keep the price at certain level. Don't let stock sites treat you like a servant. You own your business and control how much you get from it per clip. On that basis, iStock and Dissolve don't qualify for a privilege to sell my products. We should let them go out of business.

Video-StockOrg · « **Reply #4 on:** August 06, 2017, 01:20 »

fmarsicano · « **Reply #5 on:** August 08, 2017, 14:47 »

you are totally right they don't respect us and they don't deserve us

Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

StefC · « **Reply #6 on:** August 17, 2017, 03:55 »

We should all boycott agencies like iStock that don't respect us and our work. Both for videos and images.
I mean, 15% commission?!? Who are we, their slaves?
The more we support them with our files, the more people will buy from them.... And so we lose A LOT of money. If we sold the same files at the same price through Pond5, we'd get more than 3 times the money. So every sale we have on iStock means one less sale on other agencies where we would have earned a lot more.

sharpshot · « **Reply #7 on:** August 17, 2017, 06:34 »

Quote from: StefC on August 17, 2017, 03:55

We should all boycott agencies like iStock that don't respect us and our work. Both for videos and images.
I mean, 15% commission?!? Who are we, their slaves?
The more we support them with our files, the more people will buy from them.... And so we lose A LOT of money. If we sold the same files at the same price through Pond5, we'd get more than 3 times the money. So every sale we have on iStock means one less sale on other agencies where we would have earned a lot more.

I agree but we also have to accept that lots of people are happy with 15 % or perhaps even lower than that. I hope that buyers move away from Getty/istock because they make the real difference. The sites that pay us 50% should be telling buyers that Getty/istock will make this unsustainable for most contributors.

namussi · « **Reply #8 on:** August 17, 2017, 06:54 »

Quote from: StefC on August 17, 2017, 03:55

We should all boycott agencies like iStock that don't respect us and our work. Both for videos and images.
I mean, 15% commission?!? Who are we, their slaves?

Slaves are not paid anything.

StefC · « **Reply #9 on:** August 17, 2017, 07:58 »

Quote from: namussi on August 17, 2017, 06:54

Quote from: StefC on August 17, 2017, 03:55
We should all boycott agencies like iStock that don't respect us and our work. Both for videos and images.
I mean, 15% commission?!? Who are we, their slaves?

Slaves are not paid anything.

Jesus.... a little flexibility, try to grasp the meaning. Not everything you read is to be taken literally. This is called hyperbole, it's a figure of speech, you know?

Video-StockOrg · « **Reply #10 on:** August 17, 2017, 08:03 »

We don't upload to istock anymore and sales are dropping down fast. There are many reasons why not to upload to istock/getty and even more reasons why support agencies such as Pond5. We just hope they can catch up with the sales of shutterstock at least <_<

Bad Company · « **Reply #11 on:** August 17, 2017, 08:13 »

This applies to all the companies- you either accept their business model or you don't. Personally, I would like to get more than 15% but my volume is good on sales there...

Brightontl · « **Reply #12 on:** August 17, 2017, 08:41 »

Quote from: Bad Company on August 17, 2017, 08:13

This applies to all the companies- you either accept their business model or you don't. Personally, I would like to get more than 15% but my volume is good on sales there...

Are you talking about video?
If that is the case, would you mind saying what you get for a HD and for a 4k clip.
You say volume is good. How many clips per month?

namussi · « **Reply #13 on:** August 18, 2017, 10:06 »

Quote from: StefC on August 17, 2017, 07:58

[

Jesus.... a little flexibility, try to grasp the meaning. Not everything you read is to be taken literally. This is called hyperbole, it's a figure of speech, you know?

I hate hyperbole.

Vlad · « **Reply #14 on:** August 18, 2017, 13:01 »

iStock/Getty is the most miserable, the most disrespectful in regard to artists agency. Their commission is a joke.

dragonblade · « **Reply #15 on:** August 20, 2017, 05:51 »

Quote from: Vlad on August 18, 2017, 13:01

iStock/Getty is the most miserable, the most disrespectful in regard to artists agency. Their commission is a joke.

Unfortunately, SS might be starting to go down the same path. Someone got a $3 video sale there recently.

digipro · « **Reply #16 on:** October 25, 2017, 19:07 »

Question from a newbie.

I've been an iStock exclusive videographer since December 2016 and I am really confused with their licensing/royalty rates. I've had some clips sold for as low as $2.6 including 4K video sold for $2.9. Is it the same situation with other agencies? I am curios how does one buy a 4K video for $3?

On the other hand I've had my HD clips sold for $575 producing a very nice payout.

ForrestBrown · « **Reply #17 on:** October 26, 2017, 13:22 »

Quote from: digipro on October 25, 2017, 19:07

Question from a newbie.

I've been an iStock exclusive videographer since December 2016 and I am really confused with their licensing/royalty rates. I've had some clips sold for as low as $2.6 including 4K video sold for $2.9. Is it the same situation with other agencies? I am curios how does one buy a 4K video for $3?

On the other hand I've had my HD clips sold for $575 producing a very nice payout.

I dropped iStock exclusivity in July 2016. I still have my footage on iStock, but I haven't uploaded any new footage there since I dropped exclusivity. I regularly get commissions of less than $1 on iStock. I rarely get commissions of less than $20 on any of the other stock footage sites.

dbvirago · « **Reply #18 on:** October 27, 2017, 15:48 »

Quote from: namussi on August 18, 2017, 10:06

Quote from: StefC on August 17, 2017, 07:58
[

Jesus.... a little flexibility, try to grasp the meaning. Not everything you read is to be taken literally. This is called hyperbole, it's a figure of speech, you know?

I hate hyperbole.

If I see any more hyperbole, my head will explode

namussi · « **Reply #19 on:** October 28, 2017, 21:06 »

Quote from: dbvirago on October 27, 2017, 15:48

Quote from: namussi on August 18, 2017, 10:06
Quote from: StefC on August 17, 2017, 07:58
[

Jesus.... a little flexibility, try to grasp the meaning. Not everything you read is to be taken literally. This is called hyperbole, it's a figure of speech, you know?

I hate hyperbole.

If I see any more hyperbole, my head will explode

Ha ha ha. :-)

jjneff · « **Reply #20 on:** October 29, 2017, 12:04 »

I dropped my exclusivity at iStock in video in 2016. No I have never gotten sales for that cheap at other agencies! Do much better now. I too left my content but am not uploading to them anymore.

Clair Voyant · « **Reply #21 on:** October 29, 2017, 12:47 »

Quote from: jjneff on October 29, 2017, 12:04

I dropped my exclusivity at iStock in video in 2016. No I have never gotten sales for that cheap at other agencies! Do much better now. I too left my content but am not uploading to them anymore.

Which agencies do you recommend? I am seriously considering dropping Istock for video as some of the low royalty rates via Premium Access are an insult and I am really not interested in supporting this abuse moving forward. I do get some very decent royalties, but there are far too many that are nothing less than a kick in the nuts.

dpimborough · « **Reply #22 on:** October 30, 2017, 01:42 »

I ditched them last year and combined with the continuing drop off in SS sales things slowed down revenue wise but things picked up in other agencies and this month has seen one of my highest months for earnings.

Do I miss iStock? No and I feel better for not getting sub 1 cent sales too.

derek · « **Reply #23 on:** October 30, 2017, 01:48 »

Forget their bad attitude etc but lately Istock is showing clear signs of selling power. I have experienced double the income during the last four months and for being an independent thats quite good. Maybe they are capitalizing on a falling SS and Adobe I dont know but something might have happened there?

tupungato · « **Reply #24 on:** May 20, 2024, 06:57 »

How are iStock video sales in 2024? Could you share portfolio size and some royalty amounts? It can be approximate if you don't want to be exact. Like, portfolio of 1000, 5 small sales, 1 big sale per month.

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Author Topic: iStock - is it still worth the effort?? (Read 16700 times)

StockStudio

Brightontl

Bad Company

helloitsme

Video-StockOrg

fmarsicano

StefC

sharpshot

namussi

StefC

Video-StockOrg

Bad Company

Brightontl

namussi

Vlad

dragonblade

digipro

ForrestBrown

dbvirago

namussi

jjneff

Clair Voyant

dpimborough

derek

tupungato

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