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Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: hatman12 on May 29, 2007, 15:12

Title: How's it going?
Post by: hatman12 on May 29, 2007, 15:12
How's it going for everyone at Shutterstock?

I had a problem period about a month ago when I couldn't upload for about ten days; sales dropped considerably during that period.  However since then I have been back into my routine of uploading every couple of days, but I don't seem to be able to kick-start SS back to my previous sales levels.  Very frustrating.

Is this just a problem I need to resolve somehow, or are others experiencing the same thing (I recall some members here expressing concern about a gentle decline in dales at SS)?
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: sim on May 29, 2007, 15:19
I've seen a consistent decline in sales for the last three months on SS, even with regular uploading.

In fact this month, I may actually fall a couple of dollars short of the $75 minimum paypal payment, for the first time.

Fortunately IS and StockXpert are showing spectacular growth (exceeding SS) which keeps me smiling  ;)
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: dbvirago on May 29, 2007, 15:32
Another record  month for me at SS, but I hope everyone comes back to work soon. Fifth bad day in a row.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: scrappinstacy on May 29, 2007, 16:10
Mine has been pretty much consistently the same (payout every month) since being accepted in June 2006 even though my portfolio is much larger than it was originally.

Wish the payouts were bigger - lol
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: hatman12 on May 29, 2007, 16:42
Yes, I think I'll avoid uploading at holiday weekends in future; it seems that peeps like to tack on an extra holiday or two either before or after these long weekends (or both), and new uploads can get 'lost' during this period.

Next hol is July 4th and I think I'll plan to stop uploading a coupla days before and save those for a larger upload burst once everyone has returned to work.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: epixx on May 29, 2007, 18:59
After a weak April, I'm back on schedule with SS. May will be a new record month (like all previous ones except April), and I end up almost 20% above March.

This is in spite of very modest uploads in May, but I did upload photos of higher quality than before.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: sharply_done on May 29, 2007, 22:57
No problems here: my sales are up.
The summer slump is about to hit though - I'm holding my breath that things will be strong for another week or two.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: Karimala on May 30, 2007, 00:33
Best month ever.  Kinda sorta helps that I added almost 300 images in the past month.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: Freezingpictures on May 30, 2007, 01:13
For me it is a record month. But I also have uploaded regulary troughout the month. I had also my record day during this month.
What I experienced a little bit was that the new images got dls for a while and then their sales gradually seem to drop. However I have so many sales there right now it is more than double the earnings of IS which dropped a bit.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: hatman12 on May 30, 2007, 01:59
Well sales seem to have returned to normal overnight so clearly it is/was just a holiday weekend thang.

Nonetheless, with SS I think I'll stop uploading a few at a time and go for larger batches just a little less frequently and see what happens.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: Fortunefame on May 30, 2007, 02:41
Not good,

For the first time i don't get the monthly payout. I'm 15$ short! I uploaded on the 1st of this month a batch of 40, sales were OK then, but 2 days ago I even had a 0 DL day...wow...
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: hatman12 on May 30, 2007, 03:27
Wow - a zero download day!  That is definitely not good.  Hope it picks up again for you.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: sharply_done on May 30, 2007, 08:40
A zero day on SS ... my sympathies.

Given that you've always made the monthly payout, perhaps you need to examine how and what you've been shooting lately. It may also not be the best strategy to upload all your shots at once. Rather than upload large batches, I post 10-20 images to SS daily.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: hatman12 on May 30, 2007, 12:16
Wow Sharply - that is some picture production machine you've got going there.

I have suspected for a while that you are not actually human.....

..... and I think you've just confirmed it......!
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: sharply_done on May 30, 2007, 12:46
Just chalk it up as one of the advantages you have when choose to specialize and shoot full-time - there's no easy way for a casual/part-time/hobby photographer to compete. Which goes a long way to explain the "quality over quantity" maxim.
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: a.k.a.-tom on May 30, 2007, 15:51
I've said it dozens of times before, I firmly believe the SS sales are directly related to uploading on a regular basis.  Case in point,  one of my worst sales months on SS.   Between being on 2 weeks vacation,  and concentrating most of my time on a couple other sites, I've only uploaded 3 pix to SS back in the first week of May. 
   Coincidence? I think not. ..Even so, sales are regular, but certainly nothing to write home about! 
         With SS you just have to keep uploading! I hope to have a long relationship with SS.  Fortunately, I've got 2 more weeks worth of shooting  to prep and upload to SS. Hopefully, sales will jump back up again.     8)-tom
Title: Re: How's it going?
Post by: snoozle on May 31, 2007, 16:21
Last month I uploaded the most images in one month for me (about 3 days worth for Sharply done) and had a decrease in sales.

This month, due to other commitments I havn't uploaded at all and have had my best ever month. Although only at Shutterstock, every other site has seen a decrease compared to last month.

Possibly the fact that my portfolio is very small compared to others on here, only 128 at SS means that I am more prone to fluctuations than those with much bigger (and better) portfolios.