The “evolution” of sales at Alamy

[Rubens Alarcon]

I’ve been keeping Alamy sales stats since 2018 based on the monthly sales reported by users of this forum so I can gauge my own results. Here are some numbers I thought may be useful to the whole group.

The sample is very small when we consider the total number of Alamy contributors, but the results can give us a sense of where we are coming from and to where we are headed.

- All numbers are based on GROSS sales and averages for the whole group.

- An average of 48 contributors reported monthly sales from 2018-2022. The highest was in 2019, with 51 contributors.

 

Average price per image:

2018 = $34.02

2019 = $29.57

2020 = $29.98

2021 = $25.87

2022 = $20.82

 

Alamy’s $30 average price mentioned frequently in the forum was true until 2020, but it looks like it is now hovering around $21.

 

Average number of images needed to generate 1 sale (avg images in the portfolio divided by avg # of sales) – all reporting contributors:

2018 = 646

2019 = 656

2020 = 800

2021 = 738

2022 = 705

 

So, it appears that after a drop from 2018 to 2020, the number of sales increased in the following two years, but this was offset by the lower average price per image.

 

Of course, our “income” is based on how many images we have in our portfolios, how many sales we can generate from those and the price we can get for each image.

 

If your current sales average price is lower than $20.82, you might have images that are widely available in the market, are not in demand or are also being offered in MS sites for lower prices.

If you need more than 705 images per sale, one of the reasons may be that your images are not being found by the buyers due to less relevant keywords.

 

When you combine both factors - “average price” and “images needed per sale” – the resulting numbers below show the “evolution” (if you can call it that) of how much effort is needed to generate a given $ of GROSS sales per year.

Let’s assume 2018 is the ground zero and we, as a group, had 100 images for sale that generated an $X amount of GROSS sales that year. To generate the same amount of money in the following years, we needed:

2018 = 100

2019 = 117

2020 = 141

2021 = 150

2022 = 178

 

So we, as a group, need now almost twice as many images to generate the same gross revenue generated in 2018. A few contributors are exceptions to this trend and do very well, others are on the opposite side of the scale and might benefit by reviewing their portfolio/keywords.

 

I hope you find this information useful.

 

Rubens

[Betty LaRue]

Thank you for your trouble, which I imagine took a good bit of time. That explains a lot.

[Rubens Alarcon]

15 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

Thank you for your trouble, which I imagine took a good bit of time. That explains a lot.

You are welcome, Betty.