Dear Shutterstock Contributor,

Starting today, your Shutterstock account has been included in a small Contributor pilot group that will power the launch of our new "Unlimited Download Subscription" - an offering designed to capture an emerging market of individual users. As part of this pilot group, you will be the first to benefit from this additional licensing opportunity, while your content will continue to be available across the Shutterstock library for all customers to license.

+100
This is great news!
This is what I recommended Shutterstock to do. I am glad that Shutterstock followed my advice.
 

This is very similar to Envato Elements with unlimited downloads for a low monthly subscription. In the case of Envato, Elements has basically killed the normal marketplace. I predict that on SS the unlimited downloads subscriptions will eventually replace the normal market and if you are not opted in you will see very few sales on SS in future.

This looks like a desperate move of SS. Not surprising and is probably the final phase of the microstock industry in the race to the bottom.  I am sure others will follow this trend of unlimited downloads very soon in order to retain market share.  Very sad.   

This is very similar to Envato Elements with unlimited downloads for a low monthly subscription. In the case of Envato, Elements has basically killed the normal marketplace. I predict that on SS the unlimited downloads subscriptions will eventually replace the normal market and if you are not opted in you will see very few sales on SS in future.

This looks like a desperate move of SS. Not surprising and is probably the final phase of the microstock industry in the race to the bottom.  I am sure others will follow this trend of unlimited downloads very soon in order to retain market share.  Very sad.

If really also Videos are included in the unlimited downloads programm then the video market is really screwed up.
That would be insane brutal for contributors.

While I don't think that Adobe will follow this path because they have a strong base of customers.
But all high quality SS contributors should then switch exclusively to Adobe to maintain Adobe's current system.

Are video portfolios also included in this, or only photos? Looking at who has commented so far, it seems that mostly photo contributors have been invited to this new model.

Are video portfolios also included in this, or only photos? Looking at who has commented so far, it seems that mostly photo contributors have been invited to this new model.

The faq I linked clearly states everything. Videos, illustration and photo.

They've basically decided to offer their entire library for sale for fractions of a penny.
A last desperate move to get more subscribers who they've been losing at a rate of millions a month.

Quote from: BigBubba on April 10, 2025, 01:07

Quote from: danielvisuals on April 09, 2025, 18:32

Are video portfolios also included in this, or only photos? Looking at who has commented so far, it seems that mostly photo contributors have been invited to this new model.

Videos are included

Why did you come to this conclusion? Is this written somewhere?

Yes. In the faq

This type of dumpster fire shenanigans makes me even more committed to put more of my images on Alamy as exclusive RM, especially the more premium ones.

Exactly. Macrostock and RM are the way forward in this madness where contributors work gets no respect anymore and I�m definitely going to double down on that now.

This is very similar to Envato Elements with unlimited downloads for a low monthly subscription. In the case of Envato, Elements has basically killed the normal marketplace. I predict that on SS the unlimited downloads subscriptions will eventually replace the normal market and if you are not opted in you will see very few sales on SS in future.

This looks like a desperate move of SS. Not surprising and is probably the final phase of the microstock industry in the race to the bottom.  I am sure others will follow this trend of unlimited downloads very soon in order to retain market share.  Very sad.

I am in Envato Elements with about 15% of my portfolio (about 1000 images out of 6000). I only have very old images or I upload junk.

The images sold are really a lot and the earnings are very low.

Every day I sell about 60/80 images and the earnings are 3/4$. The RPD varies between $0.03 and $0.05.

I think this is the future of those who agree to join the Shutterstock Unlimited Downloads program, effectively destroying the market.

They are trying to make the photography market like the music market with Spotify. And I fear they will succeed.

Its a full circle for me.  I started out with most on Alamy/macrostock and RM.  Then migrated to the RF/Microstock model.

Now im seriously considering doing the same and retreating back to that.  Although to be fair, AS is still growing well for me currently.

I went through the same thing.

And I would also like to go back to Macrostock or Midstock. But does it sell?

I still upload my images to some macro platforms, but sales are very rare. Nowadays, even the most important editorial publications and billion-dollar companies use low-cost stock images. Even for very important marketing projects or for magazine covers.

Do you work full-time?

I am full-time, and I am afraid of having to change jobs soon after more than 20 years.

In addition to stock, I sell about a hundred prints a year, but the earnings are not enough to do only that.

In addition to stock, I sell about a hundred prints a year, but the earnings are not enough to do only that.

How do you do that, I am thinking of doing that myself.

I've been doing this for 20 years. I sell my photos taken on film (medium format) in some galleries (brick and mortar) and something through my website (These images are not for sale on microstock sites).

I would love to see your work, can you share it please?

Quote from: Bauman on April 10, 2025, 08:30

Quote from: gnirtS on April 10, 2025, 08:18

Its a full circle for me.  I started out with most on Alamy/macrostock and RM.  Then migrated to the RF/Microstock model.

Now im seriously considering doing the same and retreating back to that.  Although to be fair, AS is still growing well for me currently.

And I would also like to go back to Macrostock or Midstock. But does it sell?

On Alamy, my historical average for 910 downloads is $7.52 net (about 20% are RM exclusive) vs SS's 39,000 downloads at an average of 60cents.

40x less volumes for 12x the price but then Alamy sells mainly editorial and no real point sending them generic commercial micro shots. 

At the end of the day, for me, it's more about taking back control of our assets and retaining some dignity.
 

Speaking for myself, I don't know what dignity there is to retain after I sold out to Microstock. A little late to take back anything, after it's out in the wild. New images, yes, that's possible.

You're right about Alamy, and people will argue, the volume isn't there. But last year, and Alamy is down, I made more on Alamy than P5, DT, IS and all of the minor sites I distributed to on Wirestock, all added together!. Selling out for pennies is just as desperate for any last money and this terrible plan from SSTK.

I suppose it's difficult to say goodbye to DT and P5. I spent time uploading, now that's just residual. Mostly, I'm waiting for the "Next Big Thing"  Which is the merger of IS and SS, to see what happens.

I�m also thinking of just contributing to Adobe and Alamy.  Seems most agencies now pays pennies anyway.

I think that's a good plan to be considering. They don't care if we leave, we don't get paid for the effort. What's the loss?

Yeah, totally understand, I was curios only about prints, don't worry, it's fine.

Thanks for understanding DaLiu. I have had a couple of unpleasant episodes in the past.

If I can give you some tips, you have to choose what type of prints you want to sell.

The easiest way is Print On Demand. You upload your images, and they do everything for you. However, sales are very low. It is a very different market from stock, you have to do a lot of marketing on your own and today it is very difficult. Having visibility on social media is almost impossible if you do not pay. And POD websites usually do not do marketing for you.

The most complicated way (but the most satisfying) is that of your own website. However, you have to be familiar with building a website (I suggest Wordpress), you have to integrate a plugin for sales (Shopify or WooCommerce) and then you have to decide how to print your images. You can choose to use a Dropshipping service (but you have no quality control), or you choose a printing service, order it for yourself and then ship it.

I use this system, so I can sign the limited edition copies. As for the smaller editions, I have an A2+ printer and I do everything myself with cotton paper.

However, the biggest problem with your website is visibility. How do you attract people? You need excellent marketing with SEO (the blog is the best resource for acquiring organic) and Ads (be careful, they are increasingly expensive and often useless).

In two words: you need experience. You have to try, make mistakes and correct.

It gives me a lot of satisfaction, but the money you earn is not much.

I think I know very few people who can live only with prints. It is a very difficult market.

Usually those who do it have a parallel activity to earn money in workshops and photography trips. For family reasons, I cannot travel all over the world, and so I chose stock photography.