Hi all,

Is iStock worth it for selling video? I will be selling 4k and hd, non exclusively. But have just been reading through this forum at all the hate that iStock gets. I have already been having problems with them... There was and error creating my account which took them over a month to fix. Now I have to convert all my footage to prores (About 400 videos). Is there any point though of bothering with iStock? How much do video sales make? thanks

Videos make about $6-$8 regardless of whether they are 4k or not.  In other words you do not make more money with 4K.  For HD, in comparison, you generally will make $23 per HD sale on SS (sometimes less and sometimes much less) and $7 on Istock (never more unless you are exclusive).  I think IS is struggling on video, concluded from their recent survey.  I do have some HD clips there, they have not all of my work and zero 4K of mine.  I primarily support Pond5 and Videoblocks. 

Wow $6-8 seems very very low. I might still consider uploading to them, but wont be rushing too now! I'm currently on Pond 5, SS, Adobe, 123 and Videoblocks. But looking to add another site. Thanks for the reply!

Quote from: grc on September 04, 2017, 16:27
Wow $6-8 seems very very low.

Sadly, this is becoming the norm on many companies 

I was exclusive there for over 10 years in video, many great people there but I will not upload my new content there because of the pricing since I went non-exclusive.

Video sales on istock can go as low as $0.62 or even lower... we stopped uploading more than a year ago.

It's funny that istock used to have the advantage of having lots of content that the other sites didn't.  Now, with so many people dropping exclusivity and refusing to supply istock, the other sites must have that advantage.  It's a slow process but hopefully buyers will move to sites that make selling video sustainable for contributors.  Would be great to see Pond5 overtake istock for non-exclusives in the poll here.

I haven't used iStock myself, but I just tried searching for a number of common search terms and, while returning fewer results (about 30%) than P5 or Shutterstock, the overall quality seems to be higher. At least what you're first shown (I suppose "Best Match").

Is this something you feel also, those of you who know their library better?

I think you will find higher quality on Pond5 because contributors can set their own price.  Really good footage can sell at a high price.  Move the price slider to the right and it gets rid of a lot of the lower quality clips.  That might reduce the choice but a lot of these clips wont be on istock because they don't pay contributors enough.

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on September 05, 2017, 10:07
I haven't used iStock myself, but I just tried searching for a number of common search terms and, while returning fewer results (about 30%) than P5 or Shutterstock, the overall quality seems to be higher. At least what you're first shown (I suppose "Best Match").

Is this something you feel also, those of you who know their library better?

For me is the opposite.
I find the quality of footage in istock extremely low

Unless they completely change the commission structure it makes no sense to upload new content to iStock. I have about 2000 files that are not in their collection since they slashed commissions.  Maybe they will get bought out by a bigger company some day that gets the Getty debt under control and commissions to a competitive level. Not holding my breath!   

Is there any sense to upload 4k video on iStock?
I have HD videos, but I am thinking to buy camera for 4k videos.

Quote from: makarona on September 07, 2017, 18:56
Is there any sense to upload 4k video on iStock?
I have HD videos, but I am thinking to buy camera for 4k videos.

Read reply 1

Quote from: Mantis on September 07, 2017, 19:09

Quote from: makarona on September 07, 2017, 18:56
Is there any sense to upload 4k video on iStock?
I have HD videos, but I am thinking to buy camera for 4k videos.

Read reply 1

OK Thanks

Unfortunately, in the race to the bottom, SS may have beaten iStock. People have reported recent video sales on SS in which they didn't get much more than $1. Can't recall if they were 4k videos but they were at least HD resolution.