Where you have control, it's entirely up to you to decide what to do.

On dreamstime, for example, I disabled ELs when they started giving them away (I don't mean that literally; they had some really cheap subscription deals that paid us a fraction of a credit EL). I disabled ELs on Shutterstock when they cut the royalties, but renabled them in April to see if it made a difference to SOD sales (I had a theory that perhaps images with ELs disabled were not included in searches for corporate clients).

If you don't think the price is fair, you can disable ELs. If you sell through your own site, you could hope to steer EL sales there by disabling at the agencies, but it'd be the rare portfolio for which that would make a difference - there's too much choice at most of the agencies and buyers will likely find something similar to yours that they like well enough to license it.

Jo Ann, did it make a difference?
I disabled the EL on SS and I feel like I was punished (my theory) ... I love how FT lets you set the EL.

Jo Ann, did it make a difference?
I disabled the EL on SS and I feel like I was punished (my theory) ... I love how FT lets you set the EL.

I can't be sure, but I think it did. The high value SODs (versus those for a few dollars or a few cents) had disappeared completely - but other people were seeing declines in those, so you can't be sure.

The day after I turned ELs back on, I got a $66 SOD and two (rather lowball) ELs! I realized this wasn't going to be a daily occurrence - and it hasn't been, sadly - but I have seen a few high-value SODs each month since then. The theory that lowering EL prices would increase volume is bollocks - as everyone knew it was when SS made the change - but I decided I was willing to put up with those $17 and $19 royalties for ELs to try (for a year) and see if the SODs  returned.

I think a decent agency would be fully transparent about what happens if you opt out of various items, but I don't expect SS to do that, so I figured a 12 month experiment would give me enough of a guide that I could then decide whether to leave ELs turned on or not. If ELs are few and far between, access to SODs would make the overall deal a good one for contributors.

Thanks Jo Ann for your reply. I hate selling EL's for so little.
It is a shame they dropped the price. I wonder what cuts will happen in 2018 ...

Very true mantis. I just can't believe how bad it is getting. You aren't alone.

Quote from: angelawaye on July 28, 2017, 21:58

Jo Ann, did it make a difference?
I disabled the EL on SS and I feel like I was punished (my theory) ... I love how FT lets you set the EL.

I can't be sure, but I think it did. The high value SODs (versus those for a few dollars or a few cents) had disappeared completely - but other people were seeing declines in those, so you can't be sure.

The day after I turned ELs back on, I got a $66 SOD and two (rather lowball) ELs! I realized this wasn't going to be a daily occurrence - and it hasn't been, sadly - but I have seen a few high-value SODs each month since then. The theory that lowering EL prices would increase volume is bollocks - as everyone knew it was when SS made the change - but I decided I was willing to put up with those $17 and $19 royalties for ELs to try (for a year) and see if the SODs  returned.

I think a decent agency would be fully transparent about what happens if you opt out of various items, but I don't expect SS to do that, so I figured a 12 month experiment would give me enough of a guide that I could then decide whether to leave ELs turned on or not. If ELs are few and far between, access to SODs would make the overall deal a good one for contributors.

Since the change I definately got more ELs than before.