Back in the Seventies and Eighties I founded and ran several Fleet Street photo agencies specialising in stock images of celebrities from pop stars to politicians. These were syndicated to the National and International press and Television. These days I am active in the Microstock world and this blog charts my journey as well as, hopefully, providing inspiration and ideas to others. Image buyers should also find this blog useful with links to my portfolios and regular updates on new uploads. Unless otherwise stated all images are my copyright and may not be reproduced or copied. Comments are very welcome but will be reviewed before publication. Enjoy your visit. Regards, David.

Thursday, 1 June 2017

May Sales Updates:

Tentertainment music festival - third sale on Alamy
A much stronger month in May saw some good sales across my main sites and even a surprise re-appearance from a past agency.

As ever Shutterstock were way out in front. Their terms do not allow me to give explicit sales details but just for comparison with the rest I will say this month that downloads were well over the 100 mark. Substantially over half of my earnings came from the higher paying On Demand sales with a few modest Single sales.

Istock took second place with an unprecedented 75 downloads making this, I believe, my BME there. There were, as usual, some paltry $0.02 sub sales but many others paying much more - in one case $9.50 for a sub sale. I'll take that over the previous $0.28 fixed payment.

After a poor run 123rf hit third place with 12 downloads including a $22.50 payout for an image of Votsi harbour on the Greek island of Alonissos. I'm assuming this was some kind of extended license but on their new dashboard I have yet to find out where to see the type of license sold (only that it was XL -Extra Large).

In fourth place were Alamy with my third sale there. My perennial good seller of the Tentertainment music
New upload - Tenterden Food and Drink Festival
festival going for a substantial (compared to microstock) sum. May saw me continuing to pour my back catalogue into Alamy -an investment in time that I consider worthwhile.

Fifth place went to Redbubble with two product sales (another T shirt and a greetings card). My mark up on cards is high (200%) because, as I have posted before, I believe that if someone is choosing an appropriate card for someone price is not a major consideration. I know when I buy a Birthday card I choose the one I think the recipient will like -I don't look at the price.

Bigstock took sixth place with 9 downloads. Mainly subscription sales here.

Seventh place went to Fotolia with 4 credit sales of my images of collecting pine resin (again on the Greek island of Alonissos).  These all occurred over a couple of days so I assume were to the same buyer.

Votsi on Alonissos island - good sale at 123rf
Dreamstime managed  eighth place with just 5 subscription sales. The hoped for turnaround in May never happened there.

Finally a surprise from Yay Images (previously Yay Micro) with 4 small sales reported. These were my first sales there in nearly a year and, as previously posted, I have long stopped uploading there.

Uploading in May, as I said, focused on Alamy but I thought I really ought to show a presence at my other agencies so a set from the first ever Food and Drink Festival at Tenterden in Kent went up. These were Summery images showing people sitting on the grass etc so should prove useful for illustrating outdoor events and the like. Dreamstime excelled here by having them approved almost immediately.   Hopefully June will remain strong before the dreaded Summer Slowdown starts to hit in July. Regards, David.