So far for me is selling new and old. From old I have many firs time sellers this year.

There was a very sharp decline in sales for me beginning of this month. Very unusual for this time of the year. Must be another search engine tweak or the cumulative effect of their clueless management

Quote from: Artist on November 15, 2023, 08:13

I am seeing this trend that my old files are selling while new files don't sell... is this normal?

They have been stagnating for a long time. Since 2015 or 2016

Depends on what files, and who you ask. Some new files that have "caught on" do well, but not as many as years ago. More like, it seems that best sellers, keep selling, while old files that died off, are just as dead as new files that don't make it.

Not that I actually disagree about the idea that new, just don't get as much activity as the old did, in the same period after uploading, but we used to get paid more, more for ELs, more for SO and the rest. New files just don't have the same opportunity to earn as much, as fast, as old files did.

New files are up against more and better competition.

I'm just going to say, that it's not about anything as simple as New vs Old, as the times have changed.

And as a fact, new vs old, probably has never been a fair comparison, as old, always has had an advantage, once an image starts to be popular. The exception is/was with the new boost and new image searches, that most agencies applied.

So, you're right? No they don't and I'd say, they never have.

just sold the photo that uploaded a week ago

After putting my portfolio on hold for nearly 2 years in protest of the new royalty structure, I added a few new files when I unfroze the account and some sold. This year, I added about a dozen travel editorial photos and some have sold; I even got a nice $30 SOD for one, but most of what sells there are the same bunch of images that have been my best sellers there since 2010-2012. I have only 563 images there, so I can't do a statistically significant comparison. But given how tiny my portfolio is, I can attest that new photos can still be found and sell.

I read this "complaint" before. Every now and then people complain that new images don't sell, or sell less than older ones.

I always saw this as an increase in competition.
Meaning: the search algorithm shows a mixture of images that sell well and newly added content, and you're up against an increasing volume of new uploads, and battling against already settled images. In popular niches your new image gets replaced or pushed down rather quick in favor of an even newer one, so I guess it's a matter of luck or having unique content that is in demand to get some traction.

In addition, I also see a decrease in sales volume on Shutterstock last past months, so I guess there is, apart from ever increasing competition, something else going on too.
They seem to be losing customers too.

One more "new file" is sold on SS. Both recent sales are unique. There's nothing similar on SS

And that's why I joke about Sliced Tomatoes, because people think they can upload things that are available by the thousands and get sales, when the images are lost in a flood of similar, old and new. On the other hand, some of us, think we can upload less likely, unique or at least unusual images, get noticed and get some sales.

I started tracking files uploaded by the year on SS, just for some fun. It's true, the newest 100 images from 2021, don't have as many sales as, the 100 from 2020. But each year has at least one new photo that somehow has caught on and keeps selling, year after year. More of those were uploaded in 2012 when there was less competition for getting ranked and noticed.

In popular niches your new image gets replaced or pushed down rather quick in favor of an even newer one, so I guess it's a matter of luck or having unique content that is in demand to get some traction.

I think you have that right.

And the simple fact that old images have had more time to get noticed or be sold. It seems like sales will raise the search rank and produce more sales. Over time, a dead image remains dead, but if something catches on, it can grow more interest.

They seem to be losing customers too.

Never would of thought of saying anything like this some months ago but my shutterstock vs adobe stock port performance suggests adobe stock's customer acquisition strategy is taking customers from shutterstock. 

Quote from: Roscoe on November 16, 2023, 12:41

They seem to be losing customers too.

Never would of thought of saying anything like this some months ago but my shutterstock vs adobe stock port performance suggests adobe stock's customer acquisition strategy is taking customers from shutterstock.

I agree and even my new files on adobe stock sells.
SS management seems don't care now whether they fail or pass.