November Sales Updates:

Today launch issue from 1986 -new upload

A slow month in November with only one standout performer and nothing at all from my two POD sites -FineArtAmerica and Redbubble (so much for my hoped for Christmas surge).

Way out in first place were Shutterstock. A good Single sale of a Poll Tax Riots image pushed them up here.

Second place went to Alamy. Though I only had two modest downloads a worthwhile sum of DACS payments came in. I always count this in my totals as it is, in effect, secondary income on previous sales - and much appreciated at that.

Istock took third place with 22 downloads. The usual suspects of music festival and travel images did well here.

Fourth place went to Adobe with 10 downloads. My electric vehicle charging point sign continued to feature here. That is one good example of a saleable stock image taken just a few minutes walk from
home.

Dreamstime were in fifth place with 5 downloads. A rare credit sale from them this month.

Finally in sixth place were Bigstock with just a single download. I suspect the lack of new material

M & Co in the old Embassy Cinema building

going into my portfolio (thanks to the ending of the Bridge to Bigstock scheme) doesn't help matters here.

November also saw the ending of my Picfair store subscription (as mentioned in my last post) so I will decide what to do about them going forward. It does mean that I am no longer able to upload any further images as Unlimited Uploads was a feature of the paid store. 

Recent uploading included an image of my local branch of fashion chain Mackays (trading as M & Co) which has just gone into administration. With 170 UK stores this is quite a big business story here and a worrying time for their near two thousand staff. I took a longer shot of the building (rather than just a close up of the store sign) to show the historic Embassy sign as this was once the home of any Embassy Cinema until its closure in the sixties. 

Poll Tax Riots - good sale on Shutterstock

I have also been uploading more historic newspaper mastheads including the launch issue of National daily Today which was first published in 1986. I really liked this newspaper and was sorry to see it close in 1995. Sadly, as a former Fleet Street person, newspapers are becoming a thing of the past with constant news updates available on television news channels and our friend the internet. That said, I cannot remember the last time I actually purchased a newspaper so I am as much a part of the decline as anyone else.

As we near the end of the year I'll take this chance to wish readers  a happy Christmas (should you celebrate it) and every best wish for 2023. Regards, David.

October Sales Updates:

Planet On Sunday- first and last issue

A strong month in October mainly thanks to one agency.

Way out in first place were Alamy with 9 downloads. Most of these were from my archives including three good $$ (net) uses. Seventies rock band Tom Robinson Band sold for an editorial website. Former Chancellor of The Exchequer Denis Healey sold for use as a museum display and my WW2 ration book was used for a book/ebook. 

Second place went to Redbubble with a good value sale of a framed print of my 1980s B/W image of New Scotland Yard. Maybe a Christmas present for somebody that used to work there? That said, I have yet to see a rush of Christmas type sales as in previous years. It's getting a bit late now.

Shutterstock took third place but no large sales this month. Three On Demand and four modest Single sales helped things here.

Fourth place went to Istock with a disappointing 16 downloads and the lowest month I have had from them in a while.

Adobe made fifth place with 6 downloads. My EV charging point sign featuring again.

Denis Healey - museum sale on Alamy

Sixth place went to Dreamstime with 7 downloads. No credit sales again this month.

Bigstock came in seventh place with 3 downloads - all of the vintage cable car in Barcelona. 

Finally in eighth place were Mostphotos with a rare sale. Another Barcelona image of the beach there. I'm not sure what, if any, marketing they do but they seem never to have expanded out of their home country of Sweden. They have also increased the minimum payout to 35 euros so whether I ever see another payout from them is doubtful. 

Shooting highlight in October consisted of covering the annual Tenterden Folk Festival. This is a bigger deal than it might sound as it attracts folk dance groups and musicians from around the World. I covered the main parade down the High Street as well as individual dance performances that were going on all down the street.

WW2 ration book - good sale on Alamy

New uploading saw me continuing with my "historic" newspapers including an image of National Sunday newspaper Planet On Sunday. Launched in June 1996 with an environmental and conservation mission, it ceased publication just days after launching making my image both a first and last edition. I suspect that is some kind of record for a new newspaper.

I haven't mentioned Picfair for a long time - mainly because there was nothing to report. After two years of paying a fee to have a Store there (and allowing continued unlimited uploads) I finally took the decision to cancel my payment. My store finishes in November so I have stopped any further uploads. Not quite sure what happens after this or what to do with the already uploaded images. I'll see in a few weeks time and report back.

So far, a slow start to November so let's see how it goes. Regards, David.

September Sales Updates:

 

John Major - good sale at Shutterstock

A steady month in September with an especially strong showing from Shutterstock.

First place (as suggested above) went to Shutterstock. Two $$ downloads really helped here with a Single download of anti pornography campaigner Mary Whitehouse - a 1989 archive shot and an Enhanced Download (remember those?) of former Prime Minister John Major.

Second place was taken by Istock with 31 downloads and a reasonable RPD overall. The Greek island of Tilos featured well this month with a variety of images sold.

Alamy took third place with 3 modest priced downloads. These were all from my B/W archival images. Though not showing as sales yet the month started well with my 1989 images of Charles Wilson (former newspaper editor) being used in the Telegraph, Guardian, Racing Post and Independent. Should see those coming up in the next few weeks when they do their reporting of usages.

Fourth place went to Redbubble with 2 product sales (a sticker and a greeting card). I am hoping for the

Margaret Thatcher - as seen on Channel 4

usual upturn in sales here as Christmas (sorry to mention it!) gets nearer. Meanwhile, they have a number of new products in their range especially in the pet category such as dog/cat feeding mats, bowls and bandanas. All ideal for the pet lover in your life.

Adobe took fifth place with 7 downloads. Again my electric vehicle charging point sign featured.

Sixth place was taken by Pond 5 with a single download of Margaret Thatcher. My archive images seem to have gone down well here though certainly not with the frequency as elsewhere.

Dreamstime managed seventh place with 7 downloads (virtually all editorial images).

Finally, in eighth place were Bigstock with just 2 downloads. 

Sunday Sport launch issue - new upload

The month saw me scanning and uploading some more archive images including the old Ministry of Agriculture building in London and the masthead of the very first issue of tabloid newspaper Sunday Sport (which launched in 1986). I've actually got a few first/last issues of various newspapers so I will give some more a try.

There was a nice surprise when watching the new Channel 4 (UK) series Make Me Prime Minister where members of the public compete to come out on top and be the next (fictional) PM. The set for this is a mock up of 10 Downing Street complete with portraits in the corridor of (real) previous PMs. There's my images of Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. These were all sold on a custom license on Pond 5 back in June. They also bought an image of Ted Heath but that hasn't appeared yet!

October can be a good month for sales but has started off slowly so far so it remains to be seen how it goes overall. Regards, David.

August Sales Updates:

Mickey Jupp - Alamy sale to The Guardian

Coming to the end of the Summer Slowdown (I hope) August proved to be a slow month.

In first place again Shutterstock was the exception with a good number of downloads. On Demand and Single downloads made up 40% of the earnings here and as posted last month I am continuing to get a number of higher paying subscription sales and these seem to be on the increase.

Istock took second place with a reduced 20 downloads but a higher RPD pulled them up the rankings.

Third place went to Alamy with 3 modest paying downloads. Two were archive images - David Mellor (former politician) and Seventies musician Mickey Jupp. I got a bit concerned when the same image of Mickey sold elsewhere but tracking my Alamy sale down to The Guardian (with full name credit) it turned out that, now aged 78, he has got a new album out of previously unreleased songs. So a good news story then. The third image was of Puerto Pollensa beach on Majorca. Always good to see something other than my archive stuff sell here.

Dreamstime took fourth place with 5 downloads.

Fifth place went to Redbubble with 2 product sales - a greeting card and a fridge magnet featuring the

Puerto Pollensa - Alamy travel image sale

Greek island of Skiathos.

Adobe came in sixth place with 3 downloads including an editorial one of the disused Strand underground station in London. Quite a lot of history to this station which opened in 1907 and closed for good in 1994. It was, unusually, the end of a little branch of the Picadilly Line from Holborn Station. At various times it was known as Aldwych station (and was when I used to use it back in the Seventies). These days it sometimes gets used as a set for films and television.

Seventh place went to FineArtAmerica with a mug sale featuring the same image of Skiathos that Redbubble sold as a fridge magnet!

Strand Station - editorial sale at Adobe

Bigstock came back to life to take eighth place with 4 downloads including one I shot last year of vehicles queuing to get into a petrol station during temporary shortages (AKA public panic buying).

Finally, in ninth place were our Swedish friends Mostphotos with a single small download. Still nice to hear from them again. For those that don't know this is one of few (only?) agencies that let you download your own images for free. Handy bit of extra back up for your files though I would totally not recommend using them as your only back up.

Nothing much to report in both uploading and shooting. I'm still considering a late Summer trip somewhere but repeated strikes and flight cancellations and other disruptions are making me a bit cautious to commit.

Early days of September but I am seeing a few good signs. Regards, David. 

July Sales Updates:

1977 traffic jam - card sales on Redbubble

Super late posting this due to various personal reasons. A positive month in July with the old regular at number one (and zero sales at Bigstock).

Shutterstock was back in first place with one good $$ Single sale of La Toya Jackson and a good number of On Demand sales. July saw me climb back to Level 4 which will help with non subscription sales for the rest of the year. I'm also noticing an increasing  number of higher paying sub sales ranging from $0.56 right up to the best at $1.23 in one case. To be clear, these are not replacing On Demand sales which are still coming through.

Second place went to Istock with 55 downloads including several paying around $4 in commission so a good month for them.

Alamy took third place with 2 downloads. A low value shot of a Lidl supermarket and a good $$ sale of a

La Toya Jackson - good single sale on SS

2010 Conservative party election poster. That poster was on a farm gate near where I live so it was a simple matter to stop the car and get some images.

Fourth place went to Redbubble with 4 product sales. By coincidence two of these were greetings cards of a 1977 traffic jam near Brighton. I was surprised that one buyer in the USA and another in the UK should both choose that very old image within days of each other.

Adobe were back in fifth place with 7 downloads including an Illustrative Editorial image of an ESSO petrol station. In a significant move Adobe announced they were dropping their (proper) editorial section. This was a feed from various news organisations such as Reuters and USA Today. Any hope from regular contributors that the editorial section might be opened up to them as well is now gone. Still no idea why editorial is such an issue for them when just about every other agency takes them.

Election poster - nice sale on Alamy

Finally in sixth place we had Dreamstime with 8 downloads. 

Nothing much new to report on the shooting front. I need to start going through my Ithaca island images and also revisit my Lisbon shots. 

I shall endeavour to get my August report out in a more timely manner! Regards, David.