I can't pay the rent with pennies.

Quote from: gnirtS on February 12, 2021, 14:53
Meanwhile for many of us, P5 although it pays a lot more sells far fewer videos than AS or SS.

Looking at last year, SS video made me roughly 5x what P5 did for the same video clips.
Every single month P5 yields many hundreds of dollars less income than the same content did on SS due to the bigger volume.

This year so far SS is a little below P5 but AS is 3x  that.

Im not going to stop uploading to SS and lost potentially 5x the money that P5 brings in for the same thing.

If that equation changes (and last month hinted it might) then i'll reconsider but it seems somewhat stupid to give up a large chunk of income, based entirely on principle with no means of recouping it elsewhere.

I always live by the principle. No one will sell my videos for dollars. I will never by part of robbery called SS. Period.

My P5 statistics is getting better and better. My portfolio contains 95% of clips and average sales of last 5 clips is 48$. It can't get any better. Oh, those who can't stop uploading to SS, what is your average?

Strange, some people still resist to see what's going on. I sell video on P5 on average 35$.

Is it true that Shutterstock's Terms of Service give them the rights to do this?

Quote from: MatHayward on December 22, 2020, 21:39

Quote from: komikmiha on December 22, 2020, 20:14

Quote from: derby on December 20, 2020, 23:06I'll wait for Mat to give the answer to the first ten words question, if I'm wrong, but the way I understood it was, 1-10 are stronger and then all the rest 11-49 the same, but lower, - do not include 50 or all words are the same rank.

Why not use all 50 words? If there is an option for 50 then I'll write 50 of them.

If you max out at 50, the system removes the advantage of the top 10 keywords carrying more weight and instead all 50 keywords are given equal weight at 1/50 which is not ideal. I highly recommend you cap it at 49.

-Mat

Oh, didn't know that. Thank you!

Quote from: derby on December 20, 2020, 23:06I'll wait for Mat to give the answer to the first ten words question, if I'm wrong, but the way I understood it was, 1-10 are stronger and then all the rest 11-49 the same, but lower, - do not include 50 or all words are the same rank.

Why not use all 50 words? If there is an option for 50 then I'll write 50 of them.

Quote from: cathyslife on December 10, 2020, 11:51
Here's what you said that I replied to: "I'm so glad I stopped uploading before their new plan. Mainly because of stupid rejections." Where does it say you deleted your videos?

And where does it say I didn't deleted my videos? I just said I was out of SS way before their new plan, mainly because of stupid rejections.

Quote from: cathyslife on December 08, 2020, 13:15
You stopped uploading, but you are ok still doing business with a company that appropriates assets, after accounts are closed? I don't get it.

On the other hand, you said I still doing business with SS even though you didn't know that. Well I'm obviously not. And I would never ever give my work, especially clips made with expensive drone for dollar or so. Also we wrote an article about that topic:

https://www.spartaq.com/en/shutterstock-rise-and-tragic-fall-of-microstock/

Quote from: cathyslife on December 08, 2020, 13:15
You stopped uploading, but you are ok still doing business with a company that appropriates assets, after accounts are closed? I don't get it.

No, I'm not ok with that. I said I stopped uploading way before June 2020. After that all my videos were deleted.

I'm so glad I stopped uploading before their new plan. Mainly because of stupid rejections.

Quote from: Uncle Pete on November 26, 2020, 19:22But it seems almost everyone here is blaming ShutterStock and calling them names for creating a new commission system, to compete in the market against the rest of the predatory agencies. They didn't start this, they are just adjusting to the competition who stole from us in the first place.

So instead of blaming Shitterstock we should admire them? Not me.

Quote from: Clair Voyant on November 21, 2020, 20:08
Just remember the only reason you get 0.10c per download at the highest level is because you allow it. It's not the fault of Shutterstock, it's your fault. Blame nobody but yourself.

Exactly! Just some people still can't understand that.

Quote from: Firn on November 25, 2020, 08:54

Quote from: komikmiha on November 20, 2020, 17:45
So, there is something more than money. It is called pride and principle. You can pay your rent even with selling your kidneys, right? Would you do that? Of course not.

What I can't pay my rent with is pride and principle.

I can pay it with money. Money I earn from microstock where I put the same time and effort into every stock agency I submit images to and where Shuttrstock is one of the agencies giving me the most money for this time and work.

You only see "money paid per photo". But I vaue my time and effort more than a digital image and what I see is "money I get paid per hour of work".

Alamy might pay me $20 for one image sold, but if that's all I get in a whole month, while Shutterstock pays me several hundred bucks, Shuttertock might be the one that devalues my images, but Alamy is the one that devalues my time and effort.

And I can't follow your metapher with the cleaning lady, because I don't see the parallels to Shutterstock or  maybe you didn't understand mine. Shutterstock did not cut my monthly earnings by 95% like in your example. They changed what I earn per image, thus my metaphor with the cleaning lady getting the exact same wage but little money for individual tasks. My average monthly earning hasn't declined. It remains to be seen how that will look like with the reset, but till now I am not getting less money from them.

Do whatever the f**k you wanna do. I don't care.

Quote from: Firn on November 20, 2020, 13:01

Quote from: komikmiha on November 19, 2020, 21:29

Quote from: Clair Voyant on November 18, 2020, 21:50
Seriously who gives a flying duck about Shutterstock. I am surprised anyone still even gives them anything. Between the lottery of content acceptance and those pathetic low royalties my only question is why would anyone of sound mind even care about anything related to Shutterstock?

You know, some people are willing to sell their work for almost free. I have something that some people don't have: self esteem and principle. SS was never my biggest income but even if I did sell the most there, I would not be a part of this robbery. There is something more than money. As far as I see it, some people don't really mind if they sell video for a dollar or photo for 10 cents.

Look at this from a different perspective. If you bring food to the table, make the meal, serve it, and end up getting scraps from what others ate, on the scale from 1 to 10, how big of an idiot would you fell? Well thats exactly what "I need to put food on the table" people are doing. Getting a straight 10 on the idiocy scale.

But hey, to each their own right? Also I totally agree with you.

First of all, yes, there is more than money, of course, but it does not change a single thing about the fact that I need to pay my rent and pay my food and that I simply need money.

Second, let's try a different metaphor than yours:

You are a cleaning lady in a big household. Each week you do some basic cleaning and you get paid 25$ per hour, regardless of what work you do and how time you take.
You get a list in which each task you perform, from dusting to vaccum cleaning, get's a value. You see that cleaning windows only earns you 0.10$ and are upset and quit your job, even though you still get $25 per hour you work, because you are upset that the task of cleaning a window is not valued enough. Instead you take on a new job. That one only pays you $5 per hour, but clenaing windowns is valued at $3, so you are content.

Does this make sens to you?

What good is it to me if another agency like Alamy "values" my work more? I can sell a photo  there for 30,40  or 150$, but sales are so rare for me, that, at the end of the month, I don't even reach minimum payouts in most months. On Shutterstock on the other hand I make several hundred $ each month.
And, here is the most important thing: Taking photos, keywording and submitting them - that's the exact same work for all agencies. But on alamy I get paid a couple of $ each month, while it's several hundred on Shuttrstock - FOR THE EXACT SAME TIME AND WORK.

So, there is something more than money. It is called pride and principle. You can pay your rent even with selling your kidneys, right? Would you do that? Of course not. You need your money and if you can't find some other source of income, then it's ok to be a voluntarily slave to a very rich master.

Let's say YOU are a cleaning lady in a big household. Each week you do some basic cleaning and you get paid 25$ per hour, but suddenly, let's say on June 1st your boss said to you: now you gonna get $1 instead of 25. You will say: ok, I need to pay my rent, so I'm so thankful and I will work even more to make the rest of 24$.

Me, I would take another job. I would try to make more somewhere else. There is always a path and like I said: no money is worth become a voluntary slave who is working for a rich master. I simply will not let anyone make a fortune out of my hard work.

I rather sell one video on P5 and get over $30 once per month than 30 sales of $1 on SS. But hey, we are different. Somebody is a slave and someone else works smart and on end of the day brings more value, more time and eventually more pride.

But at the end of the day, I'm glad you and your kind of people exists. When I need something for my project I can buy photos and videos very cheap. Thank you! Also don't take this as an attack on yourself. You should have made contingency plans and diversify your income anyway since the trend in stock are constantly lower prices for work put in. The entry bar is getting lower, the quality is getting higher, the competition is getting bigger - and it's only downhill for creators. Buyers on the other hand will only profit from this situation.

And as I said I'm not judging anyone. But you trying to pay for food/rent will only come to bite you down the line. I do however understand the need to make money, just not by destroying your income.

Quote from: Clair Voyant on November 18, 2020, 21:50
Seriously who gives a flying duck about Shutterstock. I am surprised anyone still even gives them anything. Between the lottery of content acceptance and those pathetic low royalties my only question is why would anyone of sound mind even care about anything related to Shutterstock?

You know, some people are willing to sell their work for almost free. I have something that some people don't have: self esteem and principle. SS was never my biggest income but even if I did sell the most there, I would not be a part of this robbery. There is something more than money. As far as I see it, some people don't really mind if they sell video for a dollar or photo for 10 cents.

Look at this from a different perspective. If you bring food to the table, make the meal, serve it, and end up getting scraps from what others ate, on the scale from 1 to 10, how big of an idiot would you fell? Well thats exactly what "I need to put food on the table" people are doing. Getting a straight 10 on the idiocy scale.

But hey, to each their own right? Also I totally agree with you.

No thanks. I upload all editorial videos to P5.

What a coincidence! You both rock at SS and you both sell videos at such high prices! Just can't believe that! I try but can't! Congrats!

Such a shame that your video was rejected and you can't sell your clip for $1!

Quote from: cathyslife on October 21, 2020, 18:38
I'm sure they have a reason for deleting it. Maybe not a legitimate reason, but in their minds it is. You should know by now what scumbags they are, so I'm not really surprised to hear it. Did you do anything to your account during the boycott? Deactivate your account, then reactivate? Frankly, I think all of the microstock sites are looking for reasons to dump a lot of contributors. Culling the herd.

I activate and deactivate my portfolio many times and my account is still there. But, I have $0,25 on my account so...

Quote from: panicAttack on October 20, 2020, 09:22

Quote from: komikmiha on October 20, 2020, 09:16
I just noticed Pond5 removed 1300 video clips from my portfolio. Anyone else have this happen to them?

to be honest I dont know exact number of my videos, is it way to find out how much was before?

I don't think so. I was just checking my clip count.

I just noticed Pond5 removed 1300 video clips from my portfolio. Anyone else have this happen to them?

Quote from: DigitalPro on October 18, 2020, 20:19
AdobeStock never was a contributor's friend.- They are a business, and they have their marketing plans.

On the other hand, Adobe Software is not one of a kind, it is not unique. There is much better software available for the artists. DAVINCI RESOLVE for video (free or paid version), Darktable, ON1 and other for images. Therefore no more Adobe Software subscription plans. This is the way I will pay them back.

Same here. For start I'll boycott all of their software. Then I'll think about deleting my portfolio. If they wanna play, let's play.

Quote from: Evaristo tenscadisto on October 16, 2020, 21:52
For me I will use my personal "equalizer".
Both parts can play the game so why should i continue to use their software when they are giving our artist work for free to clients?

Don't get me wrong it's only business so Let's play the free game:

For Premiere  i will use Da vinci  resolve  (free/better and with big community support)
For Photoshop i will use GIMP (free big comunnity support)
For lightroom  i will use Darktable (Free, recent 1 year community but fascinating choice)
For after effects  i will use FXhome HitFilm and Blender (HUGE community support)

Give it a try and you will save 61,49€/month.

You nailed it! For video editing I all ready use Davinci. Don't like those crashing reports from Adobe.

Bad news. I deleted all video clips at SS and if needed I'll do it again here. Right now I have more than 3000 clips at AD and maybe I should wait a little bit, but eventually if things get worse all clips will be deleted. When P5 does the same I'm out of micro stock.

Few months ago AD was my winner. July and August one sale (2500 vids) while P5 is picking up with 7 sales in August but none in September. I'm a bit disappointed with AD right now.