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Author Topic: Just when you thought It couldn't get worse.  (Read 52483 times)

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w7lwi

  • Those that don't stand up to evil enable evil.
« Reply #200 on: July 19, 2016, 20:39 »
0
Let's do a search for pets on a Getty and SS site:
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?search_source=base_lohp&searchterm=pets
http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/pet?family=creative&license=rf&phrase=pet&sort=best&excludenudity=true#license

One can argue that images on SS have more commercial appeal with quality to match. Pros and talented semi-pros are making SS looking better by the day and I don't think anyone can stop it. That is what happens with any competitive environment, regardless of field.


Is it just me or do the Getty images look a bit dull/washed out compared to the SS images?  On my monitor at least, SS looks both cleaner and brighter.


SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #201 on: July 20, 2016, 02:31 »
+5
etudiante, dont post made up facts, I still get 90 dollar SODs, 2 in the last 19 days, just not enough of them

just because one sod is making his BME does not erase the FACT that many others are seeing their earning dive and SOD vanish.
you cannot live in a myopic world just thinking you are selling well today you can call the other people situation "made up facts".

look beyond your nose!

Just because one sod is making his worst month ever does not erase the FACT that many others are seeing their earnings increase and SOD on the up.
You cannot live in a myopic world just thinking you are selling badly today you can call the other people situation "made up facts".

look beyond your nose!

« Reply #202 on: July 20, 2016, 04:01 »
+5
This July every day is like a weekend. WAY down on usual.....
It is as if my port is just buried or off. Even reliable sellers aren't selling.
I'm on top tier, not an ace photog, but this performance of my port is NOT normal swings and roundabouts.
I'm increasingly feeling that 25c is cheaper than 38c and what would you do if it was your business with squillions of images, most fairly acceptable, to hand?
Up my game? Great idea if I thought new pics would sell (I see little evidence) but even for 38c I can't afford models, props etc.
Mega demotivated.
:(

« Reply #203 on: July 20, 2016, 05:13 »
+4
Sunday sales on a Tuesday for me.....Of course both SS and BS are down AGAIN in the UK  "site can't be reached".

Get it sorted SS and stop wasting money on hippy stuff like yogurt vending machines and "collaborative work spaces where the essence of powering connectivity is interwoven into the design approach......"

« Reply #204 on: July 20, 2016, 05:50 »
0
Sunday sales on a Tuesday for me.....Of course both SS and BS are down AGAIN in the UK  "site can't be reached".

Get it sorted SS and stop wasting money on hippy stuff like yogurt vending machines and "collaborative work spaces where the essence of powering connectivity is interwoven into the design approach......"
To be fair there's an internet problem across UK not actually SS's fault.

Chichikov

« Reply #205 on: July 20, 2016, 06:13 »
+2
The barrier for entry has gotten significantly lower over the years. Today's mobile phone cameras can produce photos better than semi-pro cameras from 10 years ago. Today's mirrorless cameras are very affordable and they produce high quality photos that be used for almost anything. Give anyone a decent lens that can defocus the background and a lesson in basic composition and most people won't be able to tell if the photo is taken by a pro or an amateur. Well, most pros can, but some the buyers won't.

But pros are uploading some high quality work to SS. I can probably find anything on SS that can rival most of Getty's premium work. The quality gap is getting smaller by the day and there will come a point where the buyer will only notice the huge price difference. Buyers have it good. They have ridiculous variety to choose from and sometimes they only need 1 photo. So 1 person get lucky and 10,000 others won't.

Let's do a search for pets on a Getty and SS site:
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?search_source=base_lohp&searchterm=pets
http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/pet?family=creative&license=rf&phrase=pet&sort=best&excludenudity=true#license

One can argue that images on SS have more commercial appeal with quality to match. Pros and talented semi-pros are making SS looking better by the day and I don't think anyone can stop it. That is what happens with any competitive environment, regardless of field.


you are right too.
but one thing that is even more true is that buyers do not really care who took the photograph;
just as you said, they only need one picture.
to be honest, i have alot of images that i thought would be my best seller...
for obvious reasons..
- i spent a lot of time setting up the lights
- i chose the best quality of food, fruit,etc.
- i post-processed it to make it look so much tastier
etc etc etc
or
- it is an image that is difficult to replicate
due to
- weather
-lighting
-location
etc etc etc

i repeat, obvious reasons...
but to whom???   to me !!

finally, guess what image(s) sold and made the most money for me to date???

-a picture of a tomato
-a picture of an onion
-a picture of...
which i merely plopped on a white background and shot it with bounced lighting
no other special technique, props,etc..

need i go on??? 
who needs a pro to do that???


People really needing a pro don't go on microstok sites

« Reply #206 on: July 20, 2016, 06:34 »
+2
Let's do a search for pets on a Getty and SS site:
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?search_source=base_lohp&searchterm=pets
http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/pet?family=creative&license=rf&phrase=pet&sort=best&excludenudity=true#license

One can argue that images on SS have more commercial appeal with quality to match. Pros and talented semi-pros are making SS looking better by the day and I don't think anyone can stop it. That is what happens with any competitive environment, regardless of field.


Is it just me or do the Getty images look a bit dull/washed out compared to the SS images?  On my monitor at least, SS looks both cleaner and brighter.


It's not really "dull", it's just more artsy, with desaturation, wash, matte effects etc, I like it.

Stocksy collections look even "duller" ;D

« Reply #207 on: July 20, 2016, 11:51 »
+2
People really needing a pro don't go on microstok sites

you and pauw sum it all
"For the pros who jumped in early, along with the flood of amateurs, what do you expect? A few years ago contributors were bragging about making crazy money, posting free how-to-succeed-at-micro blogs, and on and on. The world got invited to the goldrush and now it's turning into a ghost town." With hindsight its pretty obvious that this wouldn't last I think (hope) we are in for a period of slow decline so its a case of how best to cope in that environment.


along with the red flag ss waved to us literally in our face,
but all of us in denial still do not get it...
-lowering of payout to 35 bucks
-lowering of the entrance 7/10 bar

it zipped right passed most of our brains...
when oringer with the compliments of the major shareholders tell us
"read our lips, you will be getting less and less...
and even if you leave, we won't notice
because like telemarketing business
there are more waiting in line at the gravy chain
than you "experts" going elsewhere or giving up

« Reply #208 on: July 20, 2016, 13:45 »
0
Let's do a search for pets on a Getty and SS site:
http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?search_source=base_lohp&searchterm=pets
http://www.gettyimages.com/photos/pet?family=creative&license=rf&phrase=pet&sort=best&excludenudity=true#license

One can argue that images on SS have more commercial appeal with quality to match. Pros and talented semi-pros are making SS looking better by the day and I don't think anyone can stop it. That is what happens with any competitive environment, regardless of field.


Is it just me or do the Getty images look a bit dull/washed out compared to the SS images?  On my monitor at least, SS looks both cleaner and brighter.


It's not really "dull", it's just more artsy, with desaturation, wash, matte effects etc, I like it.

Stocksy collections look even "duller" ;D
Shutterstocks style has always been more vivid bright and shiny imho. Of course they're all converging with the reduction of exclusive content but I think SSs presentation is more vivid.

« Reply #209 on: July 20, 2016, 14:01 »
+4
rapide, you said "FACT - single earnings 28 -102 dollars have vanished"

no they havent, it is an incorrect statement and not a fact, no other way about it

« Reply #210 on: July 20, 2016, 14:27 »
+1
rapide, you said "FACT - single earnings 28 -102 dollars have vanished"

no they havent, it is an incorrect statement and not a fact, no other way about it
I have always found when people type FACT in uppercase it never is........fact

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #211 on: July 20, 2016, 17:23 »
+5
We may all be in the same boat but were all in competition for life jackets. I am waiting for SS figures for some verifiable facts. I suspect the boat is still getting bigger but not as fast as the number of passengers and the amount of luggage they carry.

I look at it more like we all own our own boats and use a travel agency to get paying passengers. There are a limited number of paying passengers and hundreds of new boats are showing up daily to provide services. Because of this, each boat is getting less and less passengers even though the travel agency sees an increase in passenger volume and sales. It's simply supply outpacing demand and some good or bad luck with agency algorithms. Competition at it's finest.

« Reply #212 on: July 20, 2016, 19:56 »
0
I look at it theres more images and contributors every day  to share the earnings with,  or is that too complicated? haha

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #213 on: July 20, 2016, 20:16 »
+6
I look at it theres more images and contributors every day  to share the earnings with,  or is that too complicated? haha

Too complicated. People relate to boats. And cats. And cats in boats. If you could go ahead and write something about cats in boats that would be great.

photografiero

  • www.photografie.ro
« Reply #214 on: July 20, 2016, 22:57 »
+1
Well ... I guess I was right to start Plan Bee then .... http://shutterstock.com/g/Photografiero [nofollow]  ;)

« Reply #215 on: July 21, 2016, 01:23 »
+2
I look at it theres more images and contributors every day  to share the earnings with,  or is that too complicated? haha
The only other factor is that SSs earnings are still rising but not as fast as images, not sure about contributors. So on average contributors income must be going down but within that there will be winners and losers.

« Reply #216 on: July 21, 2016, 01:59 »
+4
We may all be in the same boat but were all in competition for life jackets. I am waiting for SS figures for some verifiable facts. I suspect the boat is still getting bigger but not as fast as the number of passengers and the amount of luggage they carry.

I look at it more like we all own our own boats and use a travel agency to get paying passengers. There are a limited number of paying passengers and hundreds of new boats are showing up daily to provide services. Because of this, each boat is getting less and less passengers even though the travel agency sees an increase in passenger volume and sales. It's simply supply outpacing demand and some good or bad luck with agency algorithms. Competition at it's finest.

I don't buy this theory. There is no hundreds of boats from one month to other.  For me June was not a bad month but july was worst month ever. It is not possible going near zero  from june to july. I think there is another reason.


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk


« Reply #217 on: July 21, 2016, 02:15 »
+5
It maybe that a change in the search algorithm may have had a very severe effect on some contributors. Whether thats "fair" or not is not really relevant to SS they will look at their revenue. it is possible that their algorithm now favours  profit over total income i'e promoting smaller contributors. Think we have no way of knowing but there is some anecdotal evidence for this. It would be a quite rational thing for them to do.

« Reply #218 on: July 21, 2016, 03:13 »
+10
I would rather have a level playing field, we all get the same amount per download and there's no bias in the search.  When FT turned my downloads off, I lost all motivation with them.  IF SS are doing the same thing, microstock will be dead to me.  The only site I still have confidence in is Alamy.  They will probably be bought by Getty the way things are going  :)

Hopefully SS will change the search again but I doubt it because things never seem to get better with sites when they start thinking about short term profits instead of a sustainable long term strategy.

gyllens

« Reply #219 on: July 21, 2016, 03:44 »
0
Right now compared to last month SS down $.450  Adobe up $.325.  is this a sign or something?

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #220 on: July 21, 2016, 07:50 »
0
We may all be in the same boat but were all in competition for life jackets. I am waiting for SS figures for some verifiable facts. I suspect the boat is still getting bigger but not as fast as the number of passengers and the amount of luggage they carry.

I look at it more like we all own our own boats and use a travel agency to get paying passengers. There are a limited number of paying passengers and hundreds of new boats are showing up daily to provide services. Because of this, each boat is getting less and less passengers even though the travel agency sees an increase in passenger volume and sales. It's simply supply outpacing demand and some good or bad luck with agency algorithms. Competition at it's finest.

I don't buy this theory. There is no hundreds of boats from one month to other.  For me June was not a bad month but july was worst month ever. It is not possible going near zero  from june to july. I think there is another reason.


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

Okay, don't buy my theory. Aliens? Pokemon?

There could be hundreds of different reasons one person is seeing a drop is sales.

I mentioned supply/demand and algorithm change.  Supply/demand would cause a steady change in sales for contributors unless there was a demand spike. Algorithm tweak would cause an immediate change in sales for contributors. My sales have been steady but July I'm trending way up. Algorithm tweak seems like a reasonable cause for both of us. And yes there are hundreds or more new contributors (boats) joining every month you have to compete against for the same buyer.


« Reply #221 on: July 21, 2016, 08:22 »
+1
I am crying.  Today I sold one image (with 10 years old more or less).!
Congrats Paulie if your sales are good, not mine. I'm not a prophet to know what is on SS mind but i see somethig different with almost all people


Enviado desde mi iPhone utilizando Tapatalk

marthamarks

« Reply #222 on: July 21, 2016, 08:47 »
0
And yes there are hundreds or more new contributors (boats) joining every month you have to compete against for the same buyer.

You may be right, Paulie, but this statement makes me wonder.

Given the world's overall population growth, is there any reason why the number of contributors and the number of buyers doesn't remain roughly in balance?

Chichikov

« Reply #223 on: July 21, 2016, 09:10 »
+3
And yes there are hundreds or more new contributors (boats) joining every month you have to compete against for the same buyer.

You may be right, Paulie, but this statement makes me wonder.

Given the world's overall population growth, is there any reason why the number of contributors and the number of buyers doesn't remain roughly in balance?

Maybe because the number of cheap cameras owners grows faster than the number of buyers?

PaulieWalnuts

  • We Have Exciting News For You
« Reply #224 on: July 21, 2016, 12:05 »
0
And yes there are hundreds or more new contributors (boats) joining every month you have to compete against for the same buyer.

You may be right, Paulie, but this statement makes me wonder.

Given the world's overall population growth, is there any reason why the number of contributors and the number of buyers doesn't remain roughly in balance?

Absolutely a great point. When I saw some of SS recent financials I got the impression library growth was outpacing sales growth which is why I keep mentioning supply/demand. But again it's only my impression. The numbers would need to be analyzed to verify that. Again could be dozens of possible causes.


 

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