why is istock so slow sales wise ?

ozbandit · #1 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 06:25 AM

I've been with istock for over a month now and am pretty disappointed at how slow the sales have been. I was under the impression that once I got accepted it would be worth the hassle of the upload process and all the other rigmarole associated with being with them. However 34 accepted images later and I'm not very impressed. Sales have been very slow, way behind SS, which is fine, but also quite behind both Dreamstime and Fotolia. Maybe it's my type of images which are just not selling on istock (I mainly have product, concept, food and landscapes) but the whole thing has made me seriously question if it was worth all the hassle in the first place....

RTimages · #2 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 07:12 AM

I'd give it a bit more time, I generally find that some of my images get a trickle of downloads initially then after 6-8 weeks they start to pick up, I don't know why that is, something to do with the search engine I guess.

I have got images there that have had no downloads, but then just this week an image I've had in my portfolio since the beginning has suddenly got two downloads.

sharpshot · #3 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 07:43 AM

I am having another bad month with istock with sales about 40% down on my best month in March. Most of the other sites I am on are doing well, so this is a bit dissapointing. Hope things pick up again in the autumn.

Karimala · #4 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 08:03 AM

Yeh...regular sales at IS have been slowing down for me, too, but I have been getting a lot of EL sales, so that helps.

I've been with them Feb. '06, and sales were really slow at first. Then came November when sales everywhere seem to start flying, and they took off like a rocket. Between September and January, my earnings increased by an incredible 500% and have stayed there. I currently receive several payouts per month.

As Richard said, it does take some time for sales on new images to kick in. Only a few of mine uploaded since late April have sales (approximately 40). Just give it time. A month in this business is nothing. There are a lot of ebbs and flows, adjustments to search engines, and many other things that influence sales that only time will show you.

ozbandit · #5 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 10:05 AM

Thanks for the moral support

CJPHoto · #6 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 01:01 PM

As previously stated, it doesn't happen overnight like it does with SS, but it does build up over time.

dbvirago · #7 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 03:35 PM

Also could be the summer slow down. This seems to be affecting some more than others. I am slightly off overall, but at Istock, with a steadily increasing portfolio, this will be my worst month this year.

thesupe87 · #8 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 04:10 PM

My istock sales are down by about $50 this month. Dangit...guess I'll have to go one week next month without food and toilet paper!

LazyAnn · #9 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 06:10 PM

Not bad for June here. I'm heading to second BME in revenue, thanks also to ten EL sales, third in downloads and fourth in UP/DL ratio. I expect July will be similar.

And 34 images is "nothing" to be "noticed" among almost 2 million of files, many of them of very high quality. It's difficult to extract accurate trends with such a small portfolio. Bigger portfolios are more resistent to ebb and flow.

On the other hand, while other sites, especially suscription sites, have a strong initial rush and then a decline, on istock files seem to gain with time, and have a longer selling span.

ajn · #10 (**permalink**) 06-28-2007, 06:23 PM

My sales on IS are about 40% of my BME (January). It's now 4th, behind SS, SXP and DT.

As for my background in sales... They really picked up on October last year and almost doubled every month until January. Then, they've been degrading every month. I still get a payout a month, but having 30% more photos than in January, it's not very motivating. The search engine tweaks really make a difference.

My best selling photo before the October changes (had 98 sales in 5 months) only sold twice since then. OTOH, some files have got flames (more than 100 sales) in the same period.

Also, IS is, by far, the site where I have more rejects. My % is above 90% in every other site and it's about 70% on IS. Some times is really frustrating as the upload process is a pain.

As others have said. IS is nothing like SS. 34 files is a really small portfolio. Upload more and be pacient.

Good luck!