MicrostockGroup
Agency Based Discussion => Shutterstock.com => Topic started by: anon20200611 on June 02, 2020, 10:30
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ATTENTION! CLOSING THREAD AND STARTING A NEW ONE:
https://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/accurate-calculations-of-old-rpd-vs-june-rpd-(constant-updates)/new/#new (https://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/accurate-calculations-of-old-rpd-vs-june-rpd-(constant-updates)/new/#new)
The data that have been received in this thread have been inconsistent for some reasons:
(A) The Levels matter. People have been reporting data without stating their level or other important parameters.
(B) The Subs, ODs and ELs play a huge role in RPD, but they also can't be stated separately because there isn't a guaranteed future fixed ratio of them to our income. The middle solution, to take an RPD sample of only Sub + OD and keep EL's out, just as an indicator.
(C) We will measure the last few months rpd only and not the lifetime average. Because Lifetime average includes lower tier downloads as well and it wouldn't be a fair measurement, pointing our previous tier vs current tier.
(D) We didn't mention the previous tier, to make an accurate comparisson where is one coming from
So, asking your patience, I would like to invite you to a new thread to submit somewhat more accurate data, because right now we are getting way too mixed reports. Some people are reporting -5% or -10% and some people are reporting -50% or -60% (both in level 1, that it's expected, even in level 6).
Average RPD reduction from the first 14 people that posted until this point:
33%
ORIGINAL POST:
Let's keep it short and precise in the following format and for IMAGES only:
My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.64
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.85 (with an enhanced dl) without that enhanced it would be ($0.52)
Current RPD:
+33% (Level 5) with the enhanced. Without the enhanced it would be -19% (Level 5)
Some comment here: My May 2020 average RPD was $0.57 in the old system - it largely depends of course in the number of enhanced sales. With 0 enhanced sales my RPD would drop as low as $0.53 (my record low monthly RPD) and without an enhanced dl, so far it's about the same. An enhanced came though and made it jump up. I will proceed my rpd postings in a double scenario with or without the enhanced.
What about you?
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You can gather lots of data from other contributors in the Shutterstock forums. The fine details vary, but the big picture is crystal clear. One example:
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June first was half under the old system.
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Lost all hopes now. :( :'(
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My RPD is down 40% with the new system. I'm level 4, likely to hit level 5 late this month. All but one of my sales since the change have been .15 or below, with most at .10 or .11.
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For me it's just 0.25 --> 0.1.
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.75
Current RPD (June 1-2 sample):
$0.47
Current reduction in RPD:
37% (Level 4)
Some comment here: My average RPD on the first five month of 2020 (Jan to May) is $0.69.
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.79
Current RPD (June 1-2 sample):
$0.30
Current reduction in RPD:
62% (Level 5)
Some comment here: There is little to say
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I'm level 5 and my rpd has dropped by 20%
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*bump*
I am pushing this post up as it interesting to keep track of this and find out how much the actual loss is.
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0,666
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.676
Some comment here: level 5
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.59
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.47
Current RPD:
-20 %
Some comment here:
In my case, RPD si going down (-20 %) but the amount of downloads has increased. It even seems I may achieve one of my best results this month (hard to say after 4 days but it is relatively good so far). I am at Level 4 in the new system. Frustrated by a lot of $0.10-$0.14 sales but satisfied with increase of sales (so far). It is not so bad as I have got few sales with expensive subscriptions ($0.59, $0.87, $0.95 commissions from subscription are much better than previous $0.36 but you know, it does not happen very often).
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Thanks for this forum thread. I think the RPD is the only data that makes sense monitoring.
My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.73
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.61
Some comment here:
(images only)
Lifetime RPD on Adobe Stock: 1.06 €
Lifetime RPD on iStock: $0.63
So SS is becoming similar to iStock, which has the lowest RPD of all stocks...
In my case, RPD si going down (-20 %) but the amount of downloads has increased. It even seems I may achieve one of my best results this month (hard to say after 4 days but it is relatively good so far). I am at Level 4 in the new system. Frustrated by a lot of $0.10-$0.14 sales but satisfied with increase of sales (so far). It is not so bad as I have got few sales with expensive subscriptions ($0.59, $0.87, $0.95 commissions from subscription are much better than previous $0.36 but you know, it does not happen very often).
Glad you have more downloads, but in theory this has nothing to do with the new earning structure on SS because it only apply to the contributor side and is totally transparent for buyers.
Edit: Corrected RPD (had error in calculation)
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.54
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.44 (with an enhanced dl) without that enhanced it would be $0.34
Current RPD:
-19% (Level 5) with the enhanced. Without the enhanced it would be -38% (Level 5)
Some comment here:
I always had very low amount of non-subs (so the low RPD on level 5). Now I get one unusual $22 Enhanced and one $11 Single. Also dozens of subscriptions from one place, so so far amount of downloads is about 50% higher then usually and earnings probably about my best months. But it seems to be accidental.
So its now very random - few big sales and its great month, or only subscriptions and its disaster.
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Jan to May 2020 RPD: 70,6 cents
Since switch to new earnings structure: 22,2 Cents
A reduction of 68% until now.
PS: I'm level 4
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I don't exactly follow follow your format, becase i don't want to compare to lifetime RPD. In 2006 it was all 0.25 downloads, and RPD has been a lot higher later, i'm looking at that as a baseline.
Previous 2020 image RPD:
0.69
June 2020 image RPD:
0.38
-45%
But it's not relevant data yet. Most of this decrease is not coming from the new system, but from the fact that this month so far i did not have any ELs or high value SOD sales
The RPD for sub sales is gone from 0.38 to 0.22-0.25
On demand are varying but there's a chance of positive change there
Level 5
I think the uproar against SS is well justified, no excuse for cutting commissions like this with and already profitable company. Also the January reset is just beyond greed
When there is a mass deactivation organized (there were some talks about 15th of June..) i'll pull my photos
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I hesitated many times last night before clicking the "publish" button on my own calculations on the impact of the changes to my portfolio. I'm a Level 5 and so I know I am not going to be hit anywhere near as hard as the lower levels contributors and I was also worried that three days (as we couldn't really tell what was happening on Day 1 and 2) would be statistically accurate enough. But I did publish it in the end for what it is worth. I calculated that based on my results so far, I would be down on average by about 6% when I looked at all my results from Jan 2018 through May 2020. This is images only - I'm sure my video earnings will be down, but they are pretty variable from month to month in both volume and price per clip. I definitely lose on Subscriptions with a 36% drop, but ODs seem to be up by about 12% and ED and SODs should be improved by 17%. You can see all the calculations on my blog, but here is my overall graph:
(https://backyardsilver.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/NewShutterstockCommissions.png)
Steve
https://backyardsilver.com/shutterstock-payout-changes-likely-impact/
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I hesitated many times last night before clicking the "publish" button on my own calculations on the impact of the changes to my portfolio. I'm a Level 5 and so I know I am not going to be hit anywhere near as hard as the lower levels contributors and I was also worried that three days (as we couldn't really tell what was happening on Day 1 and 2) would be statistically accurate enough. But I did publish it in the end for what it is worth. I calculated that based on my results so far, I would be down on average by about 6% when I looked at all my results from Jan 2018 through May 2020. This is images only - I'm sure my video earnings will be down, but they are pretty variable from month to month in both volume and price per clip. I definitely lose on Subscriptions with a 36% drop, but ODs seem to be up by about 12% and ED and SODs should be improved by 17%. You can see all the calculations on my blog, but here is my overall graph:
Steve
https://backyardsilver.com/shutterstock-payout-changes-likely-impact/
Hi Steve, I am not sure how Icould process your rpd based on this graph that you are showing. Did you apply standard variables from June to all your previous performance and applied to the total of your results since Jan 18? I am not sure how you ended up in this result. Because how can you know how many sub customers from each different customer category purchased your images? Or did you apply it as a fixed standard with an "average sub download price"?
In this post I am measuring an average rpd, preferably excluding any extended or enhanced licenses and comparing average of sub and od sales.
So if you do this exact calculation and can submit on the requested format I could definitely use your insight.
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Lifelong RPD 66 cents ... June RPD 63 cents.
Hard to say really ... I've been on Shutterstock since 2006, I've gotten used to getting those 38c per subscription download and now get some as low as 10 cents and some as high as $1.72. more single&other sales as well. Also 1/3 so far is from enhanced downloads, so could be treated as anomaly (lifelong earnings it's just ~5%).
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Hi Steve, I am not sure how Icould process your rpd based on this graph that you are showing. Did you apply standard variables from June to all your previous performance and applied to the total of your results since Jan 18? I am not sure how you ended up in this result. Because how can you know how many sub customers from each different customer category purchased your images? Or did you apply it as a fixed standard with an "average sub download price"?
In this post I am measuring an average rpd, preferably excluding any extended or enhanced licenses and comparing average of sub and od sales.
So if you do this exact calculation and can submit on the requested format I could definitely use your insight.
Sorry to have highjacked the post and calculations. I'll see if I can work that out, although for the higher tier people the single sales will make a big difference each month as we will get a higher percentage of the paid amount. I saw the title of the post and didn't read all the previous responses, my mistake!
Steve
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Lifelong RPD 66 cents ... June RPD 63 cents.
Hard to say really ... I've been on Shutterstock since 2006, I've gotten used to getting those 38c per subscription download and now get some as low as 10 cents and some as high as $1.72. more single&other sales as well. Also 1/3 so far is from enhanced downloads, so could be treated as anomaly (lifelong earnings it's just ~5%).
Yeah, I noticed a lot of 10 cent ones too. Nice to get the higher royalty subscriptions, but considering 10 cents is about a quarter of $.38 it is hard to see how I'm coming out ahead. It is definitely pretty confusing and hard to get a real idea or track what we are owed now.
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.79
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.12
Current reduction in RPD:
85% (Level 3)
Some comment here:
Doing just photo - stopped all uploads to SS
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Jan - May 2020 rpd 0.771 (about 1000 sales)
Jun rpd 0.658
I'll wait for a month and decide then what to do with SS. The whole point of moving to percentage based scheme is to make future price cuts possible.
I just uploaded to Dreamstime first images since 2016. If I can use ftp and export from Lightroom with metadata intact I might upload most of my portfolio there. I think competitors will get a boost now and this will hit SS quite hard. Also if adobe were to offer exclusivity now I might take that offer. I can't see how SS net income and revenue would get a boost from their new scheme. This is a mistake from SS. They are the market leader and could have moved the whole market the other way too. But no, they decided to go against contributors and start a price war. And bow to chinese censorship. Adobe must be thinking hard about their next move. Contributors should be considered as the biggest asset in image business. But now SS is pissing off contributors as well as their own employees. The new SEO must be desperate to sell SS to Visual China Group.
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.75
Current RPD (June 1-4 sample):
$0.65
Current reduction in RPD:
12% (Level 4)
Some comment here:
To date, while I have seen a reduction in overall sales, it is not as dramatic as others have experienced. Also, I was having a piss poor 2020 especially April and May. My RPD from January through May 2020 was $0.63, and April and May alone was $0.60. So I have actually seen an improvement in 2020.
I have seen an increase in RPD for my "on demand" photos. Previously, I was getting a flat $2.70. Now I am averaging $3.31.
Granted, a sample size of four days is very small and my RPD may be the result of luck. The law of averages may catch up to me by the end of the month.
So, while I am not disabling my account at this time, I have stopped uploading. Though, prior to June, I had severely cut back on my uploading because of SS's insane rejection rate.
I will recheck again at the end of the month and make my decision on whether to close my account.
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My previous RPD - Lifetime average:
$0.57
Current RPD (June 1-6 sample):
$0.48
Current reduction in RPD:
16% (Level 5)
Some comment here: My average RPD on the first five month of 2020 (Jan to May) is $0.62.