Author Topic: istock sales is it joke or something else? (Read 15352 times)

Noedelhap · « **Reply #25 on:** June 23, 2018, 17:33 »

I haven't uploaded anything new to IS-Getty for more than two years. They don't deserve my new content (certainly not my videos) and considering my revenue is only 20% of what it used to be, I couldn't care less what happens to them.

tätarätä · « **Reply #26 on:** June 24, 2018, 06:02 »

Quote from: madman on June 23, 2018, 04:21

please see my istock monthly sale stats, my revenue constantly decreasing in a terrible way, I dont understand why is so much down while I still constantly upload new images, can anyone explain this if understand? is it real or just a joke?

Well you are uploading more, but are you uploading enough.
Trying to explain my guess. If your uploads to all uploads may had a ratio from 1:10.000 in the past.
You may upload more now, but your ration may decrease to 1:20.000 - because uploads to stock are rising more and more.
There is an interesting article at stock performer - are you uploading enough ---
https://www.stockperformer.com/blog/are-you-uploading-enough-files-to-make-money-from-microstock/
As you can see, there are lots of uploads at Shutterstock not uploaded to istock till the end of 2016.
If sometimes istock is flooded with this images available its getting worse and worse.
Shutterstock seems not selling as well as in the past. Some people may upload more to istock to compensate decreasing income from shutterstock.

pics2 · « **Reply #27 on:** June 24, 2018, 09:21 »

Quote from: ShadySue on June 23, 2018, 06:35

My sales are down, but also I had a higher proportion of PA sales, which shoots the rpd down. Quite probably, Getty is working hard to migrate buyers into PA.

What is PA? Thanks

ShadySue · « **Reply #28 on:** June 24, 2018, 11:34 »

Quote from: pics2 on June 24, 2018, 09:21

Quote from: ShadySue on June 23, 2018, 06:35
My sales are down, but also I had a higher proportion of PA sales, which shoots the rpd down. Quite probably, Getty is working hard to migrate buyers into PA.
What is PA? Thanks

Premium access (pink bars on the chart)

ShadySue · « **Reply #29 on:** June 24, 2018, 15:42 »

Also in case anyone on this thread hasn't seen my previous posts, it could also be that essential keywords have gone missing from your files. It happened to me big time, and I've only had <100 of them restored, as it's a PITA checking them out. It's nothing like as easy as you'd expect. You'd think all you'd have to do would be look at each file to see if the main keyword is still there, and go through your port that way. However:
1. Sometimes the keyword isn't on the file page, but somehow it's still searchable, so you have to find a missing keyword, then do a search, remembering that:
2. Sometimes it might be searchable within your own port, but not sitewide (?!), and possibly vice versa, so you need to search the entire site.
Also, descriptions on editorial files have been truncated if certain punctuation or formatting (particularly italics) was used prior to ESP.

I had sweetly imagined that the keywords only went missing during the ESP process, but Getty can f*ck things up much better than that, and I'm reading that they're being disappeared sometimes on new files, some time after acceptance.

And of course, you can't just go into your files and fix any disappearances. You need to get them all onto a spreadsheet and send them with a support ticket.

BTW (1), some support people told me keywords were not being disappeared by Getty, despite all evidence to the contrary; so don't get put off at that stage, so long as you've done the search when you don't see the keyword on the page.

BTW (2) my first thought was, as others also imagined, was that these 'disappeared' words were words which were not in the old iS CV, but were available 'for your own use' in the old system. Many were, but I also found some disappeared words which were in the CV (I could see that in DM.)

loop · « **Reply #30 on:** June 24, 2018, 18:04 »

Quote from: christiano on June 23, 2018, 11:10

Quote from: ShadySue on June 23, 2018, 10:50
Quote from: madman on June 23, 2018, 09:03
Quote from: christiano on June 23, 2018, 08:43
hey guys, i dont know what to think, i started from scratch in june 2017, and it's my best month so far with a 35$ US commission. My port is now around 800 pics (IS SS DT), 500 on alamy (since december), 400 on AS. I saw a progression in my revenu. Like SS and DT. Is it possible that the photos of new contributors have a better place in their algorithm? I do not know anything about it ... only a thought that I have. I have an average income of about $ 70 / month, income that I did not have before, so for me it's nice. Then when I go out on a mission, it's mainly for the pleasure of taking pictures and improving my techniques. For now, I see only positive ... we will talk about it at the end of my 2nd year!

why are you writing an irrelevant message about the subject? Do not you see the title?

It's not at all irrelevant. However, he's obviously a newbie and doesn't know how much better things were. But things change, and this is the new reality. So long as there is a steady supply of newbies who are happy with $35 for 800 images, they don't need to change anything.

As you say, we, the hundreds of thousands of newbies, have not known the era of glory that you have known. And, yes, we are satisfied with $ 35 a month with Istock for the simple reason that 98% of us are just amateurs. $ 35 with IS is still better than $ 0 with photos that sleep in my hard drive. I understand very well the frustration for the pro photographers, it is their bread and butter ... For me and as for several others, it is only a bonus and a hobby. Now, I make about $ 70 a month on stock that I did not do before.

And I think that actually, there is something that happens with algorithms to favor new contributors to motivate them to upload more ...the old ones, demotivated, leave because of the fall of the incomes, the new ones arrive, motivated to make some money. But the fault, do not come back to the newbies, but rather to the companies which have in mind only their net profit.

Don't fool yourself. 35 $ a month ( nowadays I make around 200-250$ for every 800 photos I have in my portfolio) means losing money, almost don't pay the electricity bill for uloading, not to talk about maybe 10 extras miles with the car for doing some phot ofor stock, a piece of quipment, equipment ear and tear, time editing and uploading etc. Actually, you are working for free.

hatman12 · « **Reply #31 on:** June 24, 2018, 23:14 »

I've uploaded close to 1,000 new files to iStock in the past few months. Most of these files have no views or sales. A few (a handful) have generated good sales, but most of my new uploads to iStock seem to disappear into a black hole of nothingness. I've tried all the variations - lots of keywords, minimal keywords, small batches etc but nothing seems to make any difference. My feeling is that the keyword priority system that they broke years ago remains broken.

Frankly for the miniscule increase in income generated by all these uploads I'm really wasting my time and effort. And in fact my income for the current month looks like it will be significantly lower than June last year (this assumption is based on declining views shown by DeepMeta).

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #32 on:** June 25, 2018, 01:57 »

Are they all unique... or are they like 100 items in 10 different colours/10 items in 100 different angles?

Sebastian Radu · « **Reply #33 on:** June 25, 2018, 03:43 »

christiano · « **Reply #34 on:** June 25, 2018, 09:06 »

Quote from: loop on June 24, 2018, 18:04

Quote from: christiano on June 23, 2018, 11:10
Quote from: ShadySue on June 23, 2018, 10:50
Quote from: madman on June 23, 2018, 09:03
Quote from: christiano on June 23, 2018, 08:43
hey guys, i dont know what to think, i started from scratch in june 2017, and it's my best month so far with a 35$ US commission. My port is now around 800 pics (IS SS DT), 500 on alamy (since december), 400 on AS. I saw a progression in my revenu. Like SS and DT. Is it possible that the photos of new contributors have a better place in their algorithm? I do not know anything about it ... only a thought that I have. I have an average income of about $ 70 / month, income that I did not have before, so for me it's nice. Then when I go out on a mission, it's mainly for the pleasure of taking pictures and improving my techniques. For now, I see only positive ... we will talk about it at the end of my 2nd year!

why are you writing an irrelevant message about the subject? Do not you see the title?

It's not at all irrelevant. However, he's obviously a newbie and doesn't know how much better things were. But things change, and this is the new reality. So long as there is a steady supply of newbies who are happy with $35 for 800 images, they don't need to change anything.

As you say, we, the hundreds of thousands of newbies, have not known the era of glory that you have known. And, yes, we are satisfied with $ 35 a month with Istock for the simple reason that 98% of us are just amateurs. $ 35 with IS is still better than $ 0 with photos that sleep in my hard drive. I understand very well the frustration for the pro photographers, it is their bread and butter ... For me and as for several others, it is only a bonus and a hobby. Now, I make about $ 70 a month on stock that I did not do before.

And I think that actually, there is something that happens with algorithms to favor new contributors to motivate them to upload more ...the old ones, demotivated, leave because of the fall of the incomes, the new ones arrive, motivated to make some money. But the fault, do not come back to the newbies, but rather to the companies which have in mind only their net profit.

Don't fool yourself. 35 $ a month ( nowadays I make around 200-250$ for every 800 photos I have in my portfolio) means losing money, almost don't pay the electricity bill for uloading, not to talk about maybe 10 extras miles with the car for doing some phot ofor stock, a piece of quipment, equipment ear and tear, time editing and uploading etc. Actually, you are working for free.

it is the major difference between a worker and a hobbyist ... as I wrote: I am an amateur who does it for pleasure. The day when the pleasure will not be there, I give up. It's not like I have bills to pay with these revenues ...

madman · « **Reply #35 on:** June 26, 2018, 08:36 »

Quote from: christiano on June 25, 2018, 09:06

it is the major difference between a worker and a hobbyist ... as I wrote: I am an amateur who does it for pleasure. The day when the pleasure will not be there, I give up. It's not like I have bills to pay with these revenues ...

Who would end up hurting so much and doing this as a hobby?

christiano · « **Reply #36 on:** June 26, 2018, 08:41 »

Quote from: madman on June 26, 2018, 08:36

Quote from: christiano on June 25, 2018, 09:06

it is the major difference between a worker and a hobbyist ... as I wrote: I am an amateur who does it for pleasure. The day when the pleasure will not be there, I give up. It's not like I have bills to pay with these revenues ...

Who would end up hurting so much and doing this as a hobby?

lol. For the moment, I do not suffer ...

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #37 on:** June 27, 2018, 09:09 »

Quote from: mj007 on June 23, 2018, 17:20

My iStock sales are 1-3 hundred each month. Clearly not enough to be rich. For the last couple of years I have come to the conclusion I will not make a living doing this. I now put all my monthly earnings in a Fidelity stock market account. Maybe in 4 or 5 five years it will double in value. This makes my low photo stock earning look a little better.

IS = joke

Did you mean Money Market account?

madman · « **Reply #38 on:** June 27, 2018, 11:14 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on June 27, 2018, 09:09

Quote from: mj007 on June 23, 2018, 17:20
My iStock sales are 1-3 hundred each month. Clearly not enough to be rich. For the last couple of years I have come to the conclusion I will not make a living doing this. I now put all my monthly earnings in a Fidelity stock market account. Maybe in 4 or 5 five years it will double in value. This makes my low photo stock earning look a little better.

IS = joke

Did you mean Money Market account?

if only istock earnings is $300, this is a good revenue for now.

what is Fidelity stock market account?

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Author Topic: istock sales is it joke or something else? (Read 15352 times)

Noedelhap

tätarätä

pics2

ShadySue

ShadySue

loop

hatman12

SpaceStockFootage

Sebastian Radu

christiano

madman

christiano

Uncle Pete

madman

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