Quote from: PixelsAway on June 26, 2020, 21:29
RPD in SS (level 5, mostly still images):

June 2019 - 0.81
May 2020 - 0.73
June 2020 - 0.87

It looks like June will be my best month in the last two years or so.

But what do you think will happen with your earnings in January when you drop to level 1 like everybody else?

Quote from: Lizard on June 26, 2020, 12:53

Where exactly in the balkans? Cause only my internet phone and cable TV bill here is like 3/4 of that price. You can not rent a parking spot in the center for less than 250$ a month.
 

In Bosnia, Macedonia, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro... In Croatia the situation is better. I don't know about income in rural parts of Romania, Bulgaria. Even in Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, a seller in a large shop which is selling expensive laptops, cameras, TVs, or a seller in a large, fancy fashion shop can get from 25.000 to 30.000 RSD per month for a 6 work days per week, full time job (which is around 238$ to 270$ per month). People on administrative duties in such companies have around 280 or 300$.  People working in "corner shops" selling newspapers, beverages, etc. or those working in small fashion shops can earn as low as 170$ per month.

But the cost of living is also much lower there, people would not survive if it was different. You can rent nice, modern 1-bedroom apartment in a new building from 160 to 200$ per month (plus expenses). In smaller cities even cheaper. Healthcare is free for unemployed and those on low income. Large number of people in their 30s or 40s (especially if they are unmarried/single) are still living in the same apartment/house together with their parents, because they can not afford to live separately. Still, I admire how those people manage to cover all their costs at the end of the month.

So 0.10$ for an image from Shutterstock, which is unacceptable for many from hi-income countries, is still a nice to have for all those people from Europe, Asia, America, etc. who are on low income or unemployed. Majority will never deactivate their portfolios.

You really have to look at the broader picture:

• There is a huge number of contributors on Shutterstock from poor / developing countries. Salaries there are miserable. For example, hundreds of thousands people in the Balkans have monthly salaries of just 160 to 220 $ per month after taxes (full time work, often including Saturdays).

• There is a large number of contributors on Shutterstock from rich / developed countries who are unemployed or on very low income for whatever reason.

• Many of those contributors are talented, and are able to provide good stock content.

All those people will never deactivate their portfolios, no matter how low the earnings become. Even 0.01$ for a photo is infinitely better for them then 0.00$ if they stop selling their work.
That's why the current (justified) protests against Shutterstock have very low chance of succeeding.
And that's why the earnings will unfortunately continue to plummet everywhere.

Nice idea, and it's great to see someone putting effort into finding a solution for the current crisis of the microstock market.
However, some possible problems came into my mind when I red the description of your idea:

• There is no clear advantage for the clients. They can much faster find and purchase images they need on standard microstock websites (without the need to write desriptions for each image they want), and they would probably get better price there.

• Also, if some client decides to try this new "cooperative" website, he would describe the images he needs, but often contributors would offer images that are not quite what the client had envisioned (we all know how clients can be picky). Clients usually do not have so much free time to explain in detail what they need, and then to wait for who knows how long for the right image to be offered. Many would quickly lose patience, so they will return to the iStock, Shutterstock, AS, etc. where they can quickly find and buy the right image they need.

Without clients, that new concept would quickly become failure.

Yesterday Africastudio had around 650 online images on Shutterstock.
Currently they have 96706 images there, so they are obviosly coming back online.

Question for those who have 2 stars as their level/rank on Alamy:
What is the current waiting time for QC after you upload a new batch of images (photos, not vectors)?