Microstock results for April
Well, to be honest, this month sucked! My sales fell considerably with approximately a 24% decrease. Right now, I’m not currently sure what the reason for the falloff is, but I suspect that it is seasonal. Last year between March and April at Shutterstock I had a 24% drop in sales. I noticed that the sales drop seems to affect all sites - not just a single one. If the pattern from last year holds, then I should see improved sales in May as last May was a very good month for me. The good news, though, is my real estate jobs have been picking up, more than making up for the slack in stock sales.
The following are breakdowns of how each site did.
StockXPert (5.76%) - Overall it seems like it was a wise idea to join this site. Sales are still the lowest of all the sites where I submit, but the percentage has grown from 1-2% of total to something a bit more meaningful. This is also the easiest site to submit to, as I do not need to categorize my pictures.
Fotolia (7.52%) - I have noticed Fotolia becoming more erratic with their reviews. Pictures that are rejected at both Shutterstock and IStockPhoto - whose rejections once I look at the shot I agree with - were accepted by Fotolia. On the other hand, a good number of shots that are accepted by both are rejected for reasons I do not agree with - though it’s not worth the bother to resubmit. Only a few sales late in the month prevented Fotolia from moving to last place, though their days solidly in third place appear to be over.
Dreamstime (10.34%) - It is not overly difficult to submit here - though a bit more difficult than Shutterstock - but I am pleased with the numbers. I suspect that Dreamstime will solidly occupy the #3 slot for some time. Their review system is a bit weird - and I’m not talking about the actual reviews. Currently I just submit my shots there and look at the sales - I don’t really have an idea how many shots they accept/reject.
Shutterstock (37.85%) - For just the second time Shutterstock comes in second to IStockPhoto, though the race was very close. Perhaps IStockPhoto’s new subscription element is hurting them, as I have noticed a dropoff in sales. Still, as I mentioned above I saw the same results this year as I did next year, so I won’t really know if anything is up until next month. Supposedly this month there will be a raise, so I expect May’s results to be higher.
IStockPhoto (38.53%) - In a narrow race IStockPhoto edges out Shutterstock. This month they began a subscription plan, but I have yet to really see a difference in the pattern of sales. Perhaps next month I will start to see more subscription downloads. It does seem that IStockPhoto was less affected by the slowdown than Shutterstock, reflected in IStockPhoto being tops in sales for the month.
Related posts:
- Microstock results for March This month was quiet on the submissions side - most of the month was spent with either myself or one of my kids sick. Also the weather at the end of the month reduced the amount of time I was able to shoot. Nevertheless, I still had a record month...
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- Microstock report for January Last year I started selling pictures on different microstock agencies. When I started, I didn’t really figure that the money would amount to much, but over time it has grown rather significant and now is the primary source of funds for new lenses. For those interested in also selling pictures...
- Slowing down with IStockPhoto As many of you know, I spend some time submitting my pictures to various microstock sites. I currently submit to five agencies - Shutterstock, IStockPhoto, Dreamstime, Fotolia, and StockXPert. Lately I have been extremely busy and have little time to submit pictures. As I slowly started submitting a few, I...
- Introduction to Microstock Photography - Other Sites In this post we will discuss the other microstock sites that are available. The two primary sites we will focus on are Fotolia and Dreamstime. However, there are also other sites. Fotolia and Dreamstime are the third and fourth largest microstock sites available today - though not necessarily in that...
Tags: dreamstime, fotolia, IStockphoto, microstock, photography, shutterstock, stock, StockXPert
My guess is that your numbers are low since many more are spending time outside or doing spring/summer things! Looks like you did good considering!