Author Topic: SS is dying for me (Read 20329 times)

litifeta · « **on:** December 10, 2007, 00:54 »

At the same time my portfolio has grown, the sales have diminished. This month I think I will be lucky to sell 60 images.

1/01/2007   195
1/02/2007   187
1/03/2007   399
1/04/2007   215
1/05/2007   141
1/06/2007   106
1/07/2007   76
1/08/2007   89
1/09/2007   85
1/10/2007   174
1/11/2007   101

iclick · « **Reply #1 on:** December 10, 2007, 03:54 »

gosh really

for me it is going from strength to srength with a Portfolio of around 480 Images I had over 800 downloads and an EL last month and this month is looking good also....

It is Istock which is dying a death for me

fotografer · « **Reply #2 on:** December 10, 2007, 08:26 »

I'm finding exactly the same thing. SS great and IS slowly dying.
On SS I made 50% more this November than last November and on IS I made 50% more last November than this November. For the last 3 months I have made considerably more on SS than IS whereas IS always used to be a clear winner.

Quote from: sueC on December 10, 2007, 03:54

gosh really

for me it is going from strength to srength with a Portfolio of around 480 Images I had over 800 downloads and an EL last month and this month is looking good also....

It is Istock which is dying a death for me

Peiling · « **Reply #3 on:** December 10, 2007, 10:09 »

Quote from: litifeta on December 10, 2007, 00:54

At the same time my portfolio has grown, the sales have diminished. This month I think I will be lucky to sell 60 images.

1/01/2007   195
1/02/2007   187
1/03/2007   399
1/04/2007   215
1/05/2007   141
1/06/2007   106
1/07/2007   76
1/08/2007   89
1/09/2007   85
1/10/2007   174
1/11/2007   101

i have the same problem...perhaps even worst than you...i am so embarassed that i am not telling the results....believe me, it is much much much worst and i would like to know why??

Peter · « **Reply #4 on:** December 10, 2007, 10:36 »

I have 600-700 images, and 20-30 sales every day except for weekends. Monthly 800 downloads....

maco0708 · « **Reply #5 on:** December 10, 2007, 10:40 »

SS is quite slow for me as well. November was the first month when I had more downloads on IS that SS (I mean number of downloads, not revenue).

But I know exactly why, I uploaded about 10 images in last 2-3 months.

That's how SS works, you upload a lot, you get a lot of sales. Stop uploading and you will get a big decline.

yingyang0 · « **Reply #6 on:** December 10, 2007, 10:52 »

Quote from: maco0708 on December 10, 2007, 10:40

That's how SS works, you upload a lot, you get a lot of sales. Stop uploading and you will get a big decline.

Exactly. SS's search highly favors newer images so you have to upload constantly to see increasing revenue. At IS it is not as drastic but you will still see decreasing revenue if you don't upload because the growing collection dilutes your share of the collection, which translates into a dilution of your earnings.

zorki · « **Reply #7 on:** December 10, 2007, 11:37 »

Same here. I've never been a huge uploader and it it shows with SS. My downloads there are about half the revenue as IS....

Whiz · « **Reply #8 on:** December 10, 2007, 13:05 »

October: 325 sales
November: 225 sales
December(so far): 39 sales

And iStockphoto and Dreamstime are the ones that are increasing. I still upload around five to ten images per week at Shutterstock, and still the sales seem very sluggish. I'm just going to blame it on the holidays.

But hey, I've only sold two images this month at Stockxpert so Shutterstock is far from being the worst when it comes to sales.

Fred · « **Reply #9 on:** December 10, 2007, 14:56 »

Quote from: Whiz on December 10, 2007, 13:05

October: 325 sales
November: 225 sales
December(so far): 39 sales

And iStockphoto and Dreamstime are the ones that are increasing. I still upload around five to ten images per week at Shutterstock, and still the sales seem very sluggish. I'm just going to blame it on the holidays.

But hey, I've only sold two images this month at Stockxpert so Shutterstock is far from being the worst when it comes to sales.

Well your numbers look about the same as mine for SS:

November (my first month) 216 sales
December(so far): 58

I am not at Stockxpert but my account at LO is much worse - no sales in 10 weeks and more pictures than anywhere else!! fred

Kngkyle · « **Reply #10 on:** December 10, 2007, 17:35 »

SS all depends on the amount you upload. Lately I have been doing a lot of uploading so my sales there have picked up quite a bit. Last month was just $10 shy of my BME. SS is still easily my top earner, with about 45% of income, but IS and StockXpert are gaining ground. SS used to account for around 60% of income.

MicrostockExp · « **Reply #11 on:** December 10, 2007, 18:09 »

I am having my best day ever at SS.This month will be a BME I am sure since I have 144 downloads this months. In more details I upload everyday and my porfolio has 151 images now.
Hope shutterstock will not die to soon since it represents 50 % of my earnings, time will tell I guess

L

Conrad · « **Reply #12 on:** December 10, 2007, 21:02 »

In my case shutter is being a surprise every day, since last week DLs increase each time I see them. Today has been my BDE with more than 30sales with a portfolio of 97 pictures.

I´m in the other agencies with the same photos, but the day I was accepted in Shutter (nov 23th) I had more sales than in the other microsites together in two months!

I know my portfolio isn´t the great thing, but it seems shutter customers like it, but the rest of the world seems to hate it

Take a look if you want to my Shutterstock portfolio

PenelopeB · « **Reply #13 on:** December 11, 2007, 08:58 »

Nov was fabulous for me but I was uploading every week.

I had just about given up hope for Dec when "Presto" - this morning I had an extended license sale. Just in time for the holidays!

Thanks Shutterstock and purchaser.

epixx · « **Reply #14 on:** December 12, 2007, 00:32 »

SS is dying for me as well, in spite of weekly, and sometimes daily, uploads. There are two problems with SS:

- To start with, they were the only subscription site. They are not any more, and with the competitors, customers can switch between subscription and regular downloads, more or less from month to month. For photographers, that means that subscription sales will be spread more thinly between many agencies.

- There's a real risk that SS long-term is over-saturating its own market. Those who have had subscriptions for a number of years, build their own picture archives, so a subscription will, after a certain amount of time, be less interesting. One of the reasons for the high earnings at SS, is just that: customers download images that they may need in the future, as long as they have quotas left to do so.

As long as the market increases among agencies that pay more, I'm not worried, but I doubt we'll see SS being as dominant in the future as they have been up until now.

null · « **Reply #15 on:** December 12, 2007, 04:49 »

Quote from: epixx on December 12, 2007, 00:32

There's a real risk that SS long-term is over-saturating its own market. Those who have had subscriptions for a number of years, build their own picture archives, so a subscription will, after a certain amount of time, be less interesting. One of the reasons for the high earnings at SS, is just that: customers download images that they may need in the future, as long as they have quotas left to do so.

That's why it's important to keep uploading new material to SS. At least, that's the theory. When I look at this month's downloads, I just observe very old shots download well too, and the most recent are there, but it's a minority.

epixx · « **Reply #16 on:** December 12, 2007, 06:03 »

Quote from: FlemishDreams on December 12, 2007, 04:49

That's why it's important to keep uploading new material to SS. At least, that's the theory. When I look at this month's downloads, I just observe very old shots download well too, and the most recent are there, but it's a minority.

I was thinking the same thing six months ago, but at the moment, my old images are selling better than the new ones, and sales are down in general. I had my BME's in March and May, and haven't even been close since then, even if my portfolio has increased by around 30%.

massman · « **Reply #17 on:** December 12, 2007, 08:22 »

On the same/similar subject a thread by Forgiss at SS

http://submit.shutterstock.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=29429

bbettina · « **Reply #18 on:** December 12, 2007, 13:06 »

I am seeing huge oscillations from one day to the next: I have super-crappy days with like 8 downloads on a portfolio of over 500 and the next day I have 23 by the time I get up in the morning. It's not just weekends that are bad but there is also no consistency as to which weekday is good or bad. 'tis the season, I am guessing (hoping)

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #19 on:** December 12, 2007, 14:00 »

I hope it doesn't die for me. SS is now my #1 earner with IS as a close second. Both are growing nicely. Hope it continues.

Phil · « **Reply #20 on:** December 13, 2007, 16:52 »

yep,

I constantly upload, about the same amount each month but declining for me

sept $680, oct $540, nov $432 and so far dec is at best looking to equal november

epixx · « **Reply #21 on:** December 13, 2007, 19:18 »

This is interesting. Until a couple of months ago, SS was only outsold by one of the other for one or two single days the last 18 months, except when there was an EL involved.

Now in December, it has been outsold by one of the others a few times already, and so far today, it's trailing way behind IS and DT with FT just 0.10 behind.

Statistically, this is my worst month at SS since January this year, while my total sales is currently the second best ever, month to date after the 12th.

hatman12 · « **Reply #22 on:** December 13, 2007, 21:23 »

Just thinking aloud...... SS could perhaps one day be a victim of its own strategy.

Customers download many more pictures then they actually need. So if a customer downloads huge numbers of Christmas images this year, perhaps he won't need to buy any next year or the year after that.

According to compete.com, whereas the other agencies have been seeing healthy unique visit increases, SS is showing a sharp decline since the beginning of October.

I like SS. But if I've said it once, I've said it a million times - in my view, SS has the least repeatable long term earnings and the fastest image decay of all the agencies. I always give SS my lowest votes in the polls here at Microstock Group because I don't regard it as an 'investment'.

Pixart · « **Reply #23 on:** December 14, 2007, 00:27 »

I'm having a crap month at SS. Maybe the buyers put a halt on renewing subscriptions until the new year when they are back? Why have one that runs through the days surrounding Christmas & New Year?

epixx · « **Reply #24 on:** December 14, 2007, 05:14 »

Still, there is something happening. Last year, I had a BME at SS in December, in spite of low sales the last week.

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Author Topic: SS is dying for me (Read 20329 times)

litifeta

iclick

fotografer

Peiling

Peter

maco0708

yingyang0

zorki

Whiz

Fred

Kngkyle

MicrostockExp

Conrad

PenelopeB

epixx

null

epixx

massman

bbettina

PaulieWalnuts

Phil

epixx

hatman12

Pixart

epixx

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