Author Topic: Feeding the Beast? (Read 5753 times)

Graffoto · « **on:** December 18, 2007, 19:10 »

We all know that new submissions get all the attention at SS, and then the sales taper off.

My question: What is the highest number of downloads on a new image that anyone has had?

The most downloads on a single image that I have thus far is 24, and that one has been around for quite a while now.

I have to admit that while the same image is also on IS, it has been downloaded far fewer times there. As a matter of fact my highest selling image at IS has only 27 downloads and it has been there for at least two years now.

louoates · « **Reply #1 on:** December 18, 2007, 19:23 »

Sales of my best images on SS have not tapered off. I've been uploading only a few images per month and my downloads are INCREASING across the board. Although the same best images of mine have been tapering off at iStock.

I agree that sales are quicker at SS, often minutes from uploading. When I first started there about two years ago I thought that the quick sales were a marketing tool; that the site was buying them just to brag a bit about how good it was to be uploading there.

epixx · « **Reply #2 on:** December 18, 2007, 19:29 »

My most sold photo at SS has 205 downloads and has earned $73.90
At IS, the same photo has 161 downloads, but has earned more, $98.57

My most sold photo at IS has 175 Downloads and has earned $117.28
That photo has sold 107 times at SS, earning $30.10

This is absolutely food for thought, and the headline "Feeding the Beast" is very appropriate. Although SS is still my biggest earner, the lead is shrinking rapidly, and my best photos earn much more money elsewhere.

If this trend continues, it's just a question of time before I have to ask myself how to handle this, either by limiting uploads at SS to medium quality volume sellers, or by planning an exit some time in the future. I can't see myself uploading photos to SS on a daily basis for the rest of my life, and even if older photos sell well also, they apparently need new uploads to spur new interest in my portfolio.

digiology · « **Reply #3 on:** December 18, 2007, 19:39 »

Speaking of SS - I have been unable to log in for the past 24hrs

Anyone else having problems?

epixx · « **Reply #4 on:** December 18, 2007, 20:01 »

Quote from: digiology on December 18, 2007, 19:39

Speaking of SS - I have been unable to log in for the past 24hrs

Anyone else having problems?

Nope, works great here.

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #5 on:** December 18, 2007, 20:57 »

nope, just uploaded a batch today and got my confirm email...

SS my top two sold are 173 and 169.

I only upload 3 at a time, twice a week, seems to keep sales going. IS is now outselling SS dollar-wise for me now. But SS will probably never be unseated from #2 by any of my other sites. I'm still happy with SS.

-tom

Kngkyle · « **Reply #6 on:** December 18, 2007, 21:04 »

My top seller on SS has only 100 downloads, worth $26.50. The same file has had 76 sales on StockXpert earning me $99.90. It is also my top seller on Istock, but since I have only been there a month now the stats are not comparable. I have noticed on StockXpert that when you get one off to a good start, it takes off like crazy. (The rating/comment exchange thread here has helped a few of mine take off)

CCK · « **Reply #7 on:** December 19, 2007, 00:43 »

One of my images at SS had 11 downloads since Saturday, while another was downloaded 27 times in the last month. No other site comes close to that in numbers or in revenue. If only all my images sold at that rate!

bbettina · « **Reply #8 on:** December 19, 2007, 01:47 »

My bestseller has sold 313 times on SS - it just keeps selling. In fact I am selling my "old" pictures (I have been on SS since April 2007) quite well across the board. I don't keep stats but I would estimate about half new stuff, half old stuff. When I started I thought sales would come mainly from new pics but so far that's not the case - I hope it stays that way.

sharpshot · « **Reply #9 on:** December 19, 2007, 03:12 »

My highest selling image on SS has 250 downloads. It has just hit 100 on IS. I have 3 over 200 downloads on SS now. Some of my old images do keep selling there. I would like to upload to SS for the rest of my life, as long as sales are good. There might be times when I can't but it springs back to life with new uploads.

Next year I am going to try more vectors and see how they sell. I would like to upload vectors and illustration to the micros and keep my photos for the traditional and higher paying micro sites.

ff · « **Reply #10 on:** December 19, 2007, 04:20 »

Nosaya, I was thinking of the exact same thing this morning. I've been on SS for about 1 month, and my best selling photo has had 44 dlds todate. I realise from reading various posts that this is to be expected at the beginning.

No luck with IS yet. Am waiting patiently for next month to retry.

Lina

fintastique · « **Reply #11 on:** December 19, 2007, 05:03 »

You can have long term sellers at SS if you upload at the right time and your image becomes a "popular" image then if interest continues it stays near the top in the popular search and continues to sell doesn't very happen often.

I have one vector that has been DLed 178 times in 9 months at SS, 10 times at DT and none at iStock coz they won't accept my illustrations

araminta · « **Reply #12 on:** December 19, 2007, 05:32 »

My best seller at SS has 670 downloads. Another picture of the same "blackboard" serie is also my best seller at IS with 640 downloads.

It is interesting to see that my best sellers at SS, IS and StockXpert (and basically everywhere) are very simple pictures (Photoshop illustrations) which are definitively not the one I prefer myself, but I guess they are useful for designers.

I'm actually a little bit ashamed to see that such basic picture do sell so well, and it is somehow frustrating for a photographer to see that his best sellers are not the best photo in his portfolio... this is business and business does not want my macro shots

My SS best seller has been used in a web banner for MS Office Mac, which is pretty cool indeed

vonkara · « **Reply #13 on:** December 19, 2007, 11:53 »

I don't know about everyone but. Do it's better to not upload at SS during christmas break, if the file popularity can be affected dramatically in the first weeks by some designer vacancy. Maybe it can be the case for others like IS, where the dls/months seem to mostly affect the best match search results.

a.k.a.-tom · « **Reply #14 on:** December 19, 2007, 15:11 »

Quote from: araminta on December 19, 2007, 05:32

I'm actually a little be ashamed to see that such basic picture do sell so well, and it is somehow frustrating for a photographer to see that his best sellers are not the best photo in his portfolio... this is business and business does not want my macro shots

LOL.... I'm laughing with you, araminta.... LOL.. My 2nd best seller on SS is a closeup picture of a brick sidewalk.... nothing to it... a bunch of bricks...

-tom

Peiling · « **Reply #15 on:** December 20, 2007, 00:59 »

my best seller is a patch of green grass in istock....it does not sell anywhere. It has a flame now but stopped selling 6 months ago when they tweak the system in istock.....i dont know whether to be happy or sad that a patch of grass is so sellable....i loaded it on a whim and it got accepted unexpectedly and sold more than i can imagine....my first and only flame so far.......hopefully i get more flames in future....on real photos and not such strange random photoss

travelstock · « **Reply #16 on:** December 20, 2007, 11:55 »

Quote from: fintastique on December 19, 2007, 05:03

You can have long term sellers at SS if you upload at the right time and your image becomes a "popular" image then if interest continues it stays near the top in the popular search and continues to sell doesn't very happen often.

I have one vector that has been DLed 178 times in 9 months at SS, 10 times at DT and none at iStock coz they won't accept my illustrations

I also have files that are consistent long term - but then none of my files tend to be sensationally popular, just constant. My best seller happens to be the same on both IS and SS - a photo of a temple in Tokyo - 198DL on IS for $158 and 158DL on SS for $47 - big difference in $$$! I suspect that the success of this file is at least partly due to the low number of competing files of the same subject, and the difficulty with replicating the shot - getting clear skies in Japan, a relatively empty temple etc, let alone actually getting there for most microstock photographers works in favor of the shot.

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Author Topic: Feeding the Beast? (Read 5753 times)

Graffoto

louoates

epixx

digiology

epixx

a.k.a.-tom

Kngkyle

CCK

bbettina

sharpshot

ff

fintastique

araminta

vonkara

a.k.a.-tom

Peiling

travelstock

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