Author Topic: What are you doing about istock? (Read 19820 times)

bunhill · « **Reply #25 on:** August 24, 2013, 14:29 »

Quote from: ctsankov on August 24, 2013, 13:41

It would be interesting to see what would happend in the next months.

I think there will be a full on price war on non premium content sooner or later. But I doubt that Getty and Shutterstock would need to square up against each other whilst they can both still put pressure on Fotolia, Dreamstime and the others. I do not believe that the microstock market is growing therefore it must be about taking market share. A price war could wipe out other microstock companies.

I think that Getty currently still has the potential advantage over Shutterstock in that it has businesses which represent all of the different price points. That could make Shutterstock vulnerable to a costly microstock price war. Getty could further slash prices at iStock and really start pushing Thinkstock, to lure Shutterstock customers without that necessarily affecting its premium or any other businesses.

sharpshot · « **Reply #26 on:** August 24, 2013, 14:51 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on August 24, 2013, 12:17

If I delete my images on iStock or close my account

- Will I create some damage to iStock? No
- Will I make more money with iStock? No
- Will I make more money with other sites? No

So what?

- Will I create some damage to iStock? Yes It might be minuscule but every person that stops uploading, deactivates images or leaves will make them less money.

- Will I make more money with iStock? No But there's not much difference between little and nothing.

- Will I make more money with other sites? Yes I don't know how many people have said they made more money on the other sites when they left istock. It makes sense to me, as it can't be hard for a buyer to have an account with istock and another microstock site? I've seen buyers search really hard for what they want and I'm sure if istock don't have it, a lot of them will look elsewhere.

gbalex · « **Reply #27 on:** August 24, 2013, 14:59 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on August 24, 2013, 07:19

interesting topic, the other day I did a small list of many contributors, the ones that contribute here regularly and also other, I have found a contributor that left this forum I believe after Tyler entering the topic regarding anonymity, he uploaded close to 10k pictures this year

so I wonder if 10 or 50 stopped uploading will change anything, I am starting to think we are just give them advantage as they will continue to collect as our income dry

We forget that these sites are operating on slim margins and losing the top 100 contributors who bring in higher than average download for their images would have a huge effect on their bottom line.

The sites are hoping we will not wake up to this fact.

http://investor.shutterstock.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251362&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1845768&highlight

Number of paid downloads in Q2 three months = 24,300,000 x $2.33 Reported Revenue Per Download or $56,619,000.00 SS Revenue per total downloads per Three Months in Q2

Number of paid downloads Q2 2013 24,300,000 / Images in collection (end of Q2) 2013 27,300,000 = .89 Paid Downloads Per Image in SS collection

Lets just say that the top contributors receive the average .89 number of downloads per image in their ports as detailed above.

The 100 top contributors have 3,768,907 files on SS
http://www.microstocktime.ru/tool/stats/ss/

Top 100 Contributors have 3,768,907 files on SS x .89 Average Paid Downloads Per Image On SS = 3,354,327 downloads.

Or $7,815,582.44 of SS's Q2 Revenue For All Top 100 Contributor Downloads

3,354,327 SS's Q2 100 Top Contributor downloads is 13.8% of 24,300,000 SS' Q2 Total Number of Paid Downloads

sharpshot · « **Reply #28 on:** August 24, 2013, 15:04 »

Quote from: luissantos84 on August 24, 2013, 07:19

interesting topic, the other day I did a small list of many contributors, the ones that contribute here regularly and also other, I have found a contributor that left this forum I believe after Tyler entering the topic regarding anonymity, he uploaded close to 10k pictures this year

so I wonder if 10 or 50 stopped uploading will change anything, I am starting to think we are just give them advantage as they will continue to collect as our income dry

I thought like that at one time but it feels good to do something positive for myself about everything I've had to put up with as a non-exclusive istock contributor. If other people don't care about getting the lowest commission percentage, having targets that can't be reached and the fact that they can do deals like the Google one without asking or even informing us about it, that's their problem. They can have my lost earnings, they'll need it. I'd rather concentrate on trying to make microstock work for me and carrying on supplying istock as if there isn't a problem doesn't work for me. I know some of the other sites are almost as bad and I don't have any enthusiasm for them either but at the moment, istock seems like the worst for non-exclusives. So I'll carry on deactivating.

marthamarks · « **Reply #29 on:** August 24, 2013, 16:05 »

IS was the very first stock agency I began uploading with, sometime in 2008, I think. Was thrilled to have my test batch accepted, and I kept uploading regularly for about 1 1/2 - 2 years. It was excruciatingly slow, given their small weekly upload (15 per week, I think) and super-nitpicky process. But over that time, I built up a small port of 250-300 images that was reasonably productive.

Then came the abrupt reduction of royalties from 20% to 15% for non-exclusives like me, plus the jerk-you-around-and-you-can't-do-anything-about-it attitude toward their loyal exclusives. And I decided right then that I didn't want anything more to do with that company.

Early in 2010 (I think) I held off until my next payout, then sent an email saying I wanted to delete all my images and close my account. Done and done in one day. Over the years, I've read these various moan-about-IS threads with interest. They always made me glad I managed to escape that nasty environment before things there got even worse.

pancaketom · « **Reply #30 on:** August 24, 2013, 20:25 »

cut my port down to under 50 mostly old mostly crappy images or ones that did better at IS than anywhere else. I just watch their antics with sadness but not distress now. In July my RPD was about 37.5 cents.

marthamarks · « **Reply #31 on:** August 24, 2013, 23:50 »

I just remembered something else that made me decide to dump IS from my life. Do you guys remember that Christmas Eve or Day (2009 or 2010??) when somebody used fake credit cards to download a gazillion images while the IS employees were out of the office for the holiday? And then we contributors were told the $$ we supposedly had earned from all those holiday "sales" would be deleted from our accounts?

Well, I was one who had a nice run of sales that Christmas, only to learn those $$ were going to be pulled out of my account. And they were.

I figured that if IS couldn't even control its own servers well enough to screen out the non-existent credit card(s), I sure couldn't expect them to protect my images. That helped make my decision to bail out even easier.

JPSDK · « **Reply #32 on:** August 25, 2013, 01:05 »

Quote from: marthamarks on August 24, 2013, 23:50

I just remembered something else that made me decide to dump IS from my life. Do you guys remember that Christmas Eve or Day (2009 or 2010??) when somebody used fake credit cards to download a gazillion images while the IS employees were out of the office for the holiday? And then we contributors were told the $$ we supposedly had earned from all those holiday "sales" would be deleted from our accounts?

Well, I was one who had a nice run of sales that Christmas, only to learn those $$ were going to be pulled out of my account. And they were.

I figured that if IS couldn't even control its own servers well enough to screen out the non-existent credit card(s), I sure couldn't expect them to protect my images. That helped make my decision to bail out even easier.

Ja, I remember that, though I was not hit that day but later and earlier. Their refunds were a major reason why I left them. I am not going to pay for that they can not keep their shop in a secure working order.

marthamarks · « **Reply #33 on:** August 25, 2013, 02:03 »

Quote from: JPSDK on August 25, 2013, 01:05

Ja, I remember that, though I was not hit that day but later and earlier. Their refunds were a major reason why I left them. I am not going to pay for that they can not keep their shop in a secure working order.

+1 Absolutely right.

Beppe Grillo · « **Reply #34 on:** August 25, 2013, 02:19 »

Considering that iS is going bad and worst… (and it is my impression too), I wonder why a photographer considered as the best microstock photographer in the whole universe has decided, in this precise moment, to become exclusive with them?

Pilens · « **Reply #35 on:** August 25, 2013, 02:57 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on August 25, 2013, 02:19

Considering that iS is going bad and worst… (and it is my impression too), I wonder why a photographer considered as the best microstock photographer in the whole universe has decided, in this precise moment, to become exclusive with them?

CASH is the answer, I think. He is watching his RPI eroding for quite a while and can extrapolate the date when his image factory business will become unsustainable. I guess he's switching sides from contributor to agent. Thus, he comes up with his own innovative website, partners with desperate but cash-loaded GI and invests in new ventures such as this Scoopoop (?

) business. Makes perfect sense too me. BUT: will it help IS stay afloat? I hope so but have serious doubts. Time will tell.

JPSDK · « **Reply #36 on:** August 25, 2013, 06:09 »

Quote from: Beppe Grillo on August 25, 2013, 02:19

Considering that iS is going bad and worst… (and it is my impression too), I wonder why a photographer considered as the best microstock photographer in the whole universe has decided, in this precise moment, to become exclusive with them?

Because he in fact gave up microstock and parked his port where it could bring back the most revenue while he persued other areas of interest.

Red Dove · « **Reply #37 on:** August 25, 2013, 08:21 »

IStock are like a scab you know you should leave alone but keep going back to thinking it won't bleed.

Noedelhap · « **Reply #38 on:** August 25, 2013, 11:07 »

Would I dump iStock if it was a purely emotional decision? YES.
Would I dump iStock if it was a purely business decision? Depends.

They are still the #1 earner for me and they recently reinstated the 20% royalty for illustrators.

Sure, they mistreat contributors, they screw up their site every now and then, they have a horrible forum moderator, but in the end, it's all about the money. When the moment comes that iStock dies in terms of sales, that's the moment I'll ditch them. Even though emotionally, I would ditch them right now. But business-wise, it wouldn't make much sense...yet.

Ilfede · « **Reply #39 on:** August 25, 2013, 16:49 »

I'm trying to convince every photo buyer I know to buy elsewhere... do the same and let IS know your disappointment.
Dear IS, advertising is expensive, and loosing customers thanx to your behavior with contributors is a suicide.

jjneff · « **Reply #40 on:** August 25, 2013, 17:36 »

I have been exclusive with iStock since 2006. I still like iStock and hope they can make it. To me iStock did not understand the market and that a lot of small buyers were artist as well. When KT started yanking us around things started to go south. SS jumped at the chance and now you have the current situation.

WarrenPrice · « **Reply #41 on:** August 26, 2013, 12:32 »

Continuing to follow the rumored mass exodus. Is it really happening or just a lot of talk?
If so many are leaving, will that lead to more sales for those who ignore the call for action?
At what point will the rumored mass exodus of contributors lead to a decrease in buyers? Will buyers be satisfied with quality of remaining content?

Also, very active effort in transferring files to Thinkstock. More than three quarters of my port is there. Will that be a good source of increased revenue for independent contributors?

As mentioned above; should a decision to exit be less about emotions and more about revenue?

Just thinking.
$:-\$

luissantos84 · « **Reply #42 on:** August 26, 2013, 13:09 »

I have 3 pictures uploaded in 2013 (2 at Thinkstock, other picture still outside and submitted on May 16th)

from the 2 pictures imported (one approved on Feb 4th and other on Feb 27th)
- 0 sales at iStock
- 18 sales at Thinkstock (5.04$)

my stats don't mean much but I would say that iStock income will continue to drop and Thinkstock will be the only place where independents will sell content (Thinkstock AFAIK doesn't sell exclusive files, at least migration stopped so no more fresh files, yes they still have a few "millions" selling there)

Ron · « **Reply #43 on:** August 26, 2013, 13:23 »

If I would upload my entire portfolio to IS, I would make good money on TS, its tempting, but I wont, because;

A) The uploading process, I cant get myself to do it, its too much work
B) The company IS is an unreliable, untrustworthy, incapable company with a very fascist like way of working, and as a company, and their employees, have no respect whatsoever for contributors.
C) Their royalties are criminal on their own

I submitted to IS to pass the test I failed when I started with photography. I wanted to prove myself that I could do it. I also wanted access to the forum, where I got banned. And I wanted to be a contributor, so at least I could experience first hand what everyone was talking about.

When I reach payout, I will take the cash, and delete my account. 40 dollars to go.

Its too bad, because I think I could make at least a couple hundred per month on IS.

dingles · « **Reply #44 on:** August 26, 2013, 13:50 »

Although I dislike their lack of communication and snail paced speed to fix anything they are still my top earner so i am with them for the ride...if they stop earning or do something that really compromises my work then I may jump ship...until then IS all the way ;P

luissantos84 · « **Reply #45 on:** August 26, 2013, 14:11 »

Quote from: dingles on August 26, 2013, 13:50

Although I dislike their lack of communication and snail paced speed to fix anything they are still my top earner so i am with them for the ride...if they stop earning or do something that really compromises my work then I may jump ship...until then IS all the way ;P

were you exclusive?

dingles · « **Reply #46 on:** August 26, 2013, 14:27 »

I am exclusive in one content category there, but not all

luissantos84 · « **Reply #47 on:** August 26, 2013, 14:32 »

Quote from: dingles on August 26, 2013, 14:27

I am exclusive in one content category there, but not all

does that mean you are selling photos at iStock and footage at other? asking that once I have read from your posts that you are working with SS as well, thanks for your reply

mlwinphoto · « **Reply #48 on:** August 26, 2013, 14:52 »

Quote from: Ron on August 26, 2013, 13:23

When I reach payout, I will take the cash, and delete my account. 40 dollars to go.

FYI, if you don't already know, you can close your account and get paid before reaching payout. If all you do is delete your images without actually closing your account then you won't be getting your below-payout balance.

sharpshot · « **Reply #49 on:** August 26, 2013, 15:19 »

Quote from: WarrenPrice on August 26, 2013, 12:32

Continuing to follow the rumored mass exodus. Is it really happening or just a lot of talk?
If so many are leaving, will that lead to more sales for those who ignore the call for action?
At what point will the rumored mass exodus of contributors lead to a decrease in buyers? Will buyers be satisfied with quality of remaining content?

Also, very active effort in transferring files to Thinkstock. More than three quarters of my port is there. Will that be a good source of increased revenue for independent contributors?

As mentioned above; should a decision to exit be less about emotions and more about revenue?

Just thinking.
$:-\$

I don't think there's ever been a mass exodus and I'm sure there would be people willing to upload for 5% commission or perhaps less. I just don't want to be one of them.

It does look like the only incentive to upload to istock for non-exclusives could be to use Thinkstock but I really can't be bothered with that. Now the upload limits and review standards have gone, TS will get swamped with low quality images and I think it will be harder to make money there. And Getty/istock would be able to experiment with my images, with deals like the Google one or the nanostock scheme that doesn't get mentioned much here.

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Author Topic: What are you doing about istock? (Read 19820 times)

bunhill

sharpshot

gbalex

sharpshot

marthamarks

pancaketom

marthamarks

JPSDK

marthamarks

Beppe Grillo

Pilens

JPSDK

Red Dove

Noedelhap

Ilfede

jjneff

WarrenPrice

luissantos84

Ron

dingles

luissantos84

dingles

luissantos84

mlwinphoto

sharpshot

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