Author Topic: September Partner Program started! (Read 12563 times)

fritz · « **on:** October 15, 2013, 14:55 »

September Partner Program started

Good luck everyone!

mlwinphoto · « **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2013, 15:01 »

Sure wish I could get more than 17% of my port over there.....even that low % is outperforming what I'm doing on iStock for the past few months.

Canonbabe · « **Reply #2 on:** October 16, 2013, 10:41 »

Yup! They are early (or on time) this month. Looks like they've processed the partner sales till september 17th. So far, so good

luissantos84 · « **Reply #3 on:** October 16, 2013, 10:47 »

Quote from: Canonbabe on October 16, 2013, 10:41

Yup! They are early (or on time) this month. Looks like they've processed the partner sales till september 17th. So far, so good

celebrating 28 cents won't take us anywhere, that is why they have no respect for us but yep let's all cheer with PP

Noedelhap · « **Reply #4 on:** October 16, 2013, 12:21 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 10:47

Quote from: Canonbabe on October 16, 2013, 10:41
Yup! They are early (or on time) this month. Looks like they've processed the partner sales till september 17th. So far, so good

celebrating 28 cents won't take us anywhere, that is why they have no respect for us but yep let's all cheer with PP

Sometimes they throw in an occasional extended license download of $24, so it's not all as gloomy as you think. To me, PP gives a nice additional income stream. It doesn't fully replace iStock sales either.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 16, 2013, 12:39 »

Quote from: Noedelhap on October 16, 2013, 12:21

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 10:47
Quote from: Canonbabe on October 16, 2013, 10:41
Yup! They are early (or on time) this month. Looks like they've processed the partner sales till september 17th. So far, so good

celebrating 28 cents won't take us anywhere, that is why they have no respect for us but yep let's all cheer with PP

Sometimes they throw in an occasional extended license download of $24, so it's not all as gloomy as you think. To me, PP gives a nice additional income stream. It doesn't fully replace iStock sales either.

I haven't said it is that gloomy, just that I don't think we should celebrate this kind of events, I know there are higher sales, that said still much lower RPD comparing to SS

disorderly · « **Reply #6 on:** October 16, 2013, 12:56 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 12:39

I haven't said it is that gloomy, just that I don't think we should celebrate this kind of events, I know there are higher sales, that said still much lower RPD comparing to SS

I care nothing for RPD; it's revenue that matters to me. And as much as I revile iStock and have removed most of my work from their site, their PP still brings in enough to make them my #3 earner month after month.

lisafx · « **Reply #7 on:** October 16, 2013, 13:36 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 12:39

I haven't said it is that gloomy, just that I don't think we should celebrate this kind of events, I know there are higher sales, that said still much lower RPD comparing to SS

I definitely get your point. We shouldn't have to celebrate things being done correctly and on-time, but it happens so seldom these days, it does seem like cause for celebration. $:-\$

luissantos84 · « **Reply #8 on:** October 16, 2013, 13:37 »

Quote from: disorderly on October 16, 2013, 12:56

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 12:39
I haven't said it is that gloomy, just that I don't think we should celebrate this kind of events, I know there are higher sales, that said still much lower RPD comparing to SS

I care nothing for RPD; it's revenue that matters to me. And as much as I revile iStock and have removed most of my work from their site, their PP still brings in enough to make them my #3 earner month after month.

oh man that is even worst, lets not compare iStock with SS

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #9 on:** October 16, 2013, 13:41 »

Not sure if it's a general trend, so I'd be happy if others report their observations: I see a growing number of higher royalties through the PP - not up in the sky but well above the 28 cents. This would indicate a growing number of customers not going for subscriptions but for image packs. It started for me at about the same time when Getty introduced the new pricing on iStock. In April/May my RPD on the partner program was 30/33 cents but in September it was 39 and so far in October was up to 44 cents.

If that is a general observation, it could indicate that Getty is pushing Thinkstock as the new microstock (not only subscription) offer while iStock would target even more on the midstock level with some cheap non-exclusive images for the occasions you need them.

Anybody else who can confirm/object my thoughts?

heywoody · « **Reply #10 on:** October 16, 2013, 15:20 »

Was going to make a similar observation. Not alone are volumes better but RPD is now in the same ballpark and I still think this is the end game for the main collection.

lisafx · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2013, 18:28 »

Quote from: MichaelJayFoto on October 16, 2013, 13:41

Not sure if it's a general trend, so I'd be happy if others report their observations: I see a growing number of higher royalties through the PP - not up in the sky but well above the 28 cents. This would indicate a growing number of customers not going for subscriptions but for image packs. It started for me at about the same time when Getty introduced the new pricing on iStock. In April/May my RPD on the partner program was 30/33 cents but in September it was 39 and so far in October was up to 44 cents.

If that is a general observation, it could indicate that Getty is pushing Thinkstock as the new microstock (not only subscription) offer while iStock would target even more on the midstock level with some cheap non-exclusive images for the occasions you need them.

Anybody else who can confirm/object my thoughts?

My September stats so far are for higher average prices than usual too. I haven't dug through the details, but the DL numbers are the same and the $ numbers are quite a bit higher on average.

tickstock · « **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2013, 19:21 »

ShadySue · « **Reply #13 on:** October 16, 2013, 19:28 »

Quote from: tickstock on October 16, 2013, 19:21

Quote from: MichaelJayFoto on October 16, 2013, 13:41
Not sure if it's a general trend, so I'd be happy if others report their observations: I see a growing number of higher royalties through the PP - not up in the sky but well above the 28 cents. This would indicate a growing number of customers not going for subscriptions but for image packs. It started for me at about the same time when Getty introduced the new pricing on iStock. In April/May my RPD on the partner program was 30/33 cents but in September it was 39 and so far in October was up to 44 cents.

If that is a general observation, it could indicate that Getty is pushing Thinkstock as the new microstock (not only subscription) offer while iStock would target even more on the midstock level with some cheap non-exclusive images for the occasions you need them.

Anybody else who can confirm/object my thoughts?
Could be Getty 360 sales, those were showing up as PP sales not as GI.

But came through at the same time as Getty sales, not PP.

tickstock · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2013, 20:14 »

wiser · « **Reply #15 on:** October 16, 2013, 21:39 »

Quote from: disorderly on October 16, 2013, 12:56

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 12:39
I haven't said it is that gloomy, just that I don't think we should celebrate this kind of events, I know there are higher sales, that said still much lower RPD comparing to SS

I care nothing for RPD; it's revenue that matters to me. And as much as I revile iStock and have removed most of my work from their site, their PP still brings in enough to make them my #3 earner month after month.

How do you manage to do that? I removed three images from my IS portfolio and they immediately disappeared from the PP. If you remove form IS are they not removed from PP too? Or was it just me?

disorderly · « **Reply #16 on:** October 16, 2013, 21:48 »

Quote from: wiser on October 16, 2013, 21:39

Quote from: disorderly on October 16, 2013, 12:56
Quote from: luissantos84 on October 16, 2013, 12:39
I haven't said it is that gloomy, just that I don't think we should celebrate this kind of events, I know there are higher sales, that said still much lower RPD comparing to SS

I care nothing for RPD; it's revenue that matters to me. And as much as I revile iStock and have removed most of my work from their site, their PP still brings in enough to make them my #3 earner month after month.

How do you manage to do that? I removed three images from my IS portfolio and they immediately disappeared from the PP. If you remove form IS are they not removed from PP too? Or was it just me?

I removed 3000 or so images and left behind a few hundred that keep selling. They do surprisingly well in the PP.

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #17 on:** October 16, 2013, 23:47 »

Quote from: tickstock on October 16, 2013, 19:21

Could be Getty 360 sales, those were showing up as PP sales not as GI.

No, doesn't look like that. Those I checked are listed as Thinkstock and the numbers are within those listed on the royalties schedule page. Just larger ones for Image Packs like $1.20 or up to $4. Not too many but enough to raise the average royalty by about 50% as stated.

tickstock · « **Reply #18 on:** October 17, 2013, 00:30 »

luissantos84 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:18 »

Quote from: MichaelJayFoto on October 16, 2013, 23:47

Quote from: tickstock on October 16, 2013, 19:21
Could be Getty 360 sales, those were showing up as PP sales not as GI.

No, doesn't look like that. Those I checked are listed as Thinkstock and the numbers are within those listed on the royalties schedule page. Just larger ones for Image Packs like $1.20 or up to $4. Not too many but enough to raise the average royalty by about 50% as stated.

I had a 24.02$ sale on the last day of the month listed as photos.com

ferdinand · « **Reply #20 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:30 »

two sales for 6.00 $ from thinkstock - and few 1.10$ and 0.60 $

luissantos84 · « **Reply #21 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:41 »

Quote from: ferdinand on October 17, 2013, 06:30

two sales for 6.00 $ from thinkstock - and few 1.10$ and 0.60 $

3.96$ as well

ShadySue · « **Reply #22 on:** October 17, 2013, 06:54 »

Maybe their campaign to move customers from iS to TS was successful.

Shelma1 · « **Reply #23 on:** October 17, 2013, 07:20 »

Well, here's a twist...my iStock and PP sales had a bump last month, and this month an even bigger bump...while my Shutterstock sales still haven't recovered from the site "maintenance" in mid-July.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #24 on:** October 17, 2013, 07:22 »

Quote from: ShadySue on October 17, 2013, 06:54

Maybe their campaign to move customers from iS to TS was successful.

yep, that said you need to keep feeding the beast because my PP sales are now less than half comparing to 2012

tickstock · « **Reply #25 on:** October 17, 2013, 07:36 »

steheap · « **Reply #26 on:** October 17, 2013, 08:44 »

Where do you see the individual sales? I can see how much each image in the PP actually earns.

Anyway, September was a spectacular for me - $109 on main site and $282 on Partners - including (I assume) about 4 extended licenses.

Steve

tickstock · « **Reply #27 on:** October 17, 2013, 09:34 »

luissantos84 · « **Reply #28 on:** October 17, 2013, 09:37 »

never tried the app but I can tell that it's quite fast at StockPerformer as well

tickstock · « **Reply #29 on:** October 17, 2013, 10:59 »

luissantos84 · « **Reply #30 on:** October 17, 2013, 11:03 »

Quote from: tickstock on October 17, 2013, 10:59

Quote from: luissantos84 on October 17, 2013, 09:37
never tried the app but I can tell that it's quite fast at StockPerformer as well
I don't know what you mean by 'fast' but the livestock app shows you a list of PP sales by date with royalty paid and from where it was licensed.

same at SF, by fast I mean a cool monthly chart and then just a few seconds to check each day where you can see number of downloads, rpd, royalties paid and also where it was licensed

tickstock · « **Reply #31 on:** October 17, 2013, 11:03 »

luissantos84 · « **Reply #32 on:** October 17, 2013, 11:06 »

Quote from: tickstock on October 17, 2013, 11:03

That's cool, is it free.

SF ain't but it is very worth, that said I am a beta user

tickstock · « **Reply #33 on:** October 17, 2013, 11:09 »

steheap · « **Reply #34 on:** October 17, 2013, 11:10 »

The App is free - I've just loaded the Android version and am waiting for the iStock site to populate the results. Looks interesting so far, but the initial scan of the site probably will take some time.

Steve

Yure · « **Reply #35 on:** October 17, 2013, 12:13 »

It seems that the round is finished: I have dowloads up to Sept 30. But, strange thing, my PP dowloads according with Livestock are all from TS and nothing from Photos. It's only me?

Ron · « **Reply #36 on:** October 17, 2013, 12:32 »

Very disappointing, only 12 DLs for 3.36$ I was hoping to break 100$ so I could close my account. ( I know I can leave now, but I want to reach pay out)

Monty-m-gue · « **Reply #37 on:** October 17, 2013, 13:04 »

Is there any way to narrow down an app search for "livestock"? I'm getting lots of search returns that are most appropriate for cattle farmers!

tickstock · « **Reply #38 on:** October 17, 2013, 13:07 »

heywoody · « **Reply #39 on:** October 17, 2013, 15:52 »

About a third of PP this month were non-sub so 3 times as many DL averaging twice the RPD of IS proper - I've had the occasional non-sub but nothing like this and quite a few are reporting similar.

I also had my first censored post over there having voiced the opinion that buyers were now moving to the PP and that I wouldn't be surprised if exclusives were shortly given the option to put main collection stuff over there. Must have touched a nerve.

I'm convinced that is gonna be Getty for RM, PP for all main collection and IS to be re-positioned in the stocksy / offset space with the pricier exclusive collections at which point the "re-branding" will mean something and most of the site performance problems etc will go away.

lisafx · « **Reply #40 on:** October 17, 2013, 16:37 »

With the PP having finished reporting, I sold around the same number of images as last month, but with a 35% bump in income.

The PP is now far out-performing Fotolia for me, and if separate from Istock would be my fourth place earner.

I'm almost tempted to try some uploads at Istock with an eye to getting them in the PP. Is the connecter to the PP fixed yet?

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #41 on:** October 18, 2013, 04:32 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 17, 2013, 16:37

With the PP having finished reporting, I sold around the same number of images as last month, but with a 35% bump in income.

The PP is now far out-performing Fotolia for me, and if separate from Istock would be my fourth place earner.

I'm almost tempted to try some uploads at Istock with an eye to getting them in the PP. Is the connecter to the PP fixed yet?

For me, the PP is the second best earner - after Shutterstock, before iStock itself and far ahead of any other place.

No, the connector isn't fixed. I had a bunch of images (old and new ones mixed) moving over in August but then it stopped again. From my latest batch of 64 uploads accepted at iStock exactly 6 made it to Thinkstock. Those moved within 24 hours but not a single one followed in the last few weeks.

hjalmeida · « **Reply #42 on:** October 18, 2013, 05:12 »

In my PP sales from September I received $0,46 p/dl ... not bad for a subscription site.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #43 on:** October 18, 2013, 05:16 »

Last month PP+Istock out sold Shutterstock for me - A first - surely I stock cant be getting something right?

gostwyck · « **Reply #44 on:** October 18, 2013, 06:09 »

Quote from: lisafx on October 17, 2013, 16:37

With the PP having finished reporting, I sold around the same number of images as last month, but with a 35% bump in income.

The PP is now far out-performing Fotolia for me, and if separate from Istock would be my fourth place earner.

I'm almost tempted to try some uploads at Istock with an eye to getting them in the PP. Is the connecter to the PP fixed yet?

September was a surprisingly good month with the PP for me too. The PP ended in 3rd place, just behind IS themselves, with an average RPD of 40.5c.

As far as I can tell most, if not all, of the 100-odd images I uploaded to IS in June do appear to have been transferred to TS. Those images have generated 140 sales (of which 50 were from one particular image) and generated about $45 from the PP. That works out at about 50c per image ... over 4 months. On IS those same images have generated a further $26.

(NB: On SS those images have made nearly $1K although they have been on-line for about 3 months longer).

I will keep monitoring the situation but at the moment it is certainly not yet worth my time to upload to IS. It has become incredibly difficult for new images to get noticed and sell in any quantity. I also don't want to support the agency with by far the lowest royalties with new content.

Mantis · « **Reply #45 on:** October 18, 2013, 07:27 »

My split was about 50/50 with IS vs. PP. Regarding what Getty will do with IS, well, IS could have introduced a subs model into the IS platform (if they had the talent) but instead they chose to build a separate, distinct model. Lot's of probable reasons for doing so, but to me the most obvious is the spinoff of IS as a higher price point collection. How they pull this off with their current collection is a mystery, unless their mentality is simply that our exclusive contributor base offers enough clout in their collection to warrant significantly higher price points. Otherwise culling millions of images is an unrealistic option, so is it a do-over? Start from scratch? Maybe, but in my humble opinion non-exclusives (and maybe even exclusives) will ultimately be forced into PP as their only source of income from that revenue bucket. I am speaking generally with an 80/20 mentality, not the one-offs for which some may use to defend IS.

At this point my only hope is that PP yields the same level of aggregate pay as IS, PP.

ShadySue · « **Reply #46 on:** October 18, 2013, 07:37 »

Quote from: Mantis on October 18, 2013, 07:27

My split was about 50/50 with IS vs. PP. Regarding what Getty will do with IS, well, IS could have introduced a subs model into the IS platform (if they had the talent) but instead they chose to build a separate, distinct model.

There is an iS subs model within iS. I don't get many sales there, but others who sell more marketable images probably do better.
http://www.istockphoto.com/help/buy-credits/subscriptions
(top option)

pancaketom · « **Reply #47 on:** October 18, 2013, 11:04 »

with IS+PP I got .64 rpd. That beat .39 last month and .37 the month before. Admittedly my depleted port is a small sample but it is a big jump up. For comparison on SS the last 3 months I got .81, .77, and .80 . The total dl #s are down there, but the occasional higher $ sale are propping the totals up somewhat. The question is are the PP and BS successfully skimming off regular subs buyers?

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #48 on:** October 18, 2013, 11:53 »

Quote from: Mantis on October 18, 2013, 07:27

Regarding what Getty will do with IS, well, IS could have introduced a subs model into the IS platform (if they had the talent) but instead they chose to build a separate, distinct model. Lot's of probable reasons for doing so, but to me the most obvious is the spinoff of IS as a higher price point collection.

No, the subs model at IS was introduced in a way that it would never be competitive with other subscription models because the contributors would not have accepted a subs model. And it was at a time when IS was still listening to the contributor base quite often.

Thinkstock/the partner program was later introduced because it would run without consideration of contributors, so they also made it optional for iStock exclusives. And they could add images from their own collections to that offer without pushing them to IS. I think we were all happy (happier) the way they made this happen outside of the IS platform.

steheap · « **Reply #49 on:** October 18, 2013, 14:27 »

Just going back to the Livestock App (which is great!), how do you make it go back more than a month to see all the PP downloads in the past month. As far as I can see, mine stops at the download on 17 September and won't go back earlier?

Steve

Monty-m-gue · « **Reply #50 on:** October 18, 2013, 15:19 »

Quote from: tickstock on October 17, 2013, 13:07

Quote from: Monty-m-gue on October 17, 2013, 13:04
Is there any way to narrow down an app search for "livestock"? I'm getting lots of search returns that are most appropriate for cattle farmers!

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=80029&page=1

only Android? nothing for iphone?

gostwyck · « **Reply #51 on:** October 18, 2013, 17:12 »

Quote from: Monty-m-gue on October 18, 2013, 15:19

only Android? nothing for iphone?

Dunno really. It's ever so difficult to understand.

The creator of the app states quite explicitly, on the very same thread that you have quoted, "I have no plans to write a version for other platforms - sorry iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre, Windows Phone users."

So maybe there is something for iphone? Who knows?

lisafx · « **Reply #52 on:** October 18, 2013, 22:50 »

Thanks MichaelJay and Gostwyck for the info on the connector. I may try uploading some of my latest holiday stuff and see if a) it gets transferred to PP, and b) gets any sales at either place.

I haven't uploaded to Istock since the first week of January. I won't feel too guilty if I send up a trial batch to see what happens.

VKir · « **Reply #53 on:** October 19, 2013, 16:58 »

I was trying to find recently where all my PP sales are coming from. And I've just found out that I have two different Istock portfolios on Thinkstok. First under ‘My Name’, second under ‘My Istock Login’. All recent files are in ‘My Istock Login’ portfolio. I had 60% of my Istock files on TS. Now it is 80%.