I got into the top 20 and stayed there awhile in my first few months of being Emerald, but when they started punishing us I started a gradual slide that has accelerated this past week.  I'm in the top 100 overall, but 7 day is well over 100 now. 

Quote from: gostwyck on December 14, 2012, 13:58

Quote from: fotografer on December 14, 2012, 13:49

Yes exactly the same happened with me and I believe that Lisa said the same happened to her.  I also see no drops in images selling when images hit level 4 and 5 on DT so the buyers really don't seem to mind the difference.

The customers that remain at DT & FT are clearly less price-sensitive. All the others are probably now at SS. From FT's various actions, in limiting our ability to increase prices, it seems obvious to me that they know many buyers are indeed price-concious. It goes some way to explain SS's remarkable success too.

I guess so but when I doubled all my prices at FT I almost doubled my earnings and earnt more there than I have ever made at any other site.

Yes, that was exactly what happened to me.  For a while, FT was my #1 site, even topping SS.  For now, they're in 2nd place, but if the drops continue, I can see them falling behind DT, BigStock and 123 before long.

FL has really been taking off for me the last couple of months.
I am just about to reach Emerald, missed it by a hair when they moved the goal posts last time.
I hope I don't see a drop when I pass the line!!

I hit Emerald not too long ago.  Right away I boosted my prices as we're allowed, and my sales doubled.  Things were fantastic for a few months.  I made it into the top 20 (7 day rank) for a while. 

But soon after this, FT seemed to change how it treats its Emeralds in search results.  And it started lowering prices on images that haven't sold at least 4 times in some recent period.  My sales started gradually sliding. 

This week I feel like I'm falling off a cliff.  My 7 day rank is quickly sinking, after many months of being at the same number, give or take a few.   I'm wondering if this is happening to all Emeralds.

Note:  I have been steady with uploading, sending new stuff just about every day.

Quote from: stockmarketer on December 11, 2012, 14:43

Whatever they did, it's made a big positive difference for me.  Looks like I'll make about 3x what I made yesterday on IS, and it will be my best day in weeks, maybe months.

I'm glad it is working for you.  At least there are some who are doing okay ATM.  Kind of like winning the lottery.  And that's really the problem.  The default search order of a major internet business shouldn't be a lottery.  But I guess we all know that already.  Sigh.

I'm guessing I'm doing well after the change because I haven't been uploading regularly in years, which probably has been punishing me the way search has been these last few months.  But I have a bunch of flamed images that have probably been elevated today with the search change, so perhaps people who have a lot of flames but haven't uploaded at IS in a long time may see positive results like I have?

To me, the real news here is this... anyone who was holding out hope that SS might someday offer exclusivity and give those artists a better deal, can kiss that hope goodbye.  Jon really stresses the point that his selling point is volume, not unique content, and SS treats all its images and artists equally.  The competitors can acquire unique content, but that's not the game he's playing.  He's proud of his subscription model, and the simplicity of his pricing... everything is priced the same.  I don't think I would have gone for exclusivity, but others here have been wishing for it.

DP has been rising very nicely for me all year, and then I also saw a significant drop ever since Dec 5.  I figured it could be  a best match shift, and if my guess were right, I'd see others talking about it here. 

Anyone else seeing Nov 30 listed as the first day of Dec and today is called Dec 6?  It hasn't always been this way, has it?  Is it me?

I was all prepared to write a response that said something like "The old days of new uploads getting a big boost are gone, and new pics should sell in roughly the same proportion as old pics" but I decided to check my last few days of downloads to see if that's still the case.  (The last few times I checked, I think that was an accurate assessment.)

But looking at the past several days of downloads, now I'd say older uploads make up a disproportionately higher share of my total.  So in the last several months, we've gone from new uploads getting preferential treatment, to old and new being on par, to now older images getting preference. 

Anyone else seeing it this way?

My biggest complaints are about the changes above the dotted line that I signed that the sites have made after I signed there.

Perhaps you should have crossed out points in the agreement that gave them the right to modify the agreement at any time, and sent it in with that change.  Of course, they would not have agreed to this, and you would have no agreement  to be upset with.  But you gave them ability to change the agreement.  You don't have to like how they changed it, but you shouldn't be surprised that they did.

I think we need to keep something in perspective.  If 35 or 40% is so unfair, I'm curious which sites you think treat you so much more fairly?   Yes, no one likes getting a cut, but when you're happily submitting to so many other agencies giving you well under 40%, how long can you expect 123RF to ignore this competition and continue paying you 50%?

By all means, if you're angry about the cut, exercise your anger by dropping your accounts at 123RF.  But given their position in the poll results (look at the list on the right... they're currently #5 of the 20 ranked agencies) I think very few people will put their money where their mouth is.

The truth is that if you were a business owner in the shoes of 123RF you would probably do the same thing.  You would adjust what you pay your suppliers to reflect the competitive marketplace.  If your suppliers were gladly selling their wares for far less money to your competition, wouldn't you hold their feet to the fire?  Of course, you wouldn't want to risk losing those that were supplying your top-selling products... in fact, you might even give those suppliers a raise to reflect how important they were to you.  But if suppliers of lower-selling products didn't like your new deal and wanted to walk away, you probably wouldn't feel much pain. 

The ball is in our court.  I'm just hoping that after Jan 1, people will make their decision and move on.  You cut the cord or you decide it's a deal you can live with.  Either way, you'll have made a decision and the complaining should stop.

Excellent month.

My 2nd BME (behind March 2012)

For me, Oct 2012 was:

+ 8% compared to Sept 2012
+ 1% compared to Oct 2011 (when SS was delivering a massive wave of ELs and before FT started punishing Emeralds)

Why do people even bother with RPI ? whats the point?  surely the important thing is what you get in your hand in the end of month, thats all that matters.
I couldnt give a flying so and so about the RPI as long as the money keeps rolling in.

If you have been doing this for a while, what goes through your head when you're about to upload a new batch?

Do you have any expectation for it?  Let's say you make next to nothing.  Your RPI is, say, a penny a month.  Would that be enough to keep you doing this?

But if it was a three bucks a month, you would be motivated to continue, right?  Of course you would.

But what about $.25 a month?  $.75?  Everyone has a threshold number where it makes sense to keep going, or to hang it up.  And everyone should have a goal number to shoot for which would symbolize getting a good handle on this microstock game.

The point is, knowing this number helps you project where you should be in a month or a year.  You can plan your way to success, or you can hope to get there with blind ignorance and a dash of luck.  I know which way has worked for me.

OK, people were being pretty negative about StockFresh earlier this month.

I have been having the exact opposite experience for the past week or so.  I've racked up around $35 in commissions since Oct 15, including $7.35 today, which might be my BDE there.

I'm wondering if anyone else has seen an improvement since Oct 15?

I really think this is a site worth sticking with.  Keep it up, Peter!!!   You're definitely doing some things right!

For me, Sept 2012 was...

Down 4% from Sept 2011 (when the crazy EDs started rolling in at SS and I was getting multiple a day... those days are long gone)

Up 8% from Aug 2012

Ranks as my #8 best month of all time... March 2012 was my BME. 

 (4 years in microstock)