I'm finding that I get a sequence of good days at Shutterstock (for sales) followed by a sudden unexplained drop for a day (or two), then the good days return.  Today is an example of a sudden bad day - as if my portfolio has become invisible to buyers.  Surprising, as yesterday was a record for sales.

Has anyone else experienced these sudden 'bad days'?  Is it just a standard thing with Shutterstock?

I actually have a lot more variation on iStock. Shutterstock can vary 10-20%, but on iStock my credit sales take really wild swings from one day to the next.

Last month, not weekends, my worst weekday was below $10 and the top day was above $90. Today is a slow day, I hardly ever have a week on all cylinders. There is always a fart of day in between.

Same here, very different week days (weekend is another thing)
I have also noticed very longer times of review, specially for the vectors.

good days, bad days

Sounds like a Led Zep song.

Well, another bad day at Shutterstock, as if all my work is invisible.  Even new uploads seem to be disappearing into a black hole of invisibility.

I know I've only been non-exclusive for just over a month, but I know what's commercial and attractive, and I know what sells.  At other agencies I'm making good progress - at FT I've already reached bronze and I'm selling 20 or more files per day.  Great.  At Shutterstock those same files get uploaded and just disappear without even a single download.  Today I sold 22 files at FT, and only 14 at SS.  It should be the other way round - SS should be massively outselling FT, but that just isn't happening.  For me, SS just seems to be a place where I upload and files die.  There's clearly something wrong, but what that is I've no idea.

But that goes completely against the theory and believe that newbies are being favoured. You should see great sales, because the theory is that SS favours 25 cent royalty images.

..., images need some time to get established in the searches and then keep selling consistently. ...

I agree with that. I experienced the same. New images wouldnt get traction and then all of a sudden they would pick up. As if they need to get settled in, collect views, mature in the search and then started to get downloaded. Happened like that with many of my good selling images.

Well as of last week I started getting 15 sales a day regular as clockwork each consecutive day 15.  Weekend arrives and the new week starts and back to 15 a day.

And you tell me that they aren't manipulating sales.

Maybe you are posting in the wrong thread ?

http://www.microstockgroup.com/shutterstock-com/very-high-level-conspiracy-theories-here-read-at-your-own-risk/

 

Also, I believe Shutterstock is more of a long term project with the benefit of staying stable in the long run, images need some time to get established in the searches and then keep selling consistently. Fotolia has far more focus on new files but they might disappear from searches in a few months or a year. At least that's what I believe without being able to prove that with hard facts.

Fully agreed upon. My bestsellers on SS are still selling one or two times each day after 5 or more years online, while sales of the same files on FT and IS have declined significantly after having had a peak after 6-24 months online. Interestingly, the decline on FT was even faster than on IS

Usually having 15-20 sales and today nothing at all ! Looks like my portfolio is invisible !

I don�t like it.
Very little sales on files that are 3 months old or newer.
Only files that sells are the old ones.
I get few downloads on just approved photos, but then pics just vanish.

Last month was wme for me. February. First time ever I barely passed payment threshold. And that was on the last day, a sale that made my payment possibile. I have over 2500 video clips and have +-$100 months during the year. But february was awful. I was on the verge of calling and asking them are they mad at me ) Pond and the rest of the agencies were as usual (video) but SS sales plunged. And Dissolve had a bme for me.

Anyways, that's not the topic. I have a series of days without sales at SS. Don't know how and why. I stopped thinking about it. Added almost 600 new files last year and the sales stayed the same. Somehow I always get +-$100 the same amount of money. New year, summer, spring... it's the same for me. I have one file over 10 dl's and the rest are 9, 8, 7, etc... Ebb and flow? Didn't wrote that a long time. I don't know. And I don't have a "bestseller" file

Good days-bad days? In February I had six days of sales. Usually I have 15+ days with sales.
That's my 2 cents on this.

The fact is your 15 sales a day, not that they are manipulating your sales, thats a theory.