I'm a long-time contributor with over 10,000 videos across major microstock platforms (Shutterstock, Pond5, Adobe, etc.), and like many of you, I've seen a steady decline in earnings — especially after recent changes at Shutterstock and the Pond5 acquisition.

I'm seriously considering launching my own Shopify-based site to sell directly to customers, with full control over pricing, licensing, and product presentation. I already have all my content fully keyworded and described from years in the industry, so I'd like to reuse that data to speed up the process.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has:
Set up a Shopify store for stock footage
Used tools like SkyPilot or SendOwl for digital delivery
Had success (or failure!) building direct sales

Advice on licensing models, pricing, or driving traffic
Do you think it's worth the effort? Or is it just another rabbit hole with little return?

What happened to Pond5?
Since Pond5 was acquired by Shutterstock, my sales have been steadily declining—until they virtually stopped. I used to make 2 or 3 video sales per day, and now it's been over 17 days without a single sale.
Has anyone else experienced a dramatic drop in sales lately?

I have about 1K clips on clipcanvas and I never sold one!
I was trying to upload something more (I stopped submitting to them some time ago) but I experience a lot of speed issues, even on the site. And ftp issues using stocksubmitter.
Anyone has experience about clipcanvas?
Any advice?

Thanks

I'm using Final Cut Pro and its wonderful smoothcam stabilization video filter.
But I need some advice from you.
After I stabilize my clip I don't know what it the right way to export it in order to sell on microstock.
I tried to export with cmd-E but the exported videos are much worse that they were on the timeline and when I have a pan the situation is even worse.

I hope someone can help me!

Giovanni