Tuesday was the best day this year with 4 sales,and the last approved content was sold within 12 hours of approval,but still too low numbers,for the size and age of my portfolio.

great news in my opinion,and a further proof of the commitment to trying to make things work as best as possible.

Thank you!

here the discussion becomes broader,and there would probably be a lot to say.

The short answer is yes,I have found some of my best ideas have been widely copied,or simply someone else thought the same thing and then it was copied.

a particular content concept comes to mind,which was my idea.There wasn't this type of content on Adobe before,and now it's full of similar content.

one of the biggest problems is certainly linked to the fact that thanks to AI it is very easy to take a content that sells and create many similar ones by copying the idea.

Often copied content is not as good as the original,but other times it can be even better.

This is why I think it is important to create AI content that is difficult to copy,at least not today with current technology.

anyway,if we put things on this path,at this point not even videos are a guarantee,you know that today it is already possible to produce AI videos of acceptable quality,right?so imagine 2 years from now.

of course the fact remains that a real video in a real location or of a real thing is always real,and is different.

but many other generic videos will soon be replaced by better looking AI videos.

the point,what I still haven't been able to understand is that if I have guarantees that by increasing my portfolio over time, I can have an increase in profits over time,obviously a maximum threshold is acceptable for me,of course probably(or not)it can't increase forever,but at least get to earn something reasonable over time,even if it's only similar to a part-time salary.

in short,if sales continue to increase over time,even if slowly,that's fine,but if start to decrease,or are always the same,clearly I don't see the point.

Cobalt,Thanks for your empathy!

sure,I'll let you know,in the meantime I'll wait until April 4-5,if there are no improvements I'll proceed with the removal.

Quote from: Injustice for all on March 23, 2025, 07:52

I just can't take it anymore,I feel like I'm living in a nightmare.

l hope things get better soon,because I really can't stand this crap anymore.

Man that does look like you're living a nightmare. Are you doing any video? If not, do video and get out there and shoot your local places of interest, landmarks, landscapes, major construction projects, towns, cities and everything in your area. Use a drone for much better results. Reduce your competition by filming subjects that you (and few others... not the rest of the world) have access to. Come back in 6 to 12 months and thank me for it.     

I also have videos in my portfolio,and before I used to sell one every now and then,lately I don't even sell one anymore,I sold my last video on February 17th.

and thanks for your interest! 

I think I'll wait until April 4-5 then I'll do a cleanup in my portfolio,eliminating 1000 contents,I'll cut the dry branches so the tree grows more lush! 

it will probably be useless,but at this point it's worth a try,better to eliminate old useless content,increase the percentage of content that has sold at least once and improve the overall look of the portfolio.

Thank you! I am very happy and satisfied that I have finally joined your prestigious club! 

Now I'm also starting to gain positions in the rankings,I just recovered 100 positions without making any sales!

soon,the less sales we make,the higher we will climb in the rankings!

This is definitely a good thing,because it makes our content more versatile for customers and we earn a custom royalty if the reference/edited result is downloaded.

It's a good thing for both us and the customers.

the problem is that unfortunately the number of customers has decreased,at least this is my clear impression,or maybe we have become too many contributors,whatever the reason,sales are evidently decreasing.

I have been a contributor for 7 years,I have a portfolio of about 7000 contents,including videos,illustrative editorials,vectors,and real photos,and with about 1500 AI contents.

In January of this year,as you know,I had the same number of sales as January 2024,despite having 2000 more contents than last year,and even if 2000 contents in a year are few in my opinion,this does not explain how it is possible that I have the same number of sales after a year,and this was the first clear sign that something was wrong.

but it doesn't end here,in February I had a 40% loss in the number of sales,number of sales,no profit,which is much worse in my opinion,because we know that earnings can vary,but having a 40% loss on the number of sales is serious,compared to February 2024,and this month so far is even worse!

In the week between February 24th and March 2nd I made only 3 sales,last week 8 sales,this week 5 sales so far.

Now,even assuming that my portfolio is complete crap,or to put it more appropriately,even assuming that my portfolio does not meet customer requirements,that still doesn't explain how such a dramatic decline from last year is possible.

It is clear that there are very specific reasons for this evident decline and it is not a coincidence,it is most likely that the customers have decreased,or that the number of contributors has increased too much.

In any case,I fully agree with the decision to clean the library from duplicates,and not only that,I also suggest making a selection among the contents that have never been sold in 5 years,and delete all the contents that,according to the experts of the Adobe Stock team,have never sold in 5 years and probably never will,or feature or highlight only the top 10% of each portfolio.

I believe that given the situation,a radical change is needed here,and as far as I'm concerned,Adobe can delete from my portfolio all the content that has never sold in 5 years and that probably will never sell,if this can in any way help resolve the situation.

My advice to those who are still doing well or stable in sales is not to get too excited,because in my opinion I am only among the first to fall down,while if you have an older or more interesting and concrete portfolio than mine,it will perhaps take a little longer to begin the decline,but even if I wish you all the best,unfortunately I believe it will be a bad year for almost everyone,and if there are no radical changes,this is only the beginning of the end.

I,after a month-long break,have started uploading again,not much but I'm still sending something,so the reason for this decline cannot be attributed to the fact that I'm not uploading.

too bad,I thought that this year would be the year in which I would finally start earning something more concrete,up until now for 6 years I have earned more each year,not much more,but more,and now I thought that this would continue but instead this will most likely be the first year in which I will earn less.

anyway this is my story and it doesn't necessarily have to be the story of all of you,and I'm pretty sure that if you have better investment and general possibilities than me,that you will recover the investment made and probably you will also be able to have a profit over time.

but things have become very hard,complicated and difficult in microstock,this is ineluctable.

I still thank Adobe for the opportunity that was given to us,and all the efforts made as much as possible,and I hope they can find a solution that works for all of us,because I'm more than sure that they would want it too,I am more than sure that Adobe would like all of us to be successful in our business/hobby/job.

I wish everyone the best,good luck! 

what I will do in the next few weeks is improve indexing,especially for old content,I believe this can at least partially improve sales,at least I will try.

and I think that's enough for the moment...or not?Is there anything else anyone wants to judge or criticize? hahaha!

Quote from: Injustice for all on February 08, 2025, 07:01

.....

however,as I said,I will add 300 contents this year for the bonus contributor,in case I want to continue next year,if I start to see better results I will start again.


beyond January,even February up to now is the same as last year,on 8 February 2024 I had 2 more sales than today 8 February 2025,so what do I do here?I keep adding content and instead of selling more I also sell less?


then the strange thing is in recent years I have uploaded less but I had greater growth between one year and another,while last year I have uploaded more,but instead there has been no growth so far this year....
 

+300 isn't going to do much for the CB - even if all 300  are eligible (and actually accepted for bonus is even less)

your approach to microstock is unrealistic -  why do you think your previous sales should predict future sales?  it's not 'strange' - it's the market. just because you THINK you should do better doesnt make it so.  everyone else seems to be reporting decreased slaes and/or income - why should your port be any different?

but who ever said mine should be different?

where do you get these ideas?

I've never said anything like that.

I am more than sure that many should sell more than they sell.

but I'm not talking about others,everyone knows their own,I'm talking about my portfolio and I tell you that I should sell at least 2-3 times more than I sell.

and I'm talking about the bonus contributor,I don't know what you're talking about.

for the bonus contributor last year 150 approved contents were enough,so this year in my opinion it is better to have at least 300 approved content given that the minimum requirements for free software could increase next year.


however one thing I could try to do for improve sales is change the keywords especially in old content that is more than 3-4 years old,this has worked in the past for some older content that wasn't selling well,so I changed the keywords and now some of it is among best-seller.

Here's what I'll do next week,I'll sift through all the old content and change/improve the keywords.

@Andrej.S. Exactly,I agree with you,there is a factor related to the number of sales and best-sellers.

@Uncle Pete and cascoly I should sell at least 2-3 times more than I sell,there is no doubt about this,because many new contents that I created in 2024 sell.

my seventh best-seller is a content made in December,and there are many of them among the top 300 best sellers,so it is "not possible" to make the same number of sales that I made at a time when I did not yet have this content,i.e. January 2024.

in all honesty it is "not possible" to have the same number of sales in January 2025,given that the contents I created in 2024 are selling well.

"leaving your portfolio is unlikely to increase visibility" yes sure maybe...or maybe not? 

maybe if I stop uploading new content,maybe I'll increase the number of sales of the content I already have and increase visibility,or maybe not,maybe it's better to continue uploading and have more new content to have more visibility,did the chicken or the egg come first? 



@Cobalt Thanks for the reply,this information is very useful to me.
already have one content that has more than 1000 sales and 3 with more than 500 brings with it a long tail of content that has already sold quite well,and this can perhaps be a reason why you have more visibility,perhaps.


@everyone  at the end of the day,I'm not here to discuss what the reasons are because the truth is that we can only make assumptions that may seem right or wrong,but the truth is that we don't know anything for sure.

the only certain thing is that given the results,for the moment I prefer to stop,then I will evaluate in the future whether it will ever be appropriate to resume.

Another little improvement to pos 1540

of course you are happy to continue with these results.

I,on the other hand,think I'll stop here,because it's not possible to sell so little with my portfolio.

I understand that I can't sell 10 times more but I should sell at least 2-3 times more.

I firmly believe that if you and I create the exact same content and it gets approved at the exact same time,your content will sell much more than mine.

I really lack visibility,and I think that continuing to upload will only further dilute my portfolio.

I think it's better to let my portfolio settle down and sell what I already have,in order to gain visibility.

Of course the new uploads bring visibility,but I certainly can't continue with these results.

the number of sales is too low for my portfolio,and the sales generated by the new content do not add to the sales I already make with the old content,but rather replace it.

I sell old and new content,what I sell changes,but the total result does not change.

this was also seen in January,in which I had the same number of sales as in January 2024,when instead I certainly should have sold more,given that a year has passed and my portfolio has grown by 40%.

so in my opinion,continuing to upload in these conditions is unfavorable for me,even because I have low visibility.

if and when I sell at least double what I sell now,I might perhaps think about uploading again,but that's enough for the moment,I will still try to reach at least 300 approved contents this year,for the bonus contributor,if ever in the future I want to continue.

RPD Adobe:

2019: 0.64
2020: 0.71
2021: 0.95
2022: 0.87
2023: 1.00
2024: 0.99

the RPD is good,what I lack is the quantity,the number of sales is too low,the increase between one year and another is practically insignificant,only between 2022 and 2023 was there a significant increase.

even in these first 6 days of February I sold the same number as February 2024,two less sales to be exact.

real photos or AI makes no difference,it depends on what it is and how it is made.

one of the biggest problem in my opinion are the free sites,for example I read news every day and every day I see content downloaded for free from free sites,all lost customers.

Quote from: Injustice for all on September 02, 2024, 16:32

... Adobe is a serious and reliable agency.

  !!!  !!! 
Recording of this statement for later, when you will complain. For sure, it will come.

I confirm what I said,even if things aren't going very well for me lately.

for sure Adobe is the best agency of all,certainly better than IS or SS.

unfortunately today we live in a complex moment,full of uncertainties,it is certainly not 2015!

between sites that give away content,AI,increased competition and everything else,with Adobe you can still earn good money,as well as having many advantages such as contributor bonus and many other bonuses all year round.

the problem is not Adobe but the situation in microstock today.

so yes,I confirm what I said,in my opinion it is like this,and it will probably always be like this for me,even if I abandon the microstock in the future,I will certainly not change my opinion on Adobe because of this.