Quote from: ToniFlap on July 25, 2011, 10:08
IS awful. The worst month in almost 2 years without stopping to upload images ... I have stopped rising. Before his rise was complicated offsetting gains, but now ...

Don't necessariy panic. It may be the notorious 'summer slump'. You may rise again.

Quote from: ShadySue on July 25, 2011, 10:38

Quote from: ToniFlap on July 25, 2011, 10:08
IS awful. The worst month in almost 2 years without stopping to upload images ... I have stopped rising. Before his rise was complicated offsetting gains, but now ...

Don't necessariy panic. It may be the notorious 'summer slump'. You may rise again.

Are you exclusives in a slump? So far I've mostly hear non-exclusives complaining. I've added more photos than usually, they weren't some BS shots just to fill up the limits and it didn't help. At all!

Quote from: Slovenian on July 25, 2011, 10:52

Quote from: ShadySue on July 25, 2011, 10:38

Quote from: ToniFlap on July 25, 2011, 10:08
IS awful. The worst month in almost 2 years without stopping to upload images ... I have stopped rising. Before his rise was complicated offsetting gains, but now ...

Don't necessariy panic. It may be the notorious 'summer slump'. You may rise again.

Are you exclusives in a slump? So far I've mostly hear non-exclusives complaining. I've added more photos than usually, they weren't some BS shots just to fill up the limits and it didn't help. At all!

My first two weeks of July were fairly good (for me), but this past week was awful. I'm hoping it's just the Slump.

Funny this, exclusives always come with this BS, oh! its the summer slump, even worse, ebb and flow. Well its a fantastic agency that has summer slump and ebb and flow, all year around, isnt it?

whats next? earthquake, planecrash, worldwar III ?

Quote from: Slovenian on July 25, 2011, 10:17
^^Are you using google translate?

when I'm tired

Quote from: ShadySue on July 25, 2011, 10:38
Don't necessariy panic. It may be the notorious 'summer slump'. You may rise again.

Thanks, but only summer in IS? Better month in 123RF (spectacular), and good in FT and Shutter... It is a bad year in IS, but now three months going down in IS. It is no accident. And they have gone down the commissions...
Sometimes I have the feeling to be a masochist

Make your priorities, I usually don't upload to the low earnears among the big 4, I just do it when I have to much time on my hands. So you could do the same with IS and not lose any sleep over it. They're pathetic anyway, nothing ever works that, I got just half of my retro payments, opened up support (CR?) ticket immediately, didn't get a reply yet. PP is all * up as well, no files getting transferred, no payments in the last 2 weekends after announcement by Adam etc. Calling them a bunch of amateurs would be a praise for them

Quote from: ToniFlap on July 25, 2011, 14:26

Quote from: ShadySue on July 25, 2011, 10:38
Don't necessariy panic. It may be the notorious 'summer slump'. You may rise again.

Thanks, but only summer in IS? Better month in 123RF (spectacular), and good in FT and Shutter... It is a bad year in IS, but now three months going down in IS. It is no accident. And they have gone down the commissions...
Sometimes I have the feeling to be a masochist

123 RF and Shutterstock seem to be (mainly?) subscription sites, so obviously their sales will be more steady as buyers make sure they get value from their subscriptions. I thought Fotolia was too, but hopping over there, it seems not.
In previous years, most (but not all) iStock subscribers have reported significant dips in sales in July and August. Generally the best months are October and November (from anecdotal evidence on the forums, and from a claim by Kelly Thomson, which wasn't borne out last year).
This year my sales were relatively (to previous years) poor from Jan - April, then rose in May until mid-July.
Who ever knows what's going on? Ebb and flow? Best Match? The Moon in the Seventh Sun?
You just have to do what feels best to you. As you're independent, there can't be much harm in iStock being one of the sites you upload to, but if you don't want to, as Sean would say, that's less competition for the rest of us. 

Quote from: ShadySue on July 25, 2011, 15:41

Quote from: ToniFlap on July 25, 2011, 14:26

Quote from: ShadySue on July 25, 2011, 10:38
Don't necessariy panic. It may be the notorious 'summer slump'. You may rise again.

Thanks, but only summer in IS? Better month in 123RF (spectacular), and good in FT and Shutter... It is a bad year in IS, but now three months going down in IS. It is no accident. And they have gone down the commissions...
Sometimes I have the feeling to be a masochist

123 RF and Shutterstock seem to be (mainly?) subscription sites, so obviously their sales will be more steady as buyers make sure they get value from their subscriptions. I thought Fotolia was too, but hopping over there, it seems not.
In previous years, most (but not all) iStock subscribers have reported significant dips in sales in July and August. Generally the best months are October and November (from anecdotal evidence on the forums, and from a claim by Kelly Thomson, which wasn't borne out last year).
This year my sales were relatively (to previous years) poor from Jan - April, then rose in May until mid-July.
Who ever knows what's going on? Ebb and flow? Best Match? The Moon in the Seventh Sun?
You just have to do what feels best to you. As you're independent, there can't be much harm in iStock being one of the sites you upload to, but if you don't want to, as Sean would say, that's less competition for the rest of us. 

You are right. And that's what I do. Thanks for the tips, really.

To my microstock is a secondary experience, but very interesting. But I really like photography and enjoy learning with each shot and error. I admire people who devote themselves exclusively to microstock. It must be very hard, especially because it is unstable, and my intuition says continue to increase its will be more. I wish I I'm wrong.

Quote from: Slovenian on July 25, 2011, 14:31
Make your priorities, I usually don't upload to the low earnears among the big 4, I just do it when I have to much time on my hands. So you could do the same with IS and not lose any sleep over it....

This is exactly what I do. IS is on the bottom of my uploading list, means I upload if I don't have anything better to do. I have uploaded a very few images since then. Why? They sell much-much less then for me as they did in 2007. And they especially do not sell the new uploads. Why to upload then?
I just realized that photo+ thing - I usually don't even log in to IS anymore just once per months to cash out my earnings. So I give it a try.

Quote from: gostwyck on July 22, 2011, 23:16

My very best selling images (which are P+) have actually accelerated in DL's/month for example.
[/quote]

This is another way that exclusives are getting shafted by P+ and that exclusivity is pointless for anyone thinking about becoming one now. The P+ is a boost in best match placement IMO. so many more independants than exclusives all adding their top sellers to P+ crowds out the best sellers of exclusives.

No job growth in the US, no spending, no wonder buyers are exiting for the cheaper substitutes.

Quote from: VB inc on August 03, 2011, 15:34

Quote from: gostwyck on July 22, 2011, 23:16
My very best selling images (which are P+) have actually accelerated in DL's/month for example.

This is another way that exclusives are getting shafted by P+ and that exclusivity is pointless for anyone thinking about becoming one now. The P+ is a boost in best match placement IMO. so many more independants than exclusives all adding their top sellers to P+ crowds out the best sellers of exclusives.

No job growth in the US, no spending, no wonder buyers are exiting for the cheaper substitutes.

Not at all - the more independents put their images as P+, the better for Exclusives - it means the images are no longer cheaper than standard Exclusive prices, so they don't represent so much competition.

Exclusive best sellers can always be upped to E+, if they're good enough, or unique.

Quote from: Gannet77 on August 03, 2011, 18:03

Not at all - the more independents put their images as P+, the better for Exclusives - it means the images are no longer cheaper than standard Exclusive prices, so they don't represent so much competition.

Exclusive best sellers can always be upped to E+, if they're good enough, or unique.

This was my take on it too.   I don't see how this is a threat to exclusives.  Quite the opposite, for the reason Gannet mentioned.

If there is a best match boost for P+, it must be minimal.  In most searches the vast majority of images in the front are still exclusive.  In fact I had hoped P+ would improve my search positions more than it has. 

I guess this: Pay-as-you-go download    Sunday August 07, 2011, 08:27 PM    XXXLarge    Regular    7.24 is better than this : Pay-as-you-go download    Monday April 18, 2011, 06:26 AM    XXXLarge    Regular    1.75

Quote from: lisafx on August 03, 2011, 18:24
If there is a best match boost for P+, it must be minimal.  In most searches the vast majority of images in the front are still exclusive.  In fact I had hoped P+ would improve my search positions more than it has. 

The promised best match boost for E+ never happened, and I'm not even sure that they made such a promise for P+ (?).
Knowing what an iStock promise is worth, they'd be better not to make them. Once (or more) bitten, several times shy.

Quote from: ShadySue on August 08, 2011, 14:33

Quote from: lisafx on August 03, 2011, 18:24
If there is a best match boost for P+, it must be minimal.  In most searches the vast majority of images in the front are still exclusive.  In fact I had hoped P+ would improve my search positions more than it has. 

The promised best match boost for E+ never happened, and I'm not even sure that they made such a promise for P+ (?).
Knowing what an iStock promise is worth, they'd be better not to make them. Once (or more) bitten, several times shy.

Certain search results in the default price slider order this weekend for me showed P+ file as the first image. If that isnt a boost due to the prices being the same as exclusives, i dont know what is.