Quote from: gyllens on December 06, 2016, 04:29

Quote from: Stickystock on December 06, 2016, 04:09

Quote from: gyllens on December 06, 2016, 02:54

sharpshot!  I am not so sure anymore most of the complainers seem to be very established contributors that like myself have been with them almost from the very start. Contributors with large portfolios of 10000 files and more.
An increase of members and files followed by a soft drop of earnings would make sense but most of these people are complaining about sudden 50% drops and complete stand-stills for hours and long cut off periods.
Many of these people are long time members they know the ropes from experience and can hardly be imagining this.

Myself well I am absolutely sure that somewhere along the line bot SS and Adobe are trying to sort of keep all happy and spreading it out a bit a sort of  " fair" for all if you know what I mean and in doing that many members will be " robbed" of potential earnings.

Mght be wrong of course its all a guessing game but its all turning into a very unstable and unsecure agency.

I did not believe this before. Just sudden drop in downloads over night. BUT... it happend to me now to. Only difference is that I understand that SS should mix things up now and then to give buyers a good experience en not show the same images over and over again. I'm also a buyer. No need for me to go complaining here and blame the industrie. Business is business. And yes. I depend on this income very much so it's not that I don't care. I need this income to pay my bills.

Before 21st of November I had 200-250 downloads on weekdays. But then suddenly I don't get over 155 on weekdays. I have 1600 files. So I have a drop of +100 downloads a day. Weird thing is that I still manage to get $100+ days on SS but I think that is just luck until now. New files start selling like they used to so I need about 200 new files to catch up again. So yes... it's true. A drop over night. Another contributor here I talk to in private has the same experience. He has less files than me and even more downloads and also dropped 100+ since 21st. But like me it motivated him to make more images and just deal with it. And hopefully sales will clime back up again even without new files.

Indeed! I used to have around 500-700 dls per day ELs single-sales almost every day!  could easily survive on my SS income and I live in an expensive country. Its still a good earner but my God! its dropped badly.

Are you talking about the same period? Last November 21st? I wonder if it is just me and another person I know. We both have it since the 21st.

Yes almost exactly the same period and thats also the period when something did change or occur according to many a voice.

40% drop since november 21.

Quote from: gyllens on December 06, 2016, 02:54

sharpshot!  I am not so sure anymore most of the complainers seem to be very established contributors that like myself have been with them almost from the very start. Contributors with large portfolios of 10000 files and more.
An increase of members and files followed by a soft drop of earnings would make sense but most of these people are complaining about sudden 50% drops and complete stand-stills for hours and long cut off periods.
Many of these people are long time members they know the ropes from experience and can hardly be imagining this.

Myself well I am absolutely sure that somewhere along the line bot SS and Adobe are trying to sort of keep all happy and spreading it out a bit a sort of  " fair" for all if you know what I mean and in doing that many members will be " robbed" of potential earnings.

Mght be wrong of course its all a guessing game but its all turning into a very unstable and unsecure agency.

I did not believe this before. Just sudden drop in downloads over night. BUT... it happend to me now to. Only difference is that I understand that SS should mix things up now and then to give buyers a good experience en not show the same images over and over again. I'm also a buyer. No need for me to go complaining here and blame the industrie. Business is business. And yes. I depend on this income very much so it's not that I don't care. I need this income to pay my bills.

Before 21st of November I had 200-250 downloads on weekdays. But then suddenly I don't get over 155 on weekdays. I have 1600 files. So I have a drop of +100 downloads a day. Weird thing is that I still manage to get $100+ days on SS but I think that is just luck until now. New files start selling like they used to so I need about 200 new files to catch up again. So yes... it's true. A drop over night. Another contributor here I talk to in private has the same experience. He has less files than me and even more downloads and also dropped 100+ since 21st. But like me it motivated him to make more images and just deal with it. And hopefully sales will clime back up again even without new files.

http://www.calendar-12.com/holidays/thanksgiving/2016

Thursday, November 24 is Thanksgiving, the week will always be slower then average.

But you can blame some share plot, SS changing something, a bot or conspiracy. It's just a big holiday week, with vacations, travel, many businesses shut down for whole week, other close on Wed. Of course there's going to be a drop!

Quote from: Stickystock on December 06, 2016, 06:19

Quote from: gyllens on December 06, 2016, 04:29

Quote from: Stickystock on December 06, 2016, 04:09

Quote from: gyllens on December 06, 2016, 02:54

sharpshot!  I am not so sure anymore most of the complainers seem to be very established contributors that like myself have been with them almost from the very start. Contributors with large portfolios of 10000 files and more.
An increase of members and files followed by a soft drop of earnings would make sense but most of these people are complaining about sudden 50% drops and complete stand-stills for hours and long cut off periods.
Many of these people are long time members they know the ropes from experience and can hardly be imagining this.

Myself well I am absolutely sure that somewhere along the line bot SS and Adobe are trying to sort of keep all happy and spreading it out a bit a sort of  " fair" for all if you know what I mean and in doing that many members will be " robbed" of potential earnings.

Mght be wrong of course its all a guessing game but its all turning into a very unstable and unsecure agency.

I did not believe this before. Just sudden drop in downloads over night. BUT... it happend to me now to. Only difference is that I understand that SS should mix things up now and then to give buyers a good experience en not show the same images over and over again. I'm also a buyer. No need for me to go complaining here and blame the industrie. Business is business. And yes. I depend on this income very much so it's not that I don't care. I need this income to pay my bills.

Before 21st of November I had 200-250 downloads on weekdays. But then suddenly I don't get over 155 on weekdays. I have 1600 files. So I have a drop of +100 downloads a day. Weird thing is that I still manage to get $100+ days on SS but I think that is just luck until now. New files start selling like they used to so I need about 200 new files to catch up again. So yes... it's true. A drop over night. Another contributor here I talk to in private has the same experience. He has less files than me and even more downloads and also dropped 100+ since 21st. But like me it motivated him to make more images and just deal with it. And hopefully sales will clime back up again even without new files.

Indeed! I used to have around 500-700 dls per day ELs single-sales almost every day!  could easily survive on my SS income and I live in an expensive country. Its still a good earner but my God! its dropped badly.

Are you talking about the same period? Last November 21st? I wonder if it is just me and another person I know. We both have it since the 21st.

Yes almost exactly the same period and thats also the period when something did change or occur according to many a voice.

Same pattern here. I saw an overnight drop at the end of June and another overnight drop from 21st November. At first I attributed it to the Thanksgiving holiday but it hasn't picked back up yet, so I'm guessing it's a something else.

Quote from: max headroom on December 05, 2016, 07:03

Quote from: Bauman on October 10, 2016, 05:07

Q1 + Q2 2015

Earnings: 198.000.000 $
Download: 69.300.000
Items (June 2015): 57.200.000

Q1 + Q2 2016

Earnings: 240.000.000 $ (+21%)
Download: 84.200.000 (+21%)
Items (June 2015): 92.000.000 (+61%)

- Shutterstock Earning increase 21% in a year,
- Almost all contributors complaining about earning decrease,
- Where do you think the "increased earnings" are?

What sharpshot said, but just to go into a bit more detail... the 2015 figures result in averge earnings of $3.40 per item. The 2016 figures result in averge earnings of $2.60 per item. Small increase in total sales, but large increase in total files.

So that's a 15% drop on the average earnings, and it's not outside the realms of possibility that a similar kind of drop will happen year on year. However, as Shutterstock are making a 21% increase year on year... then for them it's happy days!

at the moment I think selling less than 300 pcs a day it's not a job: it's a hobby. So I'm working hard to sell at least this quantity. I'm not at the par, so far. So I keep working good. When I'll reach the par, I'll keep on working the same, or better, way. It's my business, so probably I'll have to invest some money in something special, like high-level models or simply increasing the number of high-level models or excellent locations ...

We all know it's not going to last forever ... but in the meanwhile we have to build something. I know I'm going to learn lots of things in quality standards, customers need, and so on. What I build is for me. Do you remember for how many years the vast majority of people around you used Microsoft Word 97 cliparts for their everyday graphics? It's twenty year they keep using them.

And I fear they'll do the same with some "thumbs up" files by Arcurs. If they're good they'll work forever. At least until hairstyle won't change as much as it did in the eighties

Yadayada: I understand your point. At first I thought the same. And believe me I am ANTI conspiracy and still don't blame the industry and SS. I love Shutterstock and still do. But if I look at the same period from last 3 years there was no drop. And a 100+ downloads drop a day is not normal for weeks going on. At this point it's getting better and now I am still down about 50-60 downloads a day but this is because new images sell fantastic and keep selling. So I actually see this as something positive since it made me work harder again on stock and it might give me a better return in the end.

I think they mixed things up to give buyers a better experience. But I am 100% sure this has nothing to do with Thanksgiving also since not everyone is experiencing the same. It's just individuals. I DON'T believe SS is trying to earn more from low tier contributors by pushing them up. I DON'T think they are keeping sales for themselves! Please don't put me in the complainers and conspiracy box!

[complainer box]  There's no business reason to promote photos that aren't as good as others, even if it's low paying. Mixing search for buyers is a good thing, we all get more exposure, instead of some old photos stuck on top based on sales. 50 a day is good work, nice going.

We can't predict these slow sales or fast sales. When somebody says others have noticed search change, it's just trying to defend suspicion based on heresay. I can write many people are seeing higher sales and better search, and some of us will see that is true.

People will see what they want to see and no amount of evidence will change their mind. This is how superstition and myth works. My search place that I look at is the same. I'm still on top of the ones I watched.

Best days November 2015 3,10,30 for me. Week of Thanksgiving was worst. 6,11,12,24 in 2015. 17,27 in 2014. 5,6,11 in 2013.This proves nothing except change. Total, grew every year, 2015 is one less sale then 2014, 2016 almost double earnings of 2015 and 30 more sales.

Proves nothing because my pictures are not anybody else pictures. I have Christmas and holiday food photos. That's not what sells most, but what I'd think should. Competition for best sellers and popular subjects keeps going up. Niche subjects keep selling best for me. I stopped shooting best selling and over uploaded subjects three years ago.

I blame most of the industry for lowering percentage which is lower pay. SS hasn't changed like others, lowered EL but raised OD and Other.  Adobe has increased. These two are the ones to make the most money.

2017 predictions, Adobe will go past iStock and never look back. The same people who come here to complain all day every day, will keep complaining no matter what we gain or make more from SS or Adobe.

I don't see Microstock industry for us as looking up, but I see 4 or 5 agencies that will make me more in 2017. I'll work for those and ignore the rest.

Not 50 downloads a day. I am DOWN 50 - 60 downloads. My best day this week was 164. I always have 3-4 weeks of 200 - 240. Monday and Friday are always low. The other person I mentioned just send me a message that today his sales are back to normal so I hope mine will go back to normal also. Just hoping.

Oh my bad, down 50 a day is bad. Hope they come back soon.

Not 50 downloads a day. I am DOWN 50 - 60 downloads. My best day this week was 164. I always have 3-4 weeks of 200 - 240. Monday and Friday are always low. The other person I mentioned just send me a message that today his sales are back to normal so I hope mine will go back to normal also. Just hoping.

what kind of images you have and number?

Even music!

Haha, "Even music"?

Music runs circles around image sales (in $$$) I assure you. 

Anything that takes time and skill will be worth much more. Great studio photography takes great skill and time, but it definitely is possible to get lucky with images if you happen to own a camera. This is not the case with advanced footage (like well-done hyper lapses for example) and music. There aren't any "lucky" people posting that kind of material. You HAVE to put the time and the skill in, and if you do, you don't have that much competition.

Quote from: Artist on December 05, 2016, 05:27

the team replies that yes he can use it as a logo but in that case he need to do a buy-out purchase and the design will be removed from all the microstock channels and will sold to you with all the complete rights.
Now the price for that license was ranging from 5k-10k (I don't remember exactly) and a good percentage was to be given to the contributor.

That won't work unless the design has never, ever been sold elsewhere. You can't negate the right other people who have bought the image have to continue using it forever in accordance with the terms of their license. That might very well lead to a direct conflict between the new "owner' of the image, who wants it exclusively, and others who own the right to use it regardless. Definitely not worth 5-10k to have such limited ownership and to buy a potential problem.

didn't (or still does?) do it DT that way? I seem to remember I had 2 or 3 requests from DT for 'Sell Rights' a few years ago. I always turned it down, too many colour and geometric variations (vector bgs) to take down (and which ones are not variations anymore?), but always wondered as well why someone would be interested to  buy exclusive rights of an image that has already sold a few hundred times... obviously you can't the sold licenses back?!

I want to "see" higher sales. Why isn't the superstition/myth working ...

Anything that takes time and skill will be worth much more. Great studio photography takes great skill and time, but it definitely is possible to get lucky with images if you happen to own a camera. This is not the case with advanced footage (like well-done hyper lapses for example) and music. There aren't any "lucky" people posting that kind of material. You HAVE to put the time and the skill in, and if you do, you don't have that much competition.

I'm creating 4k hyperlapses which are a bitch to make (long and tedious to shoot, long (color and tone) processing, stabilization, etc.)
It takes quite a while to create them, and they sell so rarely that it's not even worth it to create them from a financial perspective. I'll continue doing them (because I like that), but I always know that I'm on a loss, and that it'd be wasting my time if I weren't enjoying it.