... whereby I had (inter alia) another 67 x 5c sales 

In total:
Compared to Dec 2024:
Files: +13%
Dls:  +11%
$$$: -37%

Compared to Dec 24, I am down 75%. This is the worst month in 15 years with them.

Quote from: ShadySue on January 20, 2026, 21:24
... whereby I had (inter alia) another 67 x 5c sales 

In total:
Compared to Dec 2024:
Files: +13%
Dls:  +11%
$$$: -37%

I am around $10 down

3rd worst month out of the last 12.  only a tiny bit better than the last 2 decembers despite a much larger port.  disappointing though i was expecting it given the low volume all month.

Compared to Dec 2024

Files: +18%
Dls: +30%
$$$: +11%

Good month, but RPD is decreasing.

I can't leave Istock because I'm full-time and I need these earnings. But every time I have to remember that 15% is a steal from the contributors.

Quote from: fotoroad on January 20, 2026, 21:51

Quote from: ShadySue on January 20, 2026, 21:24
... whereby I had (inter alia) another 67 x 5c sales 

In total:
Compared to Dec 2024:
Files: +13%
Dls:  +11%
$$$: -37%

I am around $10 down

I'm down from $400 to $100.

 
Terrible month. Worst in many many years.

Did anyone got money for AI training? They informed us that we ll see that information in the connect statement this month. I didnt got nothing.

Surprisingly my best ever December earnings since my first December statement in 2020 reported in January 2021. 

For me too, sales and the amount received are very low.
It's really not worth investing time, effort, and money in this industry anymore.

Quote from: Sebastian Radu on January 21, 2026, 07:55
It's really not worth investing time, effort, and money in this industry anymore.

Though I report my best ever December earnings in my previous post, I actually agree with you on this. In fact, I haven't uploaded anything anywhere for weeks now. I'm instead (after seeing the potential for YouTube with one monetized channel in April 2025 where I made not much less than Shutterstock for the year), I am now concentrating my efforts on a brand new YouTube channel with much more accessible and evergreen content. The channel appears to be going quite well at this stage but it is a new niche to me (plane spotting video) and I'm really learning to develop skills and workflows. I am enjoying it and reasonably confident I will get it monetized, and am certainly confident it will be a much more reliable and profitable income source.

Honestly, our picture is pretty mixed right now. We see accounts where files and downloads go up, but money goes down. The main pain is RPD - it dropped so much that it wipes out any volume growth. So the month feels "busy", but not rewarding.
At the same time, we've seen this before: algorithm changes, micro‑sales, seasonality, new licensing models. So we're cautious about judging everything by one month. Still, one thing is obvious - putting time and money into stock today hurts way more than it did 3-5 years ago.
How are you dealing with it? Uploading less, diversifying into YouTube or client work, or do stocks still make sense as a main focus for you?

Lowest month since 2009. 

Mine -

Compared to Dec 2024:
Files: +5.5%
Dls:  -6.0%
$$$: 0%

So steady as she goes for me...

Quote from: lazaros_video on January 21, 2026, 05:32
Did anyone got money for AI training? They informed us that we ll see that information in the connect statement this month. I didnt got nothing.

It was in the stats for November, in the Connect statement.
Don't hold your breath, for most people the amount is very small (but you might have been lucky!)

Better than December 2024 but smallest in 2025
Good for couple coffee...best deal if is home made  

Quote from: lazaros_video on Today at 00:32
Did anyone got money for AI training? They informed us that we ll see that information in the connect statement this month. I didnt got nothing.

It was in the stats for November, in the Connect statement.
Don't hold your breath, for most people the amount is very small (but you might have been lucky!)

Thank you! I didn't get anything at November as well! Maybe they don't use my files.

Down well below average for me.

Pretty disappointing.

Down 15% compared with December 2024 and up 2% compared with December 2023.

More interesting is the RPD over the last few years:
2022 $1.73
2023 $0.81
2024 $0.76
2025 $0.68

And I have more video's these days.

Same as last year.

Quote from: Pacesetter on January 21, 2026, 08:28

Quote from: Sebastian Radu on January 21, 2026, 07:55
It's really not worth investing time, effort, and money in this industry anymore.

Though I report my best ever December earnings in my previous post, I actually agree with you on this. In fact, I haven't uploaded anything anywhere for weeks now. I'm instead (after seeing the potential for YouTube with one monetized channel in April 2025 where I made not much less than Shutterstock for the year), I am now concentrating my efforts on a brand new YouTube channel with much more accessible and evergreen content. The channel appears to be going quite well at this stage but it is a new niche to me (plane spotting video) and I'm really learning to develop skills and workflows. I am enjoying it and reasonably confident I will get it monetized, and am certainly confident it will be a much more reliable and profitable income source.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your 1st channel about which got monetized last year?

Quote from: stocker2011 on January 22, 2026, 13:47

Quote from: Pacesetter on January 21, 2026, 08:28

Quote from: Sebastian Radu on January 21, 2026, 07:55
It's really not worth investing time, effort, and money in this industry anymore.

Though I report my best ever December earnings in my previous post, I actually agree with you on this. In fact, I haven't uploaded anything anywhere for weeks now. I'm instead (after seeing the potential for YouTube with one monetized channel in April 2025 where I made not much less than Shutterstock for the year), I am now concentrating my efforts on a brand new YouTube channel with much more accessible and evergreen content. The channel appears to be going quite well at this stage but it is a new niche to me (plane spotting video) and I'm really learning to develop skills and workflows. I am enjoying it and reasonably confident I will get it monetized, and am certainly confident it will be a much more reliable and profitable income source.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your 1st channel about which got monetized last year?

Just aerial shots with a Mavic drone. The channel was a couple of years old with hardly anything done with it until January 2025 when I noticed other locals getting lots of views with some major construction sites. So I gave it a go with aerial video of the new western sydney international airport and those videos took off. Just the first couple of videos beginning January 2025 almost got the 4000 watch hours so I figure I can't waste this opportunity and pressed on until I reached the 1000 subscribers. You can see this channel on the first link in my signature block below. 

Nearly the same as 2023 but 20% less than 2024.

Quote from: Pacesetter on January 22, 2026, 19:32

Quote from: stocker2011 on January 22, 2026, 13:47

Quote from: Pacesetter on January 21, 2026, 08:28

Quote from: Sebastian Radu on January 21, 2026, 07:55
It's really not worth investing time, effort, and money in this industry anymore.

Though I report my best ever December earnings in my previous post, I actually agree with you on this. In fact, I haven't uploaded anything anywhere for weeks now. I'm instead (after seeing the potential for YouTube with one monetized channel in April 2025 where I made not much less than Shutterstock for the year), I am now concentrating my efforts on a brand new YouTube channel with much more accessible and evergreen content. The channel appears to be going quite well at this stage but it is a new niche to me (plane spotting video) and I'm really learning to develop skills and workflows. I am enjoying it and reasonably confident I will get it monetized, and am certainly confident it will be a much more reliable and profitable income source.

If you don't mind me asking, what was your 1st channel about which got monetized last year?

Just aerial shots with a Mavic drone. The channel was a couple of years old with hardly anything done with it until January 2025 when I noticed other locals getting lots of views with some major construction sites. So I gave it a go with aerial video of the new western sydney international airport and those videos took off. Just the first couple of videos beginning January 2025 almost got the 4000 watch hours so I figure I can't waste this opportunity and pressed on until I reached the 1000 subscribers. You can see this channel on the first link in my signature block below.

Thanks for sharing, It's nice that you have hobby/passion for flying drones, and so much so that you take the time to document and share your footage on YT with captions.

One thing I still can't get my head around regarding performance on YT, is how one video can get thousands of view and the next only a couple of hundred. This alone would drive me crazy and put me off if i couldn't figure out why.