MicrostockGroup
Illustrators Corner - Microstock Illustrators Forum => Illustration - General => Topic started by: runeer on June 07, 2013, 03:43
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I don't know how to come out with a best topic title. I generally wanna ask all illustrators/vector artists out there about your sales performance this year.
I'm an iS exclusive illustrator, DLs have been really slow since last year and there's no sign of going uphill till now.
Is it only happening to iS exclusive vector artists? A lot of my fellow iS artists have been inactive or stop uploading for months, and moving their talents somewhere else, e.g. projects.
Any clue guys? Feel free to discuss and share your opinion whether ya iS or non-iS artists.
Cheers
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I'm also IS exclusive and yes, slow sales since long time.
I had a good sales day when IS cut prices off at sales day, which seems to show that prices are a bit high.
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Sales will become even slower if there are more contributors who are tempted by their recent raised commission.
More competition mean lesser sales.
I just turned istock exclusive and quit immediately after 2 months. Commission is too low for exclusive at 25%~30%, and non-exclusive get 20%. Exclusive only get 10 % higher than non exclusive which is dumb.
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I've been an iStock exclusive vector illustrator (almost Diamond) since 2007 and for a few months non-exclusive years ago. I've been pretty inactive the last 2-3 years and sales have been steadily declining but stable for about the last 12 months or so. A small spike during the promotion a few weeks ago - really nothing good or bad.
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It's been a pretty good year so far. I started in 2006 (always non-exclsuive), and this year should be my best. That said, I don't have a lot of confidence in the major micros or upload to them anymore.
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So is it true that most customers went somewhere else for cheaper clip-arts and illustrations?
I have a feeling that my newly accepted illustrations will go "invisible/stagnant" just after few downloads...
For those who cancelled iS exclusivity, is it troublesome to deal with multiple stock sites? Are the rests generate better income per month than iS?
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I don't think everyone is motivated by price or that it is the only deciding factor. One telling sign for me is that of the last two companies my wife has worked (an ad agency and a magazine) they both used SS.
It sounds like Runeer you are considering exclusivity? When I was briefly non-exclusive, I found that my mirrored portfolios didn't compare in terms of earnings at all (20:1). I feel this was mainly because all of the sites sold rasterized versions which allowed the customer to purchase a small jpeg or something - of course with IS only allowing for the EPS to be bought. I can't justify to myself to sell at SS.
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It sounds like Runeer you are considering exclusivity?
S/he already is. (in OP)
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I'm a designer and i used to buy stock illustrations and photos from iS but since they rised the prices on the illustrations i had the unpleasant experience to find out that i had to pay 80 usd for a photo used in one of the flyers i've designed and since that experience i've quit buying from iS and redirected to other sites where i can find a decent price for stock photography.
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I'm also iStock exclusive and my sales have been going down every month this year. June was my worst month ever as exclusive.
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I'm a designer and i used to buy stock illustrations and photos from iS but since they rised the prices on the illustrations i had the unpleasant experience to find out that i had to pay 80 usd for a photo used in one of the flyers i've designed and since that experience i've quit buying from iS and redirected to other sites where i can find a decent price for stock photography.
If only iS look into feedbacks like yours...
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I'm not exclusive. iStock sales have gone down slightly, but the partner program there makes me more money than iS downloads, so my overall earnings there have increased. SS makes me 3-4 times as much as iS (but my portfolio is 6x larger there). This week sales have increased for me on both sites, because it looks like Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas are taking off.
I'm working on my Symbiostock site and hope to have it started up next week so I don't completely miss Halloween sales.
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I'm not sure it is appropriate to reply here now or should I start a new thread, because I wanna discuss the same topic in the early year of 2014.
Yes, I'm still iS exclusive, sales still going down, the website is still full of bugs, landing pages haven't been updated for weeks...
and I'm back to agency to take up projects XD
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I'm not exclusive and I don't submit to Istock, but for me sales are steady and still growing. :D
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I'm not exclusive and I don't submit to Istock, but for me sales are steady and still growing. :D
Where are you submitting too sir?
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the top tiers except iStock and some minor agencies :)
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I'm a designer and i used to buy stock illustrations and photos from iS but since they rised the prices on the illustrations i had the unpleasant experience to find out that i had to pay 80 usd for a photo used in one of the flyers i've designed and since that experience i've quit buying from iS and redirected to other sites where i can find a decent price for stock photography.
I have the same experience. Never bought at istock but one of my costumers gave me a link to an image he needed. The high resolution was about €80! I really did not know they were that expencive. I told him I buy at Shutterstock and get the same quality for less. 5 images in any size for just €39. He found a better image on Shutterstock. :)
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Vector sale in February
123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto
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Yes, I'm still iS exclusive, sales still going down, the website is still full of bugs, landing pages haven't been updated for weeks...
and I'm back to agency to take up projects XD
So, I have to ask... why are you still exclusive then?
Sorry. I'm just kind of tired of these posts complaining about exclusivity. It's been years, several years actually, of this company taking shots at exclusives, lowering pay, reducing/removing benefits, making it harder and harder to earn, etc. And now you're taking on extra work to make up the difference?
I just don't get it. I guess some people just like to stand in the rain and complain about the weather.
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"So, I have to ask... why are you still exclusive then? "
Because most exclusives who know others who have left exclusivity, realise that it's still pretty hard to match the IS exclusive income, and even if it were possible, it takes many months or even years to reach that point. A non exclusive contributor said it in the forums here recently, if you're averaging $150 per day or more at IS, don't give up the crown.
I never quite understand how that Microstock Poll Results thing works, but to my eyes, the exclusive category has the highest figure.
123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto
I'm not quite sure what this means, but I can see that on IS you have had more than 20 sales in nearly 4 years.
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123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto
I'm not quite sure what this means, but I can see that on IS you have had more than 20 sales in nearly 4 years.
> = "is greater than"
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So IS is the least in terms of sales? Well, as I said, 20+ sales in 4 years, not great sale at IS, but pretty meaningless unless you know the number of sales at the best agency. If, for instance, you had 10,000 sale in 4 years at the best agency, IS would be doing very badly. If you had 50 sales at the best agency in 4 years, maybe you just weren't producing images that sold anywhere.
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"So, I have to ask... why are you still exclusive then? "
Because most exclusives who know others who have left exclusivity, realise that it's still pretty hard to match the IS exclusive income, and even if it were possible, it takes many months or even years to reach that point. A non exclusive contributor said it in the forums here recently, if you're averaging $150 per day or more at IS, don't give up the crown.
I never quite understand how that Microstock Poll Results thing works, but to my eyes, the exclusive category has the highest figure.
123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto
I'm not quite sure what this means, but I can see that on IS you have had more than 20 sales in nearly 4 years.
Selling Number of files is important , but more important is the size and royalties.
According to the rating of the seller increases the percentage of royalties.
ex) 123RF level : 4 → Credits:45 %, Subscription: $ 0.324
http://www.123rf.com/contrib_structure.php (http://www.123rf.com/contrib_structure.php)
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A non exclusive contributor said it in the forums here recently, if you're averaging $150 per day or more at IS, don't give up the crown.
That seems like pretty specific advice for a small audience. ;D
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There is a significantly different workflow for non exclusive illustrators. The successful ones have spent years figuring out where the money is. An exclusive dropping the crown would have to figure it out on their own and that takes time. I seriously doubt that IS exclusivity could even reach 1/3 of what I make as a non exclusive. Based on my RPI per agency Istock would have trouble even matching my self hosting sales income. Exclusivity would have to triple at least my RPI to do that. Then you add Clipartof SS and the rest. For me it's no contest. I do admit that I have opportunities that a newly independent contributor doesn't have. They would have to build those opportunities for themselves and that is a lot of work. So the real answer is... Yes you can replace exclusivity but it won't be fast and it won't be easy.
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I'm not exclusive and I don't submit to Istock, but for me sales are steady and still growing. :D
I'm not exclusive (never been) and I (still) submit to Istock, and sales are steady and growing. In terms of $ - 40% SS, 30% IS, rest 30%
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Because most exclusives who know others who have left exclusivity, realise that it's still pretty hard to match the IS exclusive income, and even if it were possible, it takes many months or even years to reach that point. A non exclusive contributor said it in the forums here recently, if you're averaging $150 per day or more at IS, don't give up the crown.
I don't get it. So, things are good at iStock then? Why the complaints if everyone is convinced that they're better off as exclusives?
Or things are not so good? Getting worse? In which case I still don't get it. Exclusives are going to ride this thing to the end no matter what direction it seems to be going?
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Because most exclusives who know others who have left exclusivity, realise that it's still pretty hard to match the IS exclusive income, and even if it were possible, it takes many months or even years to reach that point. A non exclusive contributor said it in the forums here recently, if you're averaging $150 per day or more at IS, don't give up the crown.
I don't get it. So, things are good at iStock then? Why the complaints if everyone is convinced that they're better off as exclusives?
Or things are not so good? Getting worse? In which case I still don't get it. Exclusives are going to ride this thing to the end no matter what direction it seems to be going?
There are problems at IS but the grass is not always greener elsewhere, is the best way I can succinctly reply to that. That reply is based purely on the direct experience of people I know who have given up exclusivity recently. Everyone's experience is different and I accept that others experience can differ widely. I personally will give up exclusivity when my income drops enough to force my hand, which I don't expect to happen for an unquantifiable while yet.
I seriously doubt that IS exclusivity could even reach 1/3 of what I make as a non exclusive.
Unless you reveal what you earn as a non-exclusive, again, impossible to know, but if you earn three times my exclusive income you would be on a very high salary indeed.
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There are problems at IS but the grass is not always greener elsewhere, is the best way I can succinctly reply to that. That reply is based purely on the direct experience of people I know who have given up exclusivity recently. Everyone's experience is different and I accept that others experience can differ widely. I personally will give up exclusivity when my income drops enough to force my hand, which I don't expect to happen for an unquantifiable while yet...
Those folks you mention, they gave up exclusivity recently. Have you talked to anyone who gave it up a year or two ago? I think it's pretty common that those who more recently abandon the crown are worse off than those who have been independent for a while. It takes some time to gain any momentum when you're signing up to all of these other companies as a new artist.
...Unless you reveal what you earn as a non-exclusive, again, impossible to know, but if you earn three times my exclusive income you would be on a very high salary indeed.
Let me know how much you're making and I'll tell you if I'm in the ballpark. ;)
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I'd say you earning $30k a month is an impressive achievement. :)
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I'd say you earning $30k a month is an impressive achievement. :)
Really? $10k per month? Nice work. :) You've got me beat.
I still think you'd do better independent, but at that level I can see the hesitation to make a drastic move like that.
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Embermike,
I wouldn't make a move at your level, your smart not to, it's hard to beat $2-$12ish downloads with $.25 and .35 subs and the ones that do pay you more just don't have the sales.
This I have discovered personally, so I am currently exc with rasters and indi with my vectors ... This strategy is working for me pretty good, if they didn't "split vectors n rasters" I'd be exclusive with all too
Congrats by the way, that is an amazing achievement!
My Very Best :)
KimsCreativeHub.com
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Embermike,
I wouldn't make a move at your level, your smart not to, it's hard to beat $2-$12ish downloads with $.25 and .35 subs and the ones that do pay you more just don't have the sales.
This I have discovered personally, so I am currently exc with rasters and indi with my vectors ... This strategy is working for me pretty good, if they didn't "split vectors n rasters" I'd be exclusive with all too
Congrats by the way, that is an amazing achievement!
You mean BoBoBolinski, not me, right? I'm not exclusive...
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I'd say you earning $30k a month is an impressive achievement. :)
Really? $10k per month? Nice work. :) You've got me beat.
If you are making $10k a month Bo, why would you care what any of us plebs think? You are way outside the norm for stock in general (both exclusive and non-exclusive). Frankly, I don't see what the argument is here. Transition is painful. It doesn't matter which side of the fence you sit on. If you have to start from scratch at new sites that is even more painful. There are no easy answers or quick fixes in this business anymore. Those days are gone. Occasionally new opportunities arise, but they are few and far between.
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Sorry mike and bobo :)
I meant that to go to bobo..
My Very Best :)
KimsCreativeHub.com
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"Really? $10k per month? Nice work. :) You've got me beat. "
OK, I have to own up, I was winding you up a little, I have earned that, in fact a quite a bit more on my best month, but last time I looked probably half that now. Still too much to risk it all on giving up exclusivity at the moment. I would guess there are a few earning that sort of amount, when there used to be some sort of league table of sellers I was high up but there were others selling considerably more, so I'm guessing some must be down on $ and downloads but must still be on $7-$10k.
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Yes, I'm still iS exclusive, sales still going down, the website is still full of bugs, landing pages haven't been updated for weeks...
and I'm back to agency to take up projects XD
So, I have to ask... why are you still exclusive then?
Sorry. I'm just kind of tired of these posts complaining about exclusivity. It's been years, several years actually, of this company taking shots at exclusives, lowering pay, reducing/removing benefits, making it harder and harder to earn, etc. And now you're taking on extra work to make up the difference?
Erm... I wasn't complaining actually (sorry if I sounded I did :-p), things can't get any worse at iStock especially for exclusive artists. I'm kinda numb with it now... But I have to admit that I've been a "frog in the boiling water", no one to blame but myself XD
While finding words to describe how I or us (most exclusives I've talked to) feel, I saw this very good reply from another fellow istock exclusive:
"My sales are so low now that it may be worth going back to independent. The problem is that it's impossible to predict how much the income would drop here at iStock... and I have no idea how the other agencies are doing nowadays, so maybe they wouldn't compensate for the lower income from iStock.
Going independent and then make even less money than I am now would be pretty depressing... :P"
That pretty much sums up my (or us) feeling now.
I just don't get it. I guess some people just like to stand in the rain and complain about the weather.
Well, before making up my mind to drop the crown and start anew as independent, taking projects from clients and agencies like I used to is the immediate way out. Some of the exclusives I've talked to are still holding on, creating and uploading like no tomorrow trying to make up for the declining sales, some stopped uploading for more than a year and doing something else already, and few finally dropped their crown and feeling dreadful to upload to multiple sites.
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Vector sale in February
123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto
Thanks for sharing this info, really appreaciate it, but It'd be more justifiable if your iStock port. is equally big as the rest of other sites ;-)
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Vector sale in February
123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto
Thanks for sharing this info, really appreaciate it, but It'd be more justifiable if your iStock port. is equally big as the rest of other sites ;-)
"iStockphoto" 2014 Year Jan. Upload began.
Vector Content steady increase in selling.
"iStockphoto" keep one's eyes skinned.
Contents Type: 2D Vector illustrations
License: Non Exclusive, Royalty Free
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Hi Everybody!
I'm not exclusive in IS and I was really wandering if as an exclusive I would have more DL than I have right now. IS right now covers 21% of my income while SS covers 30% and the rest comes mostly from Graphic River, 123RF & Fotolia. But seeing the table on the right of this forum I wander if by turning exclusive I would achieve 150+% of what I make right now by just becoming exclusive.
Can anyone help me with this??
Thanks!
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Hi Everybody!
I'm not exclusive in IS and I was really wandering if as an exclusive I would have more DL than I have right now. IS right now covers 21% of my income while SS covers 30% and the rest comes mostly from Graphic River, 123RF & Fotolia. But seeing the table on the right of this forum I wander if by turning exclusive I would achieve 150+% of what I make right now by just becoming exclusive.
Can anyone help me with this??
Thanks!
I would guess no. You'd have to make 5 times what you make now at IS just to equal what you make now with all the agencies. It seems unlikely that you would do that well or better.
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I'm not exclusive in IS and I was really wandering if as an exclusive I would have more DL than I have right now...
I would read through the various discussions on this forum about exclusivity. There aren't very many (if any) people who are really happy with it. The general impression I get is that most folks would prefer to be independent but they are established as exclusives and earn well enough as exclusives to not want to change. The main reason being that going from exclusive to independent it takes some time to get to the point where you are earning well.
But if you're already independent, you are probably better off staying that way. Just my 2 cents, but I don't trust any of these companies enough to go all-in with any of them. Even if Shutterstock offered exclusivity, I wouldn't do it. And I make 49% of my income with them. Still wouldn't do it.
Also, I wouldn't give the list at the right much concern. Remember that most folks in this forum are photographers, so the poll is heavily influenced by what works best for photographers. In some cases it can be very different for vector folks. Some people do well with some companies that aren't even on the list.
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I was a happy exclusive until I noticed a big downward trend, and before it was too late, I dropped the crown.
After less than a year I'm happy with my decision even though I don't think I'm earning much more than I would have as an exclusive. But it makes a HUGE difference to be in an upward trend, at least until you reach your peak at the “new sites”. And I learnt a lot about microstock following that path.