Author Topic: Did subs just start? (Read 13154 times)

bunhill · « **Reply #50 on:** May 28, 2014, 05:45 »

Quote from: Shelma1 on May 28, 2014, 05:34

my sales have plunged due to subscriptions

How do you know this ?

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 05:33

But here people have been waiting for news and expecting sales data much earlier. And then the news that comes in is presented with flaws (wrong dates etc).

I think it is possible that some people here might have got themselves a little over-focused on this.

cobalt · « **Reply #51 on:** May 28, 2014, 05:54 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 28, 2014, 05:45

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 05:33
But here people have been waiting for news and expecting sales data much earlier. And then the news that comes in is presented with flaws (wrong dates etc).

I think it is possible that some people here might have got themselves a little over-focused on this.

Hm, did you ever even look at the thread on istock?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=359606&page=46#post7016108

Or do you believe that all the people that are not posting are all happy with the way things are going and just a minority of "complainers" are the ones posting on istock these days?

bunhill · « **Reply #52 on:** May 28, 2014, 06:17 »

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 05:54

Hm, did you ever even look at the thread on istock?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=359606&page=46#post7016108

Or do you believe that all the people that are not posting are all happy with the way things are going and just a minority of "complainers" are the ones posting on istock these days?

That's not an OR - these are not mutually exclusive scenarios. It's two questions:

1. Yes I have looked at that thread. I have not read all 46 pages. In general I can nearly always fairly accurately predict the typical shape of any long iStock thread. But a year later I won't care - which makes over involvement seem rather pointless

2. I would not expect everybody to always be completely happy. I would expect less cheerful people to be more likely to post in general. Out of thousands of contributors there are always likely to be a proportion at any time who are less content than others. Some will post about that either on the forums or on MyFace etc.

As I said above, I believe that ultimately it comes down to just two things: Whether income meets or exceeds realistic expectations and whether the positives outweigh any negatives for the individual. I do not believe that there are any other conclusions to draw. It's not a club or a community or even a democracy.

loop · « **Reply #53 on:** May 28, 2014, 06:21 »

Very poor sub sales. In some way, is logical, because of the monthly limit. With a monthly limit, buyers don't buy as easily as with a daily one; they don't know what they are going to need three weeks from today, and so, they tend to reserve downloads.A rush just can be waited for when the end of the monthly limit is near. But aniway, results are no good. I wish they forget subs and concentrate in ppd sales.

Mantis · « **Reply #54 on:** May 28, 2014, 07:51 »

Quote from: ShadySue on May 28, 2014, 05:35

Quote from: bunhill on May 28, 2014, 05:20
Quote from: ShadySue on May 28, 2014, 04:50
Communications? They can't even be bothered to tell their forum moderator (or whatever his fancy title is) that subs sales are about to be reported, so that he can make good on his promise to tell us.

Is it actually important whether or not a forum is immediately notified that sub sales are about to be reported ?

My point was about communications and broken promises, not about the relevant importance of that specific.

If they can't follow through with what they said in the forums, then they shouldn't say it at all, especially if your assertion (Bunhill's) that a forum isn't the place for such an important issue. I assume that it was either Lobo or Kelvin, but whoever posted at IS was informed to do so (1/2 of the communication) but hadn't reported the second half. That's just continued incompetence. However, not every contributor uses the forums, so a more formal means is probably appropriate.

bunhill · « **Reply #55 on:** May 28, 2014, 10:30 »

Quote from: Mantis on May 28, 2014, 07:51

Quote from: ShadySue on May 28, 2014, 05:35
My point was about communications and broken promises, not about the relevant importance of that specific.

If they can't follow through with what they said in the forums, then they shouldn't say it at all, especially if your assertion (Bunhill's) that a forum isn't the place for such an important issue.

I don't think that I have said (or asserted) that it either is or isn't a place for an important issue. I don't particularly have an opinion about that. What I am saying is that the fact that subs are about to be reported is not something which demands an up-to-the-minute newsflash. The same as we do not expect an announcement every time that the GI sales are reported. It's just part of the monthly accounting.

I think that some people get way over focused on the minutiae and nuance of everything. Don't we all often casually say that we will do something and then forget or something else comes along. That does not constitute breaking a solemn promise.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #56 on:** May 28, 2014, 10:52 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 28, 2014, 05:45

Quote from: Shelma1 on May 28, 2014, 05:34
my sales have plunged due to subscriptions

How do you know this ?

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 05:33
But here people have been waiting for news and expecting sales data much earlier. And then the news that comes in is presented with flaws (wrong dates etc).

I think it is possible that some people here might have got themselves a little over-focused on this.

I haven't had a weekday with zero sales in many months, but this month I already have several. My sales were on a upward trend until the middle of last month, when they started to drop. And when I click on one of my images, the site loudly advertises that this image is available through subscription. My guess is that last month was relatively "normal" as people used up their credits, and as this month wears on more and more people who finally expended their credits are switching to subscriptions. How that will shake out in terms of overall earnings is yet to be determined.

Karen · « **Reply #57 on:** May 28, 2014, 13:07 »

Posted By dcdp on iStock forum: http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=359606&page=47

Let's take a step back and think about this for a second. If you are a subscription type buyer, chances are you are already locked into a existing subscription either here on iStock or someone else. It's somewhat unlikely you're going to buy into a new one until the other one is finished. As such anyone buying into the first month of subs is going to be someone who is already spending more than $250 (or whatever the minimum subscription was) a month.

Those two conditions rule out a lot of buyers already.

Then there are those that have to weigh things up or seek approval from accountants at their company or some such thing which will also take time, maybe even a few weeks or months or perhaps they have to wait until the start of a new financial year.

There is no point throwing a hissy fit after the first half a month of subs sales on the new plans or because the sales aren't showing up in the right place in the graphs.

What you really need to be worrying about, and this is much worse for Exclusives, is when the numbers of people start using subs grows. As an indie I average about $0.80c per sale for credit sales, so I only need a subs buyer to replace that one credit sale with 3 subs sales. As an exclusive how much do you average per sale? $5? $10? That means buyers have to make a lot of subs sales for you to replace even one credit sale that is lost to a subs buyer.

Indies also have the experience of being involved in selling through subs at various other sites, they're used to it.

bunhill · « **Reply #58 on:** May 28, 2014, 13:45 »

Quote from: Karen on May 28, 2014, 13:07

There is no point throwing a hissy fit after the first half a month of subs sales on the new plans or because the sales aren't showing up in the right place in the graphs.

^ I agree with this.

Quote from: Karen on May 28, 2014, 13:07

What you really need to be worrying about, and this is much worse for Exclusives, is when the numbers of people start using subs grows. As an indie I average about $0.80c per sale for credit sales, so I only need a subs buyer to replace that one credit sale with 3 subs sales. As an exclusive how much do you average per sale? $5? $10? That means buyers have to make a lot of subs sales for you to replace even one credit sale that is lost to a subs buyer.

^ this seems rather Chicken Little to me.

cobalt · « **Reply #59 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:21 »

Exclusive artists need 15 - 30 subs sales (at 34 cents) to replace one normal 5-10 dollar exclusive download.

How long will it take to reach that goal? And how much money will they lose until then?

I think those are realistic concerns if a major part of your income comes from exclusive photo sales.

Did anyone report a 2,50 subs sales? The higher price option is being offered now, right?

ShadySue · « **Reply #60 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:22 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 28, 2014, 13:45

Quote from: Karen on May 28, 2014, 13:07
What you really need to be worrying about, and this is much worse for Exclusives, is when the numbers of people start using subs grows. As an indie I average about $0.80c per sale for credit sales, so I only need a subs buyer to replace that one credit sale with 3 subs sales. As an exclusive how much do you average per sale? $5? $10? That means buyers have to make a lot of subs sales for you to replace even one credit sale that is lost to a subs buyer.
^ this seems rather Chicken Little to me.

What does that mean? I just read the plot on Wikipedia and I'm none the wiser.

loop · « **Reply #61 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:27 »

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 14:21

Exclusive artists need 15 - 30 subs sales (at 34 cents) to replace one normal 5-10 dollar exclusive download.

How long will it take to reach that goal? And how much money will they lose until then?

I think those are realistic concerns if a major part of your income comes from exclusive photo sales.

Did anyone report a 2,50 subs sales? The higher price option is being offered now, right?

Yes, I got four of those. That's about 25% of my sub sales.

bunhill · « **Reply #62 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:33 »

Quote from: ShadySue on May 28, 2014, 14:22

What does that mean? I just read the plot on Wikipedia and I'm none the wiser.

As in the sky is falling. It never is.

bunhill · « **Reply #63 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:42 »

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 14:21

I think those are realistic concerns if a major part of your income comes from exclusive photo sales.

It would certainly be a concern if all of the customers including those who currently use Getty Images suddenly switched to subscriptions and no new business was simultaneously generated. However it seems most likely to me that the hope would be to attract customers who currently use subscription services elsewhere.

Noedelhap · « **Reply #64 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:43 »

No subs sales whatsoever. What a joke.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #65 on:** May 28, 2014, 14:48 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 28, 2014, 14:42

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 14:21
I think those are realistic concerns if a major part of your income comes from exclusive photo sales.

It would certainly be a concern if all of the customers including those who currently use Getty Images suddenly switched to subscriptions and no new business was simultaneously generated. However it seems most likely to me that the hope would be to attract customers who currently use subscription services elsewhere.

I think that's the hope, but it doesn't seem to be shaking out that way, at least for me. My iStock sales are waaaaay down and getting lower as the month goes on. I think they'll mostly cannibalize their own sales. Whether that will translate to more $ remains to be seen.

KB · « **Reply #66 on:** May 28, 2014, 16:06 »

Quote from: bunhill on May 28, 2014, 14:42

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 14:21
I think those are realistic concerns if a major part of your income comes from exclusive photo sales.

It would certainly be a concern if all of the customers including those who currently use Getty Images suddenly switched to subscriptions and no new business was simultaneously generated. However it seems most likely to me that the hope would be to attract customers who currently use subscription services elsewhere.

And my hope is that my credit sales will suddenly (or even gradually) reverse course and start increasing again. But my guess is, the chances of that hope coming true are about equal with hoping that IS will attract customers who currently use subs elsewhere. What might the attraction be? They could save $50/month, but it means they could get 2/3 fewer files than on SS. Perhaps there are some buyers who will fit that profile (fewer files, but save $50). Unfortunately, that won't help exclusives, since most exclusive files are, well, excluded, from those buyers. I guess that's the new meaning of "exclusive".

I really don't see many buyers leaving SS in order to pay double the price, still be able to DL only 1/3 as many files, but have the grand privilege of buying exclusive files as well. Will not happen much at all.

So even assuming that IS can convert some SS buyers, exclusives are not likely to see a benefit. That's just my opinion; we'll see how it shakes out.

ShadySue · « **Reply #67 on:** May 28, 2014, 18:36 »

Relevant to the 'more professional/better communication' discussion above, but OT to the subject, iS/Getty can't even manage to send out emails informing people when Getty refunds have taken place. Started with November reports, and the promise that this would be fixed for any February refunds hasn't happened.
So, how is it 'professional' to claw back money without even the courtesy of an explanation?
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=361212&page=1
and from the OP in the thread linked to from there:

Lobo
Mask of the Diablo Azul - Member has won between 1 and 3 Steel Cage matches
This user has the power to wield the BanHammer, a weapon forged in the fires of hell for that get-off-my-planet quality you can't get anywhere else.
You betta reckonize.
Forum Moderator
Posted Tue Mar 11 8:46AM
Quote
"On Monday we processed the refunds for December 2013 and January 2014. These refunds would normally be followed closely with an email notification. Unfortunately these emails did not go out. You might recall we had a similar issue with email notifications in December 2013 with the November 2013 GI refunds. This issue has been prioritized so that we will once again have email notifications in place for the February 2014 refunds.

So the balance amounts you are seeing removed from your accounts is a culmination of two months worth of refunds. This clearly isn't ideal. Going forward we will have a monthly schedule in place, much as we did in the past. We understand that this is inconvenient and we apologize for the frustration."

asiseeit · « **Reply #68 on:** May 28, 2014, 20:24 »

Quote from: cobalt on May 28, 2014, 14:21

Did anyone report a 2,50 subs sales? The higher price option is being offered now, right?

Yes, nearly half of mine were... and most of my sub income was from 2.50 sales.

goober · « **Reply #69 on:** May 29, 2014, 01:15 »

I just checked on one of my files that sold under subs. In November I got just over $4 for one normal sale. Under subs I got .34cents. It was a vector so file size is not a issue.

Get out your bugle!

dingles · « **Reply #70 on:** May 29, 2014, 15:29 »

no sub sales for me at all it seems...but had some great Getty sales

goober · « **Reply #71 on:** May 29, 2014, 18:57 »

File 1: Sold previous $9, sold subs for $0.75 - need 13 subs sales to get same income.
File 2: Sold previous $5+, sold for $0.75 - need 7 sales to get same income.
File 3: Sold previous $9+, sold subs for $0.75 - need 13 subs sales to get same income.

Subs aren't so bad when comparing PP sales for photos but for vector sales on IS they are terrible.

goober · « **Reply #72 on:** May 29, 2014, 19:52 »

I'm confused.

On Getty my vector images can sell for $700. The same image on IS is around $34. Using subscription service it's about $1.70

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Author Topic: Did subs just start? (Read 13154 times)

bunhill

cobalt

bunhill

loop

Mantis

bunhill

Shelma1

Karen

bunhill

cobalt

ShadySue

loop

bunhill

bunhill

Noedelhap

Shelma1

KB

ShadySue

asiseeit

goober

dingles

goober

goober

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