Good Thread leaf. about 6 years ago I asked the powers that be if I could open another account as a factory type thing. I had 10 strong players that wanted to do it, They said no at that time. Im a full time photographer and painter and have been long before Microstock, I also do a lot of old time catalog client work for interior decorators and furniture makers so Im kinda stingy with uploading so much for the possible income, Only so much time in a day and at 71 im slowing down or trying to.

Where I live and lifestyle, My expenses are very High so Microstock even in the best of times only accounts for maybe 30/35% of what I need to generate..so, I have to keep the paying jobs and do Micro as a supplement. I only have 5333 Images and 150 Footage clips but based on my income only from SS I estimate to make 10K a month would be in the 30K range. I would still like to do a group thing and My pardner and I will be discussing this during a trip coming up Monday and, I would not necessarily do it on SS. Also, I have no idea how we would handle the accounting part of it. There have been group "Factory" people since day one..wizdata and chinatiger come to mind back in the early days, these guys had tens of thousands in 2005. We would be looking for 8/10 folks that do specific subjects so we can be a one stop shop.portraits,food,lifestyle,travel etc,etc.

conceivably, we could have at least 80,000 images or so right off the bat. Symbio,Faa...whatever. interested? lets chat. By PM.

52196 files

Based on my average monthly return for this calendar year with 8 agencies (top and middle tiers), I would need 18,000. Unfortunately, to create that many images would take another 15+ years.

However, I would never join a factory. The problem with groups is that ultimately they always perform down to their lowest common denominator. Aspiring, creative and productive individuals are always better off on their own. So, in the above factory suggestion: the accounting would be crucial !

Quote from: etudiante_rapide on October 02, 2014, 17:17

i find this ironic, even coming from leaf himself.
why should this be a hypothetical question when we can extrapolate from real earners
from the sean locke to yuri arcurses to dolgachoves etc

Using Sean, Yuri, Dolgachov, Monkeybusiness and the like to suggest what someone will make on Shutterstock is like using Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts to figure out what you will make if you go into acting. 

haha.. good analogy. 

I need 30K images, so that makes me a semi-pro then, which is about right. 

Quote from: etudiante_rapide on October 02, 2014, 17:17

i find this ironic, even coming from leaf himself.
why should this be a hypothetical question when we can extrapolate from real earners
from the sean locke to yuri arcurses to dolgachoves etc

Using Sean, Yuri, Dolgachov, Monkeybusiness and the like to suggest what someone will make on Shutterstock is like using Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Julia Roberts to figure out what you will make if you go into acting.

LMAO, hey... we can't dream, can't we?
seriously, good point.

I'm not more of the Adam Sandler type?  No?  George Clooney it is!

I'm not more of the Adam Sandler type?  No?  George Clooney it is!

Hehe, at least your Icon makes me think more of Bruce Willis :-) Stock hard

I just remembered that this sort of discussion is probably banned under the amendments to the SS contract.

I would hardly think this could be considered as sharing of detailed sales data.

As I recall, and I haven't gone back to check, the injunction is against releasing information that has come into our possession as a result of our membership of the site that would not be known to the general public. I don't recall anything being said about it being okay to release info as long as it is not classed as "detailed sales data".  Perhaps SS can clarify this.

As I recall, and I haven't gone back to check, the injunction is against releasing information that has come into our possession as a result of our membership of the site that would not be known to the general public. I don't recall anything being said about it being okay to release info as long as it is not classed as "detailed sales data".  Perhaps SS can clarify this.

Scott made a good reply in the TOS thread, stating Again, the spirit of the clause is to prevent the disclosure of specific information to competitors of Shutterstock.   

Hi All,

Gbalex, you�re right about the customer TOS.   Most of the changes to the customer ToS were in the category of �cleaning up� -- items that may have been ambiguous for customers or not perfectly aligned with the day-to-day reality of working with them.  Therefore, we�re explaining those changes directly to customers, but didn�t wrap that in a larger contributor communication. 

The most obvious exception is limitations on Web use and digital sizes.  The historical limitation was 800x600 pixels.  Given dramatic advancements in display technology, we were overdue to modernize our standards. The new ToS does a better job of meeting customer needs while continuing to prohibit the redistribution of images.  To properly license your images on a global scale in an era of Retina displays and a wider array of devices, we need to accommodate modern technology, but we also take copyright violations very seriously.

Earnings

Tyler � to respond to your question about earnings:

As stated,  �it's not an issue to talk in general terms about your best month ever, worst month ever, isolated individual transactions, most popular image, or information of a very similar, generalized nature.�  For that reason, the following examples would not be a violation of our ToS. 

Quote

- I had a BME on SS last month
- I just got a $100 SOD sale on Shutterstock
- I just got an extended license on this image
- I only got 50 sales today
- I just passed the $500 mark and am now in the next earning level
- I get about 100 downloads a month on Shutterstock

The following examples could be a violation of the ToS, depending on the context.  Again, the spirit of the clause is to prevent the disclosure of specific information to competitors of Shutterstock.   

Quote

- I earned $1000 on Shutterstock last month
- I earned $1000 on Shutterstock last month, $500 from subs $300 from OD and $200 from video
- Here's a screenshot of all my Shutterstock earnings...

Participating anonymously in an online poll or speaking with family and friends casually would not be an issue for practical purposes.

With respect to Cobalt�s post, I�ll say that our confidentiality agreement has a very specific purpose that has been outlined above.   We continue to strive to be transparent, fair, supportive and open with our contributors.  We do want Shutterstock to be a place that contributors hold in high esteem and respect your concerns and feedback.


Best,


Scott
VP of Content