Anyone else not getting any sales or very low compared to normal on Shutter? Probably just my bad luck or skill 

Last month dead, yesterday very good day and today ... is it weekend again? 

Terribly slow there for me. Every day I expect it to go back to "normal," and every day I'm shocked to see things get even worse.

I seem to be back on track with ODDs, which were lacking last month. So far its back to normal, like March and April. I have as many ODDs in the first 3 days of June as I had in the last 9 days of May.

May was down quite a bit for me from April - which was BME, but overall not too bad. Less SODs, etc. June is starting very slowly.

Noticeably slower sales end of May - beginning of June.

One subscription sale today, probably the worst Wednesday since I started at Shutterstock.
Been getting worse and worse for the last year.
So much for opting out of the controversial schemes elsewhere to protect my Shutterstock sales.

Quote from: emjaysmith on June 03, 2014, 18:09
One subscription sale today, probably the worst Wednesday since I started at Shutterstock.
Been getting worse and worse for the last year.
So much for opting out of the controversial schemes elsewhere to protect my Shutterstock sales.

When sales have completely dried up and you can no longer opt out, those frogs who did not jump out of the pot will realize it is too late.

We are getting close to the dinner bell for frog soup!

Thought I was having a decent start to June on SS, but this thread made me go and check my numbers from the first three days of June 2013. 

first Sunday in June '14 vs '13: dls down 35%

first Monday in June '14 vs '13: dls down 32%

first Tuesday in June '14 vs '13: on track to be down about 30%

And my port size is about 35% higher than this time last year.

Depressing.

Last month was one of my best.  Started off first day of the month with a large sale, sold a video last month and a couple of large sales.

Odds are that ODDs will make the difference between an average and a good month, but they swing suspiciously from month to month and not at the same time for everyone, ain't it odd?

Yesterday was good. Today is almost like a holiday. I don't know what is going on.

Quote from: robhainer on June 03, 2014, 21:49
Yesterday was good. Today is almost like a holiday. I don't know what is going on.

sad to hear- hope it picks up for all of us...

Quote from: robhainer on June 03, 2014, 21:49
Yesterday was good. Today is almost like a holiday. I don't know what is going on.

Sooner or later, IS subs will have an impact on SS. And also DPC, of course, and more regarding OnDemand sales.

Quote from: loop on June 03, 2014, 22:42
Sooner or later, IS subs will have an impact on SS. And also DPC

SS have also been very slow to diversify. Almost their whole business seems to be microstock - i.e. no collections at different prices (apart from Offset which looks more or less like a hobby for them). IMO that makes them susceptible to competitive price cutting - and especially susceptible to competition from free and almost free content. I wonder how long they could sustain a price war.

And today many former microstock customers (smaller companies, churches, clubs etc) are finding that social media is more effective than an actively maintained old fashioned web site or blog. In many cases that means they no longer need paid content and can make do with user generated content shared by their 'friends' and customers.

Quote from: loop on June 03, 2014, 22:42

Quote from: robhainer on June 03, 2014, 21:49
Yesterday was good. Today is almost like a holiday. I don't know what is going on.

Sooner or later, IS subs will have an impact on SS. And also DPC, of course, and more regarding OnDemand sales.

I doubt those things would explain a one day turnaround. Wouldn't I see a big increase in sales from FT if that were the case?

Quote from: bunhill on June 03, 2014, 23:01

......SS have also been very slow to diversify. Almost their whole business seems to be microstock - i.e. no collections at different prices (apart from Offset which looks more or less like a hobby for them). IMO that makes them susceptible to competitive price cutting - and especially susceptible to competition from free and almost free content. I wonder how long they could sustain a price war......

Strange, would have though this was their strength, not a weakness at all - do what you're good at with maximum transparency, no farting around with collections or guess how much a credit is worth.

Quote from: bunhill on June 03, 2014, 23:01
And today many former microstock customers (smaller companies, churches, clubs etc) are finding that social media is more effective than an actively maintained old fashioned web site or blog. In many cases that means they no longer need paid content and can make do with user generated content shared by their 'friends' and customers.

It's not 'making do'; on social media, it's actually better to use really real (not 'pretend-it's-real', the current stock fashion) images, shot by people actually known to those in the group you get a lot more warm fuzzies and interaction that way.

I don't think that SS is being impacted by the loss of clubs and churches anyway (not sure about smaller companies) - most of them had no need for the expense of a sub, and wouldn't often be able/willing to pay for the one-off sales. These are the sort of customer who would love the DPC.

Quote from: heywoody on June 03, 2014, 23:12
Strange, would have though this was their strength, not a weakness at all

IMO it makes them very susceptible to being undercut on prices. In a price war they would basically have to potentially cut the price of all of their content - rather than, for example, only cutting the price of their basic content.

ETA: the worst case scenario for them might be a price war at the bottom which also corresponded with a general stock market downturn. That would have the potential to compound shareholder pressure etc.

Quote from: Goofy on June 03, 2014, 22:29

Quote from: robhainer on June 03, 2014, 21:49
Yesterday was good. Today is almost like a holiday. I don't know what is going on.

sad to hear- hope it picks up for all of us...

Worked out. Have about double the number of sales I had since posting that. Weird afternoon rush, although five of the sales were from a new batch approved today. Would be nice if they'd keep selling.

For me May was just a little bit lower than April and June everything is into normal. Still make many changes in my portfolio, I'm cleaning all old not professional images without sales and replace them. But my port has only 1946 images, I don't think can be compared with other huge portfolios....

Quote from: bunhill on June 03, 2014, 23:29
IMO it makes them very susceptible to being undercut on prices. In a price war they would basically have to potentially cut the price of all of their content - rather than, for example, only cutting the price of their basic content...

I'd be interested in the definition of "basic content"? Are we talking aesthetics or marketability because, with a few exceptions, these are pretty much mutually exclusive.

Quote from: heywoody on June 04, 2014, 19:48

Quote from: bunhill on June 03, 2014, 23:29
IMO it makes them very susceptible to being undercut on prices. In a price war they would basically have to potentially cut the price of all of their content - rather than, for example, only cutting the price of their basic content...

I'd be interested in the definition of "basic content"? Are we talking aesthetics or marketability because, with a few exceptions, these are pretty much mutually exclusive.

I think that basic content would be everything which is available at the lowest entry price. SS sells everything at the same price - so it's all basic content by that definition. It seems to me that this makes them vulnerable to losing in a price war with sites which might decide to offer much of the same or similar content at a lower entry price. I am surprised that they did not choose to integrate Offset within Shutterstock and give contributors the option to move content to it on an exclusive basis. And then promote that content to some extent.

SS sells SODS which are negotiated uses, so if a company needs an image outside the SL and EL they cant get it for the same price.

In other words, the only difference between basic content and the rest is price?