It would be interesting to pole contributors and find out how many are dependent on SS earnings and how many are not. A drop in commission does not effect me but how many contributors in small eastern European countries or African countries or South American countries depend on extra income in US dollars from the SS to feed their families, pay their rent or help their extended families? Did dropping the basic commission from $0.35us to $0.10us have a direct effect on photographers relying and dependent on stock photo income? Is this a moral issue as well?

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on December 29, 2021, 14:26
It would be interesting to pole contributors and find out how many are dependent on SS earnings and how many are not. A drop in commission does not effect me but how many contributors in small eastern European countries or African countries or South American countries depend on extra income in US dollars from the SS to feed their families, pay their rent or help their extended families? Did dropping the basic commission from $0.35us to $0.10us have a direct effect on photographers relying and dependent on stock photo income? Is this a moral issue as well?

I don't think there were many people from those areas on the Shutterstock forum. And those who were on the forum, I don't think they belonged to the poorest. I don't know how many are here from those areas on this Microstock forum. Then it doesn't make much sense to pole contributors. But you can try it in a topic. (I see you've posted this idea in two different threads)
In any case, I'm afraid Shutterstock won't lose any sleep over it.
They will probably say that they would then be better off working for the competitor, knowing that you usually earn even less there.

By the way... I told my wife, the amounts that are sometimes still received for a photo. My 9.99 makes much less impression now.   

Yesterday received $72 for one photo, before received $102 for the same photo.

Quote from: mindoozas on December 29, 2021, 15:57


Yesterday received $72 for one photo, before received $102 for the same photo.

Congratulations! Just in time!

Quote from: mindoozas on December 29, 2021, 15:57


Yesterday received $72 for one photo, before received $102 for the same photo.

You're going to have a dandy lopsided RPD for that one, aren't you.  Nice going

Quote from: William Perry on December 27, 2021, 16:54
Just so people will know that I am not blowing smoke, this is the file I made $510 this year from SS.

Check out the following image on Shutterstock - A global marketplace for creativity: https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/1534144853

Congrats - like some of my high earners, it's not an image i would predict for a high RPD and might even be rejected by some sites for LCV. but when it fits a particular need it's a welcome surprise

Agreed.  Cannot predict what the high earners are.

And now with SS rejecting so many files, which are accepted by other sites simply do not know what their game plan is.

Quote from: H2O on December 28, 2021, 14:18
Whatever your getting on Shutterstock, just remember, Jon Oringer and his side kick Stan Pavlovsky are getting at least ten times the amount you get paid.

The whole site is run by a bunch of criminals, who have suckered the talent in and are now ripping them off.

They're getting more than $4550 each this month? Well, yeah... I would have thought they'd be getting paid more than ten times what I get paid. Or are you saying that they're getting ten times more than all contributors combined? I mean, that would only be possible if the maximum royalty they pay out is less than 10%, Shutterstock have no other expenses whatsoever... other than contributors and shareholder/CEO compensation, and those two own 100% of the company combined. But hey, why let the truth get in the way of expressing your frustration, right?!

Quote from: Annie on December 28, 2021, 19:02
But for this exercise, I would suggest basing it just on 2021 total sales figures for SS. To keep it simple and easy to gather data for. And collecting RPIs (total 2021 sales divided by total number of files) for each of the different categories that we shoot for.

The bottom line for all of this, is that we can then decide whether to keep shooting a particular type of subject - or not. Or whether we can try other types of subjects to maximise our income. Then we have choices and thats much more proactive than just looking back and complaining or feeling downhearted about the whole situation. It may not be the complete solution but it can help. 

i like the idea, but (of course?) see some problems:

unfortunately, past sales aren't a good predictor of future sales, and with a very limited dataset ($50 images vs $.10 ones), 1 or 2 sales can distort the totals.  and esp'ly with very competitive areas, sales are effectively random - eg  shooting more images of the senate columns is highly unlikely to generate a high RPD

that example also argues against RPI - having a large portfolio gives a better chance of getting sales of a few images with low popularity.  for example, a highly curated portfolio of 1000 images vs an extensive one of 10,000 - each might have $100 sales, but RPI wouldn't reflect that

bigger problem is those with large portfolios are unlikely to be tracking sales by category

Quote from: Brasilnut on December 29, 2021, 11:43

Quote from: SVH on December 28, 2021, 20:24

Quote from: Annie on December 28, 2021, 19:02
The bottom line for all of this, is that we can then decide whether to keep shooting a particular type of subject - or not. Or whether we can try other types of subjects to maximise our income. Then we have choices and thats much more proactive than just looking back and complaining, or feeling downhearted about the whole situation. It may not be the complete solution but it can help.

But just saying I received $100 for my top sale is not enough, in my mind, to make those type of decisions. You could have got next to nothing the rest of the time.

Totally agree Annie. Good points you are making. I left and then came back with a new account (but even my original account was not that old) so I can't help you out, I don't have the powers to do so, unfortunately.

The funny thing is that I came, to this site, in the first place to find the answers to the questions you are asking, actually. I am sure an old guard here is willing to help you out.

Right folks?

Maybe Brasilnut can help you out. He does it all the time with his own sales, likes the numbers and is a diamond member. What do you say Alexandre?

Sure, I'll contribute with my own sales...I have little to no hope in this industry anyways so if people want to copy they can go right ahead (good luck traveling these days).

If you have little to no hope for this industry with the content you have then that's a bad sign, I still firmly believe the content is selling, the demand didn't go away especially once COVID hit, it's "other things". If demand went away then the agencies would all be closing.

and yeah, good luck with travel these days, as I watch Twitter scrolling on my phone here it's like literally everyone I follow is sick or getting sick, I'm not even taking my local bus around town right now, I'm walking I'm so worried about getting omicron.

Quote from: Level6 on December 29, 2021, 23:03

Quote from: Brasilnut on December 29, 2021, 11:43

Quote from: SVH on December 28, 2021, 20:24

Quote from: Annie on December 28, 2021, 19:02
The bottom line for all of this, is that we can then decide whether to keep shooting a particular type of subject - or not. Or whether we can try other types of subjects to maximise our income. Then we have choices and thats much more proactive than just looking back and complaining, or feeling downhearted about the whole situation. It may not be the complete solution but it can help.

But just saying I received $100 for my top sale is not enough, in my mind, to make those type of decisions. You could have got next to nothing the rest of the time.

Totally agree Annie. Good points you are making. I left and then came back with a new account (but even my original account was not that old) so I can't help you out, I don't have the powers to do so, unfortunately.

The funny thing is that I came, to this site, in the first place to find the answers to the questions you are asking, actually. I am sure an old guard here is willing to help you out.

Right folks?

Maybe Brasilnut can help you out. He does it all the time with his own sales, likes the numbers and is a diamond member. What do you say Alexandre?

Sure, I'll contribute with my own sales...I have little to no hope in this industry anyways so if people want to copy they can go right ahead (good luck traveling these days).

If you have little to no hope for this industry with the content you have then that's a bad sign, I still firmly believe the content is selling, the demand didn't go away especially once COVID hit, it's "other things". If demand went away then the agencies would all be closing.

and yeah, good luck with travel these days, as I watch Twitter scrolling on my phone here it's like literally everyone I follow is sick or getting sick, I'm not even taking my local bus around town right now, I'm walking I'm so worried about getting omicron.

I'm new to Stock. But when I read the old stories of the experienced people, the sales used to be better/higher (apart from our pay cut at Shutter). Reason, of course, is that supply is growing faster than demand and the increasing supply of free photos. Discussed so many times. This is not going to change after covid.
Agencies wouldn't be closing, because demand is still rising (maybe suffer from competing agencies like Shutterstock).. Only we providers have much more competition from each other. As a result, less is bid for an image and less is sold.

Due to covid there may be less demand for travel photos and more demand for hospital photos. But you also saw at the start of the covid outbreak that the stock sites were flooded with mouth caps photos.

Quality and number of photos / videos / illustrations is still important, although I see in this topic that people are often surprised that just that one photo yields so much.
As long as I see that people deliver a higher quality than I do, I will not complain.

New sales record of 11.50 for me.  Yesterday's sales were also good. Too bad I'm still in level 1. I am surprised to read that some are already in much higher levels!!! I feel like a real amateur in that regard.

The photo is under 'Enhanced'. I haven't figured out what that means yet. Until now it was always 'Subscription' 'On demand' or 'Single & other'
Edit: Found it: https://support.shutterstock.com/s/article/What-is-an-Enhanced-License?language=en_US

Enchanced means it can be printed on a product for resale, or for example for Calendar or whatever with 500.000+ print runs

Quote from: Dumc on January 14, 2022, 16:19
Enchanced means it can be printed on a product for resale, or for example for Calendar or whatever with 500.000+ print runs

Thanks. I'd never looked into that, because I've never sold anything under Enchanced.

Are we including a buyout via SS (where you have to remove from other agencies too)? I have made 4 figure sums for that, really throws out my graphs.

Quote from: Asthebelltolls on December 27, 2021, 14:38
...     What I find surprising in this post is that some contributors
appear to have no problem allowing the SS to manipulate and
change the original agreement you had with the agency when
you first signed up with them. ...

The agreement with Shutterstock - and with all the agencies - has always included terms that permit them to modify the agreement at their sole discretion and your continued use of their site indicates agreement. It's not an ideal situation, but it's what all contributors agreed to.

The current section is 18f which says, in part: "Please note that Shutterstock reserves the right to modify these terms at any time in its sole discretion...Shutterstock will notify you of any such change by an announcement on this page, your login page, and/or by other means ...By continuing to make Content available through Shutterstock, you agree to be bound by all such changes...."

Edited to add that I went to the Wayback Machine to look at the old terms of service back to 2004 and the agreement allowed Shutterstock to modify terms unilaterally. For example (when it was just bullet points, not even a numbered list!) "Shutterstock reserves the right to modify these terms at any time and to notify you by email of the modifications." from Nov 26 2004.

Quote from: thijsdegraaf on January 14, 2022, 15:28
New sales record of 11.50 for me.  Yesterday's sales were also good. Too bad I'm still in level 1. I am surprised to read that some are already in much higher levels!!! I feel like a real amateur in that regard.

The photo is under 'Enhanced'. I haven't figured out what that means yet. Until now it was always 'Subscription' 'On demand' or 'Single & other'
Edit: Found it: https://support.shutterstock.com/s/article/What-is-an-Enhanced-License?language=en_US

Congratulations thijsdegraaf. This little fella (photo composition) made a $60 commission last September...

 

Quote from: Pacesetter on January 14, 2022, 22:09

Quote from: thijsdegraaf on January 14, 2022, 15:28
New sales record of 11.50 for me.  Yesterday's sales were also good. Too bad I'm still in level 1. I am surprised to read that some are already in much higher levels!!! I feel like a real amateur in that regard.

The photo is under 'Enhanced'. I haven't figured out what that means yet. Until now it was always 'Subscription' 'On demand' or 'Single & other'
Edit: Found it: https://support.shutterstock.com/s/article/What-is-an-Enhanced-License?language=en_US

Congratulations thijsdegraaf. This little fella (photo composition) made a $60 commission last September...

Congratulations Pacesetter. If my photo had sold in September, it would have yielded more because of the higher level  . But definitely not $60.

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 14, 2022, 17:07
Are we including a buyout via SS (where you have to remove from other agencies too)? I have made 4 figure sums for that, really throws out my graphs.

Sorry. I do not understand you. Usually when I read English I don't need a translator. But even with the translator I can't figure it out.

Quote from: thijsdegraaf on January 15, 2022, 08:33

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 14, 2022, 17:07
Are we including a buyout via SS (where you have to remove from other agencies too)? I have made 4 figure sums for that, really throws out my graphs.

Sorry. I do not understand you. Usually when I read English I don't need a translator. But even with the translator I can't figure it out.

I think he means the situation that a client wants the copyright of the photo and then buys the contributor out by paying a lumpsum payment for it. So, really buying the asset wiht all the rights attached to it. That's why it has to be removed from other sites as well.

Quote from: cascoly on December 29, 2021, 19:09

Quote from: Annie on December 28, 2021, 19:02
But for this exercise, I would suggest basing it just on 2021 total sales figures for SS. To keep it simple and easy to gather data for. And collecting RPIs (total 2021 sales divided by total number of files) for each of the different categories that we shoot for.

The bottom line for all of this, is that we can then decide whether to keep shooting a particular type of subject - or not. Or whether we can try other types of subjects to maximise our income. Then we have choices and thats much more proactive than just looking back and complaining or feeling downhearted about the whole situation. It may not be the complete solution but it can help. 

i like the idea, but (of course?) see some problems:

unfortunately, past sales aren't a good predictor of future sales, and with a very limited dataset

Being exclusive at istock years ago, i used to use an excel sheet to calculate future sales.
I also used an analysys tool , i think it was named something like pomato.
I analyzed uploads of one quarter with the sales of the following 8 quarters.There has been a clear trend.
It was relative precise to calculate the sales of uploads in quarter1 of year XXXX with the sales the following 2 years.
There is a need of a database including data of at least 4 years. But even with only 500 - 800 uploads a year it was relative precise to calculate the trend of sales.

   

Quote from: SVH on January 15, 2022, 08:50

Quote from: thijsdegraaf on January 15, 2022, 08:33

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 14, 2022, 17:07
Are we including a buyout via SS (where you have to remove from other agencies too)? I have made 4 figure sums for that, really throws out my graphs.

Sorry. I do not understand you. Usually when I read English I don't need a translator. But even with the translator I can't figure it out.

I think he means the situation that a client wants the copyright of the photo and then buys the contributor out by paying a lumpsum payment for it. So, really buying the asset wiht all the rights attached to it. That's why it has to be removed from other sites as well.

Just spotted this. Yes that's what I meant. Had a few of these from various agencies over the years. The highest through SS was for a four figure sum.

My highest price for a photo at Sstock this year is half a small bar of chocolate (59 cents).

Beat that.

Quote from: S2D2 on January 19, 2022, 13:28
My highest price for a photo at Sstock this year is half a small bar of chocolate (59 cents).

Beat that.

That's not much. Finally someone lower than me.  Hopefully things get better for you this month.

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 19, 2022, 13:15

Quote from: SVH on January 15, 2022, 08:50

Quote from: thijsdegraaf on January 15, 2022, 08:33

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on January 14, 2022, 17:07
Are we including a buyout via SS (where you have to remove from other agencies too)? I have made 4 figure sums for that, really throws out my graphs.

Sorry. I do not understand you. Usually when I read English I don't need a translator. But even with the translator I can't figure it out.

I think he means the situation that a client wants the copyright of the photo and then buys the contributor out by paying a lumpsum payment for it. So, really buying the asset wiht all the rights attached to it. That's why it has to be removed from other sites as well.

Just spotted this. Yes that's what I meant. Had a few of these from various agencies over the years. The highest through SS was for a four figure sum.

Thanks