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Messages - Wilm
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501
« on: July 10, 2022, 15:58 »
10 days into the month, poll results still don't have any numbers for shutterstock - not to mention the other agencies. Are the numbers for shutterstock in general so bad that nobody posts them anymore?
48 People have voted for Shutterstock so far, so just two more to go. The rating is 21.9 at the moment, so less then half of the rating for AdobeStock. You can see that if you hover with the mouse pointer above the agencies names.
Perhaps it would make sense to reduce the number of voters necessary for the rating to be displayed, perhaps to 25 or 30.
Thanks for the info! 
502
« on: July 10, 2022, 10:42 »
10 days into the month, poll results still don't have any numbers for shutterstock - not to mention the other agencies. Are the numbers for shutterstock in general so bad that nobody posts them anymore?
503
« on: July 03, 2022, 16:25 »
Thank you for your kind lines, Annie and Terry!
Yes, it's true, I have always tried to pay attention to quality. Often that has succeeded, in some cases not. I am, Annie, not a good photographer. I am not a photographer at all. In fact, I can't photograph at all, if you measure it by the standards of the past.
But I am at least a designer, and I have learned image composition, design principles, color theory, contrast theory, and many other things. And assemble the images taking into account many common design principles.
These I have gladly and also often in the forums tried to convey. And, now to find my way back to the OP's question: this certainly has little to do with the death of microstock.
Nor is it the cell phones alone that are the problem. It's also the fact that today images can be generated from cheap compact cameras that used to require thousands of dollars in equipment.
It's the laws of a global market, but one that - in terms of revenue - is dominated exclusively by a handful of agencies that, for their part, were desperate to go public and therefore now have to do what the shareholders expect - maximum profits. If you then add to this the fact that creative people in particular usually suffer from commercial weaknesses, the disaster is obvious.
504
« on: July 03, 2022, 15:14 »
It's funny, Terry & Annie, but five minutes ago on the subject of "niche" in another form I wrote this:
"At Adobe this week, I sold an image five times, which makes me wonder. Five times is nothing special per se. But: the photo shows a sky with clouds. Nothing else. There are 43 million results for the search term "sky". Countless of them are many times more spectacular and interesting. And yet mine has now made it to the second page of search results for "sky". I'm always amazed that very general images that don't cover any niches still somehow manage to get to the front. With 153 downloads, it's in 57th place in my portfolio. Now I'm curious to see how this develops. Because sky is always needed. But the algorithm has to do a lot to make sure that it can be found at all - and currently seems to be well-disposed towards me in this respect. Maybe it'll become a real bestseller someday."
Why the image is rated so well by the algorithm is an absolute mystery to me. But this much is clear: luck is also a very important factor.
505
« on: July 01, 2022, 12:58 »
There are a lot of reasons why microstock is nowhere near as lucrative as it once was.
Perhaps what you're criticizing has also contributed a bit. But that's the smallest problem from my point of view.
A couple of the factors have already been correctly listed by Roscoe and somewhere. To complement this would be
Contributors who offer at free agencies or in free selections - that is the main problem. The self-made devaluation of the own work. Or because the hall of fame is more important to them than the money they could earn.
The fact that there is too little money to be made with microstock to have their own images, concepts and ideas protected by legal authorities.
Because agencies accept thousands of images with copied ideas and concepts every day.
Because microstock is a global market that does not take into account different costs of living.
The fact that agencies no longer have a reasonable selection process carried out by expert staff, because the flood of submitted images is simply too great.
And many many more reasons.
506
« on: July 01, 2022, 02:48 »
It was the worst month ever for me at shutterstock. This is primarily because I only had 14 non-subscriptions (i.e. ODs, SODs, Enhanced). Last year it was 75 in June. My RPD in June was $0.34.
It was just a normal month at Adobe. There were fewer significantly fewer downloads than June 2021, but the revenue is almost identical. RPD was $1.40 - over four times that of shutterstock.
507
« on: June 30, 2022, 15:48 »
Thanks Mat. Can we expect more waves of approvals for the Free section ?
I can't say for sure whether more photos will be approved this year or not.
The process of removing the content previously in the Free collection that was either not approved again this year, or not nominated is now complete. The easiest way to see the selected files is to view your public facing portfolio page and filter by Free.
As mentioned, you'll soon receive an email that confirms the number of files that were accepted and the payment amount you received.
Thanks everyone!
Mat Hayward
What I would be very interested in, Mat: did you offer pictures for the free selection yourself?
508
« on: June 29, 2022, 02:18 »
Some one should remind stock image producers of the old proverb
"If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging."
So it should be with providing to "free" sites 
100% agree!
509
« on: June 27, 2022, 14:37 »
The problem is that as istock already did, in 2020 shutter leaves fair payments to contributors on the shoulders of other agencies, leaving the burden of decent commissions on adobe. It is a matter of time before Adobe lowers our commissions, perhaps in my case this movement is no longer necessary to put aside the professional microstock and send them photos of my cat.
Adobe is my 1st earner...because Shutter is at 50%-60% with the 0.10 trick
But it looks like AS gets more revenue from each sale than SS?
Supposing we gets $0.10 and that is 15% of image's price. That means SS gets $0.57 (85%) per image.
At AS, the lowest we gets is $0.33 (33% of image's price). That means AS gets $0.67 (67%) per image. And there are also more frequent medium-value sales at AS.
The next factor is number of sales between AS and SS. And it looks like AS is gaining much more downloads than before? For me, it is. And from the forum's poll results (62.4 vs 31.9), it probably is.
Not necessarily.
For example, my SS RPD for May was $1.46/dl, while my AS RPD for May was $1.40/dl.
For June, my SS RPD is $1.42/dl, while my AS RPD dropped to $0.99/dl
You forget to include the big sales that are more frequent on SS than on AS.
Big Sales on SS? You must be lucky! I dont know what you are talking about!
I am talking about stuff like this (recorded this month on SS):
Yes, I know! I had already seen that. 
I don't have to explain it to you - we've known each other long enough for that now, but I actually had exactly one download for an impressive $6.95 this month. The rest were in the minimum range.
It's not only that Wilm. Last month I got these image sales like this:
These are more frequent and more valuable than what I get on AS, hence the higher SS RPD.
Yes, when the bigger SODs come in at SS, there's more there. I had a few Enhanced this month at AS, but nothing at SS. And then it comes down to the BME. But I'm happy for you! Well deserved!
510
« on: June 27, 2022, 12:53 »
The problem is that as istock already did, in 2020 shutter leaves fair payments to contributors on the shoulders of other agencies, leaving the burden of decent commissions on adobe. It is a matter of time before Adobe lowers our commissions, perhaps in my case this movement is no longer necessary to put aside the professional microstock and send them photos of my cat.
Adobe is my 1st earner...because Shutter is at 50%-60% with the 0.10 trick
But it looks like AS gets more revenue from each sale than SS?
Supposing we gets $0.10 and that is 15% of image's price. That means SS gets $0.57 (85%) per image.
At AS, the lowest we gets is $0.33 (33% of image's price). That means AS gets $0.67 (67%) per image. And there are also more frequent medium-value sales at AS.
The next factor is number of sales between AS and SS. And it looks like AS is gaining much more downloads than before? For me, it is. And from the forum's poll results (62.4 vs 31.9), it probably is.
Not necessarily.
For example, my SS RPD for May was $1.46/dl, while my AS RPD for May was $1.40/dl.
For June, my SS RPD is $1.42/dl, while my AS RPD dropped to $0.99/dl
You forget to include the big sales that are more frequent on SS than on AS.
Big Sales on SS? You must be lucky! I dont know what you are talking about!
I am talking about stuff like this (recorded this month on SS):
Yes, I know! I had already seen that. I don't have to explain it to you - we've known each other long enough for that now, but I actually had exactly one download for an impressive $6.95 this month. The rest were in the minimum range.
511
« on: June 27, 2022, 12:26 »
The problem is that as istock already did, in 2020 shutter leaves fair payments to contributors on the shoulders of other agencies, leaving the burden of decent commissions on adobe. It is a matter of time before Adobe lowers our commissions, perhaps in my case this movement is no longer necessary to put aside the professional microstock and send them photos of my cat.
Adobe is my 1st earner...because Shutter is at 50%-60% with the 0.10 trick
But it looks like AS gets more revenue from each sale than SS?
Supposing we gets $0.10 and that is 15% of image's price. That means SS gets $0.57 (85%) per image.
At AS, the lowest we gets is $0.33 (33% of image's price). That means AS gets $0.67 (67%) per image. And there are also more frequent medium-value sales at AS.
The next factor is number of sales between AS and SS. And it looks like AS is gaining much more downloads than before? For me, it is. And from the forum's poll results (62.4 vs 31.9), it probably is.
Not necessarily.
For example, my SS RPD for May was $1.46/dl, while my AS RPD for May was $1.40/dl.
For June, my SS RPD is $1.42/dl, while my AS RPD dropped to $0.99/dl
You forget to include the big sales that are more frequent on SS than on AS.
Big Sales on SS? You must be lucky! I dont know what you are talking about!
512
« on: June 24, 2022, 14:41 »
RPD is irrelevant -- i'd rather have a low RPD for a site earning $100/mo than a high RPD that generates $10/mo. actual income is what matters.
for me, SS still outperforms AS by 2-3x every month (and canva now rivals SS most months with their su bscription distirubtion payments)
Sorry, I have to disagree. It does play a big role if you have significantly more downloads at one agency than at another - but the significantly more downloads only bring in a fifth of the revenue. Because at the agency with the significantly more downloads and the significantly lower revenue, money is earned at my expense, which arrives at the agency, but not at me.....
we agree because you're shifting the goalposts now to include # of DL which is not part of RPD, RPD alone tells you nothing - it's the actual income that matters - it can come from either high RPD & few DL or low RPD and many DL - therefore RPD is irrelevant as a measure
cascoly, for me, RPD is to the microstock business what hourly wages are to industry or the service sector. And, of course, you're right: if you work 80 hours a week for $10, you'll have double that in your bank account at the end of the month than if you work 10 hours a week for $40. But in the microstock business, we're heading toward the point where soon you'll have to work 24 hours 7 days a week to get to the income you used to earn with one-tenth the work. That's sick. And not common anywhere in industry or the service sector. And that's why the RPD is a very definitive factor for me. It shows us how "healthy" or how "sick" our business is. It's an indication of which agency is "a fair employer." Those who, with a lot of work, manage to increase revenues, must realize that not so long ago they would have earned four times as much. Everyone talks about and is afraid of inflation. In microstock, inflation has been devastating for years! And at some point, even the most diligent contributor runs out of energy to make any more increases. You can't feed the beast forever. At some point it will eat you.
513
« on: June 24, 2022, 03:32 »
RPD at Adobe is slipping for me but, and it is a big but, the volume of sales is improving greatly. So far over 10k dls this year compared 6.8k for the same period last year. Net take is up just over 18% compared to the same period last year.
I hope we don't see as big a drop in terms of $/RPD but as long as I keep earning more each year then they must be doing something right.
Wow, those are good numbers! Congratulations!
If you don't mind me asking, how big is your AS portfolio?
Cheers approx 19k
Your numbers indicate that you will sell as many images at AS this year as you have images in your portfolio. I don't think there are many contributors with large portfolios who can achieve that. Respect! Your images must be good!
514
« on: June 24, 2022, 03:09 »
RPD at Adobe is slipping for me but, and it is a big but, the volume of sales is improving greatly. So far over 10k dls this year compared 6.8k for the same period last year. Net take is up just over 18% compared to the same period last year.
I hope we don't see as big a drop in terms of $/RPD but as long as I keep earning more each year then they must be doing something right.
Wow, those are good numbers! Congratulations!
If you don't mind me asking, how big is your AS portfolio?
Cheers approx 19k
Thought I knew that .name somewhere. His / her real name is TripleFull cleverly and clandestinely disguised as HalfFull.
...TripleFull... You're right - that would fit better.
515
« on: June 23, 2022, 15:40 »
RPD is irrelevant -- i'd rather have a low RPD for a site earning $100/mo than a high RPD that generates $10/mo. actual income is what matters.
for me, SS still outperforms AS by 2-3x every month (and canva now rivals SS most months with their su bscription distirubtion payments)
Sorry, I have to disagree. It does play a big role if you have significantly more downloads at one agency than at another - but the significantly more downloads only bring in a fifth of the revenue. Because at the agency with the significantly more downloads and the significantly lower revenue, money is earned at my expense, which arrives at the agency, but not at me. If one agency manages to keep the RPD of the contributors at the same level for many years, and at the same time another agency argues that the revenue for the contributors has to be reduced in order to "survive in a competitive market", then something is wrong, isn't it? AS shows that it works without any losses for the contributors. That should be commended for once. I also once had such an agency, where significantly more came in than with AS. Today, this agency is no longer even a shadow of its former self.
516
« on: June 23, 2022, 13:16 »
RPD at Adobe is slipping for me but, and it is a big but, the volume of sales is improving greatly. So far over 10k dls this year compared 6.8k for the same period last year. Net take is up just over 18% compared to the same period last year.
I hope we don't see as big a drop in terms of $/RPD but as long as I keep earning more each year then they must be doing something right.
Wow, those are good numbers! Congratulations! If you don't mind me asking, how big is your AS portfolio?
517
« on: June 23, 2022, 13:12 »
It's not like that with me. Everything is quite normal. The RPD for images is for me in the period of a year at $1.17. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. But I don't have such significant increases in downloads as you do.
I can see a few good weeks here and there, but the earnings total is about the same.
But I can clearly see a step up in downloads in 2022 (magenta line on the graph).
This explains why my RPD dropped from $1.62 during the second half of 2021, to $1.30 this year.
Does your RPD include your video sales? However, I know that my numbers are not as statistically significant as yours. Because you have, although you have zero talent, sold approximately twice as much compared to me. Anyway, I'm satisfied with AS. And it's currently the only agency I can say that about.
518
« on: June 23, 2022, 09:12 »
It's not like that with me. Everything is quite normal. The RPD for images is for me in the period of a year at $1.17. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. But I don't have such significant increases in downloads as you do.
519
« on: June 22, 2022, 17:00 »
Sorry I don't know on that one.
Thank you
please if you get paid from istock let me know
The money came in today.
520
« on: June 17, 2022, 15:48 »
The new page design serves only one purpose. You shall not be able to recognize at first sight that there are no more OD, SOD and Enhanced Downloads.
521
« on: June 17, 2022, 04:51 »
Bad numbers here as well. Worse than in May 2021 an May 2020.
522
« on: June 16, 2022, 01:22 »
Actually all this discussion of big 4 down to big 3 reminds me of those documentaries I used to see showing the waterhole on the African savannah steadily shrinking in summer and the wildlife getting more desparate as the water source slowly shrinks to a muddy puddle.
I think we can safely say we are at the muddy puddle stage and the hyenas are circling with promises of more "exciting news" 
That's a perfect allegory, Mimi!
523
« on: June 15, 2022, 02:35 »
I have not received this e-mail. I wonder if there is any selection going on. Actually, all contributors should receive this e-mail.
I once had 100 downloads per month with an RPD of $1. So that was never particularly worth mentioning. However, for me over the years better than Dreamstime. In the meantime, I'm at a little over 30 downloads with an RPD of $0.5. Ultimately, nothing more comes in there anyway. Let's see how long they survive. The free collection won't save them either.
524
« on: June 09, 2022, 16:50 »
Now, Instead of pulling your punches because you "sell", it would be more helpful to know HOW MANY pieces you sell per DAY and how much money you make PER MONTH. This is useful. Looking at your photos can help us a lot.
Of course, the race is always with yourself in improving: you can improve all you want as a snail, but if you are competing with supersonic missiles they will win. If they are 4000 supersonic missiles, producing ALL 10000 images far better than yours, you can win the race with yourself all you want, but they will saturate the market with products that outclass yours.
So: how many pieces per day and how much money per month? THIS is useful, since you want to differentiate yourself from the other useless jugs.
Joe didn't give any real numbers - at least not here on the forum. But here in this post
https://www.microstockgroup.com/general-stock-discussion/stock-photography-less-interesting-for-me/msg576132/#msg576132
he wrote a few facts, which - I have to assume - refer to shutterstock:
Here's the thing for me, Stock Performer tells me I'm in the top 80% on downloads.
But I'm only in the top 30% on income and now I'm in the top 60% on uploads.
The problem is obvious. I need to create more images people want to pay for.
I don't know why people waste so much time obsessing about me. They (you) would be a lot better off obsessing about your own port. I don't see anyone posting their income, so why should I? I don't see people posting the link to their port, so I stopped doing it. Is it me that's at fault here because I'm not nosy about anybody else's port and business? Move on! [/quote] First and foremost: zorba responded to your post asking questions: https://www.microstockgroup.com/general-big-6/i'm-the-guy-with-the-grey-beard/msg576899/#msg576899I can't answer the questions, but found a post of yours on the forum that might be of interest to zorba's question: https://www.microstockgroup.com/general-big-6/i'm-the-guy-with-the-grey-beard/msg576903/#msg576903I have no idea what would be an obsession about it. I was reproducing a statement of yours on the subject, without any evaluation or anything like that. I simply quoted your own words. Nothing more, nothing less. You wrote the lines I quoted - not me. Where is the obsession? By the way, have I ever given you any advice? No! I know you don't want advice unless you explicitly asked for it. I have always adhered to that. And I still don't know where your self-confidence comes from that causes you to impose your opinion on others. At the same time, I wonder where you permanently get the right to give advice to others. For example, that they should take care of their own portfolios. I do not want to hear this advice from you. I'm fine with my portfolio. I'm not happy about the general development in the microstock sector, but I'm still happy to be there. Because - like you - I'm in it for the money. It's a lot less than it used to be (you can tell: I'm whining), but it's still a nice extra income. I don't need your recommendations. I manage reasonably well. Please stick to it too!
525
« on: June 09, 2022, 03:53 »
First of all, I would like to thank Mat for the good information and communication. I appreciate it very much!
Nevertheless, the alarm bells generally go off when I read the word "free". Because in my view, it triggers completely the wrong thoughts in the minds of customers.
I have 1,485 files at AS.
For the free collection, 160 files are eligible - just under 11% of all my files. So if all 160 files were selected by Adobe, I could - theoretically - get $800. However, probably only a small portion of them would be selected. I don't know, of course, but it would bring maybe $200 if I released the images for the free collection.
My RPD at AS is $1.17.
Of the 160 files, there is not one with 0 downloads. The image with the most downloads has been purchased 115 times. Together, the 160 images have sold 865 times so far (which is actually 2% of my total downloads - so AS picked really poorly performing images). The revenue for the 160 images so far is $1,012 - calculation based on my average RPD. From May 08 to June 08, these images brought $41.50. If I extrapolate that, I come up with $500 in a year for these files.
One should really think about whether this is worth it, from my point of view. Especially since a couple of the images suggested by AS have counterparts in my portfolio that might not get bought then either. And some of the images are doing quite well at other agencies. Maybe they would not be bought there anymore, if they are available for free at AS.
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