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Messages - Bauman
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151
« on: February 22, 2023, 09:21 »
It is now a continuous theft with all the agencies.
I've been doing stock full-time for 12 years, but in the last few years, I've been trying to do marketing to work more with commissioned jobs and selling prints.
I've shut down Canva, Envato Elements, and Istock for a few years for low fees.
In January, I earned $2400, but I did the math, and the agencies earned about $6500 from my photographs.
For almost $9,000 a month, I make less than 30%...it's not a fair job. Better do something else.
153
« on: April 28, 2022, 07:53 »
But, like Annie said, if you make great quality content that's unique and useful and refuse to give it away for free, there'll always be takers for it and they likely will have to pay more for that content in the future on the more premium sites than they do now. 3-4 years down the line I see pretty much all of the ordinary microstock being given away for free.
Premium sites were there but no one buys high-priced stock photos anymore. You don't make a salary with Getty Images or Offset ... Read this from Jim Pickerell "Selling Stock": https://www.selling-stock.com/Article/stock-photography-is-volume-the-answer"In 2006, the last time Getty Images provided a detailed earnings breakdown to the public, their Creative Images division (RM and RF) generated $634.1 million. The average license fees were $536.25 for an RM image and $242.50 for RF. They licensed a total of 1,767,214 uses of which 973,933 were RM and 787,281 were RF. The average Return per Image in the collection was $327. In 2018 Gettys gross revenue for its Creative Collection had dropped to about $280 million and the average price per image licensed was down to about $29. One third of the licenses were for fees under $5.00. As of the beginning of 2020 Getty stopped selling RM. Photographers tell me that Getty is licensing a significant number of uses for $0.17. Photographers get a 20% royalty share or $0.03 per use." -------------------------- I have always taken high quality photos. It usually takes me one hour or two for post production. I upload about 400-500 photos a year and with a portfolio of 4000-5000 photos I was earning 2500/3000 $ a month ... today 2000/2500 $ for the drop in RPD due to SS and Alamy. I did some testing by sending lower quality photos without post production ... but unfortunately they don't sell or sell very little. And if you want to sell on POD sites or through your website and do well, it takes a lot of marketing, otherwise you have to settle for $ 200-500 per month (if you have an high quality portfolio of 1-2K images).
154
« on: April 25, 2022, 03:06 »
I closed my Istock account in 2019.
15% to me is an insult.
1000 $ earned: 850 $ to Istock and 150 $ to photographers.
I am a full time stock photographer and prefer more commissioned work (that i don't like) than helping these greed agencies.
And if the few big sales on SS run out, I'll close their account as well.
155
« on: March 12, 2022, 04:07 »
Sales are ok. 4 large SODs today.
Nice, but that's not very indicative of the situation ... I also have many days over $100 ... These are my 2022 numbers after 70 days (11 years of stock, portfolio about 5K, earnings 2-3K/month). SS Downloads -10% Earnings -25% RPD -17% ($0.66 vs $0.55) AS Downloads +25.50% Earnings +9% RPD -14% ($0.97 vs $0.84) SS remains my best agency, but in 2021 SS earnings was 110% more than AS, in 2022 only 46% more. Unfortunately, the RPD is falling across all agencies (Alamy is my worst by far ...)
156
« on: February 26, 2022, 05:49 »
On all kinds of sites getting in earlier helps.
I re-enabled my port on ss last week after disgust at those 15 cent China sales on Alamy and more for pennies on Getty and my first license was an upload from 2010! I'm just sorry I uploaded most of my stock photos to Alamy rather than the micros back in the days (2008-2012?) when you could earn real money in microstock.
I remember when I joined Fine Art America in 2010, watching friends who joined in 2008 selling so much more than I did and wishing I'd joined sooner. Twelve years later, I'm now an old-timer there. But I still feel like I don't show up in searches as high as I'd like even for images that have been selling multiple times a year. I'm just glad most of my sales are prints, because otherwise I'd need to sell hundreds of puzzles LOL.
Keep selling on FAA and you will rise in the search ranks. From my understanding past sales are the best predictor of search rank and future sales there. Twelve years passes faster than you think. Although by then perhaps people will be licensing images for pennies to hang in a digital frame and you'll look back on the past year's sales with fondness. (I hope not - there's nothing like a beautiful photograph)
Thanks Worldplanet. I agree with you that even on microstock the photos uploaded many years ago still sell well. But on all microstock sites there is a rotation in the first pages also for new contents. If there are 100 photos on the first page, probably 20 spaces are dedicated to new content ... but not in FAA. If you type Paris in the search field you get 123,000 artworks ... but only the first 2500 are seen (35 pages). Others are invisible. Maybe it would take at least 10 sales of an image to get into the search. There is no rotation and in addition to those that sell a lot, the images of the big agencies are also awarded: Getty Images, Cavan Images, Image Professionals, 1X, Estock Photo Decor ... and many of these are very bad photos. In the other PODs webistes this does not happen.
157
« on: February 23, 2022, 06:27 »
Cameras:
Sony A7RIII and Sony A7RII
Lenses:
Sony 12-24 f/2.8 GM (incredible lens)
Sony 24/105 f/4.0 G
Sony 100/400 f/4.5-5.6 GM
Sigma 70 f 2.8 DG MACRO
Tripods:
Travel Tripod Carbon Fiber Peak Design
Gitzo Carbon Fiber GT2541EX and Arca Swiss Monoball *Z
Filters:
Nisi 150 mm Filter Set
Lee 100 mm Filter Set
158
« on: February 19, 2022, 07:34 »
Same here. RPD is as low as $0.27 while downloads are in normal level.
Ouch, incredible ! 0.27 it's not sustainable ... I'm also considering exiting SS, but Adobe Stock needs to improve sales a bit more. Especially a few more extended licenses. This February zero extended licenses on AS.
159
« on: February 19, 2022, 05:06 »
Earnings on FAA last year blew away all my stock earnings by a mile
You are lucky with FAA. Because you signed up in 2010 and the FAA greatly favors the artists who signed up early. If we look at recent sales, 90% of them are made by artists registered before 2013-2014. I have more than a thousand photos, but for their search engine I am practically invisible. I sold 9 prints in 2021, but 6 are from clients I personally referred to the FAA/Pixels from my website With my 4 POD shops I only made 4% of my total earnings with microstock. PODs for photographers basically is a waste of time. It is difficult for photographers to sell prints, perhaps for a painter or illustrator it is easier.
160
« on: February 19, 2022, 04:50 »
The problem is the $ per photo. I dont know what happen on 2022 but the number of $ per photo is very bad . I am level 4 and i sell less photo 35$ 100$. The extended and single have drop this years. 50% less than last year
Yes, me too. My RPD dropped to 0.51 Jan and 0.48 Feb ... 2021 was 0.67 and 0.75 ... 50/60 sales day. Shutterstock pushes subscriptions ... with subscriptions their earnings are higher, because SS only pay the royalties for the photos downloaded and not for the unsold ones.
161
« on: February 15, 2022, 03:42 »
Great analysis, as always.
One comment to the numbers in your chart: You have the numbers Shutterstock reports as "cost of revenue" marked as royalties.
From "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" "Costs and Expenses Cost of revenue consists of royalties paid to contributors, credit card processing fees, content review costs, customer service expenses, infrastructure and hosting costs related to maintaining our creative platform and cloud-based software platform, depreciation and amortization of capitalized internal-use software, content and technology intangible assets, allocated facility costs and other supporting overhead costs. Cost of revenue also includes employee compensation, including non-cash equity-based compensation, bonuses and benefits associated with the maintenance of our creative platform and cloud-based software platform." So, royalties paid to contributors are a small part of cost of revenue. Great job Jo Ann, but i think % paid of contributors is much closer to my analysis. Revenue per download (Three Months Ended September) is: 2013 $2.35 2015 $2.85 2017 $3.24 2020 $3.79 2021 $4.30 My RPD: 2013 $0.59 2015 $0.75 2017 $0.88 2020 $0.83 2021 $0.76 So, real royalty earnings % is: 2013 0.59/2.35= 25.10% 2015 0.75/2.85= 26.31% 2017 0.88/3.24= 27.16% 2020 0.83/3.79= 21.89% 2021 0.76/4.30= 17.67% 17.67% (not 30 or 35% of level 4 o 5) is very close to Istock's actual 15% ... a real theft against contributors.
162
« on: February 08, 2022, 10:34 »
Feb slower, much slower than Jan ... after 7 days RPD $0.37 (Jan was $0.51 - level 4 mid January) ... only 0.10 0.12 0.15 0.17 0.19 ...  First 7 days of 2021 RPD $1.09 ... Incredible ... maybe it's time to close my account. 
163
« on: February 02, 2022, 08:53 »
This could be a reasonable explanation indeed.
Yes ... Pavlovsky himself said so in the latest financial reports. Subscribers are increasing both in number and in average revenue per customers. 2020 255000 subscribers 2021 336000 subscribers 2020 $328 average revenue per customer 2021 $361 average revenue per customer But downloads are the same ... (44.3 2021 vs 43.4 2020) So revenue per download (Three Months Ended September) is: 2020 $3.79 2021 $4.30 Revenue per download was: 2013 $2.35 2015 $2.85 2017 $3.24 My RPD: 2013 $0.59 2015 $0.75 2017 $0.88 2020 $0.83 2021 $0.76 2022 (Jan $0.51) So, real royalty earnings % is: 2013 0.59/2.35= 25.10% 2015 0.75/2.85= 26.31% 2017 0.88/3.24= 27.16% 2020 0.83/3.79= 21.89% 2021 0.76/4.30= 17.67% 17.67% (not 30 or 35% of level 4 o 5) is very close to Istock's actual 15% ... a real theft against contributors. I do stock full time and unfortunately I have to pay my expenses and SS is still 40% of my income. I hate them with all my heart. I'm thinking of quitting, but it's not an easy choice.
164
« on: February 02, 2022, 05:11 »
Jan 2022 is the worst month since 2013 also for me. Average downloads, but low RPD (0,65 all agencies / 0,94 - 2021 | 0,51 SS / 0,76 - 2021).
There is a reason why there is a lack of big sales on SS.
SS pushes for subscription packs because their earning is higher due to unsold photos in packages.
165
« on: January 28, 2022, 09:39 »
This shows to me that the pure upload volume is of little importance at AS. With shutterstock it does. In my opinion, this is the main difference between the two algorithms at the moment.
I disagree, it's not my experience. I have a friend who has about 16,000 images (more quantity than quality), while I have about 5,000 images (more quality). 10+ years both ... I earn twice as much as he does on SS and he earns twice as much as I do on AS ...
166
« on: October 07, 2021, 06:21 »
For me too
I went from 400/500 $ month to 250/300 $ month (4.000 images) after the publication of the free collection that I didn't join.
There are very few extended license sales and the average per photo is too low ... (rpd from 1,17$ to 0,94$ - 2020 -> 2021).
Shutterstock sells for 10 cents ... but sells far more licenses over $ 50.
167
« on: June 22, 2021, 17:07 »
It's not a curated gallery and this is the obvious result.
In 2015 Flickr had already 4 billion images, good luck being found there in 2021.
I think it is important the diversity of results generated by search algorithm: bestselling mixed with new content. As in microstock. Adobe Stock and Shutterstock do a good job in my opinion. While Depositphotos and Dreamstime reward the best-selling photos too much, while Istock perhaps the most recent ones. FAA has been awarding the same photos for years. Always the same.
168
« on: June 22, 2021, 09:32 »
I've got about 1,000 photos there, I don't sell much (I don't promote my stuff it just sits and waits for something to happen). I got my first sale of the year there this week, for $80; last year I made $240 off two sales. 2019 about $400 and 2018 about $600. Once the uploading's done it's money for old rope.
BaldricksTrousers, you are lucky because you signed up in 2010. Every so often I look at the recent sales page and I always see the same names every day: Dave Allen, Debra and Dave Vanderlaan, Thomas Zimmermann, David Patterson, Scott Norris, Larry Marshall ... all registered at least 10 years ago (2009-2010-2011 ...) The search system favors those who make a lot of sales or old members. Today there are many large galleries or stock agencies selling on FAA and new users are invisible. The only way to sell on the FAA is to have a very rare keyword or to do a lot of marketing outside the FAA. Here are some numbers: 22 mil of artworks 12 mil photos and Getty Images 2,000,000 photos Image Professionals 205.000 photos Cavan Images 137,000 photos 1X 92.500 photos EStock Photo Decor 190.000 photos StockTrek Images 44,000 photos Shutterstock 9,500 photos For a new user it is impossible to get ahead of these in the search. Too big ! And the search for each keyword only shows the first 35 pages. About 2,500 results. I would like to meet a photographer who has signed up in the last 3 years and sells well.
169
« on: June 08, 2021, 03:55 »
my much worst problem with adobestock is lack of sales last few weeks after region change (even tho I shoot isolated people not specific to any region)
I agree This is my Adobe Stock RPD in 2021. Jan 0,90$ Feb 1,05$ Mar 0,94$ Apr 0,85$ May 0,76$ Jun 0,72$ (first 7 days) And earnings go from >600$/month to 300/400$/month, down 45% ... Why ? SS RPD May 0,89$ Jun 0,88$ (first 7 days) ...
170
« on: June 08, 2021, 03:22 »
I will not accept. I don't believe in free collections.
I only believe in the quality of the work. I have always made good money doing quality work and have always bought high quality templates for my marketing. And it has always worked.
Perhaps more work should be done on the quality of contributor pages because they are among the worst of all agencies.
Unfortunately, in the last two months, sales on Adobe have been falling (see the poll results) and the RPD is lower than Shutterstock. Something is wrong with the company's marketing strategies.
171
« on: June 08, 2021, 01:57 »
And ... what do you think about this one ? They indicate Shutterstock or Fotolia/Adobe Stock on the pages, but I don't think it is possible to sell these backgrounds with digital download on other shops ... https://www.etsy.com/shop/MixPixBox (> 40.000 sales !) And it also has a shop on Creative Market https://creativemarket.com/MixPixBox
172
« on: June 07, 2021, 11:35 »
I've been with them since 2010, so have had a chance to order various prints and products to check the quality and have used them at times for gallery printing since I am pleased with the quality, as all my clients have been. I suggested aluminum prints to a friend from Georgia recently. She ordered two and liked them so much, she ordered another the following month. In fact, right now, I have a large aluminum panoramic print I ordered from them in a gallery show here in NY.
If you signed up in 2010 or 2011 then you can sell well on Fine Art America, otherwise it's next to impossible due to their search engine. If you look at the "recent sold" page, 90% of the photos sold are from old users. If you take travel photos. Try typing Paris. 108,000 images ... but only the first 2520 are displayed in the first 35 pages ... the remaining 105,000 images are invisible. The only hope of selling something if you are a new user is to do a lot of marketing outside the FAA or find a niche. But it is very difficult.
173
« on: May 28, 2021, 06:05 »
Adobe Stock
March -> May: earnings -43%
RPD
March: 0,94$
May: 0,79$ - No one Extendend License. Usually I have 2-4 EL/month.
SS RPD in May 0,94$ ...
174
« on: April 25, 2021, 04:02 »
RPD $0.72 (-4%)
RPD decline is the most worrying. Mine decreased by 8,6%: from 0,93 to 0,85 (Q1 2020->2021) And in April even further down: 0,78 ... I am now reviewing my strategies for the future. I still have good earnings, but stock is no longer a paying job. I no longer upload images to sites with RPDs under 0.50 cents (IS-DP-BS) and I upload my best images only where they can be paid well (No SS-123RF and now AS, after Adobe Pro Edition). I think there will be a decline in quality in the stock supply. And I'll be back to doing commissioned work.
175
« on: April 17, 2021, 14:47 »
Did you report it to FAA? And more important to Domenic Kamp?
No. I've done it other times for my photos (I found one even today). I'm a bit tired ... Thieves are everywhere but the stock website don't care ... If you look at those profiles you will find manga illustrations, cars disney images, movie scenes, football team brands ...
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