Author Topic: Storyblocks - any signs of life? (Read 20068 times)

PZF · « **on:** May 05, 2019, 04:52 »

No downloads at all for weeks......

HalfFull · « **Reply #1 on:** May 05, 2019, 05:29 »

Quote from: PZF on May 05, 2019, 04:52

No downloads at all for weeks......

Same here... started off well but they're obviously not bothered about people making money in the Marketplace. I removed all my footage from them this week and I'll be removing all my images as well... just need one more image sale this month for payout then they'll all go.

That's the other thing that boils my P*ss with them. You could have $100 cleared funds on footage and $20 in images and they won't payout the image sales until they pass their own $25 limit. This of course makes it easier for them to hold onto money longer and make a stack of cash from all the interest. Very underhand.

Visualab · « **Reply #2 on:** May 05, 2019, 07:05 »

1 sale this month,used to have from 10 to 20....they have become unreliable...no worth anymore...

pkphotos · « **Reply #3 on:** May 05, 2019, 16:10 »

Almost everyone is reporting the same. I've had one sale this year compared to about 6 per month previously. Considering their promises of good things to come after the commission change, I wonder if they're feeling highly embarrassed by what's happened or if that was what they expected all along? At this stage they can only be viewed as a good bit of money while it lasted.

BalkanskiMacak · « **Reply #4 on:** May 05, 2019, 16:24 »

Having a portfolio that is something like 99% photos, I never got a single sale in almost two years... Funny thing: they keep on displaying a popup asking me if I would recommend Videoblocks...

Bart · « **Reply #5 on:** May 05, 2019, 21:02 »

Done uploading since March, no more! will wait another month or two (to see if sales return), otherwise time to pull the plug.

ccbcc · « **Reply #6 on:** May 06, 2019, 04:00 »

I will also pull the plug soon. I had a couple of sales a few months ago, just after I complained about something... That was strange.. But nothing since then.

thirdbornentertainment · « **Reply #7 on:** May 06, 2019, 04:16 »

Quote from: pkphotos on May 05, 2019, 16:10

Almost everyone is reporting the same. I've had one sale this year compared to about 6 per month previously. Considering their promises of good things to come after the commission change, I wonder if they're feeling highly embarrassed by what's happened or if that was what they expected all along? At this stage they can only be viewed as a good bit of money while it lasted.

Same here. Used to pull in 400/month and now not a sale since January. As long as their subscription plan isn't mandatory there is still hope.

helloitsme · « **Reply #8 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:09 »

I'll be closing the account sometime this year. I'll give it a few more months.

Trippy · « **Reply #9 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:33 »

Zero.

A shame. Storyblocks used to be a good earner.

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #10 on:** May 06, 2019, 06:42 »

They informed me they would close my account in a month, with a mention they would help me with suggestions to avoid that.
Since I had zero sales for months, I responded they should not wait and get over with it immediatelly!
That was the first time they acted fast and they deleted all my assets in a couple of days, although I am still waiting for the relative email to confirm that!
Now, as I was telling other stock friends, I feel as relieved as if I was going to break up with a girlfriend I knew I was never going to be forever with but was just postponing for a last night with her, to ... kiss her goodbye!

Mantis · « **Reply #11 on:** May 06, 2019, 07:57 »

Quote from: bestravelvideo on May 06, 2019, 06:42

They informed me they would close my account in a month, with a mention they would help me with suggestions to avoid that.
Since I had zero sales for months, I responded they should not wait and get over with it immediatelly!
That was the first time they acted fast and they deleted all my assets in a couple of days, although I am still waiting for the relative email to confirm that!
Now, as I was telling other stock friends, I feel as relieved as if I was going to break up with a girlfriend I knew I was never going to be forever with but was just postponing for a last night with her, to ... kiss her goodbye!

I deleted all of my content there manually then asked them to close my account. I got a long email explaining that they know it's been slow, blah blah blah but they really never mentioned my statement to them about how the subscription plan killed our sales. They wanted me to hang on but I had already deleted my port and they finally closed my account. I had 1,500 videos there. Had one sale in Jan then nothing since. My email to them was pretty blunt, how they came in MSG seeking contributors and being all "we are your partner" and now cutting commissions and them effectively killing sales. Anyhow, I am out as of a couple of weeks ago.

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #12 on:** May 06, 2019, 10:56 »

They also always avoided to answer all my questions, making communication problematic. In the past I had to ask again and again, even numbering questions, but they just responded what they wanted. Regardless If their answers would satisfy me or not, they just seemed to say what they wanted, like one talks and the other never listens but only waits to speak his part. That was not good communication. They also asked me to update my tax info and that took them months to do. Was that their way of thinking I would be upset and give up earlier, who knows? They also said they would let me know if they deleted my assets but never wrote back. Even now, at the end, that is bad communication. Instead, without me being informed, I am logged out and can't enter my account. They also never offered any suggestions for sales increase and when I asked how do they judge unique or similar clips or quality, they never reponded. I should add here that I work as a professional video editor in Broadcast TV for more than 25 years, from the era of Betacam, when we just dropped U-Matic and then started using Betacam tapes with external video vectorscopes and jogs on Sony BVW or PVW videos, so you guess that at least my clips were Broadcast safe! At least on some local or European events my clips were not widely offered on stotck agencies, yet they failed to sell by the numbers on them, plus living in Greece, I had a 30 % tax deduction, without them ever providing details about the country of sales. I had to insist for months that they wrongly did that on my photo sales and at the end they accepted it.

trucic · « **Reply #13 on:** May 09, 2019, 02:39 »

... no. 1 agency to be avoided... promising start, lasted a while and then went totally to subscription model... with their `answer-avoiding` policy even for banal questions...

georgep7 · « **Reply #14 on:** May 09, 2019, 03:52 »

Quote

from the era of Betacam

guess who repaired those after Nikos left at (eastern side of the city) Sony center?

well, just repaired pro & broadcast, not charging prices

Small world!

bestravelvideo · « **Reply #15 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:07 »

Hi georgep7!
You mean these?
Let's see if younger ones know what a BETACAM SP is! This one is actually broken!

(Not going to be used for stock anyway!)

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #16 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:26 »

Quote from: trucic on May 09, 2019, 02:39

...and then went totally to subscription model.

How do you mean?

georgep7 · « **Reply #17 on:** May 09, 2019, 04:50 »

Quote from: bestravelvideo on May 09, 2019, 04:07

Hi georgep7!
You mean these?
Let's see if younger ones know what a BETACAM SP is! This one is actually broken!

(Not going to be used for stock anyway!)

From portable Umatic to those (PVW? Don't remember!) to UVW beta to medical SVHS white ones and NTSC printers since the glorious DVcam days. Electronics, "backs" combinations, mechanisms, lenses, high end (at the time) consoles and all this beauty of human engineering! Loved jog shuttles, loved video but took me years to learn to edit until premiere CS3 arrived.

Still look as beautiful equipment to my eyes, working or not. People see buttons and lights but you know well, better than me that those devices served well. But why not for stock? I regret that I didn't shoot more studio equipment related stock when I had the chance and clearance.

trucic · « **Reply #18 on:** May 09, 2019, 05:29 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 09, 2019, 04:26

Quote from: trucic on May 09, 2019, 02:39
...and then went totally to subscription model.

How do you mean?

... by sales... ups, NO Marketplace sales...

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #19 on:** May 09, 2019, 09:24 »

Yeah, I completely agree.... sales are now like the occasional tumbleweed rolling along a deserted town. Just that "went totally to subscription model" doesn't sound like you were commenting on the sales, like you were commenting on some change to the business that (for example) shutdown the marketplace. I mean they may have well as, as that's what it feels like from the amount of sales these days, but the marketplace still exists and sales can/do happen.

trucic · « **Reply #20 on:** May 09, 2019, 13:31 »

... yes, they do happen - occasionally...

thirdbornentertainment · « **Reply #21 on:** May 10, 2019, 01:16 »

Thanks to John at Crafted Stock for sounding that last alarm regarding the sub model. Who would have guessed that paying out 80 to 100% commissions wasn't a sustainable business model? LMFAO!

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #22 on:** May 10, 2019, 07:24 »

VUSschneider · « **Reply #23 on:** May 13, 2019, 09:38 »

Same here. Only 1-2 Sales / month left. I think there is no future after they changed.

everest · « **Reply #24 on:** May 14, 2019, 13:23 »

Unfortunately no sales there anymore. I wrote them a few weeks ago that I will no longer supply new files as it is a waste of time. They totally crumbled as a revenue option for stock footage.

Stephan · « **Reply #25 on:** May 16, 2019, 04:09 »

All the sales are gone to Member library, where clients can have unlimited downloads for 16.6$ per month...

Why pay 79$ for HD, where you can have unlimited 4K for 16$.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #26 on:** May 16, 2019, 06:02 »

It was less than $10 a month before the marketplace came along, but there were still plenty of people willing to pay $49 for a HD clip. Those days are gone unfortunately.

Visualab · « **Reply #27 on:** May 16, 2019, 18:11 »

Spacestockfooage...before the marketplace came along their library wasn't big like it's today..like i said in the other post they bought a ton of footage from you and other artist willing to sell their stuff for peanuts...so you got some money in the short time but you lost any chance to sell anything in the future..subscrption plans will have the same impact...

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #28 on:** May 17, 2019, 04:55 »

I 'did the math' and sold specific clips at a price that would have taken 10 years to recoup if they'd remained on the marketplace...based on the average annual revenue from those clips. Since the changes made in September, it would have been more like 40 years. So essentially, my decision resulted in more money than I ever would have got if I hadn't have sold them.

Julied83 · « **Reply #29 on:** May 17, 2019, 05:19 »

I had any sale with 3000 photos-vectors .. buyers are unexistant

Visualab · « **Reply #30 on:** May 17, 2019, 05:50 »

Spacestock...you forgot to mention that doing that you said goodbye to all your sales not only the clips you sold to them...so the math doesn't match...

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #31 on:** May 17, 2019, 06:32 »

Would have happened anyway with the price increase and the default sorting for marketplace items. If things had stayed the same then it's unlikely my poorest items being available for free, would make people use those rather than buying my best items. I mean, there was no impact to my sales for the year after I sold them... only when the changes came about in September.

trucic · « **Reply #32 on:** May 17, 2019, 09:55 »

... @SpaceStockFootage, so until September changes you were happy with a deal...?

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #33 on:** May 17, 2019, 10:38 »

Happy with getting 100% commission, average earnings of just under $300 a month from a pretty new agency that was easy enough to upload all my existing stuff to, and a $1000 payment for 50 of my clips that had average earnings of around $2.50 a year?* Yeah, I was pretty happy with that deal.

*The 50 clips I let them have were my 50 lowest sellers, and only had about six sales in the previous two years combined.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #34 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:03 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 17, 2019, 10:38

Happy with getting 100% commission, average earnings of just under $300 a month from a pretty new agency that was easy enough to upload all my existing stuff to, and a $1000 payment for 50 of my clips that had average earnings of around $2.50 a year?* Yeah, I was pretty happy with that deal.

*The 50 clips I let them have were my 50 lowest sellers, and only had about six sales in the previous two years combined.

...buuuuut if those clips would have been invited to the revenue sharing part of the membership library it is likely that they would have earned much more per year than that single payout. At least based on other sub libraries.

Anyway, we all do what we believe is the right thing at any given moment. If it's the right decision for that moment (we need money now, don't expect much for the future from that site, etc. etc., any other reason) it is the right decision, since we cannot predict the future.

I said no since some of the clips they wanted have earned $2,000 elsewhere, it didn't seem logical to give them full rights for $20...

trucic · « **Reply #35 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:32 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 17, 2019, 10:38

Happy with getting 100% commission, average earnings of just under $300 a month from a pretty new agency that was easy enough to upload all my existing stuff to, and a $1000 payment for 50 of my clips that had average earnings of around $2.50 a year?* Yeah, I was pretty happy with that deal.

*The 50 clips I let them have were my 50 lowest sellers, and only had about six sales in the previous two years combined.

$1000 or $10000...?

trucic · « **Reply #36 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:36 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on May 17, 2019, 11:03

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 17, 2019, 10:38
Happy with getting 100% commission, average earnings of just under $300 a month from a pretty new agency that was easy enough to upload all my existing stuff to, and a $1000 payment for 50 of my clips that had average earnings of around $2.50 a year?* Yeah, I was pretty happy with that deal.

*The 50 clips I let them have were my 50 lowest sellers, and only had about six sales in the previous two years combined.

...buuuuut if those clips would have been invited to the revenue sharing part of the membership library it is likely that they would have earned much more per year than that single payout. At least based on other sub libraries.

Anyway, we all do what we believe is the right thing at any given moment. If it's the right decision for that moment (we need money now, don't expect much for the future from that site, etc. etc., any other reason) it is the right decision, since we cannot predict the future.

I said no since some of the clips they wanted have earned $2,000 elsewhere, it didn't seem logical to give them full rights for $20...

... not at SB, for sure...

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #37 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:45 »

Quote from: trucic on May 17, 2019, 11:36

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on May 17, 2019, 11:03
Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 17, 2019, 10:38
Happy with getting 100% commission, average earnings of just under $300 a month from a pretty new agency that was easy enough to upload all my existing stuff to, and a $1000 payment for 50 of my clips that had average earnings of around $2.50 a year?* Yeah, I was pretty happy with that deal.

*The 50 clips I let them have were my 50 lowest sellers, and only had about six sales in the previous two years combined.

...buuuuut if those clips would have been invited to the revenue sharing part of the membership library it is likely that they would have earned much more per year than that single payout. At least based on other sub libraries.

Anyway, we all do what we believe is the right thing at any given moment. If it's the right decision for that moment (we need money now, don't expect much for the future from that site, etc. etc., any other reason) it is the right decision, since we cannot predict the future.

I said no since some of the clips they wanted have earned $2,000 elsewhere, it didn't seem logical to give them full rights for $20...

... not at SB, for sure...

Do you have data from that program?

trucic · « **Reply #38 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:51 »

... they invited as much participants as they could, expanded their membership lib. nicely... but pool was to tiny... great business...

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #39 on:** May 17, 2019, 11:57 »

Quote from: trucic on May 17, 2019, 11:51

... they invited as much participants as they could, expanded their membership lib. nicely... but pool was to tiny... great business...

Yes, but do you have any actual data? Average earnings per clip per month from a real portfolio? It would be really interesting to compare to some other sites. You can PM if you want.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #40 on:** May 17, 2019, 13:35 »

All my other clips were invited to the new revenue sharing part of the library!

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #41 on:** May 17, 2019, 13:55 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 17, 2019, 13:35

All my other clips were invited to the new revenue sharing part of the library!

I see, and you can confirm earnings are a fraction of the sub competition?

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #42 on:** May 17, 2019, 15:08 »

It's not started yet. Well unless you were in the trail which I wasn't.

Open_ · « **Reply #43 on:** May 17, 2019, 18:03 »

Remember in the early time Videoblock with 100% commission the return is high and then by time more and more contributors joining in, $ return starting to decline.

I think same thing will happen with Member Library (revenue pool system). Last year around October they invited the first batch of contributor in the program and these 1st batch enjoying decent return, last month Storyblock started the second batch of inviting more contributor into the program.

Guess what... one of the contributor in the Member Library told me the $ return now goes down by half of what it used to be.

I'm certain people will pull out their port eventually, the concept are not sustainable.

trucic · « **Reply #44 on:** May 18, 2019, 01:00 »

... with those returns, I don`t know who will stay longer then they must... simply, revenue pool is extremely low and with included number of clips, they are making joke of whole program... they are counting on replacements, after someone leaves MS program... by luring others to participate... but it`s not endless game... for those who thinking to participate... don`t bother...

Stephan · « **Reply #45 on:** May 18, 2019, 04:57 »

Open_, you are right with.

It is about 60% of the first two months and going down fast. In 2-3 months $ return from Memeber library will be about the same as in Marketplace before.

Not worth offering unlimited downloads for that price:

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #46 on:** May 18, 2019, 05:03 »

Quote from: Stephan on May 18, 2019, 04:57

Open_, you are right with.

It is about 60% of the first two months and going down fast. In 2-3 months $ return from Memeber library will be about the same as in Marketplace before.

What are we talking about here, $1/clip/month? $0.1/clip/month? $0.01/clip/month?

No one else seems to have actual numbers, just "bad", which is quite subjective.

$1,000 for 1,000 clips per month would be quite good, even if it was $2,000 before, and $20 for 1,000 clips would be quite bad, even if it was $10 before...

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #47 on:** May 18, 2019, 05:44 »

Quote from: trucic on May 18, 2019, 01:00

...simply, revenue pool is extremely low

How much is in the revenue pool?

Stephan · « **Reply #48 on:** May 18, 2019, 05:45 »

You can't see number of DLs in Member library to calculate your earning for $/clip

With the new Dashboard revenue pool is not visible.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #49 on:** May 18, 2019, 05:56 »

Quote from: Stephan on May 18, 2019, 05:45

You can't see number of DLs in Member library to calculate your earning for $/clip

With the new Dashboard revenue pool is not visible.

You know how much you get paid each month, right?

You know how many clips you have in total?

What you get paid / how many clips you have = earnings per clip. The average for ALL clips is what is interesting. This number is available to everyone. You don't need to see number of DLs.

If you have 1,000 clips in the collection, and you get $500, your earnings per clip/month is $0.50. That's it. It doesn't matter if some clips didn't sell at all.

Stephan · « **Reply #50 on:** May 18, 2019, 06:11 »

More relevant number would be downloads per month / $ .
For example, iStock went bellow $5/clip and I stopped uploading...

In Membership now: $0,11 was $0,18.

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #51 on:** May 18, 2019, 06:20 »

Quote from: Stephan on May 18, 2019, 06:11

More relevant number would be downloads per month / $ .

I strongly disagree. But if it's important to you, then it is.

Quote from: Stephan on May 18, 2019, 06:11

In Membership now: $0,11 was $0,18.

Thanks!

That's all I wanted to see. Based on this small sample of 1 that is indeed very low compared to the competition. If that's a typical average that is. Surely the portfolio will have some impact,

, although I believe the difference is much smaller than in a traditional marketplace.

Stephan · « **Reply #52 on:** May 18, 2019, 06:35 »

Yep, Storyblocks sits at 5th place from 6 agencies where we contribute.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #53 on:** May 18, 2019, 07:36 »

Quote from: Stephan on May 18, 2019, 05:45

You can't see number of DLs in Member library to calculate your earning for $/clip

With the new Dashboard revenue pool is not visible.

That's kind of what I was getting at. Trucic said the revenue pool was extremely low, but unless I'm missing something... nobody knows how much the revenue pool is?

Visualab · « **Reply #54 on:** May 18, 2019, 08:24 »

0,11$ per clip....must be a joke!!

trucic · « **Reply #55 on:** May 18, 2019, 09:12 »

... I`m not participant anymore, but imagine that you can`t buy average Tesla S model with that sum(pool)...

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #56 on:** May 18, 2019, 09:52 »

You're probably right. But if you could list which agencies will generate me enough money to buy the average Tesla S model then that would be much appreciated. Just one would be fine. Or better still, if you could let me know exactly what i will be able to buy from my StoryBlocks earnings that would be just as useful. I mean based on your posts, I'm assuming you have these numbers?

trucic · « **Reply #57 on:** May 18, 2019, 10:14 »

... I was talking about revenue pool, not my % or total income... SB can`t buy Tesla S with dollars invested in monthly revenue pool... OK?

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #58 on:** May 18, 2019, 10:17 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on May 18, 2019, 05:03

Quote from: Stephan on May 18, 2019, 04:57
Open_, you are right with.

It is about 60% of the first two months and going down fast. In 2-3 months $ return from Memeber library will be about the same as in Marketplace before.

What are we talking about here, $1/clip/month? $0.1/clip/month? $0.01/clip/month?

No one else seems to have actual numbers, just "bad", which is quite subjective.

$1,000 for 1,000 clips per month would be quite good, even if it was $2,000 before, and $20 for 1,000 clips would be quite bad, even if it was $10 before...

On Envato Elements I make $2.80 per clip, per month. I know it's a different site with different customers and content etc, but they're also $16.50 a month for unlimited downloads, with a revenue share setup. If Storyblocks turns out to be about the same, then that'll do me.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #59 on:** May 18, 2019, 10:20 »

Quote from: trucic on May 18, 2019, 10:14

... I was talking about revenue pool, not my % or total income... SB can`t buy Tesla S with dollars invested in monthly revenue pool... OK?

So Storyblocks can't buy one Tesla S with the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of customers who are paying them $16 a month? Are you sure you're basing your opinions regarding Storyblocks on actual data... or just random feelings and assumptions?

trucic · « **Reply #60 on:** May 18, 2019, 10:23 »

...oh, my... revenue pool shared by participants in MS...

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #61 on:** May 18, 2019, 10:28 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 18, 2019, 10:20

Quote from: trucic on May 18, 2019, 10:14
... I was talking about revenue pool, not my % or total income... SB can`t buy Tesla S with dollars invested in monthly revenue pool... OK?

So Storyblocks can't buy one Tesla S with the tens (if not hundreds) of thousands of customers who are paying them $16 a month? Are you sure you're basing your opinions regarding Storyblocks on actual data... or just random feelings and assumptions?

What he's trying to say is that on Storyblocks only a small part of the subscriber revenue (just arbitrarily chosen???) goes to contributors since they have a large library where they want to get 100% of the subscriber fees. Very different from Envato where all subscriber fees are shared (50/50) with the contributors, including unused.

I interpret that number as being less than $70,000 where it must be in the millions at Envato.

SpaceStockFootage · « **Reply #62 on:** May 18, 2019, 11:02 »

But they're not split though are they? The subscription content that is owned or 'licensed' by Storyblocks, and the subscription content that is submitted by contributors/authors? Or are they? It's my understanding that if somebody subscribes, then they can download either, as there's not multiple subscription offerings... as far as I know. As such, the contributor provided content may be a small portion of the whole currently (which may result in a small portion of the revenue), but there are a load of subscribers, probably a lot more than Envato as Storyblocks/VideoBlocks have been going for several years.

I just think the Tesla example is a bit pointless. If you submit to Pond5 or Shutterstock does that mean you can automatically buy a Tesla? How long will this take? Does it matter if someone has 500 files and somebody has 50,000. Do the earnings scores in the Microstock Poll Results equate to % of a Tesla? Are subscription sites automatically bad, and normal sites automatically good... even if I earn more through subscription sites than I do through 123RF, Dreamstime, DepositPhotos, ClipDealer, Canstockphoto, MotionElements, Clipcanvas, and Clipdealer combined?

increasingdifficulty · « **Reply #63 on:** May 18, 2019, 11:09 »

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 18, 2019, 11:02

But they're not split though are they? The subscription content that is owned or 'licensed' by Storyblocks, and the subscription content that is submitted by contributors/authors? Or are they? It's my understanding that if somebody subscribes, then they can download either, as there's not multiple subscription offerings... as far as I know. As such, the contributor provided content may be a small portion of the whole currently (which may result in a small portion of the revenue), but there are a load of subscribers, probably a lot more than Envato as Storyblocks/VideoBlocks have been going for several years.

This is the part that is not 100% clear. I've heard that it's a fixed pool going to this smaller part of the membership library contributors. So that number could be anything they choose... Doesn't matter if they earn millions from subscriptions, those millions aren't paid out. Only a fixed pool that they probably calculated along the same lines as what they would offer for buyouts ($20 per clip in your case).

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 18, 2019, 11:02

I just think the Tesla example is a bit pointless. If you submit to Pond5 or Shutterstock does that mean you can automatically buy a Tesla? How long will this take? Does it matter if someone has 500 files and somebody has 50,000. Do the earnings scores in the Microstock Poll Results equate to % of a Tesla? Are subscription sites automatically bad, and normal sites automatically good... even if I earn more through subscription sites than I do through 123RF, Dreamstime, DepositPhotos, ClipDealer, Canstockphoto, MotionElements, Clipcanvas, and Clipdealer combined?

You seem to be skipping over a few sentences, or not reading carefully. He's simply saying that the pool of money paid out to membership contributors (the revenue sharing part) was less than the price of a Tesla Model S, which would be less than $70-75,000 or so. Nowhere did he mention individual earnings...

trucic · « **Reply #64 on:** May 18, 2019, 12:34 »

Quote from: increasingdifficulty on May 18, 2019, 11:09

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 18, 2019, 11:02
But they're not split though are they? The subscription content that is owned or 'licensed' by Storyblocks, and the subscription content that is submitted by contributors/authors? Or are they? It's my understanding that if somebody subscribes, then they can download either, as there's not multiple subscription offerings... as far as I know. As such, the contributor provided content may be a small portion of the whole currently (which may result in a small portion of the revenue), but there are a load of subscribers, probably a lot more than Envato as Storyblocks/VideoBlocks have been going for several years.

This is the part that is not 100% clear. I've heard that it's a fixed pool going to this smaller part of the membership library contributors. So that number could be anything they choose... Doesn't matter if they earn millions from subscriptions, those millions aren't paid out. Only a fixed pool that they probably calculated along the same lines as what they would offer for buyouts ($20 per clip in your case).

Quote from: SpaceStockFootage on May 18, 2019, 11:02
I just think the Tesla example is a bit pointless. If you submit to Pond5 or Shutterstock does that mean you can automatically buy a Tesla? How long will this take? Does it matter if someone has 500 files and somebody has 50,000. Do the earnings scores in the Microstock Poll Results equate to % of a Tesla? Are subscription sites automatically bad, and normal sites automatically good... even if I earn more through subscription sites than I do through 123RF, Dreamstime, DepositPhotos, ClipDealer, Canstockphoto, MotionElements, Clipcanvas, and Clipdealer combined?

You seem to be skipping over a few sentences, or not reading carefully. He's simply saying that the pool of money paid out to membership contributors (the revenue sharing part) was less than the price of a Tesla Model S, which would be less than $70-75,000 or so. Nowhere did he mention individual earnings...

eyeingasia · « **Reply #65 on:** May 21, 2019, 02:21 »

People seem to forget that by selling material to the SB subscription model they don't only compete with specific clips of themselves. They also do this for every other contributor that has similar clips in this category.

I'm sure SB are not randomly buying footage, they try to offer a membership pool that is as diverse as possible.

So maybe selling a small amount of clips for a one time fee doesn't seem threatening to you, but imagine if everyone is doing the same thing. It means they can soon offer usable clips in almost all categories, making all of your portfolios much less valuable on other stock sites.

digitalfarmer · « **Reply #66 on:** July 08, 2019, 09:23 »

I log into my Storyblocks account about once a month to see if I have any sales. After three months without any sales I had one image sale at the end of June. A few days later I received an email about updating my payout information.

After updating my information I went to login to my account again. For some reason my account was deleted, all of my images and videos have been removed. No notification whatsoever, no mention of the $16 balance in my account.

I don't have a large portfolio, but I do make regular daily sales on the Top Tier sites. I am surprised that Storyblocks closed my account without any notice.

wollwerth · « **Reply #67 on:** July 09, 2019, 08:40 »

Quote from: digitalfarmer on July 08, 2019, 09:23

I log into my Storyblocks account about once a month to see if I have any sales. After three months without any sales I had one image sale at the end of June. A few days later I received an email about updating my payout information.

After updating my information I went to login to my account again. For some reason my account was deleted, all of my images and videos have been removed. No notification whatsoever, no mention of the $16 balance in my account.

I don't have a large portfolio, but I do make regular daily sales on the Top Tier sites. I am surprised that Storyblocks closed my account without any notice.

Consider yourself lucky. It saves you the trouble of having to delete your own portfolio like the rest of us.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #68 on:** August 16, 2019, 09:23 »

I got a payout! Lol...

Sales: $7.99
Contract Withholdings: -$2.00
CC Fees: -$.15
Paypal Fee: $1.00

Total: $4.84 ! Woo hoo!

georgep7 · « **Reply #69 on:** August 16, 2019, 09:59 »

Quote from: Sean Locke Photography on August 16, 2019, 09:23

I got a payout! Lol...

Sales: $7.99
Contract Withholdings: -$2.00
CC Fees: -$.15
Paypal Fee: $1.00

Total: $4.84 ! Woo hoo!

just curious, I don't know what Contract Withholdings and CC Fee is @Sean, can you explain please?

Thomas from France · « **Reply #70 on:** August 16, 2019, 10:14 »

I’ve got a (Small) payout too.
Seems like they are cleaning before leaving.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #71 on:** August 16, 2019, 10:21 »

Quote from: georgep7 on August 16, 2019, 09:59

just curious, I don't know what Contract Withholdings and CC Fee is @Sean, can you explain please?

I assumed contract withholdings is their way of taking their cut. The fees is probably a portion of a buyer using a CC? Who knows.

Fairplay · « **Reply #72 on:** August 16, 2019, 11:35 »

I received a payout for my all time 9 image sales.
The problem is they withheld 30% instead of 5% despite they have my two tax forms one from 2017 and one from few months ago!
Schmucks

BTW CC Trans. Fees are from the time they were paying 100% royalties.

Orchidpoet · « **Reply #73 on:** August 19, 2019, 20:42 »

I asked StoryBlocks to cancel my membership yesterday. They informed me that it has been done today.

aetb · « **Reply #74 on:** August 19, 2019, 21:14 »

If you were the company and want people to migrate to the market place - would you not reduce the commission to motivate contributors to make the switch ?
I would.
That piss me off however !

PeterChigmaroff · « **Reply #75 on:** August 20, 2019, 00:38 »

I read on Jim's news letter they will be closing the Marketplace on September 10th

PZF · « **Reply #76 on:** August 25, 2019, 04:27 »

I have seen nothing. Any chance of a link or copy please?

OK - found on other thread.

trucic · « **Reply #77 on:** August 25, 2019, 04:41 »

Best agency in the world...

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