MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: vonkara on May 25, 2008, 19:18
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The subs are coming on monday. It will be interesting to know first how many did you get and if the model allow a little more than usual the minimum announced, by giving the extra unused credits.
Do subs a good or a bad thing...
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i would guess that the first few days people will use up most of their pictures in their subscription so I wouldn't be surprised if 99% of the subs downloaded are the minimum amount in the first weeks.
Will be interested to see nonetheless.
It will also be interesting to see what percentage of our sales our subs compared to regular sales.
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Monday is also a holiday in the USA, so I wouldn't expect anything too drastic to happen.
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well the site is currently down to get it ready for the update!
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Sorry to be a killjoy, but I think anyone expecting some sort of bonanza from iStock subs this week is likely to be disappointed. Customers cannot even APPLY for subs until tomorrow. I suppose its possible that there will be a mad rush. Its also possible that buyers have held off making purchases over the last week or three in expectation of being able to buy more cheaply using subs. But nonetheless it is likely to take three or four weeks or longer for any material impact to be seen in individual portfolios.
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also possible that buyers have held off making purchases over the last week or three in expectation of being able to buy more cheaply using subs.
Not sure. I have my BME at IS and there are 6 days left. I'd earned 3 times more at IS than at SS this month!
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I am expecting my overall earnings at istock to drop when subs take effect. A lot of the buyers who pay full price now will move to the subscription package.
I also expect sales at Shutterstock to drop as their customers go to explore the exclusive images at istock, but I think most will return once they have downloaded a couple of months worth!
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I am not sure how the new subs will effect but I hope transition will be nice and smooth.
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Istock offering subs can only benefit everyone that sells their work there as it simply expands the range the options via which customers can buy our images. The only losers will be shutterstock if they don't look at credit sales very soon as I can see a few of their customers now going to istock.
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The site is back up and the packages are now to be seen. The least expensive option is $599.
http://www.istockphoto.com/royalty-free-subscriptions.php
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The site is back up and the packages are now to be seen. The least expensive option is $599.
[url]http://www.istockphoto.com/royalty-free-subscriptions.php[/url]
Hmm. Thats a bit expensive. Not sure how attractive that will be to buyers.
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I'm not sure if it has anything do do with the IS subs but when I check my DLs at SS this morning I had way more than usual for a Monday morning? I mean about a 75% increase. As a matter of fact if the trend continues it will be my best day ever on SS. I am wondering if people are using up their sub at SS to move over to IS? That would be bad for me because my portfolio at SS is about 4 times larger than the one at IS. As of right now IS makes up for only about 3% of my sales. SS is 70% and FT and DT make up the rest. Also FT is #2 for me and IS is 5th.
I'm not exclusive at IS so I wonder how much effect not being exclusive will effect DLs? At this point I sure hope folks aren't blowing out SS for IS subs. I think that would only hurt me. Some of you who are exclusive may win big? I guess the next few weeks will tell the story.
I was hoping IS would speed up their reviews in advance of the subs. For me that didn't happen. How about you?
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well seeing as subs are time based and not credit based, there is nothing really to 'use up quickly' Sure they have daily limits but just because istock started their subscription, would make any different is regards to shutterstock buyers wanting to fill up their daily quota
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well seeing as subs are time based and not credit based, there is nothing really to 'use up quickly' Sure they have daily limits but just because istock started their subscription, would make any different is regards to shutterstock buyers wanting to fill up their daily quota
I thought the same thing, but when I saw my sales way above normal I just wondered why? It's good but still a little strange for me that the two happened on the same day. Not to mention that this is an American Holiday too! Really odd!
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cshack, you may just have had an eager buyer who discovered your port and went crazy. Congratulations!
My sales on SS are right where I would expect them to be for a holiday Monday.
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cshack, you may just have had an eager buyer who discovered your port and went crazy. Congratulations!
My sales on SS are right where I would expect them to be for a holiday Monday.
Mine too. Just three sales.
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No sale at all at IS today. I guess my clients are still deciding about the subs packages? ;D
Regards,
Adelaide
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No subs today but had a normal day earnings-wise.
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4 sales today and no subs yet.
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If anyone had any sales they would not see them until after they post at midnight Calgary time. (This is all explained in the FAQ) ;)
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Does submition targets the vector images too??? Or only images?
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If anyone had any sales they would not see them until after they post at midnight Calgary time. (This is all explained in the FAQ) ;)
Thanks for the reminder on that. I actually forgot about that. :P
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Does submition targets the vector images too??? Or only images?
Vectors and videos... whatever they have, you can buy on your sub.
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cshack, you may just have had an eager buyer who discovered your port and went crazy. Congratulations!
My sales on SS are right where I would expect them to be for a holiday Monday.
Oh cool! I'll take all I can get. Thanks for the heads-up!
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Is there a way to actually check how many subscription sales you have?
I had about half my usual weekday income yesterday, $40 as opposed to $70-$90 odd dollars as a non exclusive (to give you some idea of my folio size). I hope this was down to it being a holiday!
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Unless there is something I am missin, i think maybe we will have to click on every individual image :( (on the amount earned for that image) then it shows how much was earned for each individual download.
No subscription sales for me yesterday, but not too surprising as it will probably take a week or so to get going.
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Unless there is something I am missin, i think maybe we will have to click on every individual image :( (on the amount earned for that image) then it shows how much was earned for each individual download.
No subscription sales for me yesterday, but not too surprising as it will probably take a week or so to get going.
thanks. What a pain. Hopefully something they will sort out in the not too distant future.
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No subscription sales for me yesterday, but not too surprising as it will probably take a week or so to get going.
I don't have that much experience in new features introduced in micros, but I think there must be at least a couple of designers who already purchased some package.
Then I hope that whit around 1400 users on MSG someone will sell one sub shortly, but I have a question: Do we have to wait 24 hours to see if the buyer have used all his package?... to know how much we get?
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they are updated every evening at midnight - istock time.
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Then I hope that whit around 1400 users on MSG someone will sell one sub shortly, but I have a question: Do we have to wait 24 hours to see if the buyer have used all his package?... to know how much we get?
How much we get? Did I miss something? Didn't I get an announcement from iStock that said something about how we will not notice a difference in our commissions between credit and sub sales? That they were going to be the same?
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You either get about the same, or more than you would have. (per image)
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The interest is more how much more and often we can get if the package was not used at his maximum. Also about curiosity on how often we get the minimum.
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trying not to get pessimistic here but yesterday was not much better than Monday, around $40 again. Are there any other contributers with medium to large folios that have had a similar couple of days?
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As has been repeatedly stated, Monday was a major US holiday and a UK banking holiday. One "regular" business day is hardly indicative of a trend so too soon to panic. ;) That being said, things always seem to slow down some for the summer, so you might compare your April to May with last year's April to May. Mine was off by about 10% last year, and this year looks like it's going to be about the same.
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Of course you've got a point, but then again, I haven't had a $40 dollar business day in over six months (that's about a 50% drop from my average) so I'm just saying that I'm a little concerned. If things don't start picking up by the end of next week I'll be very concerned.
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Of course you've got a point, but then again, I haven't had a $40 dollar business day in over six months (that's about a 50% drop from my average) so I'm just saying that I'm a little concerned. If things don't start picking up by the end of next week I'll be very concerned.
You're not alone in feeling this significant drop - I'm in almost the same boat. Haven't you read this thread (http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php/topic,4759.msg48760/topicseen.html#new)?
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so no one has a sub sale yet?? this might just turn into a little competition to see who gets one first :)
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so no one has a sub sale yet?? this might just turn into a little competition to see who gets one first :)
Is there any easy way to tell if we have a subscription sale? As far as I can tell you have to open each files DL history. Who has time for that?
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Is there any simple way to see what image is downloaded by subscription?
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No, there's no easy way.
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You're not alone in feeling this significant drop - I'm in almost the same boat. Haven't you read this thread ([url]http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php/topic,4759.msg48760/topicseen.html#new[/url])?
have now, thanks
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When we make a subs sale, will we know it only after the midnight balance, or will it show in our list with a "hold" in earnings value?
Regards,
Adelaide
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so no one has a sub sale yet?? this might just turn into a little competition to see who gets one first :)
If you look on the Istock forum there's was already one or two yesterday, but it was pending at this time.
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I see customers can buy subs in Euro now? ???
Oh and I see they start right away with a 20% discount. Let me guess... from our cut again! >:(
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I see customers can buy subs in Euro now? ???
Oh and I see they start right away with a 20% discount. Let me guess... from our cut again! >:(
Customers have had the option of changing their form of currency for quite a while now. There is a FAQ regarding the subscription program that might be of interest to you since you seem to be somewhat uninformed about the payout structure. The bottom line is that the guaranteed minimum is exactly the same as it is with the current pay-as-you-go structure. You will not receive less than 19 cents per credit (based on 20% of 96 cent credit) and there is always the possibility that you will receive more.
Here's the link to the FAQ if you are interested in learning more before you get yourself all worked up into a froth:
http://www.istockphoto.com/faq.php?FormName=FaqSearchForm&Category=34
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Looks like Im running behind!
Thanks for the update! :)
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Of course you've got a point, but then again, I haven't had a $40 dollar business day in over six months (that's about a 50% drop from my average) so I'm just saying that I'm a little concerned. If things don't start picking up by the end of next week I'll be very concerned.
What a schmuck that Microbius is, hasn't he learnt you can't base anything on a couple of day's sales.
Normal day yesterday up around the $90 mark
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I see a jump in $15, but no images behind this jump. Subs ? Actually, the jump is $24.
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I am sorry, that was an EL. Never had them before at IS, so it did not occur to me.
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One contributor just got 12.80$ whit a subscription sale...Wow...
He said= "Took 2 days for my only subscription sale to change from pending to the amount, but it was worth the wait, I received $12.80!"
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=70460&page=5
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One just got 12.80$ whit a subscription sale...Wow...
Great! Congrats! I didn't have one yet... :(
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One just got 12.80$ whit a subscription sale...Wow...
Great! Congrats! I didn't have one yet... :(
Sorry it wasn't me LOL... I was not clear, fixed now
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LOL! I read it wrong...
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had my first sub sale.
a whopping $0.19
:-\
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Thanks for sharing... Yes it's a bit sad.
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had my first sub sale.
a whopping $0.19
:-\
I'm assuming that was for an XS size? How does that compare to what you would normally make on an XS size?
I haven't gotten any sub sales yet. At least I don't think so. They've made it relatively ridiculous to try to find out, unless you have a lot of spare time on your hands.
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This may be a dumb question, but did we need to agree to subscription sales or opt out. I seem to remember the option was subscription sales would be automatic unless we opted out. I didn't do anything so assumed I would be in for subscription sales. However as I have had none, even though regular sales are moving right along, I don't know if that was the right thing to do or not.
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This may be a dumb question, but did we need to agree to subscription sales or opt out. I seem to remember the option was subscription sales would be automatic unless we opted out. I didn't do anything so assumed I would be in for subscription sales. However as I have had none, even though regular sales are moving right along, I don't know if that was the right thing to do or not.
You have to opt-out by unchecking the subscription box, so you're in first
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A few days ago I got my first subscription sale. It was small size for $0.57. I checked back and that image credit sales for small generally produced about $0.75. Fairly close and much better than any sub sales at other sites.
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No subs for me yet, but today I sold a very old image for the first time.
Regards,
Adelaide
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in past 3 weeks i sold a dozen of very old images. they really tweak the search engine.
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Yes, I also get some old sometimes, that's not good for the dwl/month in a way
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I got a lot of dormant images sold in 3 weeks. Why ? I was not the one promoting them. I am surprised and and i feel that if i play with search engine it will beat my regardless. Only way to succeed is to produce better images ....
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.Deleted
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Can anyone who has actually gotten an istock sub sale tell me how long it takes for the royalty to post to your account? Was it midnight Calgary? or much later? The FAQ just says "after midnight" which leaves it pretty vague IMHO.
If I ever actually get a sub sale, I'd like to know what to expect. ;D
thanks in advance!
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Can anyone who has actually gotten an istock sub sale tell me how long it takes for the royalty to post to your account? Was it midnight Calgary? or much later? The FAQ just says "after midnight" which leaves it pretty vague IMHO.
If I ever actually get a sub sale, I'd like to know what to expect. ;D
thanks in advance!
Subs are calculated after the day ends in Calgary (MST = GMT -7), and IS updates the 'Stats' pages and Balances soon afterwards. The easiest way to find out if you've had any sub sales is to note your Balance at midnight MST, then see if it changes after the update is done.
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Unfortunately, there's no way to know when the daily update is run, and then the sub update is run. However the one sub I had took two days to update and that's what everyone else seems to say too.
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Thanks, guys. Oddly enough, I did get small batch of sub sales finally last night. It was about 12:30 am Calgary time when it seemed to update.
While no huge lottery winnings, the royalties on all of them exceeded most of the pay-as-you-go royalties, with the exceptions of a few anomalies on the list that I guess were a result of exchange rate weirdness. Overall I am pleased.
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Just got my first sub and it was about the same $ as the PAYG size. That's fine with me.
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I have just decided to set my 12 best-sellers as non subs. I haven't had any subs yet, though.
Regards,
Adelaide
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What's the stratrgy behind that? Isn;t it supposed to be possible that in some situations subs earn you more than PAYG?
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What's the stratrgy behind that? Isn;t it supposed to be possible that in some situations subs earn you more than PAYG?
Until I see it happen, I'm leaving those images out.
Regards,
Adelaide
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I had a $1.9 sub sale for a 10 credit vector... that's not good since most of my 10 credit vectors sell for $2.3 per download.. o well.. maybe i'll get lucky next time!
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So far 5 sub sale, and got one DL i get 3.85 (5 credits vector file), it make surprise for me, but i still dun like sub plan!
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So far 5 sub sale, and got one DL i get 3.85 (5 credits vector file), it make surprise for me, but i still dun like sub plan!
You have the option to not participate in the sub plan if you dun like it. It is very simple to opt out.
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I had a $1.9 sub sale for a 10 credit vector... that's not good since most of my 10 credit vectors sell for $2.3 per download.. o well.. maybe i'll get lucky next time!
It may not be great, but it's not only a subs issue. I just got a $1.90 10-credit vector sale this morning - pay as you go credits. Someone just bought their credits with a big discount (usually it's $2.40 or so). As prices go up, it gives buyers a bigger incentive to go for the discounts on the larger packages....
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Yes, sometimes I'm surprised as to how much royalty I get for the PAYG sales. My lowest is at $0.18 for a 1 credit vector. That's half of what I get from subscription sales in other sites ahahaha! But hopefully those 1 credit files give me more downloads.
I have another sub sale which is still pending update now so I'm hoping that when it updates, I will be pleasantly surprised and hope that it won't be another $1.9 royalty for a 10 credit vector sale.
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Sigh.. it's still $1.9 for the 10 credit vector. Is the $0.19 per credit the normal sub royalty we get? So I won't hope for more? The way IS introduced it (well at least to me...) sounded like we could get lucky and we could get lucky often and get more than the PAYG royalties.. guess not.
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Tonight I had my first sub-sales, 0,95$ for a medium size.
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First sub sale that I found: 10 credit vector file, got 1.9$ (minimum as expected). I get 2-2.8$ for a normal sale.
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I just got my first subscription sales:
Large 2.60
Medium 0.57
Large 1.90
Much better than the dime crap on the other sites :)
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Had a few so far. All XS or Medium.
M: $1.70
XS: .29
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70% of mine have been 19c commissions :(
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70% of mine have been 19c commissions :(
I've only had four total, and none were minimums. How many have you had?
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I've had 9: 1 x 0.19, 4 x 0.57, 1 x 0.95, 2 x 1.90, 1 x 2.00.
Average price = $1.02
I'm surprised that IS doesn't sell more subs. I've had a lot more (80+ on FT) where the sales volume is nowhere near IS.
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11 now and only 3 were more than 19c. My average is less than what I get on SS. I'm not complaining as I guess that I have just been unlucky,
70% of mine have been 19c commissions :(
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11 now and only 3 were more than 19c. My average is less than what I get on SS. I'm not complaining as I guess that I have just been unlucky,
70% of mine have been 19c commissions :(
So it sounds like you've been selling mostly XS images then. What sizes are you selling on SS?
Oh never mind, I guess it doesn't matter. I also wonder why there aren't more sales on IS, but I suspect part of it is portfolio subject matter and how it matches up with those buyers that would have a subscription plan.
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As I said I'm not complaining just answering the OP. I think that the way IS have handled sub sales is a lot fairer than the way most of the sites do it and it's just unlucky for me they they mostly bought xs. While the number of sub sales are so low it really doesn't matter anyway.
11 now and only 3 were more than 19c. My average is less than what I get on SS. I'm not complaining as I guess that I have just been unlucky,
70% of mine have been 19c commissions :(
So it sounds like you've been selling mostly XS images then. What sizes are you selling on SS?
Oh never mind, I guess it doesn't matter. I also wonder why there aren't more sales on IS, but I suspect part of it is portfolio subject matter and how it matches up with those buyers that would have a subscription plan.
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You can now see all your sub sales at "My uploads" page if you click "Subscriptions" at the top of the page.
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Still none for me. Isn't it curious that in the only site that made subs a bit digestable to sellers I don't get any, whereas this month in DT they are so many that they're 60% of my dlds? ???
Regards,
Adelaide
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2 X $0.57
2 X $0.95
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2x 1.90$
1x 0.95$ for me...
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1x$0.57
1x$0.95
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2x0.24
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30 sub sales
average .57
not bad considering next highest site is .38
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I have only 7 subs sales so far, but today's was for $19.19 which pushes the average way up :)
2 x .19
1 x .57
3 x .95
1 x 19.19
Average $3.28... but I probably shouldn't count extended licenses in the average as it skews the picture somewhat.
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Average = $0.875 for 8 sub sales.
Corresponding somewhere between small and medium regular sale. Nice :)
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1 sub-DL so far, worth $0.19 - not a success story I think ... :)
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1 butterfly download worth $0.95 :D
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I only have a couple of subs so far
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I only had one, days ago, at the minimum 19 per credit.
Regards,
Adelaide
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I've had 1 sub download. It was a medium for $1.20.
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3 @ $0.29
1 @ $1.45
2 were mediums, 2 X small
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I have about 100 (big portfolio), with normally minimun payout for the size bougth, average income of about 1.70 &/dl, and a pair or three of "more than regular dl download", the last one 2.04 for an XS.
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hmm, once upon time there was a subscription on istock, before getty , interesting. it must be taken back later, any info?
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hmm, once upon time there was a subscription on istock, before getty , interesting. it must be taken back later, any info?
I thought you'd been exclusive with iStock for a couple of years at least before becoming indie?
Anyway, yes, there were credit subscriptions (we actually got credits on these sales!). You can check to see if you had any sales via the credit subscription links on the left hand column of your My Uploads page.
They weren't very popular with buyers, presumably because the cheap subs deal then on iStock wasn't competitive with the mega-cheap subs on offer elsewhere.
I'm pretty sure that when image subs were introduced last April, buyers with existing credit subscriptions were migrated into image subs. Even if not, presumably the last possible credit subscription must have expired in March this year.
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yes, credit subscriptions different than image subscriptions, that's what I didn't noticed.