MircoV Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Any comment from Alamy perhaps to justify such a low figure.I am just starting out but this is just discouraging. Sorry to say, but you missed the boat (Titanic) 7-8 years ago. 2015 is the first year where I have to add thousands of images just to keep the same income as the year before. Says a lot about the health of the stock business. Cheers, Philippe Just to add a comment. The stock business is not dying in the perspective of the agencies. The revenues are growing every year for them. I look at the american ones that are publishing the results. Many of them are opening new offices every year to keep track of the demand. There is more and more images needed. The dark side of this is that many of the contributors will not feel it since the competition is growing. Mirco I'm not exactly sitting still myself. This year I added 5500 images. Fact is prices are going downhill. Every year my sales number is growing, 2015 is no exception. BUT, for the first time, my revenue isn't growing accordingly. With one more day to go, I'll probably be just a few dollars short to match last year's revenue. I'll show my sales & revenue diagrams in the "How was 2015" thread. Proof to my saying "you have to continually feed the beast to gain the same income!" Cheers, Philippe Philippe, I think you will be one of the last i would think is sitting. When i look at your port and growth your are like a creative machine to me. I mean given away the name SS of micros that publish they numbers every year. They have a tremendous growth of revenue. The following amounts are not cumulative but totals per year. 2012: 39 million paid to contributors. 2013: 65 million paid to contributors. 2014: 84 million paid to contributors. 2015: expected over 100 million payout to contributors. The total paid to contributors will exceed 450 million. Company started in 2004. What i want to say is even after this factual growth and numbers many SS contributors are mentioning declining sales in the forum. What could be the reason? Mirco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 What i want to say is even after this factual growth and numbers many SS contributors are mentioning declining sales in the forum. What could be the reason? Mirco The growing pot is being split between an ever increasing number of contributors. The whole stock business is not seeing growth, Jim Pickerell has the best estimates and the total revenue is not growing, just being re-distributed between agencies. As for what people say on forums, well they are only a small section of contributors and, like this forum, are probably not a true reflection of the contrib base. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MircoV Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Hmmmm.... So if the stock business is sinking and SS growing so fast i can only conclude that buyers are jumping over to SS like crazy. They dont distribute and are like a stand alone company. Mirco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Just as an aside a couple of mine have just reported from the Guardian and the price has dropped from $16.50 in January to $9.91. It's an ill wind though- there are about half a dozen UK infringements to pursue and a bunch of retweets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearl Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 B.t.w. what happened to the $ 180 textbook sales? This month: 0 (zero). Never happened before! Cheers, Philippe I had one this month but it was refunded 4 days later and sold again for $124.47 - not happy about that. If the buyer was prepared to accept $180 why was it then reduced? Pearl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Hmmmm.... So if the stock business is sinking and SS growing so fast i can only conclude that buyers are jumping over to SS like crazy. They dont distribute and are like a stand alone company. Mirco Clients have been migrating to micro for many years, the credit crunch was a big push and most won't come back. The major problem is advertising, there used to be a fraction of the places for advertisers to place their adverts...now with the internet there's a massive increase in potential slots but advertising budgets have not kept pace. End result is lower rates for slot owners and they have seen the need to cut the money they spend on pictures/articles/assigned jobs. The number of images used is increasing but many are used in short duration slots (slide shows etc) that are paid at very low rates. It's not going to change. Only way to get better prices is to shoot work that is used in higher paid slots, i.e. above the line adverts etc. Even textbooks are now showing signs of price weakness. Add in more and more contribs and you get the perfect storm for revenues for individual contribs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 B.t.w. what happened to the $ 180 textbook sales? This month: 0 (zero). Never happened before! Cheers, Philippe I had one this month but it was refunded 4 days later and sold again for $124.47 - not happy about that. If the buyer was prepared to accept $180 why was it then reduced? Pearl There's a 30-day refund term in the buyer contract. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arletta Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Perhaps contributors should have the option of selecting a "thanks anyway" minimum price point. I think some other stock agencies offer something in that vein. This is the idea that I really ike! There is a reason why we don't submit to micros, right? To Mirco, even on micros you can sell the large size for more than the puny $8... To the OP, I wish you a refund and then fixed sale price for a normal amount. I mean 8$ for: Educational book, editorial print + digital use, front cover, one time use only? Geez........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I had the iQ front cover use (my second lowest ever sale price from Alamy) for $7.32. I thought it may be a reuse as I had a similar sale of the same image a year ago for just over $32. I suspect with the number of such sales being reported it must be a multi-image cover. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 and one here too - came in yesterday. Also an image that was used inside a book a month ago. This was news-related/politics. What subject matter are the others? Maybe its a review of the year or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 MIne was green shutters/ balconies against a plastered wall - one set of shutters open. Not exactly topical as it was taken in 2006 and is very generic, just a slightly interesting composition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Mine was Nigel Farage taking a selfie with some kids. Big prize to anyone who can spot the connection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NYCat Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I am hoping my $8 is a supplement to the $40 sale I had in July. They look like identical sales. Paulette Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sultanpepa Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 My lowest ever sale popped in this morning for $5.86 gross. £5 should be the lowest fee IMHO otherwise there is no point for Alamy or us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Yesterday I had $3.13 - 2.19 = $0.93. I don't know why they bother - it must cost more in admin that it earns. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pearl Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 My lowest ever sale popped in this morning for $5.86 gross. £5 should be the lowest fee IMHO otherwise there is no point for Alamy or us. Just had 11 of those. Probably DM. Pearl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal Knight Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 My lowest ever sale popped in this morning for $5.86 gross. £5 should be the lowest fee IMHO otherwise there is no point for Alamy or us. Yesterday I had $3.13 - 2.19 = $0.93. I don't know why they bother - it must cost more in admin that it earns. I just had a sale pop in for $5.86 same as for Dougie, Phil gets a sale for $3.13 but yet on the intro page it states 'Pricing from £15' ($22) ... wouldn't certain groups of people find this rather mis-leading after all $5.86 and $3.13 is quite a way from £15 or $22 dollars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Mayall Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Low prices due to bulk sales. ONLY Alamy profits from those sales, NOT the individual contributors. All we get from those is frustration and high blood pressure Cheers, Philippe We better get used to this, it has been the trend for some years now and getting more popular with buyers and sellers alike! As a friend of mine with 40 years experience in commercial photography told me many years ago that i am putting a rope around my neck and it will get tighter as the stock industry grows, Now he tells me i told you so . The worst sale in the hand profit was 02 cents non micro from another distributor, just how much tighter can the rope get? Have a great new 2016 with a few thousand $8 sales. Paul. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelshots Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 I would be very much in favour of setting a minmum price for my images. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy deWitt Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 My lowest ever sale popped in this morning for $5.86 gross. £5 should be the lowest fee IMHO otherwise there is no point for Alamy or us. Today's $5.86 reported today is the image used here: http://www.classfmonline.com/1.8479931 So maybe it was a bulk buy from this Ghanaian website. It's been borrowed by lots of blogs now. Not the lowest though Kathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Robinson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 My lowest ever sale popped in this morning for $5.86 gross. £5 should be the lowest fee IMHO otherwise there is no point for Alamy or us. Just had 11 of those. Probably DM. Pearl Yes, yesterday's 5.86 was DM. I only had 1 - at least 11 almost adds up to something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Brooks Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Hmmmm.... So if the stock business is sinking and SS growing so fast i can only conclude that buyers are jumping over to SS like crazy. They dont distribute and are like a stand alone company. Mirco Clients have been migrating to micro for many years, the credit crunch was a big push and most won't come back. The major problem is advertising, there used to be a fraction of the places for advertisers to place their adverts...now with the internet there's a massive increase in potential slots but advertising budgets have not kept pace. End result is lower rates for slot owners and they have seen the need to cut the money they spend on pictures/articles/assigned jobs. The number of images used is increasing but many are used in short duration slots (slide shows etc) that are paid at very low rates. It's not going to change. Only way to get better prices is to shoot work that is used in higher paid slots, i.e. above the line adverts etc. Even textbooks are now showing signs of price weakness. Add in more and more contribs and you get the perfect storm for revenues for individual contribs. +1 MicroV and Geoff Kidd. I had sales this month that netted me everything from a low of $3.66 through to a high of $125.00, plus a DACS payment. Why should I focus on the $3.66? Why not the several at $125.00 and all the others in between? The $3.66 is $3.66 I did not have, and will buy me a medium coffee and donut in the drive through on my way to shoot more images. Unlike some other stock libraries, I will be paid on time, at the end of the month. The big 2 are being eaten by SS because of SS low prices. If we do not meet that low market price, then we will do no business. One of the big 2 is rumoured to be for sale, and the other has brought in a new CEO, probably to prepare it for sale. I was delighted to see recently that, in spite of a difficult market, Alamy is showing enough agility to be a reasonably viable business. Demanding higher prices than the market leader for a commodity like Stock Photography will only result in no business, and the eventual closing of your business. If Alamy were to close, where would photographers get a better deal? Would another stock library with higher prices be able to send you more money than Alamy? I doubt it, but if you believe it could, why are you still here? Low prices are a result of the low marketplace price established by the market leader, so photographers should unwrap their egos from the price. The Serenity Prayer is appropriate here. If you are religious insert the word “God” in front of the first line. “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, The courage to change the things I can, And the wisdom to know the difference.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 As Bill says if one doesn't like the prices paid for stock then one has to do something else, if one can. Me, I will continue with stock for my generic stuff (via Alamy, specialist libraries and my own web site), I will shoot for my own illustrated articles and I will work hardest at my niche work and seek the most appropriate channels for it. If I was 10+years younger I would probably look for assignment work but after as career of chasing consultancy gigs I am aim to be more the master of my own life. By the way bear in mind a lot of the editorial stuff for magazines may not pay particularly well and they could well demand all rights. One makes one's choice and lives with the consequences. If I don't make the income I want doing my own thing then I will either do something completeley different or adjust my lifestyle to fit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin P Wilson Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Oops, finger trouble! BTW my share of the $7.36 is money I would not have got otherwise (and effectively without any administration cost to me). As the old saying goes: Take care of the pennies and the pounds (dollars) will take care of themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted December 30, 2015 Share Posted December 30, 2015 Prices definitely have been falling, and $8 IQ sales are worrisome. However, to be fair, all my really low (under $15) sales this year were through distributors, not through Alamy directly. I guess there isn't much that Alamy can do about distributors' low pricing, except to to stop dealing with some of them, which is probably easier said than done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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