Author Topic: Shutterstock is an embarassment (Read 44416 times)

DanielVisuals · « **Reply #250 on:** May 30, 2024, 08:08 »

I had my best month ever on Shutterstock in May 2024.

From reading other people’s posts, it's clear that SS performs better for videos and AS for photos.

I only have videos in my portfolio, so I’m very happy with the sales there, even with lower commissions than AS and Pond5.

Pacesetter · « **Reply #251 on:** May 30, 2024, 15:54 »

Just received $28.40 contributor fund payment.

Anyone else?

At least Shutterstock pays contributors for its use however a poorly performing agency compared to what it once was.

Injustice for all · « **Reply #252 on:** May 31, 2024, 05:32 »

yes,I also received a small contributor fund bonus yesterday.

this month on SS did nothing but confirm that I was right to stop uploading last September.

too many 0.10c sales,when I see all this content sold at 0.10c I feel bad thinking about all the work that went into making it,and I don't want to upload new content,I don't want to see more new content sold at 0, 10,it's unbearable!

I'd like to go back to uploading to SS but they need to get these 0.10c out of the way!

AnneVictoire · « **Reply #253 on:** May 31, 2024, 05:51 »

I have actually had quite a good month on SS in May, with two larger sales for photos. However, they have now started refusing model releases that are perfectly fine, in some cases accepting four releases for a family of four, then refusing the same releases for other images of the same family, crazy behaviour. Or accepting a photo of a 19th century church and refusing the presbytery next to it on intellectual property grounds. Not sure if the reviewers are human or not, the reviews are much faster but crazy now. Have any of you experienced this in the last few days? Is it worth it contacting them to have explanations?

Devotio777 · « **Reply #254 on:** May 31, 2024, 12:31 »

I also had quite a good month on SS, actually it is even my BME, especially thanks to 3 big editorial photo sales. After a long time, my RPD at SS is around 1 dollar this month, which is very decent. Interestingly enough, all those big sales revolve around transportation.

DaLiu · « **Reply #255 on:** May 31, 2024, 13:14 »

20% more downloads than any other month at SS and the BME in revenue.

Jaggy · « **Reply #256 on:** May 31, 2024, 20:21 »

I've had a pretty good month on SS. Second best ever for number of downloads but no big sales so RPD is only $0.32. However still quite a lot more revenue than AS.

PeteStock · « **Reply #257 on:** June 13, 2024, 09:22 »

Anyone elso who is annoyed by the 200 videos per week submission limit? (used to be 100 per day)

I know it still allows to upload up to 10400 yearly (assuming all gets accepted

)

However, when I want to upload 2K vertical clips, it takes 10+ weeks blocking me from uploading normal content, so pretty annoying from my point tbh.

When I take stock seriously, I probably make 350 clips weekly...

Wilm · « **Reply #258 on:** June 18, 2024, 07:29 »

Since 6 June, my download figures have deteriorated dramatically. Am I the only one or is it the same for someone else?

hellou · « **Reply #259 on:** June 18, 2024, 07:42 »

Pacesetter · « **Reply #260 on:** June 18, 2024, 15:41 »

Quote from: Wilm on June 18, 2024, 07:29

Since 6 June, my download figures have deteriorated dramatically. Am I the only one or is it the same for someone else?

Download numbers while not good I can't see any dramatic drop off from normal. But the RPD is completely abysmal. For me, Shutterstock doesn't even look the same agency as it did as recent as last year with its consistently poor performance.

gnirtS · « **Reply #261 on:** June 19, 2024, 04:37 »

Quote from: Wilm on June 18, 2024, 07:29

Since 6 June, my download figures have deteriorated dramatically. Am I the only one or is it the same for someone else?

Showing the same, 30% or so roughly overnight then hasnt picked up.

Jaggy · « **Reply #262 on:** June 19, 2024, 16:27 »

June on SS has been okay for me at least so far. Decent level of downloads and RPD for the month to date is at $0.50. AS is about average with RPD at $0.84. But in actual dollars, I'm making three times as much on SS albeit with a significantly larger portfolio.

Micha91 · « **Reply #263 on:** June 20, 2024, 01:59 »

Quote from: Wilm on June 18, 2024, 07:29

Since 6 June, my download figures have deteriorated dramatically. Am I the only one or is it the same for someone else?

I've been on Shutterstock since 2012 and it's worse than in 2014 when I was building up my portfolio. Yesterday, I had a very small number of sales, but I think it's due to changes in search results. In the popular section, there are some mixtures and not what has been positioned over the years. Shutterstock has repeatedly mixed with the algorithms, so let's hope this is temporary.

Roscoe · « **Reply #264 on:** June 20, 2024, 02:42 »

Quote from: Wilm on June 18, 2024, 07:29

Since 6 June, my download figures have deteriorated dramatically. Am I the only one or is it the same for someone else?

Not since June 6th, but somewhere earlier this year. Sudden drop in sales volume of let's say 50% and never recovered, despite regular uploading.

A lot of people are complaining about significant lower sales volume, so it seems to be a more general thing. On the other hand, some folks also report to see very little impact and they keep their volumes on par or even see a rise.

Strange. I know sales volumes can highly depend on quality and type of content, and comparing between contributors is very difficult, but those sudden drops are weird.

Shuttershock · « **Reply #265 on:** June 20, 2024, 03:01 »

Only photos in my library but rankings is the same every month in terms of value (not number of photos sold).
1. Adobe
2. iStock
3. Shutterstock
4. Alamy
5. Dreamtime
6. Deposit Photos
7. 123RF
8. Bigstock

Brasilnut · « **Reply #266 on:** June 20, 2024, 05:54 »

Quote from: Roscoe on June 20, 2024, 02:42

Quote from: Wilm on June 18, 2024, 07:29
Since 6 June, my download figures have deteriorated dramatically. Am I the only one or is it the same for someone else?

Not since June 6th, but somewhere earlier this year. Sudden drop in sales volume of let's say 50% and never recovered, despite regular uploading.

A lot of people are complaining about significant lower sales volume, so it seems to be a more general thing. On the other hand, some folks also report to see very little impact and they keep their volumes on par or even see a rise.

Strange. I know sales volumes can highly depend on quality and type of content, and comparing between contributors is very difficult, but those sudden drops are weird.

In my case, taking for example my results for May 2019 vs May 2024 (photos only).

May 2019
Portfolio size: 9,565
Images sold: 453
Earnings: 304
Average return per download: 67cents
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2019/05/31/may-2019-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

May 2024
Portfolio size: 12,318
Images sold: 264
Earnings: 97
Average return per download: 38cents
https://brutallyhonestmicrostock.com/2024/05/31/may-2024-brutally-honest-earnings-report/

Now let's compare the metrics (May 2019 vs May 2024).
Portfolio size: +28%
Images sold: -42%
Earnings: -68%
Average return per download: -45%

If this were a flower shop or restaurant, etc with similar numbers it would have been forced to close long ago.

blvdone · « **Reply #267 on:** June 20, 2024, 10:10 »

Interesting. This month is on its way to the lowest download this year, but the highest revenue due to several higher price sales. Maybe SS realized el cheapo isn't the way to go to maximize corporate profit. RPD is higher on SS than Adobe Stock this month so far. Adobe Stock RPD is $0.80.

akaza · « **Reply #268 on:** June 20, 2024, 10:11 »

This month (June), i have very low sales. Down about 70% from average. Very unusual for me

TonyD · « **Reply #269 on:** June 20, 2024, 10:55 »

Quote from: blvdone on June 23, 2023, 17:23

I only sell photos on Shutterstock and Adobe Stock. I have 2x more photos on Shutterstock because they accept editorials. But my revenue is 1/3 of Adobe Stock. Shutterstock definitely isn’t for creators. They are for their stockholders. Squeeze squeeze squeeze!!

I would ditch SS if i could but they take editorial.Adobe is better for creators & Alamy is for editorial but sales there are very poor for me.

Wilm · « **Reply #270 on:** June 21, 2024, 10:24 »

Thank you all for your answers!

@Alexandre: It looks similar for me. June in a 5-year comparison at shutterstock:

06/2014:
- approx. 1,000 images in the portfolio
- $ 508

06/2019:
- approx. 1,200 images in the portfolio
- $ 353

06/2024 until now:
- 1,367 images in the portfolio
- $ 90

Uncle Pete · « **Reply #271 on:** June 21, 2024, 11:27 »

Quote from: Brasilnut on June 20, 2024, 05:54

If this were a flower shop or restaurant, etc with similar numbers it would have been forced to close long ago.

If this was a flower shop and they promised to pay you $10 an hour, then every year, dropped your wages, so 2019 $10, 2020 $9, 2021 $8... 2024 $5, but the employee keeps coming to work (as in, keeps uploading to SS) then why would the business care? They get the job done, the business profits, they pay less and less, and the workers may complain, but they keep coming to work.

I tend to think that a couple hundred images and videos ago, SS decided, they didn't really need new content, just pay pennies for the old. And if people leave, what does SS care, they have hundreds of millions of images already.

Roscoe · « **Reply #272 on:** June 21, 2024, 11:54 »

Quote from: Uncle Pete on June 21, 2024, 11:27

Quote from: Brasilnut on June 20, 2024, 05:54

If this were a flower shop or restaurant, etc with similar numbers it would have been forced to close long ago.

If this was a flower shop and they promised to pay you $10 an hour, then every year, dropped your wages, so 2019 $10, 2020 $9, 2021 $8... 2024 $5, but the employee keeps coming to work (as in, keeps uploading to SS) then why would the business care? They get the job done, the business profits, they pay less and less, and the workers may complain, but they keep coming to work.

I tend to think that a couple hundred images and videos ago, SS decided, they didn't really need new content, just pay pennies for the old. And if people leave, what does SS care, they have hundreds of millions of images already.

It's even a bit different, because we don't have to show up at ShutterStock every day as we should do in a flower shop :-) We just leave our images there which is effortless. And they still sell. But less, and for less than in the past. We accept it and squeeze it out. We also still upload there, because for most of us it's an automated or semi-automated process. Rather effortless too to upload to ShutterStock.

But the main point is very right: they can do whatever they want, they keep on growing in terms of database volume. If everybody would pull their portfolio's it's a different story, but that's never gonna happen. For many people, myself included, ShutterStock still provides some money that comes in very handy and would be a shame to miss out on. And for some, it even provides a living. Having the right niche, having the unfair advantage as the tend to call it, combine it with some good enough photography skills and you'll probably still doing rather good there.

That said: the trend is clear. Downhill. But this was already the case in 2019 when I started out and started reading the forums. People were complaining and moaning about a dying business model too. Truth has to be said: they were pretty much right on it :-)

Brasilnut · « **Reply #273 on:** June 21, 2024, 12:43 »

Flower shop is perhaps the wrong analogy. Closer to our business is something liker Uber.

In many countries the drivers pay Uber 25% of their gross profits. In the UK I was shocked to hear that they pay 40%!

What is stopping Uber from increasing their commission in most countries up to 40%? Of course if they did many drivers would protest and quit (or use alternative apps) as it's just not viable...but Uber wouldn't care, they have too many drivers anyway and have run all the projections anyway on their spreadsheets. Or do away with drivers altogether in 10-15 years' time when some cars will be fully automated.

Just like what Alamy did in 2019 and even worse, Shutterstock in 2020. We, as contributors, have put up with it because as mentioned above it's easy for us to keep going as our workflow is fast and efficient (and mine now even more with AI keywording with PhotoTag).

But there will come a point when it's absolutely not viable anymore. Perhaps if I'm earning just $50 from 15,000 images and 4,000 clips at Shutterstock on any given month it's really time to never upload again. I wouldn't close the account because at that point it's 100% passive.

In the meantime we have some hope of a great month...i sometimes hear news of an image at Shutterstock earning someone $500 and a clip even close to $1k. I don't get it.

Wilm · « **Reply #274 on:** June 21, 2024, 18:26 »

Quote from: Brasilnut on June 21, 2024, 12:43

But there will come a point when it's absolutely not viable anymore. Perhaps if I'm earning just $50 from 15,000 images and 4,000 clips at Shutterstock on any given month it's really time to never upload again. I wouldn't close the account because at that point it's 100% passive.

Let's not kid ourselves, Alexandre: the day will come. And it won't be long now.

There was a time when microstock was really fun.

A few years ago, I said that I would quit Microstock if the monthly income fell below 1,000 euros.

The time has since come. I'm still involved, but my productivity has dropped to almost zero.

It also no longer makes sense as long as the legalities between AI and copyright have not been clarified.

Nevertheless, the microstock period also had its good side: money is still coming in. Less, much less, than before. But also without work.

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Author Topic: Shutterstock is an embarassment (Read 44416 times)

DanielVisuals

Pacesetter

Injustice for all

AnneVictoire

Devotio777

DaLiu

Jaggy

PeteStock

Wilm

hellou

Pacesetter

gnirtS

Jaggy

Micha91

Roscoe

Shuttershock

Brasilnut

blvdone

akaza

TonyD

Wilm

Uncle Pete

Roscoe

Brasilnut

Wilm

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