Kone, I have read quite a few people suggesting that Fotolia requires regular uploads or they drop your images even further back.  I don't know if it's true.  I've been uploading around 40/month and my sales are still slipping, but I don't know if it would be even worse if I stopped. 

Nope Fotolia is not dying .... constant sales for me.... , and from my point of view FT is my 2nd earner after SS. Considering that i don't contribute on IS, the pool is correct.

Quote from: lisafx on October 17, 2013, 04:30
Kone, I have read quite a few people suggesting that Fotolia requires regular uploads or they drop your images even further back.  I don't know if it's true.  I've been uploading around 40/month and my sales are still slipping, but I don't know if it would be even worse if I stopped.

I have stopped uploading and my sales have dropped by about 30%. Also a FT representative told me I would be punished in the search when I told her I stopped uploading because of their latest price cut for old files

I stopped uploading and my earnings fell.  Then I uploaded a big batch one day and my earnings fell even more.  I think they have made changes that hit most people that used to do well there.  It does make sense for sites not to just keep selling the same old stuff but it means that only a few people will be able to do this full time.  I hope Shutterstock hasn't done the same thing.  It looks like they might of at the moment.

I hope that's what it is so they can change it back the way it was. I'm having my worst october month ever at SS.

It's the same story here. I am emerald with 20k images. I am still uploading more than 200 images every month. Sales droped down to 20% of the BME what happened back in 2010.  I am sure they are not dying but they are dead for me.

Quote from: NitorPhoto on October 17, 2013, 13:01
It's the same story here. I am emerald with 20k images. I am still uploading more than 200 images every month. Sales droped down to 20% of the BME what happened back in 2010.  I am sure they are not dying but they are dead for me.

Amen!

Quote from: NitorPhoto on October 17, 2013, 13:01
It's the same story here. I am emerald with 20k images. I am still uploading more than 200 images every month. Sales droped down to 20% of the BME what happened back in 2010.  I am sure they are not dying but they are dead for me.

that is just great! work hard and get the proper reward, after a while they decide to take it away, nicely done FT

Yes, it's a really strange and confusing situation... The earnings fell down since summer... and now it's October... 

This is not the fist time they are doing this. I still remember when they raised the level limits in their royalty structure. I was one or two months away from the next level and a day after it jumped to 3-4 years away. I still aeven't reached that. With the recent number of downloads it is still 3-4 years away. Nevermind I do not want to reach the next level since it seems it will just drop me back even further in the search results.
Well, what they are doing is logical but very unethical.

Quote from: Ron on October 17, 2013, 08:58

Quote from: lisafx on October 17, 2013, 04:30
Kone, I have read quite a few people suggesting that Fotolia requires regular uploads or they drop your images even further back.  I don't know if it's true.  I've been uploading around 40/month and my sales are still slipping, but I don't know if it would be even worse if I stopped.

I have stopped uploading and my sales have dropped by about 30%. Also a FT representative told me I would be punished in the search when I told her I stopped uploading because of their latest price cut for old files

Thanks for confirming this Ron.  I better get my next batch ready

Quote from: NitorPhoto on October 17, 2013, 13:01
It's the same story here. I am emerald with 20k images. I am still uploading more than 200 images every month. Sales droped down to 20% of the BME what happened back in 2010.  I am sure they are not dying but they are dead for me.

It takes such a lot of work to upload 200/month.  To do that and still see decline would be extremely discouraging!

Quote from: lisafx on October 17, 2013, 22:47

Quote from: NitorPhoto on October 17, 2013, 13:01
It's the same story here. I am emerald with 20k images. I am still uploading more than 200 images every month. Sales droped down to 20% of the BME what happened back in 2010.  I am sure they are not dying but they are dead for me.

It takes such a lot of work to upload 200/month.  To do that and still see decline would be extremely discouraging!

I think anyone in that position should look at what new uploads have earned for the last six months and ask some hard questions about whether uploading anything else makes any sense.

Quote from: lisafx on October 17, 2013, 04:30
Kone, I have read quite a few people suggesting that Fotolia requires regular uploads or they drop your images even further back.  I don't know if it's true.  I've been uploading around 40/month and my sales are still slipping, but I don't know if it would be even worse if I stopped.

Thanks Lisa, yes I read that too but the last couple of years I've been doing things other than stock and I haven't had the time to produce a lot of images. To be honest, since sales are going down everywhere, that does not encourage me to take new photos and upload them.

Here is an observation the is concerning me slightly when it comes to FT.
I regularly read a certain magazine when waiting at my hairdresser. For months I've seen it illustrated largely with images from FT.
Today, I looked at it again - and about 5 in that 100 page magazine were FT - the rest were largely IS/TS.
So FT seems to be loosing market share in Germany, where it used to have a strong showing for years.
Of course, the observation is not representative, but maybe suggestive. It seems to suggest that FT and IS/TS fight over the same market segment/ customer base and FT seems to be on the losing end (hmm with those search results not surprising). I guess this also gives a bit of an explanation why FT seemingly follows IS' price strategy/ race to the bottom.

OF course - it could also be a faulty conclusion as it was made on just one observation.

Very different for me. FT is really picking up this month. 

Quote from: Miguel Calo on September 18, 2013, 18:58

Hi, all!


Something's missing but I can't figure it out. My sales are almost down to zero and it didn't use to be like that.

Is somebody else experiencing the same thing? Especially now in August, September... 

I have a decent-sized portfolio of 2000-3000 photos on Shutterstock, istock, Dreamstime, Fotolia, Canstock, 123rf, Bigstock, and Depositphotos. For many years (since 2005), every month Fotolia was usually my third or fourth best selling agency. However, this year, they are my sixth best selling site and statistically not that far from the bottom. Also, after not adding photo to any sites for several years, I've added about 700 this year . . . . for some reason, my photos just aren't selling on Fotolia. Typically, Shutterstock, istock, and Dreamstime make up 70-80% of my sales.

With nearly twice as many images on FT as on SS, I make 20% on FT of what I make on SS every month! All my more recent images on SS are also on FT and the better sellers on SS are the same as on FT and FT has improved recently (past 4 months)!
One thing that is noticeable about FT is that a best seller often tails off rapidly to near zero after a fairly short time whereas that same best seller on SS just keeps on getting downloads.

Notwithstanding the recent improvement in dl's for me at FT, it's just too unpredictable/unreliable as a source of income. It really seems to have that, 'One minute you're hot and the next minute you're not' character.

so true OM, well said!

    If you keep shooting yourself in the head, eventually it has to have an effect. For years now, Fotolia seems to be at the forefront of anti-contributor actions- cutting royalties, subs taking over, changing searches to benefit them, not us, and at least in my case, an arrogance in communications that has left me unwilling to upload any more.
    Most of my work is video now, and the prices they pay for a sale are absurd. I don't even bother checking in there more than once a month, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can forget they exist for even longer.

Quote from: jbarber873 on October 26, 2013, 02:24
    If you keep shooting yourself in the head, eventually it has to have an effect. For years now, Fotolia seems to be at the forefront of anti-contributor actions- cutting royalties, subs taking over, changing searches to benefit them, not us, and at least in my case, an arrogance in communications that has left me unwilling to upload any more.
    Most of my work is video now, and the prices they pay for a sale are absurd. I don't even bother checking in there more than once a month, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can forget they exist for even longer.

Somebody said this about them very recently, not on this forum though

QuoteIt's true, Fotolia is still one of the most open minded libraries around, and one of the friendliest

Quote from: jbarber873 on October 26, 2013, 02:24
and at least in my case, an arrogance in communications that has left me unwilling to upload any more

Oh, you got it too, did you? I was gobsmacked by the way Chad talked to me.

Quote from: jbarber873 on October 26, 2013, 02:24
    If you keep shooting yourself in the head, eventually it has to have an effect. For years now, Fotolia seems to be at the forefront of anti-contributor actions- cutting royalties, subs taking over, changing searches to benefit them, not us, and at least in my case, an arrogance in communications that has left me unwilling to upload any more.
    Most of my work is video now, and the prices they pay for a sale are absurd. I don't even bother checking in there more than once a month, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can forget they exist for even longer.

If you don't like the price they sell video clips, why supply them?  I have 327 video clips on Pond5 and zero on FT.

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on October 26, 2013, 09:05

Quote from: jbarber873 on October 26, 2013, 02:24
and at least in my case, an arrogance in communications that has left me unwilling to upload any more

Oh, you got it too, did you? I was gobsmacked by the way Chad talked to me.

I figured out that when THE CHAD started appearing in forums, it was time not to take them too seriously!

Quote from: sharpshot on October 26, 2013, 09:15

Quote from: jbarber873 on October 26, 2013, 02:24
    If you keep shooting yourself in the head, eventually it has to have an effect. For years now, Fotolia seems to be at the forefront of anti-contributor actions- cutting royalties, subs taking over, changing searches to benefit them, not us, and at least in my case, an arrogance in communications that has left me unwilling to upload any more.
    Most of my work is video now, and the prices they pay for a sale are absurd. I don't even bother checking in there more than once a month, and sometimes, if I'm lucky, I can forget they exist for even longer.

If you don't like the price they sell video clips, why supply them?  I have 327 video clips on Pond5 and zero on FT.

   I don't. The only thing they have are stills, and the only reason I keep them there is inertia- I'm too lazy to figure out out to kill the whole thing.