MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Pond5 => Topic started by: odesigns on December 31, 2024, 14:27
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I like making charts to see my sales data. I made this one up to see my download trends at my agencies. Since P5 is done for the year, I generated that one first.
A real eye opener. Seems that for me at least, I've been trending down since 2020. How are your yearly downloads?
You have to do Pond5 either today or tomorrow, since the "stats" page only lets you see a full year by choosing "last 365 days". You can't specify a custom date range, from what I can see.
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May I ask how much did you upload in that time frame?
Did the drop happen inspite of steady uploads?
Did your sales increase elsewhere - adobe, shutterstock, blackbox?
I wonder how much pond5 is being advertised these days or if all the focus is on Shutterstock.
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Downloads is only part of the equation (it's been consistent for me for the past few years at around 15 despite regular uploads).
I like to track the average return per download and it's quite steady at Pond5 but almost certain to see a 20% drop from next year after their "exciting news" announcement.
Detailed stats and charts just published on here:
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2025/01/01/2024-year-end-review-good-bad-and-ugly/
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May I ask how much did you upload in that time frame?
I create about 500-700 new assets per year, mostly video. In 2024, I added 701 assets to P5.
Did the drop happen inspite of steady uploads?
Yes.
Did your sales increase elsewhere - adobe, shutterstock, blackbox?
I do plan on making these charts for myself soon. If you want to see them, let me know. But an early glance at my data may show Adobe's chart looking the most promising.
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I would be very interested in your data if you were so kind to share. You are a very experienced video producer.
As you have probably read in various places, I am making video my main theme for this year.
I only have 1000 clips on pond5, 500 on bb and adobe respectively and the quality is still very amateur. But they do sell, especially editorial and my ugly food shots. (authentic realism…)
The next three months I will be mostly processing a backlog of clips, then gradually start doing more organized and planned shootings.
With my buyers hat I see a lot of missing content and less competition than in photos. Sometimes even no competition, especially with local editorial.
In theory, building a large video library should be a good idea.
So it is frustrating to read that pro producers have lower sales, but especially with p5 I think this is the result of the ss takeover.
Are they still investing in marketing pond5?
And that is something we cannot control.
All the best for the new year, perhaps Adobe will see an uptick in sales if more former p5 exclusive content comes their way.
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...perhaps Adobe will see an uptick in sales if more former p5 exclusive content comes their way.
I'll be trying to do my part...
Technically there's that 180 day P5 lockout before previously Exclusive assets can be uploaded elsewhere. I've already started slowly adding some new video to Adobe - but their footage reviewing seems very slow.
Adobe doesn't accept editorial which makes up a significant portion of my P5 Excl videos so unfortunately those won't get sent to Adobe.
So any sales upticks at Adobe due to previous P5 Excl assets coming over may take many months and possibly not noticeable when spread out over time.
Happy New Year!
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I would be very interested in your data if you were so kind to share. You are a very experienced video producer.
As requested, here are a few more. I really only track P5, SS, AS, and iS in this manner as all the others have a "subscription" component and I cannot pinpoint exact download numbers. And I can't make iStock's chart until December is reported later this month.
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RPD and total DL aren't really useful for comparing agencies
my RPD for AS is twice that of SS yet SS income is consistently about 20% greater than AS (which is what matters in the end)
meanwhile SS DL are 1.5 to twice as many AS, but not reflected in $
so both RPD & DL are misleading as indicators of success, which also makes the AS weekly ranking merely bragging rights
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@ode thank you. Looks like Adobe is doing something right with customers. Many people are reporting rising sales although they don‘t add much new content.
@cascoly
In theory an agency with a reliable higher rpd would be a good agency for content that might have been more expensive to produce but you know will not sell in high volume.
On p5 you used to be able to make that distinction yourself by demanding a much higher price for more specialized content.
Absolute return is the most important of course, but some agencies with a higher base price can be good with exclusive content.
It is a shame how prices for video have fallen sometimes even below photos.
There is very little content compared to images, prices should stay higher longer.
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For me the peak "video boom" was bout 2018 or so then downhill from there.
All agencies sold well and for good prices at that point. Since then massive price cuts combined with market saturation drove it to penny stock again.
2018 SS my video portfolio was 10% the size of my images but earned about 30% more than images every month. That was of course before the percentage pricing, cheaper packages, subscriptions and level cuts.
P5 my income is down about 50% since that time period on average. AS however is stable.
This is a smallish video port of around 2,000 clips.
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This is a smallish video port of around 2,000 clips.
Is your video port comprised of HD, 4K or a combination of both?
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RPD and total DL aren't really useful for comparing agencies
my RPD for AS is twice that of SS yet SS income is consistently about 20% greater than AS (which is what matters in the end)
meanwhile SS DL are 1.5 to twice as many AS, but not reflected in $
so both RPD & DL are misleading as indicators of success, which also makes the AS weekly ranking merely bragging rights
Yes, the AS weekly and lifetime are variable and unreliable, not just because they might be DLs only, but comparing, people have different numbers for the same DLs and lower numbers for more DLs. It's terribly flawed. But nice for bragging rights, which never paid for anything.
RPD, it would be good if someone is comparing similar systems. The problem is just what you say. My RPD on Alamy, to go for one extreme, was $48.83 last year. Being fair, two DLs were around $140 each. If I only use what I consider microstock sites: in order of earnings for the year =
AS 00.88
SS 00.65
WS 00.44
iS 00.47
DT 00.38
In my case, AS is better in all respects. No one can decide based on someone else's images and content. I only have video on Pond5, I don't have Editorial on Adobe. Some of my best images on Adobe are not acceptable on SS. DT takes everything, the same images that are on SS and AS.
It just happens that sorted by DLs, AS is double SS, SS is double WS, IS is double DT. WS earned half of what SS paid, but the RPD is close to 2/3rds.
The only stat that matters is $$$ per year. 8)
(https://i.postimg.cc/Bnbj7rDm/hands-reaching-coin-star-web.jpg)
OK a nice bunch of numbers, but AS earns me 3X more in DOLLARS than SS makes me and that's what we spend, not RPD or DLs. RPD doesn't show that. And counting DLs doesn't work either.
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This is a smallish video port of around 2,000 clips.
Is your video port comprised of HD, 4K or a combination of both?
Probably 80% 4k, the rest HD with a handful 720p. That said, when stats where available and where they still are elsewher, 95% sales are HD resolution.
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This is a smallish video port of around 2,000 clips.
Is your video port comprised of HD, 4K or a combination of both?
Probably 80% 4k, the rest HD with a handful 720p. That said, when stats where available and where they still are elsewher, 95% sales are HD resolution.
Thanks for your response. And, do you feel the upgrade was worth
the investment in new equipment? When you find a scene that you
think is worth shooting do you shoot both 4K and HD and submit
both formats? It sounds like your only real success is HD with only
5% sales in 4K. I'm still struggling with buying new equipment,
especially now that agencies have made it a "penny hobby".
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I didnt really upgrade for that reason, it was time to upgrade my (mainly still photography) kit and at this point everything does 4k anyway. All the drones, phones, mirrorless and action cams.
So effectively the "upgrade" was free.
I wouldnt say its worth upgrading to 4k specifically to make 4k videos though. That wouldnt be good value. The vast majority of sales are still HD (Blackbox mentions similar in its FAQs).
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I didnt really upgrade for that reason, it was time to upgrade my (mainly still photography) kit and at this point everything does 4k anyway. All the drones, phones, mirrorless and action cams.
So effectively the "upgrade" was free.
I wouldnt say its worth upgrading to 4k specifically to make 4k videos though. That wouldnt be good value. The vast majority of sales are still HD (Blackbox mentions similar in its FAQs).
Just from comments like yours and so many others here, it seems that HD is alive and well, which supports your opinion that, upgrading just for the sake of making 4k is not necessary.
On my side of that, even if I have 4k available, I'm working back into the old backups, that I never edited or uploaded, because I skipped video, and now the older scenes and ideas, aren't DOA. I've been saving some new as FullHD instead of bothering to make them 4k.
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I stopped uploading 4K, 8K, and 10K content in 2023 due to the high costs associated with rendering time, upload time, and hard disk space. This decision applies not only to videos but especially to my 3D work.
In 2024, I had hundreds of HD sales, fewer than 20 sales in 4K, and only 2 in 8K. Last January, I purchased a 10TB drive, and I still have nearly 2TB of free space remaining.
I will probably continue to film some things in 4K but I will definitely use HD for rendering 3d works and only upload everything in HD.
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I thought somebody might find this interesting. I primarily produce videos with a portfolio pushing 14, 000 clips on P5, but have around 7, 000 images on various agencies. To give the graph some meaning my peak sales year was 2018 with sales of approx $40, 000
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red color is SS, yellow is AS, blue is Istock, and green is P5
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That is VERY interesting, thank you very much. Very fascinating how Adobe is growing their video sales, but also istock is not to be ignored. Also looks like mostly customers migrated from SS to other places as there is no real rise in total sales.
I am gobbling up all real info I can find.
And every day I do test searches for video. It is crazy how much easy to shoot stuff has never been done.
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I thought somebody might find this interesting. I primarily produce videos with a portfolio pushing 14, 000 clips on P5, but have around 7, 000 images on various agencies. To give the graph some meaning my peak sales year was 2018 with sales of approx $40, 000
Interesting indeed. Would it be fair to say it looks like Shutterstock has fallen a lot since your peak while Adobe Stock has increased providing some overall stability to your yearly earnings?
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Yes- I would be in a world of hurt if I hadn't started uploading to Adobe. I quit uploading to iStock for a while as i loathe their low commission rates and cheap sales, but with the massive fall of SS it has helped cushion the blow
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When you find a scene that you
think is worth shooting do you shoot both 4K and HD and submit
both formats?
Well there wouldn't really be any point of recording a subject in both 4k and HD (even if you wanted to submit both resolutions.) Just record once in 4k and be done with it. Then upload that 4k video to your computer and export a 4k copy and also a HD copy from the timeline.
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All agencies i know of specifically ban uploading the same shoot in different resolutions.
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I thought somebody might find this interesting. I primarily produce videos with a portfolio pushing 14, 000 clips on P5, but have around 7, 000 images on various agencies. To give the graph some meaning my peak sales year was 2018 with sales of approx $40, 000
You and I seem to be very similar statistically. I also have ~14K files (mostly video), and 2018 was my peak year.
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I wouldnt say its worth upgrading to 4k specifically to make 4k videos though. That wouldnt be good value. The vast majority of sales are still HD (Blackbox mentions similar in its FAQs).
I would think that moving forward, frame rate might be a more valuable asset to buyers over resolution. Since you can easily and effectively upscale HD to 4K these days (I do it all the time with great results), shooting higher frame rates -- even at HD -- might be the thing that puts you on top, since you can't as easily "upscale" the frame rate without severely compromising the motion.
So, perhaps if you had a choice of shooting 30fps 4K or 120fps HD, I'd choose the latter.
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Again, thank you for the suggestion I have never considered doing 120fps.
But…would it not be possible to use ai to modify a 30fps clip?
Probably I do not understand it well enough.
If you can upscale with ai, couldn‘t ai also add more frames?
Maybe it makes too many mistakes?
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All agencies i know of specifically ban uploading the same shoot in different resolutions.
Well yea not something I would recommend. I do export a 4k copy and a HD copy from the original 4k video and submit those to different agencies. P5 and AS get my 4k videos. I only submit HD videos to SS. It really sucks receiving say $0.25c for a HD video sale. Though I couldn't handle getting that kind of change for a 4k video sale. That would be too much of an insult. The only reason why I submit videos to SS these days is for the decent value clip sales that occur there once in a while.
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If you can upscale with ai, couldn‘t ai also add more frames?
You can, but the AI would be making up the missing frames. For slow movement shots, it would work fine, but for high motion, it would be terrible.
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Yes- I would be in a world of hurt if I hadn't started uploading to Adobe. I quit uploading to iStock for a while as i loathe their low commission rates and cheap sales, but with the massive fall of SS it has helped cushion the blow
How is your motivation for continuing m-stock generally? Are you still uploading?
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Yes- I would be in a world of hurt if I hadn't started uploading to Adobe. I quit uploading to iStock for a while as i loathe their low commission rates and cheap sales, but with the massive fall of SS it has helped cushion the blow
How is your motivation for continuing m-stock generally? Are you still uploading?
I still upload regularly, but have gone from editing on multiple computers to just one. At one point I was uploading around 50 clips a week, now it's a little more than 10 a week.
Fortunately I'm in my 60's and have accepted that my stock earnings will slide into oblivion. I still enjoy the creative aspect and just shoot subjects I enjoy, primarily wildlife and travel. It is difficult to plan trips that would be profitable with the reduced earnings and most trips now are to reduce my tax liability.
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Again, thank you for the suggestion I have never considered doing 120fps.
But…would it not be possible to use ai to modify a 30fps clip?
Probably I do not understand it well enough.
If you can upscale with ai, couldn‘t ai also add more frames?
Maybe it makes too many mistakes?
Most NLEs will do frame rate conversion. That said, Topaz generally does it better.
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So, perhaps if you had a choice of shooting 30fps 4K or 120fps HD, I'd choose the latter.
Are you writing about slow motion or are you uploading 120 fps videos to stock sites?
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Are you writing about slow motion or are you uploading 120 fps videos to stock sites?
Shooting and uploading 120. Not many take it, however. But you could always down-rez it to 60fps all while having the original 120 in your archive for future use.
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Are you writing about slow motion or are you uploading 120 fps videos to stock sites?
Shooting and uploading 120. Not many take it, however. But you could always down-rez it to 60fps all while having the original 120 in your archive for future use.
What's the point of uploading a video with 120 fps or 60 fps? There are very few such videos on stocks and few people buy them. FPS in the EU is 25, and FPS in America is 29.97. Why would a buyer need a video with 60 or 120 fps? Yes, I shoot video at 120 fps and 240 fps and 480 fps, but I convert it to 29.97 and get slow motion.
My camera shoots 4k at 120 fps, I like it, good slow motion.
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What's the point of uploading a video with 120 fps or 60 fps?
120fps is the only frame rate that can be converted to 24, 30, or 60 without issues, duplicated frames, or any other compromises since 120 is divisible by all those standard frame rates. Thus, giving the buyer the flexibility to use a video shot at 120 in any 24, 30, or 60fps projects.
Plus, it gives the buyer the ability to choose slow motion if they wanted.
Same goes for shooting and submitting 60fps, but you can't as easily convert 60fps to 24fps. Most of my drone shots are shot and uploaded at 60fps to give the buyer a bit more flexibility.
But, at the commissions we're paid these days, it's probably not worth the trouble anymore. I basically shoot stock on my iPhone now (which coincidentally can shoot 4K 120fps).
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I upload everything only in 29.97. This fps easily transforms into 25 and 24 fps. If I shoot slow, then I shoot slow, and there can be no other ideas here.
I don't know of any projects in 60 fps. Considering that there are very few videos with 60 fps on stocks (and even less 120), I think there is not much demand for such videos.
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I'll take learnings from odesigns way over stocker2014 with regard to these topics. Good point about giving the prospective customer options.
Stocker2014, maybe if you thought more about what the customers needs are rather than your presumptions, you wouldn't be hanging on every last bit of what you can get from the free selections or data set earnings, and be selling much more of your contents.
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Pacesetter, You made me laugh. Good luck! ;D ;D ;D
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What's the point of uploading a video with 120 fps or 60 fps? There are very few such videos on stocks and few people buy them. FPS in the EU is 25, and FPS in America is 29.97. Why would a buyer need a video with 60 or 120 fps?
Because they might want to slow it down to an unknown level or at least give them the option. Very useful for stabilising handheld shots of things and so on with slowing.
Default FPS these days really doesnt matter. Every NLE is perfectly capable of converting with no loss in quality of frames in the usual range.
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odesigns is greyed out. what happened?
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What's the point of uploading a video with 120 fps or 60 fps? There are very few such videos on stocks and few people buy them. FPS in the EU is 25, and FPS in America is 29.97. Why would a buyer need a video with 60 or 120 fps?
Because they might want to slow it down to an unknown level or at least give them the option. Very useful for stabilising handheld shots of things and so on with slowing.
Default FPS these days really doesnt matter. Every NLE is perfectly capable of converting with no loss in quality of frames in the usual range.
My experience shows that we shouldn't shift our work to the buyer. We create content and only we know what we do and why. There is a lot of competition on stocks and in video too and the buyer will buy a finished product and insert it into his project faster than buy raw material and do something. Beginner stockers upload unpainted videos to stocks and they have few sales because it is easier and faster for the buyer to buy a ready-made video. This is understandable, it is easier and faster for the buyer to choose the most finished video than to think about what can be done from a raw video uploaded directly from the camera.
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Very useful for stabilising handheld shots of things and so on with slowing.
+100
So slow it down yourself, because when a buyer sees your jerky video at 60 or 120 fps, he will be horrified and will not buy it. He will not think about what will happen if slow down your video. Moreover, some video buyers (if not most) do not know how to do what you do and do not understand why they should do your work.
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Very useful for stabilising handheld shots of things and so on with slowing.
+100
So slow it down yourself, because when a buyer sees your jerky video at 60 or 120 fps, he will be horrified and will not buy it. He will not think about what will happen if slow down your video. Moreover, some video buyers (if not most) do not know how to do what you do and do not understand why they should do your work.
A buyer isnt going to see a jerky video at 60 or 120 fps. They see a normal video and the frame rate listed so they know they can slow it down.
The whole point is you can slow down 60/120fps far better than 30 or whatever. You have extra frames to play with. It slows down far better with higher quality.
If they dont want to slow it down they dont have to. Their NLE will automatically and effortlessly interpolate the clip into whatever frame rate they choose for their project.
There's no downside at all.
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gnirtS, great, upload videos in 60 and 120 fps! Join the ranks of the few authors who upload in this fps. Let the buyer think about what will happen if you slow down your video. After all, your video is unique and the buyer will waste his time on it.
;D
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gnirtS, great, upload videos in 60 and 120 fps! Join the ranks of the few authors who upload in this fps. Let the buyer think about what will happen if you slow down your video. After all, your video is unique and the buyer will waste his time on it.
;D
Is that even in English?! Words look correct but in a random order.
If a buyer buys a video they get a video that they can use for whatever they want in exactly the same was as a 24/25/30 or other FPS. Its going to make no difference to them at all. Just drop it into the NLE and off you go. No difference at all.
Would love you to explain how buying a 60fps video is a "waste of time" in any way for a buyer....
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Is that even in English?!
I don't know, English is not my native language. ;D
Would love you to explain how buying a 60fps video is a "waste of time" in any way for a buyer....
I wish you could explain to buyers what huge advantages they will get if they buy videos in 60 and 120 fps! After that I would upload videos to stocks directly from the camera. ;D
Unfortunately, few buyers think about what else can be done with the video. Usually they look at what you have uploaded and buy only what suits them for insertion into their project. Buyers from the US will not buy 25 fps videos, they are more likely to buy 29.97 videos. Buyers from the EU buy both 25 and 29.97, because they are used to the fact that stocks mostly have 29.97 videos.
Look at the portfolios of top authors, you are unlikely to find many 60 fps videos there, if at all.
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I wish you could explain to buyers what huge advantages they will get if they buy videos in 60 and 120 fps!
Advantages, they can better slow down and stabilise if needed. They may also me using a 60p timeline.
Disadvantages, zero. None. If they dont need the extra frames it costs nothing and has no negative effect for them.
Buyers from the US will not buy 25 fps videos, they are more likely to buy 29.97 videos. Buyers from the EU buy both 25 and 29.97, because they are used to the fact that stocks mostly have 29.97 videos.
That really hasnt been the case for many many years now. Old style FPS is a dated TV related concept and definitely before every single NLE on the market would seamlessly convert to what was needed with no loss in quality. BB and other mass agencies all state there is no correlation between FPS and total sales or even regional sales.
Look at the portfolios of top authors, you are unlikely to find many 60 fps videos there, if at all.
Because a lot of their kit is older and clips are older. That doesnt mean they dont shoot it. They just dont need to and its not worth upgrading for.
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gnirtS, you can also look at new works by top authors and see that they load with fps 29.97.
I do not agree that fps does not affect sales. I claim that videos with fps 60 and 120 will sell much worse than videos with fps 29.97.
You do not need to convince me of the advantages of fps 60, I am not interested. I am only guided by demand from buyers.
Write all this to buyers! ;D ;D ;D
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gnirtS, you can also look at new works by top authors and see that they load with fps 29.97.
That isnt relevant at all. Their kit produces that frame rate. Its also quite likely they film for other projects and stock is a sideline. Not relevant.
I do not agree that fps does not affect sales. I claim that videos with fps 60 and 120 will sell much worse than videos with fps 29.97.
OK you can claim that. Lets see stats and figures to back up that claim then.
You do not need to convince me of the advantages of fps 60, I am not interested. I am only guided by demand from buyers.
Write all this to buyers! ;D ;D ;D
I dont need to convince you. All i know is from my data and that of Blackbox etc (ie sample size of millions) is that it makes no difference at all to buyers what frame rate its shot in. No problem at all.
"OMG Frame Rate WRONG!!!111111" may have been an issue over a decade ago. Given nobody uses fixed frame rate analogue tv any more and NLEs exist then its not now.
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In the USA, the power grid frequency is 60 Hz, which means there will be 60 half frames and 30 frames, respectively.
Blackbox is a lie.
You live in your own illusions. But yes, load 60 and 120, then tell us about your successes.
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In the USA, the power grid frequency is 60 Hz, which means there will be 60 half frames and 30 frames, respectively.
Yes. But not relevant at all.
Blackbox is a lie.
You live in your own illusions. But yes, load 60 and 120, then tell us about your successes.
Still waiting for the stats to back up your claims. As for loading 60, already have. Well over a thousand. They sell just fine. No difference to my 24/25 or 30 fps.
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gnirtS, don't mislead people.
I only focus on the portfolios of top authors and the results of communication with those who uploaded videos with fps 60. I have already written my conclusions.
I categorically disagree with your texts in this topic. I am sure that you are a theorist who fantasizes here.
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gnirtS, don't mislead people.
Mislead?! You made claims. Twice i asked for data supporting those claims and none was given. So lets try it again, show your figures to back it.
I only focus on the portfolios of top authors and the results of communication with those who uploaded videos with fps 60.
So lets see the "communications". (Note, voices in your head are not valid communications)
I have already written my conclusions.
So show your workings
I categorically disagree with your texts in this topic. I am sure that you are a theorist who fantasizes here.
You're allowed to disagree but you're also making random claims without any supporting data at all. I believe thats known as fantasy.
You've also shown a complete lack of understanding of anything in the modern video world regarding standards, framerates, formats, editing and in addition called the data from one of the largest stock submitters "lies". So again, show your working.
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As for loading 60, already have. Well over a thousand. They sell just fine. No difference to my 24/25 or 30 fps.
In this thread you are trying to prove something to me. So let's post screenshots of your statistics here so that people can see which video of yours was sold and what fps it has. You need to post links to your sold video here in the thread to see its fps, and you should also post screenshots here confirming that your video with 60 fps was sold.
As for me, I am not proving anything to anyone here. I just told you that you are writing nonsense and that you can upload whatever you want to stocks.
But if you want someone to listen to you and believe you, then you need to post your screenshots.
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Twice i asked for data supporting those claims and none was given.
I don't owe you anything, and I'll most likely add you to my ignore list.
;D
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Added the troll to my ignore list. Good luck!
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odesigns is greyed out. what happened?
I've been wondering about this as well, Jasmine.
His last post was on January 14th.
The deletion of his account seemed to coincide with the news about the Getty and SS merger. Could this have been the final blow to his journey as a stock creator?
Additionally, his website is no longer functioning.
It's a shame he's gone. His depth of knowledge and experience were valuable assets to this forum.
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Twice i asked for data supporting those claims and none was given.
I don't owe you anything, and I'll most likely add you to my ignore list.
;D
Im going with "I made a batshit claim at odds with data, unable to back it up, dont like being challenged so now going to hide away from scrutiny" then.
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The deletion of his account seemed to coincide with the news about the Getty and SS merger.
People seem to be blaming everything on a merger that (i) hasnt had any details finalised (ii) nothing signed (iii) no regulator approval and (iii) unlikely to happen at all this year or even further years.
Most likely is the timing is purely coincidental.
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If his website is gone, that sounds really serious.
I hope it is not a health issue or worse.
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If his website is gone, that sounds really serious.
I hope it is not a health issue or worse.
I sincerely hope so too.
Here’s his website
https://www.orlowskidesigns.com/ (https://www.orlowskidesigns.com/)
It’s stuck on a page with his logo.
I will miss his contribution to this forum.
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It's like a detective story.
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Has anyone seen him on pond5 forums? Or had private contact with him?
I just hope he is ok and just taking a timeout to restart the year.
But the change on the website is weird, how will clients find him?
At least his p5 port is still there
https://www.pond5.com/artist/odesigns (https://www.pond5.com/artist/odesigns)
Whatever happened, I hope he recovers soon.
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Same here, serious downtrend. I have 1060 videos on Pond5. I uploaded some photos to Shutterstock (about 40 pictures) in 2016. Never checked my account and forgot about it, found out I have $43.00. I didn't care in the past because I was so busy freelancing and didn't need the money. But now, I have a lot of free time, and I'm going to upload my stills. I have a good mix of commercial and editorial footage.
The main thing that gives me anxiety is how many images I have and that it will take a while, maybe a year or more to get ALL of my stills and video on all three platforms: Adobe, Shutterstock and iStock. I have to wait for the Pond5 videos, because I was on an exclusive contract with them, and a lot of that is my best video footage.
I figured that I should enjoy the process, and re-visit the historical moments captured in my editorial footage and appreciate the beauty of the underwater and nature stuff.
I'm still trying to decide whether the underwater stuff should be commercial or editorial, but I feel like editorial on Shutterstock and the same stuff on Adobe and iStock can be sold as commercial. From what I understand, the commercial stuff on Shutterstock CANNOT be used as editorial, so i'll go both ways on separate platforms.
I'm mostly excited and curious as to what footage gets popular, that it will be used as content and that's pretty cool to me. It seems (but I may be wrong) that i'll still be only making a few dollars per month once all is said and done. But, money isn't free so I guess it's worth the effort, lol.
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From what I understand, the commercial stuff on Shutterstock CANNOT be used as editorial, so i'll go both ways on separate platforms.
Why not? Where does SS say that?
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You're allowed to disagree but you're also making random claims without any supporting data at all. I believe thats known as fantasy.
You've also shown a complete lack of understanding of anything in the modern video world regarding standards, framerates, formats, editing and in addition called the data from one of the largest stock submitters "lies". So again, show your working.
good luck!
he don't need no stinkin' facts!
many have asked; none have been answered
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cascoly, under your nickname is written the phrase "Premium Member". So maybe you will correspond to the status of the guru of this forum, and start writing on the topic. Do you have something to say on the topic?
Or have you decided to flood and troll? ;D ;D ;D
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Dear friends,
Let us offer Shutterstock a round of applause, congratulating them for their hard work and persistence.
It took a little while but Shutterstock's diligence and consistency finally paid off in the end - having successfully achieved their aim of destroying Pond5 after their successful ruin of Shutterstock.
Very well done, a feat seldom accomplished by other microstock agencies.
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The website is back, so I assume he is still well and with us.
https://www.orlowskidesigns.com/ (https://www.orlowskidesigns.com/)
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The website is back, so I assume he is still well and with us.
https://www.orlowskidesigns.com/ (https://www.orlowskidesigns.com/)
Good news! I hope he’ll come back to this forum. His contribution was valuable.
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I feel this is more a miracle with this triple sale today.
But under the previous contract I would of earned $157.20 at 40% rather than $117.90 at 30%.
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I'm still trying to decide whether the underwater stuff should be commercial or editorial
That depends on the subject matter. Usually, it takes me about one second to decide if a clip or photo needs to be commercial or editorial.
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Dear friends,
Let us offer Shutterstock a round of applause, congratulating them for their hard work and persistence.
It took a little while but Shutterstock's diligence and consistency finally paid off in the end - having successfully achieved their aim of destroying Pond5 after their successful ruin of Shutterstock.
Very well done, a feat seldom accomplished by other microstock agencies.
I'm sure SS appreciates the accolades. Their well executed plan was a proven method of eliminating competition.
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same sh*t here ... zero downloads in 10 days ... before Shitterstock i was at 350-400usd a month ..
let's thank Shitterstock for the great destructive work done on pond5 ... >:(
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We should make an awards ceremony dedicated to our favorite stock agencies.
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same sh*t here ... zero downloads in 10 days ... before Shitterstock i was at 350-400usd a month ..
let's thank Shitterstock for the great destructive work done on pond5 ... >:(
what i wonder is where those sales have gone. my hunch is demand for stock video isn't down, it's just the sales volume on pond5 appears almost gone. the only place i sell video reasonably well is adobe even if the revenue is low.
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same sh*t here ... zero downloads in 10 days ... before Shitterstock i was at 350-400usd a month ..
let's thank Shitterstock for the great destructive work done on pond5 ... >:(
what i wonder is where those sales have gone. my hunch is demand for stock video isn't down, it's just the sales volume on pond5 appears almost gone. the only place i sell video reasonably well is adobe even if the revenue is low.
If that's the case, I wonder where the editorial video sales have gone.
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I'm still trying to decide whether the underwater stuff should be commercial or editorial, but I feel like editorial on Shutterstock and the same stuff on Adobe and iStock can be sold as commercial. From what I understand, the commercial stuff on Shutterstock CANNOT be used as editorial, so i'll go both ways on separate platforms.
Underwater of what? If its just fish, reef etc then its RF (commercial). If its got divers in without a release and/or logos on their clothing, equipment etc which you wont get a release for then its editorial.
You get the same money for both but RF has more uses than editorial (it can be used commercially or editorially if the buyer wants).
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P5 non existent for me in 2025 so far.
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P5 non existent for me in 2025 so far.
Same here - 2 downloads in 2025 with about 5.000 Videos.
At least for me Pond5 seems to be a dead horse...
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P5 non existent for me in 2025 so far.
Same here - 2 downloads in 2025 with about 5.000 Videos.
At least for me Pond5 seems to be a dead horse...
Same. I have about 1,600 videos and over 3,500 images. The thing is once SS bought them, I stopped getting sales. I was making $1500 a year until only two years ago after the sale.
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How is everyone's sales going from P5? I've had a few sales here and there since January but now seems to have dried up completely.
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Pond5 has long been only income from training artificial intelligence.
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Bro,
I just created an excel line graph that represents every month since I started on Pond5 in Dec 2019. The X-axis is the month and the y-axis is the dollar amount. Hope this helps.
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The pond has been a bit dry lately.
According to the poll results and comments on the Pond5 forum, this experience is shared by many.
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At the end of last year, when Pond5 announced the changes to exclusive rates—from 60% to 40%—and dataset earnings—from 60% to 20%—I estimated here in the forum that the actual loss would be at least 50% of my monthly income.
I was wrong. It’s significantly more—closer to a 63% drop. So for every $1,000 I used to earn in 2024, I now make around $370.
In my case, I’ve already lost thousands in just the first four months.
But this is all a matter of perspective—what’s bad for me may be good for other contributors, and likely is. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that Pond5 adds half a million new clips every month?
Most of the new contributors seem to come from Eastern Europe, Russia, and Asia—usually from Bangladesh or India—with some portfolios containing over 100,000 clips.
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At the end of last year, when Pond5 announced the changes to exclusive rates—from 60% to 40%—and dataset earnings—from 60% to 20%—I estimated here in the forum that the actual loss would be at least 50% of my monthly income.
I was wrong. It’s significantly more—closer to a 63% drop. So for every $1,000 I used to earn in 2024, I now make around $370.
In my case, I’ve already lost thousands in just the first four months.
But this is all a matter of perspective—what’s bad for me may be good for other contributors, and likely is. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that Pond5 adds half a million new clips every month?
Most of the new contributors seem to come from Eastern Europe, Russia, and Asia—usually from Bangladesh or India—with some portfolios containing over 100,000 clips.
I've lost almost 100%. I would get 3-6 DL a month. I just had my second DL of the year last week.
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All of my agencies are trending down, except Adobe that is slightly on an upward path.
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At the end of last year, when Pond5 announced the changes to exclusive rates—from 60% to 40%—and dataset earnings—from 60% to 20%—I estimated here in the forum that the actual loss would be at least 50% of my monthly income.
I was wrong. It’s significantly more—closer to a 63% drop. So for every $1,000 I used to earn in 2024, I now make around $370.
In my case, I’ve already lost thousands in just the first four months.
But this is all a matter of perspective—what’s bad for me may be good for other contributors, and likely is. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that Pond5 adds half a million new clips every month?
Most of the new contributors seem to come from Eastern Europe, Russia, and Asia—usually from Bangladesh or India—with some portfolios containing over 100,000 clips.
I've lost almost 100%. I would get 3-6 DL a month. I just had my second DL of the year last week.
I used to get some sales every month, I still got few, but most sales are under 15$, several below 5$, which made Pond5 another low earning agency. For now Storyblocks is, by far, my highest earner, with much less clips than P5 or SS.
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Since January, I've had very few sales from the US in SS. Usually, I get a considerable proportion of my sales from the US.
Maybe the decrease in US buyers could explain everyone's experience across most agencies.
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Since January, I've had very few sales from the US in SS. Usually, I get a considerable proportion of my sales from the US.
Maybe the decrease in US buyers could explain everyone's experience across most agencies.
Did the US video buyers switch to iStock/Getty? I had a very good month for video in March on iStock/Getty and around two-thirds of my videos DL's were from the US.
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Perhaps they are moving new client contracts or advertising already to istock/getty even before the merger?
I have noticed that on Pond5 many of my files, even old hd files, have been priced much higher and added to the premium collection. hd for 139 usd.
Some clips are being priced lower at 35, but other new clips are 119/135.
This is good, because now at least some of my work will be visible if customers search through premium files.
I still have very few clips up, only 1100 files after 14 years. Shame on me.
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At the end of last year, when Pond5 announced the changes to exclusive rates—from 60% to 40%—and dataset earnings—from 60% to 20%—I estimated here in the forum that the actual loss would be at least 50% of my monthly income.
I was wrong. It’s significantly more—closer to a 63% drop. So for every $1,000 I used to earn in 2024, I now make around $370.
In my case, I’ve already lost thousands in just the first four months.
But this is all a matter of perspective—what’s bad for me may be good for other contributors, and likely is. Otherwise, how can we explain the fact that Pond5 adds half a million new clips every month?
Most of the new contributors seem to come from Eastern Europe, Russia, and Asia—usually from Bangladesh or India—with some portfolios containing over 100,000 clips.
My P5 sales are also down significantly. Like depressingly so. I literally remember the day I got the email from Tom Crary saying they were merging with SS. I remember it so well because it was just a horrible thing to read and the feeling of darkness and dread was palpable. In my heart I knew then that P5, which had at one time been an excellent and exceptional agency, was going to be destroyed by all the same terrible policies and practices that plagued SS. I got that email in May of 2022 and so now, three years later, we see that, yes, in fact the sale of P5 to SS was a major disaster and letdown for most (and maybe all) of us. What a shame they couldn't have just kept going like they were. I know the payday was probably very good for the executives- it's understandable. But what a shame for the rest of us.
Evaristo, with typical algorithm changes and SEO shakeups I agree that other contributors can and maybe usually benefit- i.e. the sales just shift to a different contributor. But in this case I think the overall mojo and appeal of P5 as an independent, more selective and higher quality agency and platform overall has subsided and declined, thus leading to a decline in overall traffic and sales across the board. I have no data or figures to support this- it's just my hunch.
I also think the overall uncertainly in the worldwide economy is also a major factor in lower stock sales across the board right now. But even if the macro-economic factors were not in play, I still think P5 would be down simply by virtue of being absorbed by the goons at SS.
As an aside, look at the contributor portal and trends/ideas pages at P5- nothing updated since 2023. And, even worse, they removed all the specialized search queries to see how sales were for a particular clip, contributor, genres, etc. That used to be so valuable. Again, such a shame.
Things always change but this one was truly unfortunate. Crazy that it has been three years now.
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not updating the trend pages is a clear indicator there is nobody left interested in growing the business and sales.
i doubt the demand for video overall has gone down. and there are only 60 million clips over all agencies combined.
pond5 could still be the best video agency if it was promoted properly.
Now we have to wait for what getty will do.
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Now we have to wait for what getty will do.
Are your hopeful Getty will be able to improve pond5 ?
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The authors are solely to blame for the decline in income on pond5.
1. There has not been a single classic stock that sells videos at high prices for a long time. Adobe is primarily a company that sells software. And the stock in Adobe is just a service for software buyers. Previously, this stock was called Fotolia, but was sold to Adobe. It is possible that the profit of the stock called Adobe is zero or small, but for Adobe it does not matter.
2. Pond5 sold itself because there was not enough profit for the stock to exist.
3. The fault of many authors is that when pond5 tried to open another stock called hyperstock, many began to write on its forum that they would delete their works. Pond5 abandoned the idea that could bring him money to support his classic stock.
Of course, I wrote in support of the stock that it is possible to open a hyperstock, but to take there only those authors who agree, but it is obvious that there were problems with this idea.
4. For a long time, pond5 had a subscription called membership, but then it stopped bringing in income.
The whole problem with classic stocks trying to sell videos at high prices is that there is strong competition from new subscription stocks. Most buyers do not want to pay a fixed price for a video, people need a lot of videos for a small fee. Therefore, unlimited stocks with a fee of $ 16 per month are very popular among buyers.
Yes, there are buyers who need to make their project highly expensive or they have a lot of money, but such buyers are not enough to maintain the profitability of a classic stock.
As for getty, this is not a classic stock. This stock sells videos at very low prices. I think that the main profit of getty is from the sale of photos and videos, which are sold on an exclusive basis.
Authors! Blame only yourself for the bankruptcy of pond5!
As for me, for me pond5 is a place where I can download my videos. This stock gives a normal income from training artificial intelligence.
;D ;D ;D
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What amazes me about people is that when pond5 tried to create a hyperstock, many stockers screamed, yelled, were indignant, protested. But when shutterstock switched almost everyone to an unlimited subscription, all these "protesting" stockers silently agreed.
People are a herd, and if a shepherd leads the herd with a firm hand, the herd obeys his orders without complaint. But if the shepherd shows weakness, the herd scatters in different directions.
Hitler wrote about this in his memoirs. He was right.
I see that I am the only one who does not belong to any herd. And this is evident in my life, political and work positions.
;D ;D ;D
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As for getty, this is not a classic stock. This stock sells videos at very low prices.
Yeah, so cheap! Lol
https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing (https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing)
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As for getty, this is not a classic stock. This stock sells videos at very low prices.
Yeah, so cheap! Lol
https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing (https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing)
You probably don't sell videos on iStock. Authors who sell know that for 99% of videos, authors receive from 2 to 9 dollars. Basically, the author receives less than 5 dollars.
The prices you indicate possibly may only apply to exclusive content.
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Now we have to wait for what getty will do.
Are your hopeful Getty will be able to improve pond5 ?
I don't know. If I look at how my videos are sold on istock I am not that optimistic.
On the other hand the merger will basically create a monopoly for editorial content, both photo and video.
Getty also does occasionally have some very high special licenses, so perhaps we might get more of that.
But I keep getting nudged to send videos to istock. Consensus seems to be if you have 10k videos there you will make 600-1200 dollars as an indie.
And from different creators I am given similar numbers for non exclusive content.
I think the biggest question is the royalty?
I get 30% on p5 for indie content. What will happen to that with a merger?
And will they keep the exclusive program?
Will content be distributed over all the merged companies?
So many questions.
For now I will just focus on uploading content. I only have 1090 videos on pond5. Shame on me.
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For now I will just focus on uploading content. I only have 1090 videos on pond5. Shame on me.
If you write less on forums, you can shoot and upload more videos. This is an axiom. ;D ;D ;D
If you shoot ordinary content, you need to upload not 1000 videos but 50-100 thousand videos.
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If you write less on forums, you can shoot and upload more videos. This is an axiom. ;D ;D ;D
A statement that certainly also applies to you too ;-)
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If you write less on forums, you can shoot and upload more videos. This is an axiom. ;D ;D ;D
A statement that certainly also applies to you too ;-)
1. I don't write much text here.
2. I'm very new to this forum, before that I spent many years filming and uploading.
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Now we have to wait for what getty will do.
Are your hopeful Getty will be able to improve pond5 ?
So many questions.
Remember back in the days when we use to have reps from almost all the agencies active here on the forum?
This should tell you all you need to know.
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At the beginning, contributors held more power because there were fewer of them, and libraries were much smaller.
Over time, as the number of contributors and libraries increased, individual contributors became less significant in the eyes of agencies, as they became easily replaceable.
This dynamic is familiar across all commodities and stems from the principles of supply and demand. When supply exceeds demand, the individual producer becomes insignificant.
One way to counteract this issue is to improve both production and quality. This strategy also applies to other commodities. Increasing production and enhancing quality can address low prices.
For example, let's say that in 2021, a contributor needed to produce 100 clips per month to earn a specific amount of money. By 2025, to maintain that same income, the contributor might need to produce 200 clips per month while improving their work quality.
This principle is rooted in basic economics.
Producers often face the recurring question: "Is there anything else I could do with my time that would be more profitable?" If the answer is yes, then that contributor will likely shift to a more lucrative endeavor. If not, they may decide to continue with their current work.
No amount of complaining will change this reality.
Producing stock footage and photos fits well with my current lifestyle and work schedule, so I will continue this path for now. However, I recognize this could change, and I don’t feel bitter about it. I enjoy the process, which is also essential.
The key difference between stock content and other commodities is that the supply constantly increases. Stock content is not affected by weather or natural disasters. If every contributor stopped producing simultaneously, the existing supply would remain constant; it wouldn’t decrease because our content lasts indefinitely once created.
The most entrepreneurial among us will have the best chance to thrive as they adapt when necessary and focus their energy on the most rewarding opportunities.
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The only supply that increases are the endless amount of duplicates.
Actual fresh content going into needed genres is a tiny amount.
Just look at Adobe
- kw people / all assets - 66 million files
- people, Germany - 263k
- people india - 574k
- people china - 472k
If you think of all the different professions, food, business needs for many countries of the world there is hardly any content. Just duplicates and more duplicates.
Even 66 million files with kw people is very little
Once you drill down into more specifics you see that "everything" is missing.
There is a huge supply of content. But it is an endless stream of duplicate content, not carefully researched needed content for buyers.
Or food
- food/all assets - 89 million
- food, china - 744k
- food, india - 480k
- food germany - 208k files
My favorite search: recipe and documentation of a baking a black forest cake , ideally with the happy family gathered around a table and eating it too.
- black forest cake recipe - 8k cakes, but not a single systematic recipe that you can put in your blog or food magazine or cut into your youtube channels. Forget about the happy family and grandma having a Sunday afternoon black forest cake...
I have been using the black forest cake example for over 10 years. One day I will have to do that recipe and document it.
As soon as you start looking for a systematically documented progress of anything, the myth of 1 billion images in agencies just collapses.
Also stock agencies need fresh material every year with the latest visual styles, the latest electronics, the latest meme trends, the latest news and editorial.
Ai could be used to fill the missing content.
But - what do the ai providers do - they sort any kw by downloads or popular and copy the first 3 pages down to the last detail...so even more copies of copies.
Which does not mean I agree with using a random reject algo to "cull it down" without any logic. The Rejectiongate on Adobe is crazy.
Adobe should simply implement upload limits, then the upload slot becomes valuable and producers will automatically be more selective and look for missing content instead of duplicating.
So, yes, business is supply and demand.
But the supply in stock is not targeting the demands.
I also disagree that agencies don't need us.
Crowd sourcing always just means that a platform is an open entry point and allows talent that works hard to move to the top.
The majority of producers try stock, then drop out after 2 years when they realize it is hard work.
And where the uploads go, the clients follow.
Shutterstock broke up with the creative community and closed all forums to stop interacting with the producer community.
But no matter how many agencies they bought, the creators, the content and the buyers kept running away from them.
Obviously everybody has to make their own decisions, but as long as I see gigantic gaps in the colections and noone producing needed content, i will be happy to do that for the rest of my life.
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The only supply that increases are the endless amount of duplicates.
Good point!
I hadn't considered it this way.
An unending supply of duplicates that isn't aligned with demand.
Thank you for this insightful perspective.
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Obviously everybody has to make their own decisions, but as long as I see gigantic gaps in the colections and noone producing needed content, i will be happy to do that for the rest of my life.
It depends on what you mean by necessary content. If it's only what you need, but what's not on the stocks, then this is not necessary content for most buyers.
I have videos on some topics that are not on the stocks. And do you think people buy these videos from me? Zero sales! Zero!
You need to shoot not what you think you need to shoot or what you need, but what is trending on the stocks and what the stocks recommend shooting. All stocks publish advice on what content they need.
You write about some duplicates, but this is normal. This is how it should be. If you shoot a model who does something, then in a month you should shoot another model who does the same thing. Buyers need different faces. No one wants to use the same model all the time in their projects.
Therefore, in reality, the stocker's job is not to search for something that is not on stocks (and that no one needs. And you have no idea what buyers need if it is not on stocks), but only to shoot stories that are either trending or that the stock recommends shooting.
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I obviously mean content that is missing and needed by buyers.
Based on experience in selling stock and also having been a buyer myself.
Usually my stuff sells and my sales are growing so what I am doing can't be wrong.
There are many creators a lot more successful than me and with still growing income.
However, they cannot have sales if an agency goes downhill by no longer advertising or being marketed like pond5 or if a company does not understand that breaking with the creative producer community is bad for business like SS. Bad karma is bad for business. Customers prefer giving money to companies that treat them well, who knew?
That is the part you cannot control.
But with a sensible platform if you offer what is missing and needed, you will have growing sales and the millions of duplicates uploaded the same week don't matter.
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I obviously mean content that is missing and needed by buyers.
The concept of "missing" is very vague. Stocks are a competitive market. This means that I can upload what is already on the market and compete with other authors. Accordingly, even in a saturated market, you can compete and make money.
The phrase "needed by buyers" is also not clear. Usually, all authors know what buyers need and all stocks write about it.
Thus, you do not have to reinvent the wheel, but shoot what everyone shoots and this is also needed by buyers.
But, if you can make a list of what buyers need and what is scarce on stocks and you guarantee that this content will sell well, you can publish this list, I will read it. :)
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I honestly think yes because of many factors our revenue has obviously decreased significantly since 2000, but if it wasn't for agencies such as Shuttersh1t our revenue would be down but no way near as much.
It's a depressing state of affairs, but I like to comfort myself in the thought that all it takes is just 1 image or 1 video which only you thought that everyone needs, then you could potentially earn some serious money. The potential for this outcome will always exists so long as there is demand, and not just in stock.
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As for getty, this is not a classic stock. This stock sells videos at very low prices.
Yeah, so cheap! Lol
https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing (https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing)
You probably don't sell videos on iStock. Authors who sell know that for 99% of videos, authors receive from 2 to 9 dollars. Basically, the author receives less than 5 dollars.
The prices you indicate possibly may only apply to exclusive content.
If you meant iStock, you probably should have said iStock. But you didn't. And those prices do not only apply to exclusive content, but please, do continue guessing and making stuff up to support your position. We all love it when you do that.
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As for getty, this is not a classic stock. This stock sells videos at very low prices.
Yeah, so cheap! Lol
https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing (https://www.gettyimages.com/plans-and-pricing)
You probably don't sell videos on iStock. Authors who sell know that for 99% of videos, authors receive from 2 to 9 dollars. Basically, the author receives less than 5 dollars.
The prices you indicate possibly may only apply to exclusive content.
If you meant iStock, you probably should have said iStock. But you didn't. And those prices do not only apply to exclusive content, but please, do continue guessing and making stuff up to support your position. We all love it when you do that.
I don't know any authors on this forum who sell videos on getty based on exclusives. These authors don't write anything here.
iStock is part of getty, so you can write both iStock and getty.
You didn't answer my question, which means you're trolling.
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The last month or so ive been hammered by P5 buyer aimed emails offering crazy discounts (latest is 50 audio tracks for $10 etc).
Never really saw any of this. Wondering if Shutterstock enshitification is hitting them so driving bargain basement sales.
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I had a $6.56 and a $54 sales on pond5 today from Global Market Earnings.
I hope pond5 can soon go back to regular sales.
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Looking at the numbers, 2024 average income per month: 238$, for 2025: 100$.
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I had a $6.56 and a $54 sales on pond5 today from Global Market Earnings.
I hope pond5 can soon go back to regular sales.
I don’t like to take away hope, but the outlook seems quite different when I look at the available statistics and how P5 is operating right now.
P5 now sets the pricing for your footage, although you can still submit suggestions.
They’ve simplified pricing to just two tiers: $39 or $119 (with exceptions for major players like Reuters, etc.).
So anything you previously priced at $85 or less before the new contract in January is automatically downgraded to $39. Anything priced above $86 is pushed up to $119.
This is really bad for us—and likely bad for them too. Especially considering they had been recommending pricing around $59–$79 over the past few years.
Let me give you a real example from my experience: I have a clip that used to be priced at $65.
It sold multiple times, generating hundreds in revenue for both me and P5, with the old 60/40 revenue split.
Now that same clip is priced at $39.
They always apply a discount, so the actual sale price ends up being $34.
From there, the Net License Revenue (NLR) is calculated by subtracting any discounts and Legal Guarantee fees, and then applying VAT—usually 23.5%. That brings it down to about $26.
With the new 40% artist share for exclusive contributors, I now receive only $10.50 per sale.
To summarize:
Before the new contract (exclusive): From a $65 sale, I received $30, and P5 got $20 after NLR.
Now (under the new contract, still exclusive): I get $10.50, and P5 gets $16.
Ok.... but did this change bring more sales?
No. In fact, sales have dropped by about 27% over the past four months, compared to my average over the past three years. But maybe this can be also explained by an increase of 2 million clips in last 120 days.
Like i said... I don’t like to take away hope, but the outlook seems quite different...
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P5 should of just left things the way they were.
How does a reputable company with a more than a decade long history of selling stock video to the public become so irrelevant?
Just shows how far things have fallen for the stock video industry in general.
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fwiw I just had a first time sale from a really old file uploaded in 2013.
Also most of my new files are placed in the premium collection. The ones that get priced at 35 are the ones with lower file quality, handheld, a little too blurry or noisy etc...
I don't think this means we will be getting the listed price, more that it might additional visibiity.
This file was from the standard collection.
Only 1100 fils, trying to add more and create more videos.
But pond5 is not dead yet.
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Pond5 is definitely not dead. We might also have a surprise dataset payout in September. I certainly hope so !
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Pond5 is definitely not dead. We might also have a surprise dataset payout in September. I certainly hope so !
Wait for the merger to be completed, we could see some changes that make P5 virtually dead to us. Getty doesn't just leave things as they are, they make changes, the disable content, especially if it competes directly with Getty content.
Remember all those agencies that iStock and Getty bought years ago. When the money wasn't coming in the way they wanted, Getty killed them. I'm not making a prediction of destruction and despair, but from the past and from what content Getty removed from iStock, it's possible that Getty could eliminate Pond5 and Bigstock completely.
Too many duplicate files that are already from the same people, on Getty and iStock, why bother sorting through all of that for duplicates. What about review policies and content standards, what's included, what's not? How about Getty CV?
I'm not going to hold out for anything good in the future, after the merger, and I won't be surprised if this means the end to everything Pond 5.