As I was filtering through my stack of 1099-MISC's, I started looking into how my sales have changed in the past three years. Thought I'd share the percentages to show the extent (anecdotally) of the agency gap between Shutterstock and Pond5 and everything else. The four agencies I've always been a consistent contributor on are SS, P5, iStock, and Revo.

2012: SS: 41%, P5: 30%, iStock: 11%, Revo: 11%, Other (photo-only): 7% -- Avg per/mo: $378 USD
2013: SS: 45%, P5: 45%, iStock: 5%, Revo: 2%, Other: 3%  -- Avg per/mo: $701 USD
2014 (to-date): SS: 52%, P5: 41%, iStock: 4%, Revo: 2%, Other: 1%  -- Avg per/mo: $860 USD

Interestingly, I have done very little to improve my portfolio since early 2013, yet I have had sales steadily increasing - just only from SS and P5. Always curious about what other agencies are out there and worth contributing to, but doesn't look like any have the slightest chance of being competitive. I suppose it's the high cost of maintaining a full and varied portfolio of HQ video..

Anyone else seeing a similar trend of improving sales from the two great stock video overlords?

I think it's pretty amazing how much Shutterstock and Pond5 seem to dominate the stock video realm. Probably around 80-90% of my sales are from those two. Revostock and iStock both seem to do worse for me each month while SS and P5 do better. I've posted some to Clipcanvas but haven't had a sale, not sure if it's worth the effort putting everything else up.

Anyone else post to any agencies that do well other than Shutterstock and Pond5?

It's been about a year since I started selling stock video, and I currently have about 300 clips per site online (IS more recently and fewer clips). Overall here are my approximations of the year to date:

SS: per/mo average: $150 (44% of sales)
IS: per/mo average: $37 (10.5% of sales)
Pond5: per/mo average: $90 (26% of sales)
Revo: per/mo average: $40 (11.5% of sales)

The rest is from a couple other sites that all make less than $10 per/mo each. Broke the $200 per month mark with Shutterstock for the last two months, I've seen a pretty steady rise there.

Quote from: stepheng101 on December 15, 2011, 14:30

Yeah I was looking at a footage cart sale not a subscription. Haha. I have yet to have sold a non-HD clip, so the lowest payout I've recieved is $13.25. I'm not sure, but does SS price 720p at $49 and 1080p at $79? Haven't quite figured out why there are these two prices schemes.

I've noticed that too, I'm hoping not to get swamped by new uploads since I pretty much just shoot aerial video (I hard market to compete in unless your a pilot and you don't have to pay for the cost of the airplane like me!).

I don't know about the new sales prices, but the old sales prices for cart sales were $10 for low-res, $30 for SD, and $50 for HD. We get 30% commissions. Assuming the same commission level for subs, the sales prices were $9, $27, and $45 (so not too much of a discount from the cart price).

I didn't know you shoot mainly aerials. That being the case, if I were you, I'd concentrate on videos. That's a great niche to have available.
 

I just double-checked and the new rates are $19, $49, $79 for web, SD and HD respectively. For footage cart sales it is a flat 30%, which is $23.70 for HD clips. Subscription sales are a little confusing to me, the SS FAQ says: "30% of sale price, with minimums of $2.50 for low-resolution downloads, $8.00 for SD downloads, and $13.25 for HD downloads." ...so is it 30% or $13.25? Because 30% is $23.70. Hmm..

Yep I'm a lucky guy! I fly with a traffic reporter for a radio station so I'm flying low to the ground all week so it is a great opportunity for some unique footage. Thanks for your input, much appreciated!

I spent a couple of days trying to work out how to edit a video and got absolutely nowhere. I don't even have a clue what a few of the crucial terms mean, let alone how to use a video editing program. When I try to pan everything comes out jerky, when I try to zoom the same happens. I concluded that even if I got the editing right the only things I could shoot would be time-lapse or something where an object moves across the view of a fixed camera. So I followed that old adage that if at first you don't succeed, give up.

There's definitely a learning curve, it took me a while to find a editing program I liked too, mostly sticking with Premiere Pro these days. I had an on and off relationship with FCP X for the past few months until I decided weren't meant to be. Sounds like a frame rate thing to me, and maybe just panning and zooming a bit fast. I had this issue too when I started filming overhead views from the plane. I was shooting at 1080p 30fps from 1500 feet going 110 mph - not going to look smooth! Now I've just given up on that and if I want that angle I switch to 720p 60fps and slow it down by 50%- seems to work alright.

Time-lapses sure seem popular. Looks like a good chunk of the most popular videos are time-lapses. I thought the adage was if at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris. Hmm..

Has anyone else had this problem?!

Maybe 1 out of 5 files I click on waiting to be submitted allow me to tag them with keywords, the rest just don't process when I type keywords into the box. I haven't messaged Pond5 support about this yet, just wondering if there's a simple fix to the problem here that someone else has experienced. Thanks in advance!

Yes Stepheng 101 friend is right.Once the aircraft is trimmed up, flying with your feet is easy. If the aerial photos are in places with congested aerial traffic , I take along another pilot mainly to watch for traffic.
Smiling Jack

You probably have a great opportunity to get a lot photos of different places. While it's nice that I fly low, I'm always in the Seattle-area so there's only so much to shoot. Not a bad idea on bringing along a second pilot! I try to do most of my photo taking in controlled airspace and between traffic-scanning intervals. Whatever the case, between flying and taking pictures, it's good to remember which is more important.

Very cool to hear there's another commercial pilot trying to make a buck on microstock! Do you fly a 172 for your mapping work? I've been curious about getting into that since working at an FBO one summer when Desert Winds Air Service came in to do some photo mapping for King County. If you don't mind me asking, what's that like? QOL, hours flown per month, etc?

stephen,

I think you have a nitche there, and I suspect Microstock isn't your only or best option. There was an outfit up in Alaska this summer, selling aerial photography as postcards and large wall posters of various cities, including the one I was in. I didn't buy any, but the temptation was definitely there.  But like any type of landscape photography, being in the right place, at the right time could mean the difference the photo anyone can get and the spectacular one. And I don't know how flexible your schedule is, how wide a range you have, etc.  Time of day, etc.

I've actually been thinking about this more lately, seeing about selling prints and postcards or something. I got some shots of downtown Seattle at sunset last week and every building was reflecting off the water while the ferry was approaching. I'd put it up here, but I'm not quite sure how. It was a really lucky right time, right place thing and I don't think it would have a lot of value as a stock photo, but I could see it as a postcard or print. I have no idea how to get started in the photo prints business though, maybe it's as simple as calling or emailing gift shops or the tourism board or something.

I think you could do well with aerial photos.  Its not something that lots of people are going to be doing.  Get a lot more photos in your portfolio and some should become good sellers.  It can take time to get results.  Most of us only have a small percentage of our portfolios that make most of the money.  Its sometimes surprising what sells and what doesn't, so build a bigger portfolio and then see what works for you.

Great thanks! I've noticed I'm getting more views with photos of corporate jets and of intersecting roads and highways. This may be an impossible question, but did you find there to be a "tipping point" where things started gaining momentum at a certain number of uploads? I'm sure it comes down to taking the right pictures and having a few good money makers, but I wonder what the average is.

I'm new here as well! I have portfolios (almost all aerial) on DT, FT, and was just accepted to SS. Hopefully, Istock in the near future..