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Author Topic: Shutterstock sales is sinking deeply...  (Read 100723 times)

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« Reply #275 on: July 13, 2015, 04:05 »
+7
My earnings were steady until May this year when the big SOD's sales dried up.  May, June and July have been well down on previous years.  I haven't been uploading much for a few years and alamy is making up for a lot of the loss of earnings lately.  Decided a long time ago that relying on just microstock was a bit too risky.


« Reply #276 on: July 13, 2015, 09:42 »
+2
My earnings were steady until May this year when the big SOD's sales dried up.  May, June and July have been well down on previous years.  I haven't been uploading much for a few years and alamy is making up for a lot of the loss of earnings lately.  Decided a long time ago that relying on just microstock was a bit too risky.

sharpshoot - interesting about Alamy - they've really picked up for me this year too. SS started out well this month but right now I've got 4 days in a row with 0 sales, something I haven't seen there in years.

« Reply #277 on: July 13, 2015, 10:40 »
+3
My earnings were steady until May this year when the big SOD's sales dried up.  May, June and July have been well down on previous years.  I haven't been uploading much for a few years and alamy is making up for a lot of the loss of earnings lately.  Decided a long time ago that relying on just microstock was a bit too risky.

y'know sharpshot, i am thinking this way too , your last statement. ss used to be reliable
until all that contributor scr*ewing started , much after they went public. then those mass rejections for others (not me, i was having consistent approvals, but when your colleagues en-masse started to grumble about robot rejections of good images , you must read the writing on the wall.
but i was stupid and thought ss is not going to be the new is.

how stupidly wrong i was. i eat sh*t here for believing ss is not like istock.

« Reply #278 on: July 13, 2015, 11:54 »
0
Also decline here, no matter if upload or not, go more exclusive or not, its the same downward trend. SS is the only one I care about since it accounts for probably 80% of my microstock earnings. FT is much worse btw and other agencies are of no more importance to me.
Good luck to those who are starting out and want to take this business seriously, yikes!
This business is dying for many of us so now is probably the best time to seek other outlets for your stock/art and react to the decline by holding uploads or removing work from portfolio's. If we keep whining while continue uploading or keeping our work online the agencies get the upper hand and continue their path of greed, simple as that.
The ones doing well in micro these days are becoming very rare. It's just not worth the time and effort anymore unless you live in a lower standard country or use this as a hobby.
I've seen people brag about their sales on the SS forum but these guys upload fine art (ex skylines and landscapes) that are probably bought for a few pennies and then sold on print for hundreds of dollars. I do not envy them, on the contrary, I pity them for thinking they make good money while they don't have a clue what they leave on the table.
Others invest more then they get out of this by renting models, locations, props, gear and what not.
It's always a lose-lose situation for us no matter how you look at it.
Not to mention why we are so eager to put each other down instead of being more unite. The action that many (including myself) took towards DPC was a good example of how we should react to these manipulations.
If more established contributors would come forward people would realise this decline is spread out amongst many and we need to do something about it. But no, they rather hide in the corner and pray for better times again or that it will only affect their fellow contributors. Some pro's, afraid for retaliation so they rather keep their pants down and bent over.

 ::)

Completely agree, great post!

objowl

« Reply #279 on: July 13, 2015, 12:30 »
+2
Also decline here, no matter if upload or not, go more exclusive or not, its the same downward trend. SS is the only one I care about since it accounts for probably 80% of my microstock earnings. FT is much worse btw and other agencies are of no more importance to me.
Good luck to those who are starting out and want to take this business seriously, yikes!
This business is dying for many of us so now is probably the best time to seek other outlets for your stock/art and react to the decline by holding uploads or removing work from portfolio's. If we keep whining while continue uploading or keeping our work online the agencies get the upper hand and continue their path of greed, simple as that.
The ones doing well in micro these days are becoming very rare. It's just not worth the time and effort anymore unless you live in a lower standard country or use this as a hobby.
I've seen people brag about their sales on the SS forum but these guys upload fine art (ex skylines and landscapes) that are probably bought for a few pennies and then sold on print for hundreds of dollars. I do not envy them, on the contrary, I pity them for thinking they make good money while they don't have a clue what they leave on the table.
Others invest more then they get out of this by renting models, locations, props, gear and what not.
It's always a lose-lose situation for us no matter how you look at it.
Not to mention why we are so eager to put each other down instead of being more unite. The action that many (including myself) took towards DPC was a good example of how we should react to these manipulations.
If more established contributors would come forward people would realise this decline is spread out amongst many and we need to do something about it. But no, they rather hide in the corner and pray for better times again or that it will only affect their fellow contributors. Some pro's, afraid for retaliation so they rather keep their pants down and bent over.

 ::)

The established contributors have been chosen to take part in Premier Select, you won't hear them complaining because they are being well looked after by Shutterstock and will be taking a bigger share of the pie, your share and mine.

« Reply #280 on: July 13, 2015, 12:38 »
+4
Also decline here, no matter if upload or not, go more exclusive or not, its the same downward trend. SS is the only one I care about since it accounts for probably 80% of my microstock earnings. FT is much worse btw and other agencies are of no more importance to me.
Good luck to those who are starting out and want to take this business seriously, yikes!
This business is dying for many of us so now is probably the best time to seek other outlets for your stock/art and react to the decline by holding uploads or removing work from portfolio's. If we keep whining while continue uploading or keeping our work online the agencies get the upper hand and continue their path of greed, simple as that.
The ones doing well in micro these days are becoming very rare. It's just not worth the time and effort anymore unless you live in a lower standard country or use this as a hobby.
I've seen people brag about their sales on the SS forum but these guys upload fine art (ex skylines and landscapes) that are probably bought for a few pennies and then sold on print for hundreds of dollars. I do not envy them, on the contrary, I pity them for thinking they make good money while they don't have a clue what they leave on the table.
Others invest more then they get out of this by renting models, locations, props, gear and what not.
It's always a lose-lose situation for us no matter how you look at it.
Not to mention why we are so eager to put each other down instead of being more unite. The action that many (including myself) took towards DPC was a good example of how we should react to these manipulations.
If more established contributors would come forward people would realise this decline is spread out amongst many and we need to do something about it. But no, they rather hide in the corner and pray for better times again or that it will only affect their fellow contributors. Some pro's, afraid for retaliation so they rather keep their pants down and bent over.

 ::)

The established contributors have been chosen to take part in Premier Select, you won't hear them complaining because they are being well looked after by Shutterstock and will be taking a bigger share of the pie, your share and mine.

Oh good.  No we are bashing established contributors.  Same infighting as usual here.  Nobody's taking anybodys share except maybe the shareholders.  There's just less to go around.to more people.

I happen to know that some of the people complaining about drops at SS are established contribs.  I am one of them and nobody is protecting me at SS or anywhere else.  Maybe you mean the top 100 or so.  I can't speak for them, but the insults and conspiracies like this are probably why none of them post here anymore.

objowl

« Reply #281 on: July 13, 2015, 12:55 »
0
Also decline here, no matter if upload or not, go more exclusive or not, its the same downward trend. SS is the only one I care about since it accounts for probably 80% of my microstock earnings. FT is much worse btw and other agencies are of no more importance to me.
Good luck to those who are starting out and want to take this business seriously, yikes!
This business is dying for many of us so now is probably the best time to seek other outlets for your stock/art and react to the decline by holding uploads or removing work from portfolio's. If we keep whining while continue uploading or keeping our work online the agencies get the upper hand and continue their path of greed, simple as that.
The ones doing well in micro these days are becoming very rare. It's just not worth the time and effort anymore unless you live in a lower standard country or use this as a hobby.
I've seen people brag about their sales on the SS forum but these guys upload fine art (ex skylines and landscapes) that are probably bought for a few pennies and then sold on print for hundreds of dollars. I do not envy them, on the contrary, I pity them for thinking they make good money while they don't have a clue what they leave on the table.
Others invest more then they get out of this by renting models, locations, props, gear and what not.
It's always a lose-lose situation for us no matter how you look at it.
Not to mention why we are so eager to put each other down instead of being more unite. The action that many (including myself) took towards DPC was a good example of how we should react to these manipulations.
If more established contributors would come forward people would realise this decline is spread out amongst many and we need to do something about it. But no, they rather hide in the corner and pray for better times again or that it will only affect their fellow contributors. Some pro's, afraid for retaliation so they rather keep their pants down and bent over.

 ::)

The established contributors have been chosen to take part in Premier Select, you won't hear them complaining because they are being well looked after by Shutterstock and will be taking a bigger share of the pie, your share and mine.

Oh good.  No we are bashing established contributors.  Same infighting as usual here.  Nobody's taking anybodys share except maybe the shareholders.  There's just less to go around.to more people.

I happen to know that some of the people complaining about drops at SS are established contribs.  I am one of them and nobody is protecting me at SS or anywhere else.  Maybe you mean the top 100 or so.  I can't speak for them, but the insults and conspiracies like this are probably why none of them post here anymore.

I take it you didn't get your invite.

« Reply #282 on: July 13, 2015, 13:05 »
+1
Also decline here, no matter if upload or not, go more exclusive or not, its the same downward trend. SS is the only one I care about since it accounts for probably 80% of my microstock earnings. FT is much worse btw and other agencies are of no more importance to me.
Good luck to those who are starting out and want to take this business seriously, yikes!
This business is dying for many of us so now is probably the best time to seek other outlets for your stock/art and react to the decline by holding uploads or removing work from portfolio's. If we keep whining while continue uploading or keeping our work online the agencies get the upper hand and continue their path of greed, simple as that.
The ones doing well in micro these days are becoming very rare. It's just not worth the time and effort anymore unless you live in a lower standard country or use this as a hobby.
I've seen people brag about their sales on the SS forum but these guys upload fine art (ex skylines and landscapes) that are probably bought for a few pennies and then sold on print for hundreds of dollars. I do not envy them, on the contrary, I pity them for thinking they make good money while they don't have a clue what they leave on the table.
Others invest more then they get out of this by renting models, locations, props, gear and what not.
It's always a lose-lose situation for us no matter how you look at it.
Not to mention why we are so eager to put each other down instead of being more unite. The action that many (including myself) took towards DPC was a good example of how we should react to these manipulations.
If more established contributors would come forward people would realise this decline is spread out amongst many and we need to do something about it. But no, they rather hide in the corner and pray for better times again or that it will only affect their fellow contributors. Some pro's, afraid for retaliation so they rather keep their pants down and bent over.

 ::)

The established contributors have been chosen to take part in Premier Select, you won't hear them complaining because they are being well looked after by Shutterstock and will be taking a bigger share of the pie, your share and mine.

Oh good.  No we are bashing established contributors.  Same infighting as usual here.  Nobody's taking anybodys share except maybe the shareholders.  There's just less to go around.to more people.

I happen to know that some of the people complaining about drops at SS are established contribs.  I am one of them and nobody is protecting me at SS or anywhere else.  Maybe you mean the top 100 or so.  I can't speak for them, but the insults and conspiracies like this are probably why none of them post here anymore.
I agree.  If Shutterstock is giving a better deal to some contributors it's because they deserve it. 

nicksimages

  • contact : nicksimages.com
« Reply #283 on: July 13, 2015, 15:06 »
+5
What is Premier Select?
I really have no idea :)

« Reply #284 on: July 14, 2015, 01:25 »
+1
I take it you didn't get your invite.

I don't know about this 'premier select' thing. Probably what you are saying is true, but why should we believe you without any evidence?

« Reply #285 on: July 14, 2015, 02:15 »
+2
« Last Edit: July 14, 2015, 02:18 by Dodie »

« Reply #286 on: July 14, 2015, 04:29 »
+9
They say "Premier Select will not change the exposure of your content currently available to our Premier customers."

So it doesn't really explain why the large SOD sales have dried up for me since April.

« Reply #287 on: July 14, 2015, 11:11 »
+4
They say "Premier Select will not change the exposure of your content currently available to our Premier customers."

So it doesn't really explain why the large SOD sales have dried up for me since April.

yes, me too. but why is it that it is no longer a level playing field???  is it slanted to those who are cousins' cousins' cousin of shareholders?  smelling more like istock before the exclusives jumped ship.

so, where do we go from here???

« Reply #288 on: July 14, 2015, 11:38 »
+1
Could have something to do with SS users switching to Adobe, seems a bit fast for that to happen. 
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2015/07/14/morgan-stanley-highlights-seven-e-commerce-and-media-stocks/
"55% of Shutterstock users indicated they would shift usage from Shutterstock to Adobe Stock if features were offered in the Adobe Creative Cloud that made importing images easier."

« Reply #289 on: July 14, 2015, 13:28 »
+8
Could have something to do with SS users switching to Adobe, seems a bit fast for that to happen. 
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2015/07/14/morgan-stanley-highlights-seven-e-commerce-and-media-stocks/
"55% of Shutterstock users indicated they would shift usage from Shutterstock to Adobe Stock if features were offered in the Adobe Creative Cloud that made importing images easier."


I don't see an uptake on FT sales to justify your theory.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #290 on: July 14, 2015, 13:35 »
+2
They say "Premier Select will not change the exposure of your content currently available to our Premier customers."

So it doesn't really explain why the large SOD sales have dried up for me since April.

If users start buying on Premier Select they might never make it to Premier...so even though your content exposure wouldn't change on Premier, fewer people might be going there to begin with.

When I say "your" I mean "our," of course.

« Reply #291 on: July 14, 2015, 13:48 »
+1
Could have something to do with SS users switching to Adobe, seems a bit fast for that to happen. 
http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2015/07/14/morgan-stanley-highlights-seven-e-commerce-and-media-stocks/
"55% of Shutterstock users indicated they would shift usage from Shutterstock to Adobe Stock if features were offered in the Adobe Creative Cloud that made importing images easier."


I don't see an uptake on FT sales to justify your theory.

Like I said, it seems a bit fast for buyers to have switched over.  We should know a little more about it in a few weeks but going forward I think it should be expected that buyers will move to Adobe, 55% of them?  That seems like a lot.


objowl

« Reply #292 on: July 14, 2015, 14:32 »
+1
I take it you didn't get your invite.

I don't know about this 'premier select' thing. Probably what you are saying is true, but why should we believe you without any evidence?

I'm not trying to get you or anybody else to believe anything, for belief you need trust, you need faith, or merely to be susceptible to suggestion, not evidence.   I was just responding to an attack on  the "established contributors" by DesE who said "If more established contributors would come forward people would realise this decline is spread out amongst many and we need to do something about it. But no, they rather hide in the corner and pray for better times again or that it will only affect their fellow contributors. Some pro's, afraid for retaliation so they rather keep their pants down and bent over.".   
By "established contributors" I took him to mean the  top earners who seldom share their wisdom on the forums.  I cannot accept that they are afraid as DesE suggested and the premise that he put forward that they also were suffering hard times seemed presumptuous, had that been the case we might well have heard from them.  So I ventured to give what might be an alternative reason why they are not venting their spleen here, not only because they are busy making images, but because it still pays them to do so.
I make no insults and do not need conspiracy theories as suggested when PixelBytes tried to take a chunk out of me, and I may be wrong, but if I am I have been mislead by the Shutterstock blog on the matter.
It is quite simple, Shutterstock's Keren Sachs says in the blog regarding Premier Select "Ultimately, the goals for this initiative are to meet more of our customers needs, while providing additional, premium licensing opportunities to more contributors. As we test and learn, we will be back in touch with you about how your work can be included in this new collection."  I take that to mean that they are hoping to increase the revenue from their customers, thereby increasing the size of the pie,  and sharing the fees with those included in Premier Select, therefore excluding the majority of contributors.   It stands to reason does it not that Premier Select contributors will get a bigger share of the pie and everybody else gets a smaller one, even if their actual income stays the same, as she says "Many of you regularly see downloads from Premier customers and you will continue to see those payouts. Premier Select will not change the exposure of your content currently available to our Premier customers.".
Don't let anyone tell you that they are baking another pie just for Premier Select, this is Shutterstock not Offset.

I have no axe to grind, I don't want any infighting, and I am not a fantasist, you might not agree with my reading of the blog, but it is just plain simple logic, you don't have to follow me down to the river.



« Reply #293 on: July 14, 2015, 15:13 »
+1
I make no insults and do not need conspiracy theories as suggested when PixelBytes tried to take a chunk out of me, and I may be wrong, but if I am I have been mislead by the Shutterstock blog on the matter.

I did not mean to take a chunk out of you.  I included the post from DesE that you were responding to because his post about hiding bent over with the pants pulled down was the attack and insulting part I was talking about.  The reason I included your comments was because as a established contrib I have not seen the increase you suggested.  And yes I would like to know if other successful stockers are seeing an uptick. 

I would really like to hear from those who are in premiere select, first how they were notified, and second if its making a big difference in earnings.  But with the us against them mentality I don't expect any of them will bother to answer those questions.

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #294 on: July 14, 2015, 15:39 »
+1
My guess is that anyone included in Premier Select probably has to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

objowl

« Reply #295 on: July 14, 2015, 15:49 »
+3
I make no insults and do not need conspiracy theories as suggested when PixelBytes tried to take a chunk out of me, and I may be wrong, but if I am I have been mislead by the Shutterstock blog on the matter.

I did not mean to take a chunk out of you.  I included the post from DesE that you were responding to because his post about hiding bent over with the pants pulled down was the attack and insulting part I was talking about.  The reason I included your comments was because as a established contrib I have not seen the increase you suggested.  And yes I would like to know if other successful stockers are seeing an uptick. 

I would really like to hear from those who are in premiere select, first how they were notified, and second if its making a big difference in earnings.  But with the us against them mentality I don't expect any of them will bother to answer those questions.

It's OK the bandages are off, well the sticking plaster.  I'm not used to justifying myself, I live alone.  :)

I'm not against them, they are invisible or at least out of sight and out of mind, but I think Shutterstock are being divisive with this move.

I can understand Shutterstock wanting to keep their top earners on board, especially when one of them went off to exclusive heaven, and as they will not offer exclusivity, it is an alternative device to try and prevent that.   A slow response and probably no longer needed and one they may have shelved, but I can understand why they may have hummed and arrged before they tested it, because they also know it's divisive.  There is no promotion or relegation with these things, your in or your out.

I think that they had to act when they did because, as many have said on this forum, the cost of production has increased and at the rates they pay there is becoming little incentive to keep uploading. 

Rather than giving a general increase all round, which might spread a little too thin and eat into profits, they have chosen to keep the big earners happy.  They will be hoping that most folk will not notice their share of the pie has shrunk a little.  A risk that all agencies take all of the time in one way or another, but a small risk.

There maybe speculation that Premier Select is Shutterstocks response to Adobe's presence in the market.  Well, yes an no.  It was likely in the pipeline anyway and I can't see Adobe offering this kind of service anytime soon.  However, I can see image exclusivity being a threat that they may have taken into consideration, with Fotolia bumping rates up and Stocksy lurking in the margins there may have been some testing the water in their direction, I can see the temptation

Shelma1

  • stockcoalition.org
« Reply #296 on: July 14, 2015, 21:39 »
+6
Shutterstock stock is sinking deeply, too...shares are selling at new low for the year. Fortunately for us we can concentrate on placing our images wherever the sales go.

PZF

« Reply #297 on: July 15, 2015, 01:25 »
+2
so certainly pressure to give precedence to 25cents offerings.....

« Reply #298 on: July 15, 2015, 02:44 »
+5
so certainly pressure to give precedence to 25cents offerings.....

What a fortuitous coincidence that shutterstocks Top 50 most popular pages irrevocably "broke" just as they rolled out the IPO and new search. Amazing that the pages worked flawlessly for over 9 years and could not be fixed over the last three years by a self purported technology company.

All of this just as a huge number of exclusive IS contributors jumped ship and long standing shutterstock members started reporting sudden overnight steep drops in downloads.

The transparency was nice while it lasted.
« Last Edit: July 15, 2015, 10:42 by gbalex »

« Reply #299 on: July 16, 2015, 08:36 »
0
Don't know about image sales but my video sales there have stopped since end of June - like, completely.  Not that I'm a big seller or anything but I had become used to getting at least a couple every week.

Since end of June, nothing. Zilch. Nada. Nada di nada. 

Oh well!  Nice while it lasted...


 

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