Author Topic: Shutterstock photo sales is now only 1/6 of what it used to be (Read 5925 times)

blvdone · « **on:** August 14, 2023, 12:04 »

And only 1/5 of Adobe Stock photo sales. So, I decided to opt out of photo sales to see if my Adobe Stock photo sales will go up as much as I make on Shutterstock. If Adobe Stock photo sales doesn't change, I'll turn Shutterstock photo sales back on.

Injustice for all · « **Reply #1 on:** August 14, 2023, 14:20 »

For me sometimes SS is better and other times AS is better,lately SS is better and for sure on SS I have bigger single sales than AS.

However,I wanted to highlight a trend that I have seen since the beginning of the year and which,from what I understand,is a general condition:Total sales number on SS are down about 20%,although I've made more money this year,than previous years,so far probably just lucky to have had several big singles,but luck doesn't last forever,total number of sales is more important and it must rise not fall.
This trend is clearly worrying,I hope it is a temporary condition.

cascoly · « **Reply #2 on:** August 14, 2023, 14:43 »

Quote from: blvdone on August 14, 2023, 12:04

And only 1/5 of Adobe Stock photo sales. So, I decided to opt out of photo sales to see if my Adobe Stock photo sales will go up as much as I make on Shutterstock. If Adobe Stock photo sales doesn't change, I'll turn Shutterstock photo sales back on.

there's no reason to expect there's a link - users don't search for an artist on multiple sites. any artist's portfolio is a tiny portion of an agency's images. if your images aren't on SS, buyers will just use one of hundreds/thousands of similars. you're just denying yourself a source of income

wds · « **Reply #3 on:** August 14, 2023, 14:49 »

Based on the pole results, SS seems to be a sinking ship....not exactly sure why...maybe all the 10 cent royalties?

RalfLiebhold · « **Reply #4 on:** August 14, 2023, 16:21 »

And daily greets the groundhog - so the Shutterstock discussion always comes across to me here. And of course, then the 10 cents.

The survey values are in no way representative, especially since the more dissatisfied are more likely to be on the move in such a forum.

I myself did not participate in the survey, but I will not be tired of publishing the following:

Shutterstock brings me by far the most downloads and revenues, followed by Alamy. Then comes Adobe, followed by Dreamstime and Depositphotos.

iStock, contrary to the survey on the right, no longer has any significance for me with 1 - 2 payouts a year.

I simply claim that certain portfolios fit and run better with certain agencies.

A really interesting discussion would be why that is, what themes sell. Maybe also the keywords play a role, the way of editing.

f8 · « **Reply #5 on:** August 14, 2023, 17:54 »

Quote from: blvdone on August 14, 2023, 12:04

And only 1/5 of Adobe Stock photo sales. So, I decided to opt out of photo sales to see if my Adobe Stock photo sales will go up as much as I make on Shutterstock. If Adobe Stock photo sales doesn't change, I'll turn Shutterstock photo sales back on.

I am not sure how long you have been shooting stock but here is the grim truth. Apart from the original gold rush of buying cheap discounted images (the early days of microstock) with absolutely no quality control (real editing) of images and accepting almost every image uploaded (all sites guilty), sales and royalties have dropped and will continue to do so. If you were paying attention the writing has been on the wall for more than 10 years, if not longer.

wds · « **Reply #6 on:** August 14, 2023, 21:19 »

Shutterstock used to be number 1 the Poll Results, now they are number 3 (not counting Stocksy). That seems pretty straightforward and should washout any biases one way or the other.

yuriy · « **Reply #7 on:** August 15, 2023, 09:29 »

why doesn't Stocksy count?

wds · « **Reply #8 on:** August 15, 2023, 10:29 »

Quote from: yuriy_t2 on August 15, 2023, 09:29

why doesn't Stocksy count?

Because there are only 3 votes. Also, Stocksy is a fairly closed agency like Getty....not anyone can contribute. There's nothing wrong with that of course. They charge high prices and get them which is great, but the reality is most people are not allowed to contribute.

blvdone · « **Reply #9 on:** August 15, 2023, 10:36 »

Quote from: f8 on August 14, 2023, 17:54

Quote from: blvdone on August 14, 2023, 12:04
And only 1/5 of Adobe Stock photo sales. So, I decided to opt out of photo sales to see if my Adobe Stock photo sales will go up as much as I make on Shutterstock. If Adobe Stock photo sales doesn't change, I'll turn Shutterstock photo sales back on.

I am not sure how long you have been shooting stock but here is the grim truth. Apart from the original gold rush of buying cheap discounted images (the early days of microstock) with absolutely no quality control (real editing) of images and accepting almost every image uploaded (all sites guilty), sales and royalties have dropped and will continue to do so. If you were paying attention the writing has been on the wall for more than 10 years, if not longer.

Since 2010.

blvdone · « **Reply #10 on:** September 21, 2023, 08:32 »

Update. Disabling photo sales on Shutterstock didn't result in increasing photo sales on Adobe Stock. So, I enabled photo sales on Shutterstock again. I just hope I may get those once in a while big money exclusive photo use contract on Shutterstock I've had before.

unnonimus · « **Reply #11 on:** September 27, 2023, 23:47 »

check your search in your portfolio by best selling and by recent sales. if they are the same, your sales and view data were reset. when this happens, your images are removed from top placement in search results.

you need to have them fix it in the search database.

Stocker2015 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2024, 07:44 »

I did what you said and saw that my recent best sales in 2023 are not listed in catalog manager / most popular images on the page. Shutterstock is listing my best all time sales. I always check this periodically and i used to see my recent top sales on the list. Now my sales decreased dramatically. How can i fix this issue? Is it possible or should i wait to climb next level?

Quote from: unnonimus on September 27, 2023, 23:47

check your search in your portfolio by best selling and by recent sales. if they are the same, your sales and view data were reset. when this happens, your images are removed from top placement in search results.

you need to have them fix it in the search database.