Being exclusive with iStock for 7 years, I'm also curious about the answers. Is it better to go indie with all other agencies? Subs are going up, which can't make up for the low credit downloads yet, and it's a long long way to go...

Quote from: Monkeyman on January 01, 2015, 18:57
I lost my motivation during 2014. I still upload every now and then since this is my only income at the moment, but it's hard to motivate myself to spend hours on a vector file that will get a few views and if I'm lucky a few downloads, and then die completely.

And the most depressing thing is of course that even if new files sell a little, my total income keeps going down.

I'm 35 with no college degree and I have been in microstock for 8 years... I have no idea what do to when microstock dies completely. Depressing times.

I can totally feel you man!

Quote from: Toonstyle.com on December 21, 2014, 20:34
I just have this feeling about iStockphoto during recent year or so. I am wondering if it make sense to upload new vectors on iStock at all? I mean they have most horrible uploading mechanism among all microstock websites, longest approval period, permanent technical problems on the website and what is most important - constantly decreasing number of downloaded files. It seems like wasting of time for me - contributing for iStock.

Any thoughts or feelings about that, guys?


________________________________________________
Toonstyle.com - Unusual Cartoon Style Vector Stock Images

It's getting worse month by month, I'll either quit exclusivity or focus on design projects.

Quote from: PaulieWalnuts on November 05, 2014, 23:31
I used to check my IS stats a few times a day amazed to watch the royalty total jumping up. Now I check it once or twice a week. My total for this week so far is what I used to get in a half a day. Hanging in there a little longer to see how things shake out.

Same here, I guess a lot of old-timers experiencing something similar?

Quote from: BaldricksTrousers on October 22, 2014, 10:03

Quote from: Holmes on October 22, 2014, 00:55

Quote from: Shelma1 on October 21, 2014, 17:56
I think they should sit down and talk to a bunch of the clients who are defecting and ask them what they can do to make things right. Stop tossing pasta at the wall to see what sticks, to put it very nicely. I hate to see them collapse, but honestly all it means for me, as an indie, is that those sales move elsewhere. SS earnings are now up 32% for me over this time last year.

They have conducted tons of surveys and research and even had Yuri fly in and advise them -- and they STILL MESS IT UP...

And it's so easy to get things right, all you have to do is sit down and think through how your customers and suppliers will react to a change. If the reaction is going to be positive you're on to a winner if it's going to be negative you're going down the drain. If you think it through like that, then when your new MBA-holding manager rushes in and says "Hey boss, I've just worked out that if we double the prices and halve the commissions we'll make  four times as much money" you don't swoon with delight over the brilliance of the conception and award the MBA an annual bonus, you kick her up the backside and tell her to get real.
I once met a high-flying business consultant who had worked in Margaret Thatcher's private office. She told me that the secret of consultancy was to get people to tell you what everybody in the business already knew and then tell it back to the boss, who knew it anyway but didn't like it and wasn't willing to listen to anybody else who told him.  It does seem that ever since Bruce left wishful-thinking management has been in place, and the only thing being listened to is "we can squeeze them here", "they won't notice if we do a deal behind their backs", "we can hide the true percentage we'll pay them like this", "the customers will swallow the price rise...", "they've got nothing to gain by quitting if we cut commissions" ....

Exactly!!!

Quote from: ARTPUPPY on September 12, 2014, 21:24
What Getty/istock is trying to pull off is selling all images for either one credit or three, hoping that customers don't add up what a credit is worth in dollar terms. It is their way of trying to simplify the collection and the price ranges. Unfortunately illustrators are going to be an afterthought in all this, the main goal is "sell it all for one or three credits". As usual, I am sure there will be lots of site bugs when they are trying to pull this off. The fact is the customers have left the building, I'm not getting the views I had before on my work, and any freelance work I got via istock has stopped. These to me are my "dead canaries" in the istock coal mine that this avenue is a dead end.

Exclusivity is pointless now anyway, since the big push is "Every single image on iStock available with our Signature Subscription" - in other words, all of our work is now available at rock bottom prices. Upload any new illustrations? Congrats, you're now selling them for pennies on the dollar thanks to istock subs. The RC targets are nothing more than a paper tiger anyway, it's not enforceable since you are also selling the subscription plan on the same website. Istock cannot tie us in to the RC system while also offering the subscription plan. By offering the same royalty rates as 2014, it is their way of avoiding a class action. Regardless, what customers there are have wised up to the many price increases that istock have done in the past, and are probably going to turn to subscriptions and max it out. There is no future in istock unless you like making pennies for your work.

Yes, iS really looks like a dead end now... They're giving up on customers who have little budgets eg bloggers and SMEs, and hoping to win back the big ones. So I don't see this is any good for the contributors, because iS is losing loyal customers for sure, while TRYING to win back some others, what a smart move 

Read some of their FB comments here:
www.facebook.com/istock/photos/a.433147720824.200423.20425620824/10152268795195825/?type=1&relevant_count=1

I've been iS exclusive all these years, so I'm curious about the vector market out there...... I've seen many vector artists offering their 500~1000 icons / clipart pack cheaply, and some hiring artists and designers to produce tens of thousand vector files yearly...... So is it gonna make any difference by becoming non-exclusive?

Quote from: Monkeyman on September 10, 2014, 21:06
Yeah, you're probably right about that.

Another thing iStock hasn't mentioned yet is if they're gonna change the RC targets. The targets used to be higher for vector artists because our images are usually sold for a higher price than photos, but now everything will cost the same... and yet we have to sell for 55000 credits to reach 35% while the photographers only have to sell for 35000 credits. Hopefully that will change when they announce the new RC targets though... just wish they could have presented those new targets now instead of letting us wait.

Another thing that's worrying is that "previous Vetta and E+S+ images will have strong search positioning"... I don't have a single file in those collections. So the really complex former Vetta vectors will now be in top of the searches, and at the same price as everything else...

So to be able to compete from now on, everybody will have to create Vetta quality vectors... and sell them for for a measly 24-45 bucks...

They haven't fixed the bugs let alone come up with new RC targets, only good thing is that they've locked it for 2014 so nobody will drop in 2015.

I have few vetta illustrations in my port but I think I'm gonna deactivate some of them since they're gonna devaluate, might as well turn these files into prints and other products, and sell them elsewhere. Whether or not we the contributors are gonna create and upload more complex, Vetta type of illustrations really depends on the sales and royalties rate. What's the point of spending so much time and effort to create a masterpiece and sell it cheaply at the same time not getting much sales?

There are some exclusive vector artists who really target and rely on Vetta sales, more than 50% of their port consist of Vetta illustrations. Imagine what's gonna happen to their income after the change? It looks like to me that it's just another way to further slash the payout to contributors.

I think I'm on the brink of putting down the crown or might as well let it die and focus on design projects, unless there is miracle~

Quote from: Monkeyman on September 10, 2014, 13:55
Yeah, but then they would make less money, which the executives at Getty would never allow...  so I think we're screwed. 
Maybe they'll cancel the exclusivity program eventually.

They don't have to cancel exclusivity program, because most of us will quit if the new change doesn't turn things around...

Quote from: Monkeyman on September 09, 2014, 12:38
I'm an exclusive vector artist at iStock, and I have no idea what to expect from these changes. Luckily I have mostly 15 credit files, and they will cost about the same after these changes, except for people who buy the most expensive credit packs. So hopefully my files will still sell.

The price difference between non-exclusive and exclusive material is my biggest concern... that can't be good for us exclusives. You can get a super complex, big set of design elements from the Essential collection for 8-15 dollars, while one single icon from Signature will cost 24-45 dollars.

iStock always brag so much about their exclusive content, like it's automatically so much better than the non-exclusive. Which it isn't. The quality standards are exactly the same. You don't need to be extra talented or pass some tests to become exclusive. So I wonder if buyers are really willing to pay so much extra for exclusive material...

I'm getting very close (income-wise) to the point where it's not worth being exclusive any longer, so this change will be critical for me. It could either push me out of exclusivity, or boost my income and make me stay... I guess we will be able to tell quite quickly once the change is implemented.

I'm one of the exclusive vector artists too, and agree with what you said above. If iS still care about exclusive artists, they should just sell everything with same price, promote exclusive contents in the search results and pay exclusive artists more.

I tried to start a vector-specific discussion on latest iS changes in iS's illustration forum, but it was locked immediately saying it's a "duplicated discussion".

Exclusive or not, what are your thoughts on the latest/upcoming changes?

It's like worst months after worst months after wo...... . .  .   .    .    .

My recent weekly stat looks like my daily stat in the good old days... Can't find a word to describe that feeling.

New files will basically "disappear" after 1 or 2 downloads, uploading is getting meaningless, so now I'm taking design projects again~

No good feeling with the SUB based on iStock(getty)'s track records... Please prove us wrong for just once!!!

Quote from: H2O on April 04, 2014, 01:42
Just Joined iStock - Should I stay or Should I go know?

Stay as non-exclusive

Quote from: Boians Cho Joo Young on March 21, 2014, 21:31
Vector sale in February

123rf ＞toonvectors ＞ dreamstime ＞fotolia ＞canstockphoto ＞depositphotos ＞ istockphoto

Thanks for sharing this info, really appreaciate it, but It'd be more justifiable if your iStock port. is equally big as the rest of other sites ;-)

Quote from: EmberMike on March 21, 2014, 21:54

Quote from: runeer on February 26, 2014, 17:16Yes, I'm still iS exclusive, sales still going down, the website is still full of bugs, landing pages haven't been updated for weeks...
and I'm back to agency to take up projects XD

Quote
So, I have to ask... why are you still exclusive then?

Sorry. I'm just kind of tired of these posts complaining about exclusivity. It's been years, several years actually, of this company taking shots at exclusives, lowering pay, reducing/removing benefits, making it harder and harder to earn, etc. And now you're taking on extra work to make up the difference?

Erm... I wasn't complaining actually (sorry if I sounded I did :-p), things can't get any worse at iStock especially for exclusive artists. I'm kinda numb with it now... But I have to admit that I've been a "frog in the boiling water", no one to blame but myself XD

While finding words to describe how I or us (most exclusives I've talked to) feel, I saw this very good reply from another fellow istock exclusive:

"My sales are so low now that it may be worth going back to independent. The problem is that it's impossible to predict how much the income would drop here at iStock... and I have no idea how the other agencies are doing nowadays, so maybe they wouldn't compensate for the lower income from iStock.

Going independent and then make even less money than I am now would be pretty depressing... "

That pretty much sums up my (or us) feeling now.

QuoteI just don't get it. I guess some people just like to stand in the rain and complain about the weather.

Well, before making up my mind to drop the crown and start anew as independent, taking projects from clients and agencies like I used to is the immediate way out. Some of the exclusives I've talked to are still holding on, creating and uploading like no tomorrow trying to make up for the declining sales, some stopped uploading for more than a year and doing something else already, and few finally dropped their crown and feeling dreadful to upload to multiple sites.

I'm not sure it is appropriate to reply here now or should I start a new thread, because I wanna discuss the same topic in the early year of 2014.

Yes, I'm still iS exclusive, sales still going down, the website is still full of bugs, landing pages haven't been updated for weeks...
and I'm back to agency to take up projects XD

Knock knock... anyone in the iHQ? 

Quote from: File Sold on January 04, 2014, 16:34
Nice to hear opinions on exclusivity

Istock seems a bit scary partner for exclusivity as they are so unpredictable in their moves but good luck for 2014!

Indeed! I missed the good old days :-(

Quote from: Curvabezier on January 03, 2014, 05:33
Considering this was my dropping-crown-year, I think it was a decent one. Sales weren´t great, and I would like some other site to step up and get closer to IS and SS sales.
On the bright side, I´ve managed to learn a lot about the rest of the agencies... also, I like to think my skills improved a bit, and finally, got my symbiostock site, so I have great hopes for 2014.

Is it worthwhile to drop the crown and uploading to multiple agencies?

Quote from: EmberMike on January 02, 2014, 20:51

iStock is actually on a bit of a comeback for me, but only because of the PP. Regular sales were about as expected throughout 2013, low in quantity and revenue.

My guess is that iStock kept pushing prices up and cut some bad deals for contributors, pushing both customers and contributors away. Hence the reduction in pricing for non-exclusive content and the reinstatement of the 20% non-exclusive royalty for vector artists. And also removing the upload limit. They went too far and were backpedaling trying to undo some of the damage.

But before that happened, of course they were promoting ThinkStock, so when customers became disillusioned with iStock and the ever-increasing prices, some of them went over to ThinkStock. PP numbers shot up, I think because of this.

Crazy as it sounds, I think the best way to make decent money with iStock today is through the PP. It's still not a good deal for us, but it's the only thing keeping iStock in any sort of decent shape earnings-wise for me.

You've got a point there, Thinkstock is offering just anything the iStock exclusive artists can offer. I think that hurts the exclusive artists' sales.

Quote from: john_woodcock on January 02, 2014, 15:23
My sales are down quite a bit.  The most discouraging thing is the low performance of new files. I'm still uploading in reasonable numbers but sales on new images are fairly rare.

Is this a vector market trend or iStock only problem? Is iStock getting too crowded or losing too many customers, or both??

Quote from: Shelma1 on January 02, 2014, 15:05
I don't know what you consider a small number of sales. I make maybe 80-90 iStock sales per month, 1,000 PP sales. You? How'd your vectors do there last year?

Michele, have you been exclusive to iStock before, or you've been exclusive to none all the while?

Quote from: cthoman on January 02, 2014, 15:15
2013 was good. I did a little worse than 2012 in total revenue. I grew at some sites and shrunk or eliminated others, so it was sort of a transitional year. I'm looking to 2014 to be a big growth year, so I guess that will be the real test.

*oops wrong quote
Michele, have you been exclusive to iStock before, or you've been exclusive to none all the while?

Hi all vector artists,

How was your 2013 performance and experience?

I'm iStock exclusive and it was kinda bad in 2013, low views and new files hardly get consistent downloads...

Currently exclusive to iStock