Do pictures sell better when uploaded exclusive?

[sarosa 1]

I want to increase my sales. Would you please let me know your experience about uploading pictures exclusive to Alamy? Do they sell better? Are they higher in the search engine results? What's the difference in payout? Generally do pictures sell better when uploaded exclusive? 

I am happy to receive any advice. Thank you very much. 

[Cryptoprocta 784]

3 hours ago, sarosa said:

I want to increase my sales. Would you please let me know your experience about uploading pictures exclusive to Alamy? Do they sell better? Are they higher in the search engine results? What's the difference in payout? Generally do pictures sell better when uploaded exclusive? 

I am happy to receive any advice. Thank you very much. 

1. Yes, but it probably won't be very helpful

2. Not in my experience. But we have no way of knowing what the overall picture is.

3. We have no way of knowing this either, as we can't see by clicking on images whether or not they're exclusive.

4. You get 50% of direct sales if the files are exclusive, 40% if not exclusive, so 20% less, which could be a few cents or many dollars depending on sale price.

5. See 2 - we (the suppliers) have no way of knowing. Also remember only a very tiny proportion of suppliers are active on the forums.

 

Bottom line is if you sellelsewhere, you're probably better keeping your files non-exclusive.

If you're wondering whether to spread your wings to other agencies, it can't hurt to try.

Remember, with 489 images, you're a very tiny fish here.

[geogphotos 3,120]

It may depend on where else they are on sale and at what prices.

 

If the same image appears on Google in two stock sites at very different prices you would expect the potential client to act accordingly. 

[Andy G 10]

From my experience talking to graphic designers for instance they go to thier usual stock library supplier and don't spend time looking around for cheaper alternatives for the same image.

They seem to stay with one prefered library due to them having no knoledge of the existence of competing stock agencies therfore would not stumble upon images that are exclusive to one site.

That said there are a lot of varibles and one size does not fit all.

Andy

[Reimar 444]

One option I haven't tried (because all my images are non-exlusive) is to set two similar images with either tag (one exclusive the other non-exclusive) and see where they land in a search result. 

[John Mitchell 4,941]

Tough question to answer. My sales numbers have increased this year, and I can't help thinking that having most of my images exclusive to Alamy has had something to do with the upswing . I have no proof of course.

[Ed Rooney 4,033]

All my images are exclusive with Alamy. My sales are strong but the prices paid now days are not. We get 50% of most sales instead of 40% being exclusive. Better placement and more sales? That's hard to know. ???

 

You have some terrific images, Rosa. 

 

PS: If you want to increase your sales, you'll have to have more than 489 images. You've been with Alamy 10 years. Get to work. 

Edited October 10, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[M.Chapman 1,542]

5 hours ago, Andy G said:

From my experience talking to graphic designers for instance they go to thier usual stock library supplier and don't spend time looking around for cheaper alternatives for the same image.

 

It's useful that reverse image search from Alamy result pages no longer seems to work.

 

Mark

[John Mitchell 4,941]

As Edo noted, the 50% commission for exclusive images can make a significant difference. I still have several hundred images available at a non-performing agency, and I've lost a fair amount of revenue because of this. I've started deleting them, but it's going to take at least six months, which is something to keep in mind -- i.e. once you have images with other agencies, it can take a long time to have them removed.

[jodyko 87]

51 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

You have some terrific images, Rosa. 

I'll second that. Really nice!

[Sharon 67]

3 hours ago, jodyko said:

I'll second that. Really nice!

I`ll third that!!.  just checked your portfolio and I was very impressed.  Wonderful eye and perspective.

[sarosa 1]

Thank you so much for all your comments and advice! Appreciate it. I will upload some images exclusive and see whether I see a difference in those, whether they are more successful then the others. 

 

Have a nice day. 

 

Sarosa

[sb photos 365]

A little late, but my take on exclusivity. 

 

The benefit for the Alamy contributor is 50% of the gross sale price instead of 40% in exchange for exclusivity. The benefit for Alamy is more images not available elsewhere that could increase sales. Increased Alamy sales equates to increased Contributor sales. What isn't known is the percentage of exclusive to non exclusive sales made by Alamy, and if this has changed significantly since the exclusivity 40/50% option was introduced.  Also if customers simply bought an image that suited their purpose or bought as they could only find it at Alamy. If ever the 50% option was removed, it would increase the likelihood of images also being placed elsewhere.

 

Exclusivity currently suits me, likely 99.99% of my port is exclusive.

[sarosa 1]

22 hours ago, Ed Rooney said:

All my images are exclusive with Alamy. My sales are strong but the prices paid now days are not. We get 50% of most sales instead of 40% being exclusive. Better placement and more sales? That's hard to know. ???

 

You have some terrific images, Rosa. 

 

PS: If you want to increase your sales, you'll have to have more than 489 images. You've been with Alamy 10 years. Get to work. 

Thank you Ed. I like your "Get to work". Because the sales never really inspired be, it was just a little bit something I did. But I really would love to put more energy and time into it. YES, I WILL GET TO WORK!

[Ed Rooney 4,033]

Good! I love your pictures . . . and I love your dogs.  😃

Edited October 11, 2019 by Ed Rooney

[sarosa 1]

4 minutes ago, Ed Rooney said:

Good! I love your pictures . . . and I love your dogs.  😃

Thanks Ed!

[Cryptoprocta 784]

@OP, after seeing what the others wrote, I looked at your pics, and they are indeed lovely. Have you considered putting them on sale as prints, somewhere like FAA. So long as you don't tick to sell your images as stock here, they are still considered exclusive on Alamy.

[John Mitchell 4,941]

It would be helpful if Alamy could give us feedback about how the move to increased exclusivity is working out. Do customers like the idea?  How is it affecting sales, etc.? Hopefully we'll hear some news at some point.

[Marb 144]

No. I have exclusive shots of behind the scenes of the upcoming bbc War Of The Worlds tv series due to be aired very soon worldwide, some good ones nobody else has and yet non have sold here except 1 small personal sale  (which I have since stopped and made all editorial) So considering its a major story, first time ever on tv being aired worldwide, its a very very poor return here. 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Marb

[Sally 1,725]

1 hour ago, Marb said:

No. I have exclusive shots of behind the scenes of the upcoming bbc War Of The Worlds tv series due to be aired very soon worldwide, some good ones nobody else has and yet non have sold here except 1 small personal sale  (which I have since stopped and made all editorial) So considering its a major story, first time ever on tv being aired worldwide, its a very very poor return here. 

Doesn’t matter really if they are photos that no one else has. For something like this, what matters is whether the producers make photos available freely to editorial outlets, which is highly likely since they want to promote the programme. The papers are unlikely to pay for something that they can get free.

Edited October 13, 2019 by Sally

[sarosa 1]

Wasn't very successful with FAA, had an account many years ago, and closed it after 3 years of not selling. @Cryptoprocta

Edited October 25, 2019 by sarosa

[BobPhoto 5]

Alamy never wanted exclusivity, they added this dual commission structure as a way to get out of the outrage when they reduce commission to 40% for all...

 

All my high value sales on Alamy are from images that are available elsewhere, but license might be different and justify the price difference.

 

 

[Marvin McAbee 56]

Since I only sell on Alamy I have been changing all to exclusive.  Still not sure about RF vs RM.

[The Blinking Eye 367]

On 11/10/2019 at 08:01, sarosa said:

Thank you Ed. I like your "Get to work". Because the sales never really inspired be, it was just a little bit something I did. But I really would love to put more energy and time into it. YES, I WILL GET TO WORK!

 

Your pictures are so good, I'm wondering if you could sell them other places as well. Just a thought. (as others have suggested)

Edited October 28, 2019 by The Blinking Eye

[Betty LaRue 3,266]

On 13/10/2019 at 03:05, Marb said:

No. I have exclusive shots of behind the scenes of the upcoming bbc War Of The Worlds tv series due to be aired very soon worldwide, some good ones nobody else has and yet non have sold here except 1 small personal sale  (which I have since stopped and made all editorial) So considering its a major story, first time ever on tv being aired worldwide, its a very very poor return here. 

Marb, you are a good photographer. I’ll offer this, and hope I’m not stepping on your toes. If so, I apologize. You are so close on some of your images, but not quite there. It’s not your photography, but your imagination.
For instance, image RDT41A.  Technically very good. But this image would better serve you if you had backed off a bit, and had the employee with more of a side view adjusting the jacket perfectly for display.  Absolutely not looking at the camera. It would illustrate him doing his job, with maybe a bit of the shop in the background for context. Tags would be important so that someone wanting to use the image for the concept of shops failing because of online shopping which is happening big time in the US, I would assume everywhere.

 

Image RDT3YW of the farmer with milking machine is so static. It immediately caught my eye because the subject is not only good, but wonderful. If only you had taken it as the farmer was fitting the milking machine onto the cow. Closeup, then backed off showing at least most of the cow with again, some of the barn for context. Tags dairy farmer, dairy farmer working, dairy farmer milking, dairy farm, milking, milking machine, dairy cow, (“breed”) etc. The image could be used over and over...price of milk, dairies failing, etc. The milking machine part is the least important part compared to the occupation. I can remember a time when dairy farmers poured the milk on the ground rather than accept low prices. The thing is the images may sit in your collection for awhile, but when something hits the news, you’re set with the perfect images that will compete.
It’s best showing people actually performing their jobs rather than posing, especially looking at the camera.

I would have loved having your access and working those scenes. You need to engage your imagination and think, “what is involved with this person’s work?” Then set out to capture those things as the work was being performed from start to finish, if possible.

Betty