Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

Quote from: KuriousKat on February 02, 2015, 00:12
Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

This is the beginning of the end of making a living at MS. It will be the place you can go to make $50 off your iPhone images. At some point, I think sooner than later, serious suppliers will abandon micro stock and in all likelihood remove their ports, leaving the sites with 20million "images on my iPhone".

Quote'408,315 new stock images added this week'
That's an insane number

400,000 a week adds up to over 20 millions/year or 200 millions in 10 years (not counting existing inventory)
However, since the growth has been closer to exponential rather than to linear, we could see 500 million new images in ten years.

Quote from: Mantis on February 02, 2015, 00:56

Quote from: KuriousKat on February 02, 2015, 00:12
Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

This is the beginning of the end of making a living at MS. It will be the place you can go to make $50 off your iPhone images. At some point, I think sooner than later, serious suppliers will abandon micro stock and in all likelihood remove their ports, leaving the sites with 20million "images on my iPhone".

I wrote basically the same thing in 2006 and was booed at Big time.. were here. I also said when Asia starts submitting from there wrist Phones directly, 10 Cents an Image will be normal. mark My words. I'll lay odds on it.

Can anyone reading this, Post a link to "ANYONES" port that is really doing anything different Or groundbreaking. Something really fresh and new. Sure would love to see it. Sure ain't Mine. and sure ain't anything I've seen and I search a lot. New folks are doing what we did 7.8.9.10 years ago.

Just saying. If ya got something....Love to take a look.

2006 was 9 years ago. It wasn't even close to the end back then.

I will wait for Sstock to publish their latest results before predicting doom for all of us

Quote from: Pauws99 on February 02, 2015, 07:58
I will wait for Sstock to publish their latest results before predicting doom for all of us

I don't think Shutterstock will be feeling the pinch - just us mere contributors who are getting a smaller and smaller slice of the pie.

Quote from: Rinderart on January 30, 2015, 02:27

Quote from: PixelBytes on January 29, 2015, 23:44
Agree with you in theory Estudiante but I think the over abundant crap just makes it harder for buyers to find the good stuff.

And let me add. The vast.VAST majority of DL's are blogs,church fliers etc,etc,etc , Not book covers or Billboards what not. They want the ordinary, The everyday,The real and the simplistic story that can be told, Not blown out super Pics with unreal colors or massive time consuming composites as much as we love seeing them,appreciate and love doing them. Clean and clear even if they could do them themselves.

Im not saying the High enders here aren't doing well, they probably are but, thats not the bulk of what Microstock really is and where it's roots are. hence the reason for stocksy,Offset and the like. I have and can do some fairly artistic stuff Photographically But what sells for me..Personally is the simplest stuff I've done  and every now and then something I thought was cool sells But, By and large it's the dead on simple message that can be used over and over which, is the hardest thing for me to keep doing and could be the reason The majority of my sales are Very Old when I had more of a "PURE" stock mentality.

It's just so * Boring...LOL

If the 'VAST majority of DL's are blogs,church fliers etc,etc,etc ,' then I would expect to see more ODD's at SS. How many bloggers/church-flyer makers need a few hundred images/month and would purchase a $200 subscription? I would imagine that these incidental users generate the majority of ODD's rather than subs sales. As the volume of ODD's appears to be decreasing, either these users have reduced their activities or simply gone elsewhere (eg DPC) where they can get their 10 'ordinary' images for an outlay of $10. Subs seems to be holding up reasonably well on SS but it's the loss of ODD's, EL's and big SOD's that is causing the declining income.

Quote from: OM on February 02, 2015, 12:36

Quote from: Rinderart on January 30, 2015, 02:27

Quote from: PixelBytes on January 29, 2015, 23:44
Agree with you in theory Estudiante but I think the over abundant crap just makes it harder for buyers to find the good stuff.

And let me add. The vast.VAST majority of DL's are blogs,church fliers etc,etc,etc , Not book covers or Billboards what not. They want the ordinary, The everyday,The real and the simplistic story that can be told, Not blown out super Pics with unreal colors or massive time consuming composites as much as we love seeing them,appreciate and love doing them. Clean and clear even if they could do them themselves.

Im not saying the High enders here aren't doing well, they probably are but, thats not the bulk of what Microstock really is and where it's roots are. hence the reason for stocksy,Offset and the like. I have and can do some fairly artistic stuff Photographically But what sells for me..Personally is the simplest stuff I've done  and every now and then something I thought was cool sells But, By and large it's the dead on simple message that can be used over and over which, is the hardest thing for me to keep doing and could be the reason The majority of my sales are Very Old when I had more of a "PURE" stock mentality.

It's just so * Boring...LOL

If the 'VAST majority of DL's are blogs,church fliers etc,etc,etc ,' then I would expect to see more ODD's at SS. How many bloggers/church-flyer makers need a few hundred images/month and would purchase a $200 subscription? I would imagine that these incidental users generate the majority of ODD's rather than subs sales. As the volume of ODD's appears to be decreasing, either these users have reduced their activities or simply gone elsewhere (eg DPC) where they can get their 10 'ordinary' images for an outlay of $10. Subs seems to be holding up reasonably well on SS but it's the loss of ODD's, EL's and big SOD's that is causing the declining income.

Well said and agree. DL numbers have remained somewhat constant.

My shutterstock sales revenue goes up while my istock goes down !

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 02, 2015, 07:19
2006 was 9 years ago. It wasn't even close to the end back then.

A prediction Ron. we're here. But if someone said back then that 400,000 Images a week would be coming in, We would have laughed and said Impossible. When I was reviewing In those years 30, 000 a month was huge. You think our work is being diluted now. Just wait.

Quote from: OM on February 02, 2015, 12:36

Quote from: Rinderart on January 30, 2015, 02:27

Quote from: PixelBytes on January 29, 2015, 23:44
Agree with you in theory Estudiante but I think the over abundant crap just makes it harder for buyers to find the good stuff.

And let me add. The vast.VAST majority of DL's are blogs,church fliers etc,etc,etc , Not book covers or Billboards what not. They want the ordinary, The everyday,The real and the simplistic story that can be told, Not blown out super Pics with unreal colors or massive time consuming composites as much as we love seeing them,appreciate and love doing them. Clean and clear even if they could do them themselves.

Im not saying the High enders here aren't doing well, they probably are but, thats not the bulk of what Microstock really is and where it's roots are. hence the reason for stocksy,Offset and the like. I have and can do some fairly artistic stuff Photographically But what sells for me..Personally is the simplest stuff I've done  and every now and then something I thought was cool sells But, By and large it's the dead on simple message that can be used over and over which, is the hardest thing for me to keep doing and could be the reason The majority of my sales are Very Old when I had more of a "PURE" stock mentality.

It's just so * Boring...LOL

If the 'VAST majority of DL's are blogs,church fliers etc,etc,etc ,' then I would expect to see more ODD's at SS. How many bloggers/church-flyer makers need a few hundred images/month and would purchase a $200 subscription? I would imagine that these incidental users generate the majority of ODD's rather than subs sales. As the volume of ODD's appears to be decreasing, either these users have reduced their activities or simply gone elsewhere (eg DPC) where they can get their 10 'ordinary' images for an outlay of $10. Subs seems to be holding up reasonably well on SS but it's the loss of ODD's, EL's and big SOD's that is causing the declining income.

Subs were designed  banking on People not using them up. Based on actuary tables from Insurance companies. If everyone got sick at the same time. Insurance Companies would go Bust Overnight.

Quote from: Rinderart on February 02, 2015, 16:45

Subs were designed  banking on People not using them up. Based on actuary tables from Insurance companies. If everyone got sick at the same time. Insurance Companies would go Bust Overnight.

so true, or like your telephone subscription or worse , a smartphone mobile plan of $100 monthly which even i on the basis phone plan pays for having a mobile which i use about 10 times a month. the most costly bill in my expense account is my mobile.

Not sure what is going on, but sales have been abysmal for over a week now.

Quote from: KuriousKat on February 02, 2015, 00:12
Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

...and it's pointless too. Just type some basic keyword combo and arrange by date, it's almost all very amateurish junk, awkward shots, inept, unattractive models, etc, that never-ever-never gonna be downloaded. I don't know why people bother, also why SS bothers to let them thru.

The good news is that those simply won't bother your downloads, if you do somewhat more pro stuff. (yes there is definitely pro stuff too among that 400 000, just extremely small percentage. I wouldn't be surprised that if we cut the numbers down to stuff that actually makes a difference because it sells, that weekly upload number for that wouldn't even hit 15 000. Still not a diminutive number tho.

I am more optimistic. The 400.000 is not relevant in my opinion - most of the images is newbie, boring and unsellable stuff with bad postprocessing like landscapes, flowers or pets. I think only small percentage is relevant and sellable. The question is also what will happen on the demand side of this business. It was growing rapidly last year.

Quote from: topol on February 05, 2015, 10:38

Quote from: KuriousKat on February 02, 2015, 00:12
Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

...and it's pointless too. Just type some basic keyword combo and arrange by date, it's almost all very amateurish junk, awkward shots, inept, unattractive models, etc, that never-ever-never gonna be downloaded. I don't know why people bother, also why SS bothers to let them thru.

The good news is that those simply won't bother your downloads, if you do somewhat more pro stuff. (yes there is definitely pro stuff too among that 400 000, just extremely small percentage. I wouldn't be surprised that if we cut the numbers down to stuff that actually makes a difference because it sells, that weekly upload number for that wouldn't even hit 15 000. Still not a diminutive number tho.

If the higher quality images never see the light of day in the search, buyers will never see or have access to those images.

Shutterstock makes more money on the new LCV images and that is why they accept them and also recruit the new photographers who produce them. Have you noticed how many new contributors are showing up here lately?

Quote from: gbalex on February 05, 2015, 15:06

Quote from: topol on February 05, 2015, 10:38

Quote from: KuriousKat on February 02, 2015, 00:12
Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

...and it's pointless too. Just type some basic keyword combo and arrange by date, it's almost all very amateurish junk, awkward shots, inept, unattractive models, etc, that never-ever-never gonna be downloaded. I don't know why people bother, also why SS bothers to let them thru.

The good news is that those simply won't bother your downloads, if you do somewhat more pro stuff. (yes there is definitely pro stuff too among that 400 000, just extremely small percentage. I wouldn't be surprised that if we cut the numbers down to stuff that actually makes a difference because it sells, that weekly upload number for that wouldn't even hit 15 000. Still not a diminutive number tho.

If the higher quality images never see the light of day in the search, buyers will never see or have access to those images.

Shutterstock makes more money on the new LCV images and that is why they accept them and also recruit the new photographers who produce them. Have you noticed how many new contributors are showing up here lately?

Search is so important to the customer value proposition.  Even if many imags are substandard derrivatives of higher quality images buyers have to sift through them. When search favors some whacked logic where good selling content is buried it really doesnt matter what quality one shoots. All of the junk within that 400k uploads a week will simply shut down microstock as a reliable, MEANINGFUL source of revenue. Its really a no win for everyone. If they favor older successful content then new GOOD content gets buried, like the SS of today. Or the opposite where good successful content gets buried and new content becomes the king you better be supplying 10x more than the next guy to get some of those diluted sales. In my opinion, no matter what, a rate of 400k images added per week is a killer for everyone who takes ms seriously.

Fully agree with Mantis there

Well stated Mr. Mantis.

Getting to just this: "Its really a no win for everyone."

Dilution is the killer and the search becomes a useless wasteland, unreliable and irrelevant.

I am  a complete newbie to Shutterstock and only have just under 60 photos.  Less than 40 at the beginning of January, started in November.   January was my best month with 15 sales.  I know that is nothing and this is horrible low compared to a lot of you, but for being so new, I am happy with that. 

Quote from: Mantis on February 05, 2015, 15:44

Quote from: gbalex on February 05, 2015, 15:06

Quote from: topol on February 05, 2015, 10:38

Quote from: KuriousKat on February 02, 2015, 00:12
Well my month improved slightly in earnings, due to a few late Els and a rather large SOD, so I ended about $100 down on last January, which was not so harsh as I thought it was going to be.

However, my downloads were down 25% on January 2014, despite increasing my portfolio by approx 15% over the last year.

Maybe this could have something to do with it?

'408,315 new stock images added this week'

That's an insane number

...and it's pointless too. Just type some basic keyword combo and arrange by date, it's almost all very amateurish junk, awkward shots, inept, unattractive models, etc, that never-ever-never gonna be downloaded. I don't know why people bother, also why SS bothers to let them thru.

The good news is that those simply won't bother your downloads, if you do somewhat more pro stuff. (yes there is definitely pro stuff too among that 400 000, just extremely small percentage. I wouldn't be surprised that if we cut the numbers down to stuff that actually makes a difference because it sells, that weekly upload number for that wouldn't even hit 15 000. Still not a diminutive number tho.

If the higher quality images never see the light of day in the search, buyers will never see or have access to those images.

Shutterstock makes more money on the new LCV images and that is why they accept them and also recruit the new photographers who produce them. Have you noticed how many new contributors are showing up here lately?

Search is so important to the customer value proposition.  Even if many imags are substandard derrivatives of higher quality images buyers have to sift through them. When search favors some whacked logic where good selling content is buried it really doesnt matter what quality one shoots.
All of the junk within that 400k uploads a week will simply shut down microstock as a reliable, MEANINGFUL source of revenue. Its really a no win for everyone. If they favor older successful content then new GOOD content gets buried, like the SS of today. Or the opposite where good successful content gets buried and new content becomes the king you better be supplying 10x more than the next guy to get some of those diluted sales. In my opinion, no matter what, a rate of 400k images added per week is a killer for everyone who takes ms seriously.

Agreed, it will kill us all in the end. Do they care no, Jon is raking it in and does not care about the wreckage he is leaving in his wake.

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 02, 2015, 18:09
Not sure what is going on, but sales have been abysmal for over a week now.

Let me rephrase: Not sure what is going on, but MY sales have been abysmal for over a week now.

6 subs today. Thats abysmal.

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 05, 2015, 17:00

Quote from: Semmick Photo on February 02, 2015, 18:09
Not sure what is going on, but sales have been abysmal for over a week now.

Let me rephrase: Not sure what is going on, but MY sales have been abysmal for over a week now.

6 subs today. Thats abysmal.

I don't understand why someone who is stating their OWN info get voted down.   I also don't understand why Gbalex and Mantis make very similar posts and Gbalex gets downvoted and Mantis gets so many + his post is in a box.   Nothing against Mantis.  I +1 both him and Gbalex cuz they basically said the same thing about flood of new lousy images burying good work.   And +1 Ron too cuz this is a thread about our sales and he posted his sales experience.

Some people around here use the +/- system like spoiled kids instead of adults and professionals.

Agree with mantis 1000%