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Author Topic: Illustrators / Vector Artists' sales trend.  (Read 17227 times)

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« on: June 07, 2013, 03:43 »
0
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


« Reply #1 on: June 07, 2013, 06:07 »
0
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.

« Reply #2 on: June 07, 2013, 12:36 »
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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.

« Reply #3 on: June 07, 2013, 13:37 »
0
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.

« Reply #4 on: June 07, 2013, 13:47 »
0
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.

« Reply #5 on: June 08, 2013, 04:38 »
0
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?

« Reply #6 on: June 08, 2013, 12:08 »
+1
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.

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #7 on: June 08, 2013, 12:50 »
0
It sounds like Runeer you are considering exclusivity?
S/he already is. (in OP)

« Reply #8 on: June 17, 2013, 03:57 »
+1
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.

« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2013, 07:01 »
0
I'm also iStock exclusive and my sales have been going down every month this year. June was my worst month ever as exclusive.


« Reply #10 on: October 03, 2013, 06:29 »
0
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...

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #11 on: October 03, 2013, 06:52 »
0
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.

« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2014, 12:16 »
0
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

« Reply #13 on: March 07, 2014, 10:01 »
0
I'm not exclusive and I don't submit to Istock, but for me sales are steady and still growing. :D

« Reply #14 on: March 21, 2014, 08:00 »
0
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?

« Reply #15 on: March 21, 2014, 15:51 »
0
the top tiers except iStock and some minor agencies :)

Gino

« Reply #16 on: March 21, 2014, 15:59 »
0
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.  :)

Boians Cho Joo Young

  • 2D, 3D Character Designer
« Reply #17 on: March 21, 2014, 16:31 »
+1
Vector sale in February

123rf >toonvectors > dreamstime >fotolia >canstockphoto >depositphotos > istockphoto
« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 16:34 by Boians Cho Joo Young »

EmberMike

« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2014, 16:54 »
+1
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.

BoBoBolinski

« Reply #19 on: March 21, 2014, 17:19 »
+6
"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.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2014, 17:43 by BoBoBolinski »

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #20 on: March 21, 2014, 17:31 »
+1

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"

BoBoBolinski

« Reply #21 on: March 21, 2014, 17:41 »
+1
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.

« Last Edit: March 22, 2014, 05:03 by BoBoBolinski »

Boians Cho Joo Young

  • 2D, 3D Character Designer
« Reply #22 on: March 21, 2014, 17:50 »
0
"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


« Reply #23 on: March 21, 2014, 18:08 »
+2
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

« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2014, 18:52 »
+2
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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