Author Topic: Sudden drop in sales! (Read 17399 times)

dbvirago · « **Reply #25 on:** June 14, 2013, 20:36 »

Last month was a BME for me, but I understand what the OP is talking about. I've been there since 06 and understand fluctuations, but these weird gaps where I don't get a single sale for 24 hours, or nothing overnight from Asia/Europe, or entire weekdays without a single sale from US is different from normal ups and downs. there are several old timers reporting similar issues on SS forum.

fotografer · « **Reply #26 on:** June 15, 2013, 04:12 »

Quote from: dbvirago on June 14, 2013, 20:36

Last month was a BME for me, but I understand what the OP is talking about. I've been there since 06 and understand fluctuations, but these weird gaps where I don't get a single sale for 24 hours, or nothing overnight from Asia/Europe, or entire weekdays without a single sale from US is different from normal ups and downs. there are several old timers reporting similar issues on SS forum.

My actual numbers are down a bit this month but plenty of non sub sales have kept the earnings up.

sharpshot · « **Reply #27 on:** June 15, 2013, 05:14 »

I have only 1 SOD so far this month, luckily for $105. Had lots more last month. On demand are lagging behind last month as well. Hopefully the second half of June will make up for it.

Mantis · « **Reply #28 on:** June 15, 2013, 05:30 »

Quote from: sharpshot on June 15, 2013, 05:14

I have only 1 SOD so far this month, luckily for $105. Had lots more last month. On demand are lagging behind last month as well. Hopefully the second half of June will make up for it.

Amen brother.

Ron · « **Reply #29 on:** June 15, 2013, 05:35 »

Quote from: gbalex on June 14, 2013, 13:54

Quote from: Red Dove on June 14, 2013, 13:43
As expected, (very nearly) all the people who were bleating about poor sales last week are doing cartwheels on their way to the bank this week, with one of 'em claiming a $900 day.

Codswallop I say.

Mate you do have selective reading. Go back an read more carefully, the people reporting poor sales are still in the same boat.

I had to adjust my post. Mr Hip Hip Hooray is an exception.

That person said he would post a screenshot, but I havent seen it yet. I am not sure if I want to take it for granted. 900 dollars on they day seems a bit over the top, especially when its reported when the day wasnt even over yet. The contrast is so big, from day to day.

fotografer · « **Reply #30 on:** June 15, 2013, 06:15 »

Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 05:35

Quote from: gbalex on June 14, 2013, 13:54
Quote from: Red Dove on June 14, 2013, 13:43
As expected, (very nearly) all the people who were bleating about poor sales last week are doing cartwheels on their way to the bank this week, with one of 'em claiming a $900 day.

Codswallop I say.

Mate you do have selective reading. Go back an read more carefully, the people reporting poor sales are still in the same boat.

I had to adjust my post. Mr Hip Hip Hooray is an exception.
That person said he would post a screenshot, but I havent seen it yet. I am not sure if I want to take it for granted. 900 dollars on they day seems a bit over the top, especially when its reported when the day wasnt even over yet. The contrast is so big, from day to day.

Given who it was making that claim I would take that post with a huge pinch of salt.

sharpshot · « **Reply #31 on:** June 15, 2013, 06:43 »

Quote from: fotografer on June 15, 2013, 06:15

Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 05:35
Quote from: gbalex on June 14, 2013, 13:54
Quote from: Red Dove on June 14, 2013, 13:43
As expected, (very nearly) all the people who were bleating about poor sales last week are doing cartwheels on their way to the bank this week, with one of 'em claiming a $900 day.

Codswallop I say.

Mate you do have selective reading. Go back an read more carefully, the people reporting poor sales are still in the same boat.

I had to adjust my post. Mr Hip Hip Hooray is an exception.
That person said he would post a screenshot, but I havent seen it yet. I am not sure if I want to take it for granted. 900 dollars on they day seems a bit over the top, especially when its reported when the day wasnt even over yet. The contrast is so big, from day to day.
Given who it was making that claim I would take that post with a huge pinch of salt.

Are you saying we shouldn't believe every word of Christian Lagerek

JPSDK · « **Reply #32 on:** June 15, 2013, 09:14 »

He is not the only one.

RacePhoto · « **Reply #33 on:** June 15, 2013, 09:26 »

Wait a minute. A couple of weeks ago he said he was leaving SS because of poor sales? (this is a regular event, almost monthly now)

Claims on Alamy that he did leave there. Self reported that he was quitting almost all Microstock RF sites because of low sales. Now things are wonderful again?

Yes, huge credibility gap. But no lack of drama and humor.

Quote from: sharpshot on June 15, 2013, 06:43

Quote from: fotografer on June 15, 2013, 06:15
Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 05:35
Quote from: gbalex on June 14, 2013, 13:54
Quote from: Red Dove on June 14, 2013, 13:43
As expected, (very nearly) all the people who were bleating about poor sales last week are doing cartwheels on their way to the bank this week, with one of 'em claiming a $900 day.

Codswallop I say.

Mate you do have selective reading. Go back an read more carefully, the people reporting poor sales are still in the same boat.

I had to adjust my post. Mr Hip Hip Hooray is an exception.
That person said he would post a screenshot, but I havent seen it yet. I am not sure if I want to take it for granted. 900 dollars on they day seems a bit over the top, especially when its reported when the day wasnt even over yet. The contrast is so big, from day to day.
Given who it was making that claim I would take that post with a huge pinch of salt.
Are you saying we shouldn't believe every word of Christian Lagerek

gbalex · « **Reply #34 on:** June 15, 2013, 10:13 »

He has a decent port but I have often wondered about the bipolar swings. So yes I assumed it was a given.

As for low sales I could post examples of ports that are down an should not be and ports that are up that are filled with so so content. We in micro have a long standing tendency to assign blame to the artist when they are having troubles with their ports. If we want the sites to treat us with respect that should change.

There are some very good vectors artist and photographers who have very very low sales, much lower in fact than ports with mediocre LCV content and few images. That should alarm us and that fact that it often does not, makes it that much easier for the sites to focus on profit without upholding their end of the contract. We pay them 70%+ to sell our files and for that amount of cut they should make sure their site is functioning on all pistons and that they offer a level playing field to all.

Ron · « **Reply #35 on:** June 15, 2013, 10:46 »

They should, but they dont, all they care about is their own $$$ and if that goes up, happy days, doesnt matter who's port is responsible for those $$$. I do not understand why my mediocre portfolio is out performing HCV portfolios with 5 times more images. But if that is a result of the search, then there is nothing I can do about it, other then pull my images. Which nobody is asking for, just saying the agencies only care about their bottom line, not ours.

gbalex · « **Reply #36 on:** June 15, 2013, 10:53 »

Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 10:46

They should, but they dont, all they care about is their own $$$ and if that goes up, happy days, doesnt matter who's port is responsible for those $$$. I do not understand why my mediocre portfolio is out performing HCV portfolios with 5 times more images. But if that is a result of the search, then there is nothing I can do about it, other then pull my images. Which nobody is asking for, just saying the agencies only care about their bottom line, not ours.

You have the ability to be more objective than some Ron. If we could all do this, the sites would have more pressure to take care of our interests.

Ron · « **Reply #37 on:** June 15, 2013, 11:07 »

Thank you. I havent been posting on the SS forum lately because it was getting a bit ugly. For a long time I have heard that I was going to end up in a long sleeve jacket every time I posted my findings, asking questions using my portfolio as measure, and every time I got hammered over trying to find out what is going on with our portfolios. I had no clue, I was a newbie, everything had been said a thousand times, I should have been around in 2005, blah blah blah. Until they finally convinced me that its sales go down, sales go up. And now look at the SS forum, one thread after the other is opened, and all I see is stuff being mentioned I was talking about six, nine months ago. Its fine though, I have given up trying to figure it out, and quite frankly I am happy with that. I cant change it. Now its up to them to follow their own advice they have given me all this time.

gbalex · « **Reply #38 on:** June 15, 2013, 11:51 »

Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 11:07

Thank you. I havent been posting on the SS forum lately because it was getting a bit ugly. For a long time I have heard that I was going to end up in a long sleeve jacket every time I posted my findings, asking questions using my portfolio as measure, and every time I got hammered over trying to find out what is going on with our portfolios. I had no clue, I was a newbie, everything had been said a thousand times, I should have been around in 2005, blah blah blah. Until they finally convinced me that its sales go down, sales go up. And now look at the SS forum, one thread after the other is opened, and all I see is stuff being mentioned I was talking about six, nine months ago. Its fine though, I have given up trying to figure it out, and quite frankly I am happy with that. I cant change it. Now its up to them to follow their own advice they have given me all this time.

Consider the source Ron, just a few limited egos and a couple of Chihuahua's showing fangs to scare away perceived threats to attention/ competition. Most serious submitters also quit posting there for some of the same reasons, nativity and weakness is easier to manipulate.

In general, you will find the people on these boards more knowledgeable and reasonable.

robhainer · « **Reply #39 on:** June 15, 2013, 12:36 »

Quote from: gbalex on June 15, 2013, 11:51

Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 11:07
Thank you. I havent been posting on the SS forum lately because it was getting a bit ugly. For a long time I have heard that I was going to end up in a long sleeve jacket every time I posted my findings, asking questions using my portfolio as measure, and every time I got hammered over trying to find out what is going on with our portfolios. I had no clue, I was a newbie, everything had been said a thousand times, I should have been around in 2005, blah blah blah. Until they finally convinced me that its sales go down, sales go up. And now look at the SS forum, one thread after the other is opened, and all I see is stuff being mentioned I was talking about six, nine months ago. Its fine though, I have given up trying to figure it out, and quite frankly I am happy with that. I cant change it. Now its up to them to follow their own advice they have given me all this time.

Consider the source Ron, just a few limited egos and a couple of Chihuahua's showing fangs to scare away perceived threats to attention/ competition. Most serious submitters also quit posting there for some of the same reasons, nativity and weakness is easier to manipulate.

In general, you will find the people on these boards more knowledgeable and reasonable.

I don't see how that's true. Most of the people who post here do it anonymously. You don't even get to see their work to see if they know what they're talking about.

gbalex · « **Reply #40 on:** June 15, 2013, 13:11 »

Different perspectives Rob

Pauws99 · « **Reply #41 on:** June 16, 2013, 06:00 »

Who are we to judge Commercial Value - the Market does that

Ron · « **Reply #42 on:** June 16, 2013, 06:21 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on June 16, 2013, 06:00

Who are we to judge Commercial Value - the Market does that

That has been my thought all along. I guess crapstock, as mine is considered to be, has potential if the market is there. I have been told on SS by someone that my portfolio is good for laughs or laughable or something in that stretch. I guess humor sells these days

gbalex · « **Reply #43 on:** June 16, 2013, 12:24 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on June 16, 2013, 06:00

Who are we to judge Commercial Value - the Market does that

Yes indeed the market does that "IF" All of the images are available to purchase. If the site is not functioning for each and every port and some images are not available to purchase then the true merit of the image can not be achieved.

The above concept become relevant if your port has been suffering consistent bugs over a long period of time and you have often found your images to be invisible or unavailable to buyers.

Pauws99 · « **Reply #44 on:** June 16, 2013, 13:27 »

Yes all markets are imperfect. If the images are not available at all fair point. If the debate is about position in search algorithms then im not sure it can ever be fair or equal.

BaldricksTrousers · « **Reply #45 on:** June 17, 2013, 02:19 »

Quote from: Pauws99 on June 16, 2013, 13:27

Yes all markets are imperfect. If the images are not available at all fair point. If the debate is about position in search algorithms then im not sure it can ever be fair or equal.

It can't be, unless it is a search that only turns up a single page of results. Beyond that, luck plays a huge role however hard sites try to give precedence to the best material.

Tantoon · « **Reply #46 on:** June 17, 2013, 14:28 »

Updating..

I'm 99% positive that it was SS (although I'm not sure whether it was a bug or a regular images shuffle by the staff..) anyway my most popular images are "somehow" back to their old position, sales are are heading toward my normal too..
no complaints, I guess that's the nature of our business, sometime we eat, sometime we're meat ^^
thank you all.

Milinz · « **Reply #47 on:** June 18, 2013, 06:20 »

Quote from: Tantoon on June 13, 2013, 05:32

Hi guys,
is anyone else facing a dramatic drop in sales?
last week things were normal, this week however, SS sales went down almost -40% (I don't think it's June!)
any idea ?
Thanks..

No

Phadrea · « **Reply #48 on:** July 05, 2013, 01:19 »

I have never found SS good for sales compared to IS, even as unexclusive. Since getting over a hundred files recently added sales have been poor. Not good.

shudderstok · « **Reply #49 on:** July 05, 2013, 01:40 »

Quote from: Ron on June 15, 2013, 10:46

They should, but they dont, all they care about is their own $$$ and if that goes up, happy days, doesnt matter who's port is responsible for those $$$. I do not understand why my mediocre portfolio is out performing HCV portfolios with 5 times more images. But if that is a result of the search, then there is nothing I can do about it, other then pull my images. Which nobody is asking for, just saying the agencies only care about their bottom line, not ours.

This is hardly news...

And we have not even scratched the surface yet.

1 million images, 5 million images, 20 million images... you do the math.

The state of the industry now is all about the agencies and their bottom line.

I am willing to bet you all that as more and more images get uncontrollably added to all of the sites, all of our sales will diminish over time. The odds are not in our favor at all, and the agencies know this.

Going forward into the future it's a sad state of affairs for individual photographers I am afraid to say.

We can have all the hissy fits we want but it is very close to check mate in this industry from an individual contributors point of view, and the agencies really don't care just as long as they make another "billion", and if they drop the royalties to make that extra "billion", they will.

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Author Topic: Sudden drop in sales! (Read 17399 times)

dbvirago

fotografer

sharpshot

Mantis

Ron

fotografer

sharpshot

JPSDK

RacePhoto

gbalex

Ron

gbalex

Ron

gbalex

robhainer

gbalex

Pauws99

Ron

gbalex

Pauws99

BaldricksTrousers

Tantoon

Milinz

Phadrea

shudderstok

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