MicrostockGroup

Agency Based Discussion => iStockPhoto.com => Topic started by: FreeTransform on July 18, 2012, 13:59

Title: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: FreeTransform on July 18, 2012, 13:59
Wow, the guy who designed the iStock logo has jumped the exclusive ship. I follow him on Twitter and he just posted some links to his files on Shutterstock.

http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-1091942p1.html (http://www.shutterstock.com/gallery-1091942p1.html)
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: EmberMike on July 18, 2012, 14:11

Congrats, Simon. Best of luck. I think your stuff will do very well at SS.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Jo Ann Snover on July 18, 2012, 14:16
I'm sure his stuff will do well anywhere he chooses to sell it. I wonder what was the final straw for him (not that it matters, but I'd love to know :))
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: luissantos84 on July 18, 2012, 14:17
best of luck and donīt forget to pop in a few more keywords
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: FreeTransform on July 18, 2012, 14:19
I would have thought that people with 9000+ files (good files!) were immune to the past couple of years' money grab downturn.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: EmberMike on July 18, 2012, 14:42
I would have thought that people with 9000+ files (good files!) were immune to the past couple of years' money grab downturn.

9000 files? Oh great. There goes the inspection queue for us vector folks. ;)
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: gostwyck on July 18, 2012, 14:58
I would have thought that people with 9000+ files (good files!) were immune to the past couple of years' money grab downturn.

Most LT contributors that I know report their downloads on Istockphoto to have roughly halved over the last couple of years (including mine). Many illustrators have been kicked even harder with higher RC targets.

As they say in the other 'stock market' ... "Let the trend be your friend" when making financial decisions with the future in mind.

Simonox is not the only contributor to have ditched their crown recently either. Most are keeping pretty schtum about it though.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: antistock on July 18, 2012, 23:49
what did they expected ? it was a piece of cake 4-5 yrs ago to sell vectors and now the market
is just going back to normal.

no more profitable to sell for a pittance on micros, no more easy money ?
well sorry but we old farts told you so for a long time, now time for a reality check, guys !

in the meantime selling at cheap-as-s prices you managed to kill the RM industry AND the RF one as well and there's no going back, the die has been cast.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: ThomasAmby on July 19, 2012, 02:13
what did they expected ? it was a piece of cake 4-5 yrs ago to sell vectors and now the market
is just going back to normal.

no more profitable to sell for a pittance on micros, no more easy money ?
well sorry but we old farts told you so for a long time, now time for a reality check, guys !

in the meantime selling at cheap-as-s prices you managed to kill the RM industry AND the RF one as well and there's no going back, the die has been cast.

Yes, microstock is in deed still very profitable. Earnings at IS are down, while earnings at SS is up.

Overall I'm earning more than ever, like many others.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but as much as you would like it, nothing has changed in terms of overall revenue in the microstock industry.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Microbius on July 19, 2012, 02:53
Poor IStock, they had the high quality vector market tied up a few years ago, and they threw it all away  ;D
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Wim on July 19, 2012, 03:44
I would have thought that people with 9000+ files (good files!) were immune to the past couple of years' money grab downturn.

9000 files? Oh great. There goes the inspection queue for us vector folks. ;)

 ;D
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: HughStoneIan on July 19, 2012, 19:15
Poor IStock, they had the high quality vector market tied up a few years ago, and they threw it all away  ;D


Yeah, they also threw away everything else that they had good.  Such a sad sad story.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: michaeldb on July 19, 2012, 21:14
...nothing has changed in terms of overall revenue in the microstock industry.
That's my experience. I don't know how it's really going for the photo folks, but as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn. (Congratulations to Simonox on his new independence!)
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Mantis on July 20, 2012, 07:50
...nothing has changed in terms of overall revenue in the microstock industry.
That's my experience. I don't know how it's really going for the photo folks, but as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn. (Congratulations to Simonox on his new independence!)

Well a downturn could be flat, not necessarily down.  So say that your peek was $2000 a month and since then you haven't gone lower than that, but you have uploaded 1,000 new images since then.  That, in my opinion, is a downturn (and is my case).
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Lagereek on July 20, 2012, 08:40
its not a matter of, IS, turning over same revenue or not as before, they probably are, they still show a respectable turnover. Its a matter of what they COULD, have had!
They had it all, in the palm of their hand, all they had to do, was keeping a tight grip. So what do they do? well, just about every single thing that can possibly go wrong, has gone wrong. Murphys law, hey?
I would go as far as to say, its total mismanagement of a corporation.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: john_woodcock on July 20, 2012, 09:46
Quote
That's my experience. I don't know how it's really going for the photo folks, but as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn.

I'd say you were pretty much a rarity. I'm just editing this to clarify that I'm talking IS, as I have no experience of sales at other sites.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: cthoman on July 20, 2012, 10:08
Quote
That's my experience. I don't know how it's really going for the photo folks, but as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn.

I'd say you were pretty much a rarity.

I don't know about that. Other than iStock, the other micros seem to have been fairly stable for illustration and graphics.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Microbius on July 20, 2012, 10:41
+1 pretty stable other than IS
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: EmberMike on July 20, 2012, 10:49
Quote
That's my experience. I don't know how it's really going for the photo folks, but as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn.

I'd say you were pretty much a rarity.

I don't know about that. Other than iStock, the other micros seem to have been fairly stable for illustration and graphics.

Agreed. The instability is with istock, no one else, at least in my opinion.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: michaeldb on July 20, 2012, 13:53
Quote
That's my experience. I don't know how it's really going for the photo folks, but as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn.

I'd say you were pretty much a rarity.

I don't know about that. Other than iStock, the other micros seem to have been fairly stable for illustration and graphics.

Agreed. The instability is with istock, no one else, at least in my opinion.
Sorry, when I said "as an illustrator I see no signs of a downturn" I should have also said that I meant 'everywhere but IS' and added that I stopped submitting to IS over a year ago

In fact, my total revenues have steadily increased since I stopped submitting to IS. Revenue has held steady even though I have been submitting only about 25% of my normal amount for several months.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: VB inc on July 20, 2012, 14:36
Well, majority of other site sells illustrations and graphic design elements for pennies(subscriptions). Its hard for me to participate with those returns knowing i am part of the problem driving down the wages and fair compensation for illustrators and designers alike. Its all relevant to what kind of product you produce. Successful vector files on istock can easily generate over $5,000 in 2 or so years. If you have the skills to create those, why harm the industry by putting it a subscription based site like SS where you are training the buyers that good quality art can be bought on the cheap??
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: EmberMike on July 20, 2012, 14:58
...If you have the skills to create those, why harm the industry by putting it a subscription based site like SS where you are training the buyers that good quality art can be bought on the cheap??

Because istock doesn't take most of the stuff that buyers want. Look at the top-selling stuff at SS, including the single most popular image at istock from last year (which happens to be a vector image) and a lot of that stuff (including the best-seller) isn't on istock. They don't accept anything that includes text, despite the very clear indication from buyers that they want ready-to-use text-based designs.

I can (and do) create Top 50 images at SS regularly, but they'd be useless and worthless to me at istock because I can't sell them there.

And who says SS is cheap? From the buyer's perspective, they're spending $250 a month or $10+ per image for OD sales. From the contributor's perspective, I make half of my income at SS on ODs which typically get me $2.85 for each sale. I get ELs weekly, which puts $28 in my pocket each time (can't tell you the last time I had an EL at istock).

That's cheap? 
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: VB inc on July 20, 2012, 15:00
Dont get me wrong... i, as an exclusive to istock, have no faith in istock/getty. In fact, i hardly uploaded anything the this/last year and concentrated on freelance work. I do still take in a significant amount of money each week and can't afford to lose that in hopes of spreading my work around in which i dont have the extra time for.

I think the whole refund business with istock is another way for istock to make money off its contributors as long as there is this system where the contributor has no idea what is really going on. I, along with many contributors within the last year or so have been getting these refunds on a regular basis.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: VB inc on July 20, 2012, 15:04
embermike, the last time i checked (a while back), you were selling stuff at vectorstock which sells vectors at a ridiculous price.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: cthoman on July 20, 2012, 16:00
Well, majority of other site sells illustrations and graphic design elements for pennies(subscriptions). Its hard for me to participate with those returns knowing i am part of the problem driving down the wages and fair compensation for illustrators and designers alike. Its all relevant to what kind of product you produce. Successful vector files on istock can easily generate over $5,000 in 2 or so years. If you have the skills to create those, why harm the industry by putting it a subscription based site like SS where you are training the buyers that good quality art can be bought on the cheap??

I agree (it is too low), but I don't think iStock's under 20% royalty rate mixed with Thinkstock are any different. So in a way, you are already supporting all of that. Just because you are standing on the shoulders of all the non exclusives that are wallowing in the mud doesn't mean you aren't in the mud too.  ;D

I'm not saying that to be a jerk. I actually applaud your sentiment. I just don't think you can praise iStock for having a higher ground anymore. There are plenty of new agencies for illustrators popping up like Toon Vectors, Image Toons, Drawshop and GL Images that could use your praise and support.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: EmberMike on July 20, 2012, 17:00
embermike, the last time i checked (a while back), you were selling stuff at vectorstock which sells vectors at a ridiculous price.

Their base price is low, yes. But they have a tiered royalty system (I currently get 35%, soon to be 40%), and they are willing to raise prices on files upon request. I don't sell my best stuff there. Just mid and low-level stuff.

They're not as cheap as you think, either, at least for people who are willing to negotiate their image prices.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: Microbius on July 21, 2012, 04:38
They're not as cheap as you think, either, at least for people who are willing to negotiate their image prices.
I haven't found that at all, I do a lot of illustration type stuff as well as design element stuff  (I hope that makes sense) and have found them really bad at pricing these properly or repricing them when you contact them. They don't seem to realize that a complex/ high quality character design often takes longer to create and has less universal appeal than generic design elements so needs to be priced appropriately. I guess maybe it is just the wrong site for this kind of work and I should have just uploaded design elements there.
In any case, I gave up on them a long time ago and they just have my old stuff now.
Title: Re: Simonox no longer exclusive
Post by: kelby on July 22, 2012, 09:26
istock is loosing the own gems....
it's not a news after their actions