Author Topic: Pond5 sales very slow this month, surpassed by Shutterstock video sales. (Read 9051 times)

helloitsme · « **on:** March 10, 2017, 21:09 »

Is it just me? It's nearly on par with VideoBlocks sales this month. I'm worried. Anybody seeing the same trend?

sharpshot · « **Reply #1 on:** March 11, 2017, 03:52 »

I only have a small video portfolio but used to sell something every month with Pond5. My last video sale was in November last year. Sold 4 stills since then, so now I'm selling more stills than video there. That's a big change. Noticed a slight increase in video sales with SS, so I will have to upload more there, seems a waste of time with Pond5, if they have stopped selling my clips.

helloitsme · « **Reply #2 on:** March 11, 2017, 06:15 »

Quote from: sharpshot on March 11, 2017, 03:52

I only have a small video portfolio but used to sell something every month with Pond5. My last video sale was in November last year. Sold 4 stills since then, so now I'm selling more stills than video there. That's a big change. Noticed a slight increase in video sales with SS, so I will have to upload more there, seems a waste of time with Pond5, if they have stopped selling my clips.

Thank you for your comment.

Brightontl · « **Reply #3 on:** March 11, 2017, 06:30 »

For me SS has always been by far my number one.
Pond 5 is not a major player for me, but this month has been doing decently.
Videoblock missing in action

helloitsme · « **Reply #4 on:** March 11, 2017, 06:45 »

Quote from: Brightontl on March 11, 2017, 06:30

For me SS has always been by far my number one.
Pond 5 is not a major player for me, but this month has been doing decently.
Videoblock missing in action

So it's just me maybe.

helloitsme · « **Reply #5 on:** March 11, 2017, 06:47 »

Maybe my buyers have moved to VideoBlocks which is not a bad thing because I get more royalty per clip there.

Brightontl · « **Reply #6 on:** March 11, 2017, 07:03 »

Don't know about Videoblocks, it always had a very strange pattern of sales.
My best month there was the first one when I only had 100 files there. I constantly increased my portfolio almost 2000 files, but sales have been always the same number every month.
The files that sell there are the worst of my portfolio, the ones I am a bit ashamed of.
Also no file ever sold more than once, while in other agencies two or three files make more than half of my total sales.
In other words sales at VB always looked kind of fake to me

thepokergod · « **Reply #7 on:** March 11, 2017, 07:42 »

March has been pretty quiet for me so far and I see quite a few others complaining on the P5 forums about sudden drop in sales.

However I'm not freaking out. The first 3 months of last year were a complete disaster and I seriously thought it was the end of P5 as a serious agency to sell video, however April bounced back and the rest of the year was good culminating in Dec 2016 being my best month ever there. So far each month this year has surpassed last year's so I'm cautiously optimistic (one can never be sure of anything in this industry tho!)

Coming up on my 9th year being a seller there.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #8 on:** March 11, 2017, 08:21 »

Pond5 is usually only #3 for me when it comes to footage, but a clear #1 when it comes to music. It has A LOT to do with when you started.

People who have been with P5 for a while have a huge advantage in the search, if they sell clips that have many uses. Coming in now with subjects that sell really well won't break you out of being invisible because the library is simply so big, and authors with clips there for 5-10 years will always show up in search before you.

I am fortunate to be a top seller when it comes to audio as I've been doing it for a number of years, and that is a huge advantage over newer sellers. When it comes to footage, however, I am relatively invisible. I know I have usable clips because they sell elsewhere every day. But they just can't be found in the enormous ocean that is Pond5 (or the competition is just better).

Just try searching for your latest sale at VB for example with some relevant keywords. I'm sure you'll be able to find it quickly at VB, but probably not at P5.

thepokergod · « **Reply #9 on:** March 11, 2017, 08:26 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on March 11, 2017, 08:21

Pond5 is usually only #3 for me when it comes to footage, but a clear #1 when it comes to music. It has A LOT to do with when you started.

People who have been with P5 for a while have a huge advantage in the search, if they sell clips that have many uses. Coming in now with subjects that sell really well won't break you out of being invisible because the library is simply so big, and authors with clips there for 5-10 years will always show up in search before you.

I am fortunate to be a top seller when it comes to audio as I've been doing it for a number of years, and that is a huge advantage over newer sellers. When it comes to footage, however, I am relatively invisible. I know I have usable clips because they sell elsewhere every day. But they just can't be found in the enormous ocean that is Pond5 (or the competition is just better).

Just try searching for your latest sale at VB for example with some relevant keywords. I'm sure you'll be able to find it quickly at VB, but probably not at P5.

You have a good point there, it usually takes at least a year to a year and a half before my clips start to sell on Pond5, why that is I have no idea. Right now my decent sellers are from mid 2015 and before. If anything uploaded in the last year sells I always find it a pleasant surprise.

helloitsme · « **Reply #10 on:** March 11, 2017, 10:47 »

Quote from: thepokergod on March 11, 2017, 07:42

March has been pretty quiet for me so far and I see quite a few others complaining on the P5 forums about sudden drop in sales.

However I'm not freaking out. The first 3 months of last year were a complete disaster and I seriously thought it was the end of P5 as a serious agency to sell video, however April bounced back and the rest of the year was good culminating in Dec 2016 being my best month ever there. So far each month this year has surpassed last year's so I'm cautiously optimistic (one can never be sure of anything in this industry tho!)

Coming up on my 9th year being a seller there.

I got to check out the Pond5 forum. Thanks.