Author Topic: subscription impact on sales? (Read 23614 times)

stokfoto · « **on:** October 24, 2007, 05:31 »

I read on StockXpert forum some people were complaining that their sales had gone down since subscription sales started .
for the past week I too noticed a decrease but I thought it was too early to speak of such an impact.
I'd like to hear what is your experience?

thanks

hatman12 · « **Reply #1 on:** October 24, 2007, 05:32 »

Too early I think.

stokfoto · « **Reply #2 on:** October 24, 2007, 09:56 »

Quote from: hatman12 on October 24, 2007, 05:32

Too early I think.

yes that's what I thought too.

fotografer · « **Reply #3 on:** October 24, 2007, 09:58 »

Sales seem about normal to me. I've had one Sub sale only so far but it's impossible to know if they would have bought it at the normal price. So I don't know if I lost money or gained 30c.

dbvirago · « **Reply #4 on:** October 24, 2007, 10:32 »

I've had a decrease, but haven't had any subscription sales yet. I think my decrease is due to images not getting reviewed for weeks while others get done immediately. If sorting by newest first, my newest accepted file is one month old.

On the other hand, if you browse newest files, you get page after page of images with no thumbnails, so that couldn't help either. If you browse by newest files, you get to page 12-13 before you stop seeing missing thumbs. They start back up around page 66 and you have 10 or so pages with no thumbnails.

I quit looking for my 'newest' after page 100, or 2000 images.

Whiz · « **Reply #5 on:** October 24, 2007, 10:40 »

I haven't sold anything at StockXpert in about two weeks. But I never sold much there anyway; a green apple makes up about twenty five to thirty five percent of my sales.

And just after I finished typing this message, I scored a sale. Figures.

vonkara · « **Reply #6 on:** October 24, 2007, 10:45 »

I sold my last one 1.50$ the 22 October... Didn't know if the subscription is started at this time?

sharpshot · « **Reply #7 on:** October 24, 2007, 11:33 »

My sales have slowed down a bit but I was making new records, so a fall for a while isn't a big surprise. This month overall has been good.

Argus · « **Reply #8 on:** October 24, 2007, 12:22 »

Haven't noticed a decrease in sales, it seems to hold steady, i'm hoping it stays like that

chellyar · « **Reply #9 on:** October 24, 2007, 13:58 »

No subscription sales yet for me either, but overall I've seen a little lift in sales there. (Although I've got a small portfolio, so its hard to judge really)

Also I see they are getting onto the approval backlog, I've just had some images approved that I uploaded on the 8th of October..

madelaide · « **Reply #10 on:** October 24, 2007, 16:25 »

BME in StockXpert, no subs sales yet (gladly!).

Regards,
Adelaide

Stu99 · « **Reply #11 on:** October 24, 2007, 16:38 »

I have decided to opt in and have had a few sub sales already, I want to see what impact this has on my total sales.

The way I see it is that there are now two groups of buyers, there will still be the buyers who buy using credits as normal and there are now the subscription buyers. By not opting in I feel that I will be excluding one group of buyers who will still be there whether I opt in or not.

Also, even if the price point of a sub sale is lower, I am still getting purchases recorded on images which increases their popularity in the search engine. As we all know, images moving up the search default is a good thing, increasing exposure to both groups of buyers.

I am interested to see the impact of subscription sales, since I do hope that this move will bring more subscription buyers over from other sites.

My 2 cents :-)

Karimala · « **Reply #12 on:** October 24, 2007, 16:55 »

Quote from: madelaide on October 24, 2007, 16:25

BME in StockXpert, no subs sales yet (gladly!).

Regards,
Adelaide

Same here. I've already surpassed my BME with a week left to go this month.

Freezingpictures · « **Reply #13 on:** October 25, 2007, 01:24 »

I got a very good month on StockXpert, sales have not slowed down and I have not seen a subscription sale. Most likely on StockXpert I will have a BME. StockXpert stabilizes for me on the third place regarding earnings. I have seen a very good growth on StockXpert, it overtook first Fotolia and then DT in earnings. It is still far away to overtake SS though.

grp_photo · « **Reply #14 on:** October 25, 2007, 05:05 »

I also thought its too early days to complain:
But i noticed exact the same my earnings did go down no doubt about it and i can judge from a pretty big portfolio (not just a few hundreds).
I thought it's only me because i optioned out for subscription but other people seems also affected.

madelaide · « **Reply #15 on:** October 25, 2007, 15:59 »

If I can complain of anything about sales, is that I got none today, after many busy days.

Regards,
Adelaide

jsnover · « **Reply #16 on:** October 25, 2007, 17:32 »

StockXpert has been doing exceptionally well this month - a BME there by far, and it's in the #3 slot after SS and IS!

I hated to see the XL subscription sales, but today, for example, only 2 of the 7 sales were subscription (and only one of those XL), so the total for the day so far is $10.60 for 7 sales, which isn't bad.

andresr · « **Reply #17 on:** October 25, 2007, 18:09 »

I think sales have been the same so far is too early to tell BUT the site is a right mess at the moment

photogrrl · « **Reply #18 on:** October 25, 2007, 19:05 »

as much as I'm irritated with the site right now...I will admit older images are still selling well. That said, my christmas images, which are doing incredibly well on other sites, haven't gotten a single view on StockXpert. So....applause for what they've done for older images and some serious irritation at the site for how they've been able to handle newer images. I can't even get a thumbnail to process on one of my recent batches.

Get it together over there, before you've lost the faith of all of us who were willing to believe in you during those slower months. I was one of them. Unless you sort out your current business...I won't be one of them in the future.

I know my images sell. It's been proven to me on other sites.

The question is...will you continue to sell my images?

That is entirely up in the air for me...and as it would appear....many others.

You say time and time again that you've fixed things and yet I see no evidence of anything being fixed. I'm tired of the excuses. This is a business and in the past months....StockXpert programming has been useless. SORT IT OUT. And please....don't ask the contributors to be patient. Why should we have patience with your inability to handle your own company's growth?

I work hard creating the images I contribute and I expect as much...if not more out of the sites I contribute to. StockXpert...you're lagging hardcore.

epixx · « **Reply #19 on:** October 25, 2007, 19:14 »

A very average month at StockXpert for me. No subscription sales so far. I'll probably opt out if they become more than 20% of my images sold. My BME was in May, and since then, I haven't even been close to that, in spite of a bigger portfolio.

RT · « **Reply #20 on:** October 26, 2007, 05:41 »

Quote from: andresr on October 25, 2007, 18:09

I think sales have been the same so far is too early to tell BUT the site is a right mess at the moment

I'll second that, they really should concentrate their resources on getting the site fixed.

Oh and answering questions on their forums would be a good thing too!!

araminta · « **Reply #21 on:** October 26, 2007, 05:47 »

I got a few subscriptions sales and I was indeed a little bit worried to see XXL pictures sold for $0.30.

But it seems until now that my sales are not impacted and StockXpert is performing extremely well for me for the last few months. September was BME and october earnings should be 30% higher than september!

StockXpert is now clear #3 behind SS (#2) and IS (#1).

It is however to early indeed to have a clear vision of the effect of subscription on earnings at StockXpert.

madelaide · « **Reply #22 on:** October 26, 2007, 16:00 »

Two days now without any sale.

I had sales every day this month, except two days in weekends. But now these are two working days.

Regards,
Adelaide

Kngkyle · « **Reply #23 on:** October 27, 2007, 14:43 »

My sales have dropped dramatically from the first half of this month. Whether that has anything to do with the new subscriptions or whether it is just ebb and flow is a toss up. I have only had 1 subscription download so far. Regardless, this is easily my BME on StockXpert.

stokfoto · « **Reply #24 on:** October 27, 2007, 17:17 »

Quote from: Kngkyle on October 27, 2007, 14:43

My sales have dropped dramatically from the first half of this month.

it has been pretty much the same for me as well. but as far as we know no one is getting huge amounts of subscription sales therefore slowed down sales must be because of the current technical issues.(just guessing)

madelaide · « **Reply #25 on:** October 28, 2007, 14:35 »

Quote from: Kngkyle on October 27, 2007, 14:43

My sales have dropped dramatically from the first half of this month. (...) Regardless, this is easily my BME on StockXpert.

Same for me, after two weekdays without sales, yesterday and today I had one each. No subs sales so far.

Regards,
Adelaide

photogrrl · « **Reply #26 on:** October 28, 2007, 18:17 »

looks like it's going to be the BME on StockXpert for me, but my previous post still holds true. Those same images still have no thumbnails...new images haven't got a single view (when they're selling like crazy elsewhere)...sales dropped a bit from the first part of the month and I'm disappointed in how the admins have handled these problems. I'm holding off on further uploads until things get sorted out.

I really do hope they sort it out. I've always liked this site. I rarely complain about a site, but considering the potential sales I was seeing...this comes as a real hard hit. I hope the admins will not only comment honestly about the situation, but fix it...and get things back on track in general.

madelaide · « **Reply #27 on:** October 28, 2007, 18:26 »

I have the curious situation of having some images without thumbnails (and the worst thing is that the empty thumbnails appear in searches like that too) whereas the latest image has a thumbnail. So it seems they solved the problem for new uplaods, but that there is a group of images from a certain period who don't show thumbs and who knows when they will.

Regards,
Adelaide

photogrrl · « **Reply #28 on:** October 28, 2007, 18:57 »

same thing happening here...a newer batch has thumbs and an older one still has nothing. I'm absolutely sure this must have an impact on sales and feel like admins are trying to play down that impact. Maybe I should delete and reupload, but with reviews being wonky...I don't want to mess with it too much.

such a shame...and I mean that...I really want this site to succeed.

vonkara · « **Reply #29 on:** October 29, 2007, 07:59 »

Just have a disappointing 30 cents for an image. Yes, a subscription sale...

madelaide · « **Reply #30 on:** October 30, 2007, 17:37 »

Just one sale today, my first subs.

Regards,
Adelaide

PenelopeB · « **Reply #31 on:** October 30, 2007, 18:01 »

I haven't had any subscription sales yet, but a lot of XL sales. Seems to be 2 days off, 2 days on routine. Ebb and flow.

60 sales so far in Oct. so I can't complain. I really like StockXpert so I'll take a .30 cent sale over nothing. Works for me. The volume is edging up slowly.

I think StockXpert is a rising star. It varies between my # 1 and # 2 with iStock for $.

epixx · « **Reply #32 on:** October 30, 2007, 18:02 »

Had my first sub sale today. XL size of my most popular image at StockXpert, and a very unique one. Full price would have taken me to the payout limit.

I've opted out.

epixx · « **Reply #33 on:** November 01, 2007, 00:57 »

Here's an interesting twist:
After my single subscription sale at StockXpert, I opted out of subscriptions. Then, when the month changed from October to November, my 30c disappeared, just like magic, into thin air

I wonder, Have they hired that Copperfield guy or something

Pixart · « **Reply #34 on:** November 01, 2007, 09:38 »

Don't take it lightly. It's only 30cents but it's still a sale. What if it was a big one, like an extended license sale. We take it for granted that the agencies systems are in good working order and that they are honest representing us. If a sale just dissapears, 30 cents or not, they need to account for it. Please mention in their forums as well so that everyone knows.

araminta · « **Reply #35 on:** November 01, 2007, 10:06 »

Subscriptions sales are not displayed in monthly earnings but are taken into account in your earnings balance... at least for me.

epixx · « **Reply #36 on:** November 01, 2007, 10:10 »

It was gone from earnings balance as well, but now it's suddenly back. It's still not on the daily listing though. Something is apparently not working properly.

Kngkyle · « **Reply #37 on:** November 01, 2007, 10:31 »

I had my second subscription sale yesterday. While I don't really like getting them, they do boost the popularity of the file, which is the default search order for buyers.

scrappinstacy · « **Reply #38 on:** November 01, 2007, 11:04 »

October was an average month for me. I still haven't had any subscription sales, thank goodness...

sharpshot · « **Reply #39 on:** November 05, 2007, 02:09 »

I had 8 sales on Sunday, none of them subscription sales, that is my best there on a weekend day. The subscription option hasn't slowed sales for me.

Kngkyle · « **Reply #40 on:** November 05, 2007, 06:50 »

October was by far my BME, but the last 15 days was horrible compared to the first 15(ok 16). So far November has been decent, no subscription sales at least.

vonkara · « **Reply #41 on:** November 05, 2007, 14:57 »

I don't have a really big portfolio there at this time, but after a subscription sale at the end of October... just nothing. I am not opted-in for the subscription thing, who let people whenever buy your pictures at subscription price I think, even if they not buy this formula...Maybe I must do it.

vonkara · « **Reply #42 on:** November 05, 2007, 15:01 »

Do somebody have opted-in for subscription and have seen a much better difference...( downloads like Shutterstock gives ) ?

Whiz · « **Reply #43 on:** November 05, 2007, 16:09 »

I had fifteen or so downloads last month on Stockxpert with around two hundred twenty five images. With a hundred and twenty images on Shutterstock, I had around three hundred and twenty downloads at the end of October. I like Shutterstock. I guess the buyers at Stockxpert just don't want the types of images I shoot, so I'm just going to focus on iStockphoto and Shutterstock for now.

madelaide · « **Reply #44 on:** November 05, 2007, 16:38 »

Of the 11 dlds I had in StockXpert this month, one was subs. The others averaged at US$1 per dld. Sample is too small for a good statistics, but just for comparison my average was 88c in October and 79c in September.

Regards,
Adelaide

stokfoto · « **Reply #45 on:** November 15, 2007, 05:42 »

lately I started to get more subscription sales and except for one they were all XL,which still confuses me if I should opt out?
what about you guys how is subscription sales going for you?

hatman12 · « **Reply #46 on:** November 15, 2007, 07:07 »

Early days, but it seems that my XL sales are drying up and being replaced by subscriptions.

Gut feel (and it IS a gut feel only at this stage) is that those buyers who habitually download XL and L files are switching to subscription.

I wonder how Andresr is faring - he has a LOT to lose (and was very vocal on the StockXpert forums in opposing subscriptions).

Having said all of the above, my volume of sales is still good (but income is starting to fall).

ludesal · « **Reply #47 on:** November 15, 2007, 09:35 »

Quote from: hatman12 on November 15, 2007, 07:07

Early days, but it seems that my XL sales are drying up and being replaced by subscriptions.

my vector sales too... $:-\$

sharply_done · « **Reply #48 on:** November 15, 2007, 10:12 »

Although my $/day average seems unaffected, my $/DL is down by almost 20%.

andresr · « **Reply #49 on:** November 15, 2007, 10:27 »

Subscriptions have had no impact in my income yet, hopefully it will stay that way. I am getting a lot of subscription sales but I think this is from new buyers.

Funny, I was very vocal at dreamstime in favour of subscriptions when they launched it and I think it hasn't been that good there and on the other hand at StockXpert I was really against it because of the DT experience but it might turn out to be a positive thing.

Will see, time will tell, I will post my monthy stats in a couple of weeks regarding this to see how much real impact it has on $$ and Dls.

cmillc22 · « **Reply #50 on:** November 15, 2007, 12:31 »

i am not running with the big dogs so subscriptions have not hurt me at all. I am just a little dog in this big yard of photography.

hatman12 · « **Reply #51 on:** November 15, 2007, 15:07 »

Well as I said above - it's early days yet for subscriptions at StockXpert.

Today I got two normal credit XL sales at $2.50 commission each, so I'm hoping my XL buyers have returned..........

sharply_done · « **Reply #52 on:** November 15, 2007, 16:58 »

One odd thing about StockXpert is that I very rarely sell XXL images - only two or three out of 600+ sales. Things are much better in this regard on other sites.

sharpshot · « **Reply #53 on:** November 15, 2007, 17:03 »

I haven't had an EL with them yet. I have had EL's with most of the other sites and as StockXpert has good sales, this is strange.

jsnover · « **Reply #54 on:** November 15, 2007, 17:43 »

Thing are looking very good at StockXpert for me - volume of subscription sales is low, sales are up and the $$ per sale is still over $1. Last month was a record for that site (for me) and this month looks just as good.

As with DT, the subscription sales are always at the largest size (who wouldn't?), but the volume relative to total sales is so small that it doesn't seem to have hurt much.

hatman12 · « **Reply #55 on:** November 16, 2007, 16:43 »

Nine XL subscription sales today......

...but also three normal XL credit sales.....

So my XL sales appear to have returned (thank goodness).

stokfoto · « **Reply #56 on:** November 17, 2007, 04:01 »

I don't know if I should relate it to subscription sales(perhaps not) but I experience a dramatic drop in my sales and earnings on StockXpert comparing to last few months ,which had been great.I regularly upload as usual but I don't know why there is a decrease this month.I hope things will pick up later ,but yeah I get more subscription sales lately.

vonkara · « **Reply #57 on:** November 29, 2007, 17:18 »

So...Now it make about a month and half. I just want to say that downloads for me are very poor. I have a little portfolio but the sales was better before this subscription thing.

I wonder how many people have opt-in for letting all files been buy by subscription. I think about more and more now, just to see the impact.

sharply_done · « **Reply #58 on:** November 29, 2007, 17:23 »

My DLs have increased, but my $/DL has decreased in the same proportion so that my earnings are unchanged. StockXpert isn't a high earning site for me - only $100+ per month with 2100+ images.

madelaide · « **Reply #59 on:** November 29, 2007, 18:16 »

November figures:

BME
53 credit sales
4 subs sales
316 images online

average $0.88/dld - same as October and higher than September (0.79)

Regards,
Adelaide

sharply_done · « **Reply #60 on:** November 29, 2007, 19:44 »

Congrats on the BME, Madelaide - it sure feels good to get those, doesn't it!!!

My $/DL was about $1.10 before subscriptions, but fell to 98c last month and 96c this month.

madelaide · « **Reply #61 on:** November 29, 2007, 20:06 »

Thanks, sharply! My numbers are modest, but I'm happy with StockXpert (top earner this month) and should these numbers stay constant, this will mean a pay-out every month - not bad!

Regards,
Adelaide

Mshake · « **Reply #62 on:** December 02, 2007, 07:31 »

I opted out of the subscription sales as soon as they let us. I have 860 photos there and have always done very good with them. I saw no drop in sales in Oct. and in fact it went up a little and November it went up again to my BME.

I just left CS because of subscription sales and no opt out clause. More then half my sales at CS where from sub sales. I would rather be at sites that give you options and lets you make a fair price for your work then those that force plans on you that didn't exist when you joined them.

The sub sales at DT are rare for me but I don't mind them as much because they have those nice " level sales" that balances them out.

vonkara · « **Reply #63 on:** December 02, 2007, 10:32 »

Unless buyers will have a easy way to sort search whit only the opted-in available pictures, I don't think now it's going to make a big difference in the overall earnings.

Pixart · « **Reply #64 on:** December 02, 2007, 10:41 »

Wow Adelaide, that's a pretty good ratio. I had 7 sales and 3 of them were subs. I have only sent 60 photos there so far and don't have a lot of incentive to send many more right now. Signed up there and 123 at same time but have more than double the sales at 123. I guess I shouldn't judge until I give them both attention and get everything online.

Kngkyle · « **Reply #65 on:** December 02, 2007, 11:15 »

In November I had 43 regular sales and 13 subscription sales.

$13 in regular sales for every $1 in subscription sales.

madelaide · « **Reply #66 on:** December 02, 2007, 15:28 »

We can not really celebrate, can we? Four sales this month, 3 of them subs.

Regards,
Adelaide

stokfoto · « **Reply #67 on:** December 03, 2007, 09:49 »

I've had 5 subscription sales today alone (all XL).considering it's the beginning of the month would that be an indication of some buyers switching to subscription ?

louoates · « **Reply #68 on:** December 03, 2007, 10:54 »

For November my sub sales were 12%. As long as my revenue at Sxprt continues to build I'm okay with the format changes.

steve-oh · « **Reply #69 on:** December 03, 2007, 11:06 »

Hi guys,

I can't get into specifics, but the majority of subscribers are new customers (those who never bought ppd/credit before). Of the existing customers who did switch only a smal handful were on pace to spend more on credits than subscriptions (which is to be expected from at lease a few), but I can tell you these "big spenders" did not even come close to accounting for the majority of ppd sales on StockXpert.

Thanks!
-Steve

massman · « **Reply #70 on:** December 03, 2007, 12:03 »

October 07
68 credit sales
2 subscription sales

November 07 - BME
174 credit sales
35 subscription sales
157 images in portfolio
Highest average earnings per download ever.

The bottom line is my income from StockXpert keeps going up every month, subscriptions don't seem to have had a negative affect, but it's still early days.

StockXpert is now my number one performing agency.

jsnover · « **Reply #71 on:** December 03, 2007, 15:03 »

StockXpert had a great month in November - another best ever for that site and it very nearly landed in 3rd place in my monthly totals (narrowly edged out by iStock at the end).

Subscription sales do not seem to have hurt overall performance, and volume of sales continues to increase. Good job StockXpert!

madelaide · « **Reply #72 on:** December 04, 2007, 18:34 »

Subs sales are still very noticeable this month, but at least today I sold 4 images, all NON subs - what a relief!

Regards,
Adelaide

stokfoto · « **Reply #73 on:** December 21, 2007, 12:20 »

This month almost 50% of my sales have been subs.
I'd like to hear how yours are ?

sharply_done · « **Reply #74 on:** December 21, 2007, 12:56 »

Quote from: stokfoto on December 21, 2007, 12:20

This month almost 50% of my sales have been subs.

50% ... Ouch!

13% of my sales are subscription so far this month, last month was 18%.
My $/DL has dropped, but my earnings have increased.

ikostudio · « **Reply #75 on:** December 21, 2007, 13:17 »

O LOVE StockXpert!!!

Just the best one! It’s my favorite, its simple, fast, good image, and the most important, very good in sales.

Month after month I make sales records on StockXpert!
Better than SS and IS, DT and FT.

I wish a Happy Christmas to all of you StockXpert team.

Kngkyle · « **Reply #76 on:** December 21, 2007, 15:44 »

13% subscription sales this month. Earnings set for another record month though.

araminta · « **Reply #77 on:** December 21, 2007, 19:04 »

8% in number of downloads and 2% in earnings.

madelaide · « **Reply #78 on:** December 21, 2007, 19:42 »

Unfortunately subs sales picked up for me this month: 25% of dlds, making 13% of earnings. I also noticed a decrease in my earnings per dld in the credit sales (90c to 70c), that is, credit sales are more in the smaller sizes now.

Regards,
Adelaide

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Author Topic: subscription impact on sales? (Read 23614 times)

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