Hello,
On the 27th of December I received an email from Shutterstock informing me that I reached level 4 for videos. However, i haven't had any video sales on that day and since then. I sold a total of 234 videos. To have reached level 4 I should have sold 250 videos.
Has this happened to you before? Could it be that the sales have yet to be reported on my dashboard?
I should have reached level 4 in September but with the new unlimited download plan it will take much longer to go up levels now.
Very interesting. If there's 'something' going on with Shutterstock reporting video sales they forgot that it still counts toward the total number of sales accruing on a contributor's level. Where are those sales?
I've been getting lots of views on Pond5 and still not one sale. Some or a lot of that could be AI but I know from years of being on Pond5 that a spike in views almost always translated to sales. I don't trust this organization is being above board.
The emails informing me of my level-up always arrived earlier than expected. Sometimes 15 photos or 10 videos ahead. I always reached those numbers afterward, but I was never entirely sure.
Now that it's the end of the year, it's up to you to determine this. I'll be eagerly watching to see if 16 video sales will be achieved by December 31st.
(Could it be that, like on Depositphotos, "subscriber sales" and "sales on demand" differ in the total number?)
Like you, I also started getting a lot of views on Pond5 a few days ago—most likely AI training.
About leveling up without reported sales: my guess is that some sales need manual review before they show in the dashboard. With the holidays, that review might be delayed, while the level-up email goes out automatically.
I'll see what happens over the next few days.
Quote from: danielvisuals on December 28, 2025, 02:56
About leveling up without reported sales: my guess is that some sales need manual review before they show in the dashboard. With the holidays, that review might be delayed, while the level-up email goes out automatically.
I'll see what happens over the next few days.
If that's the case then hopefully we can all look forward to some sales. I've had by far the the worst Christmas - New Year week in years, and that's across all sites including Adobe.
the levels just show the numbers of DL with no prediction of future sales. if you reached level 4 in the year's last week you likely won't receive many more sales before we're all reset to level 1 next week
Quote from: cascoly on December 28, 2025, 04:17
the levels just show the numbers of DL with no prediction of future sales. if you reached level 4 in the year's last week you likely won't receive many more sales before we're all reset to level 1 next week
But then why increasing my level to level 4 when I have had 234 downloads so far this year. Is it common to go up one level without reaching the required number of downloads. If yes, then I guess it must be a glitch in the system.
Same thing happened to me. In September i sold my eighth video this year and got email saying i moved to level 2. I thought the same thing that i have sold 2 more videos and just had to wait to be on the dashboard. Still waiting...
Quote from: danielvisuals on December 27, 2025, 23:12
Hello,
On the 27th of December I received an email from Shutterstock informing me that I reached level 4 for videos. However, i haven't had any video sales on that day and since then. I sold a total of 234 videos. To have reached level 4 I should have sold 250 videos.
Has this happened to you before? Could it be that the sales have yet to be reported on my dashboard?
I should have reached level 4 in September but with the new unlimited download plan it will take much longer to go up levels now.
I have the exact same case, usually I reach 250 in September but not this year... Currently I have 242 video sales. I've received the e-mail on 27th without any new sales...
Well Alijaber it seems Shutterstock is teasing us :D
I received exactly on the same day as you.
I'm not expecting anything from it then. It's ok I had a good year overall across all agencies.
Happy new year !
Quote from: danielvisuals on December 28, 2025, 22:24
Happy new year !
Happy Reset? :(
If people are getting a higher level and no sales, what are you getting? A number? A higher number, that means nothing?
(https://i.postimg.cc/m2gXCCfS/SS-reset-commission.jpg)
:( Yes
Worst month in 10 years. Completely ridiculous: 22 videos sold out of a 15,000-video portfolio.
Maybe they're just waiting for my downgrade to Level 1 to turn sales back on 🤷♂️
Three words: Unlimited Download Plan
Nailed it! I asked to be part of it months ago, but nothing ever came of it.
Quote from: rod-09 on December 31, 2025, 12:07
Worst month in 10 years. Completely ridiculous: 22 videos sold out of a 15,000-video portfolio.
Maybe they're just waiting for my downgrade to Level 1 to turn sales back on 🤷♂️
I just counted my video sales for December and it was 15 BUT 11 of those were in one sale for $5.81 each. Overall my earnings on Shutterstock in December 2025 are almost half of December 2024.
Quote from: rod-09 on December 31, 2025, 17:38
Nailed it! I asked to be part of it months ago, but nothing ever came of it.
I wish SS hadn't start offering that plan but it has and it's here to stay.
Same—but the industry is changing fast, and I'm focused on adapting while continuing to build my life in it.
Quote from: rod-09 on December 31, 2025, 12:07
Worst month in 10 years. Completely ridiculous: 22 videos sold out of a 15,000-video portfolio.
Maybe they're just waiting for my downgrade to Level 1 to turn sales back on 🤷♂️
Cynically, there is now a big financial advantage to Shutterstock altering their algorithm to favour low-level contributors content and keep spreading sales around that to avoid paying the higher commission (ie less profit) to higher level sellers.
Same topic solid from a level 1 v a level 4 contributor == more raw profit to SS.
My last sale was on 22/12. I normally sell multiple videos per day, so something appears to be wrong—at least in my case.
Quote from: gnirtS on January 01, 2026, 14:43
Quote from: rod-09 on December 31, 2025, 12:07
Worst month in 10 years. Completely ridiculous: 22 videos sold out of a 15,000-video portfolio.
Maybe they're just waiting for my downgrade to Level 1 to turn sales back on 🤷♂️
Cynically, there is now a big financial advantage to Shutterstock altering their algorithm to favour low-level contributors content and keep spreading sales around that to avoid paying the higher commission (ie less profit) to higher level sellers.
Same topic solid from a level 1 v a level 4 contributor == more raw profit to SS.
You are wasting too much of your time imagining things.
Ive seen this happen before, both to myself and to others. It feels like the system counts something faster than what we see in the dashboard. Some downloads may not be visible yet or could be under internal processing, especially around holidays and yearend.
Honestly, contributor levels dont seem to mean much anymore, especially with unlimited plans. I wouldnt stress too much about it if they upgraded your level, the system probably counted something, even if its not visible yet.
Quote from: videostock.system on January 05, 2026, 08:58
Ive seen this happen before, both to myself and to others. It feels like the system counts something faster than what we see in the dashboard. Some downloads may not be visible yet or could be under internal processing, especially around holidays and yearend.
Honestly, contributor levels dont seem to mean much anymore, especially with unlimited plans. I wouldnt stress too much about it if they upgraded your level, the system probably counted something, even if its not visible yet.
Except for a small detail. It's 2026 now so 2025 levels are irrelevant and meaningless.
and downloads from their unlimited plan do not count as downloads towards our levels, nice trick SS to keep us low leveled
Quote from: pic_pom on January 06, 2026, 11:06
and downloads from their unlimited plan do not count as downloads towards our levels, nice trick SS to keep us low leveled
Of course they don't, I raised this concern with them, they sold me BS.