blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 We can get through it. Don't be discouraged!!! It'll be a painful January for all of us regardless of your royalty level. Every January will be painful for us contributors every year on Shutterstock. But, there's no crying in stock industry, I think. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Former_Poster Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Massive income slash for contributors. Huge SS profit boost for shareholders at the end of Q1... 2 Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 I'll reach level 4 (30%) on photos sometime later in January. It'll take another few months to get to my current level 5 again, hopefully by May. Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 2 minutes ago, Former_Poster said: Massive income slash for contributors. Huge SS profit boost for shareholders at the end of Q1... They'll be partying all through winter!! Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 I'll be getting 35% probably for 6 months and 30% for 5 months for photos. So, probably my yearly average royalty rate will be above 30% that used to be. So, it may not be a disaster for me. For videos, I would never make it to level 5 (35%). So, I'll just lose some money compared to before when the rate was 30%. Link to post Share on other sites
Former_Poster Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 11 minutes ago, blvdone said: I'll reach level 4 (30%) on photos sometime later in January. It'll take another few months to get to my current level 5 again, hopefully by May. I should reach it for images mid January or so but in reality levels for images arent as big a change as people think - most people make a large chunk from subs and those are 10c or so regardless of level. Where it'll really sting is for video - tiers are so high it'll take a huge chunk of the year to get back up there. Realistically it looks like a 50% or so income drop going on months. Thats where it'll bite the most for me. Thats a drop of hundreds of dollars a month for a large part of the year. Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 1 minute ago, Former_Poster said: I should reach it for images mid January or so but in reality levels for images arent as big a change as people think - most people make a large chunk from subs and those are 10c or so regardless of level. Where it'll really sting is for video - tiers are so high it'll take a huge chunk of the year to get back up there. Realistically it looks like a 50% or so income drop going on months. Thats where it'll bite the most for me. Thats a drop of hundreds of dollars a month for a large part of the year. Yes, the rate for video isn't fair. Most video contributors will never reach level 5 (35%). It'll take some months to get to the 30% level 4. They should lower the minimums at each levels. It really sucks. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Former_Poster Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 One issue is its now *extremely* beneficial to SS to alter the search to prioritise people on lower levels as its in their direct financial interest to keep as many people as possible on as low a level as possible. Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 According to my calculations, I will earn 30% less on my first 250 clip sales, and then I will be back at 30% for the rest of the year. If the new rates and been in effect on January 1, 2020 I would have earned about $3000 less before I got back up to the 30% level again. Even a loss of $3000 is less than 10% of my annual earnings at SS, so not a huge deal in the big scheme of things. But I predict my lost income in 2021 will actually be less than $3000 because I am getting a higher number of downloads per month but also earning less per download. Fortunately the threshold to move from one level to level to the next one is based on downloads and not dollar volume. I used to say it didn't matter if I earned $10,000 for 100 downloads or 1000, but that is not true anymore. Now I want to rack up as many low-paying downloads as I can in January so I hit the 250 mark as fast as possible and get back to the 30% level. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Sharkshock Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 I hope the majority of you have income sources outside of Shutterstock commissions. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
davidek1 Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 i dont care much about 30 or 35%. the problem is about the price they are selling clips now. few months ago i was earning at least 23.70 usd for a clip but now only few cents today they sold 15 clips for about 2 usd each. i should be happy but i am not. 6 Link to post Share on other sites
Wilm Ihlenfeld Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 2 hours ago, Doug Jensen said: According to my calculations, I will earn 30% less on my first 250 clip sales, and then I will be back at 30% for the rest of the year. If the new rates and been in effect on January 1, 2020 I would have earned about $3000 less before I got back up to the 30% level again. Even a loss of $3000 is less than 10% of my annual earnings at SS, so not a huge deal in the big scheme of things. But I predict my lost income in 2021 will actually be less than $3000 because I am getting a higher number of downloads per month but also earning less per download. Fortunately the threshold to move from one level to level to the next one is based on downloads and not dollar volume. I used to say it didn't matter if I earned $10,000 for 100 downloads or 1000, but that is not true anymore. Now I want to rack up as many low-paying downloads as I can in January so I hit the 250 mark as fast as possible and get back to the 30% level. Basically everything you write is right. But at the same time I have to say clearly: I don't know any other business area where calculations are made in this way. If you invest work, you are not out to earn less money. You invest time in order to get more for it in the end. So you can talk about the new revenue model however you like. It is and remains a catastrophe. If, like you, you've worked your way up, you've given a company a lot of income, it's just incredibly miserable if that's not rewarded but punished at the beginning of the year. I quote: "We are making this adjustment in order to reflect changes in the market for creative content, help to create fair opportunities for all our contributors, and reward performance with greater earnings potential." This is marketing language and at the same time a bottomless cheek. "...greater earnings potential as a reward for performance." You, Doug, do not seem to be performing well. That's why you too are set to zero at the beginning of the year. Welcome to the modern age. Everything for the shareholders - everything else is not interesting. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 Is it even legal to reset our earning % every year? Anybody knows? Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 @Wilm IhlenfeldIf you think you have all the answers, nobody is stopping you from starting your own stock footage agency and doing it the way you think it should be done. I might even sign up as a contributor. Alternatively you could purchase some stock in SS and then, as a shareholder, you can enjoy the rich rewards of your investment in the corporation. Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 2 minutes ago, blvdone said: Is it even legal to reset our earning % every year? Anybody knows? It's their ball and they can make the rules. If you don't like the rules, take it up with management or quit. Simple as that. Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 4, 2020 Author Share Posted December 4, 2020 4 minutes ago, Doug Jensen said: It's their ball and they can make the rules. If you don't like the rules, take it up with management or quit. Simple as that. You sound like you work for Shutterstock. lol 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Steven Tritton Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 51 minutes ago, davidek1 said: i dont care much about 30 or 35%. the problem is about the price they are selling clips now. few months ago i was earning at least 23.70 usd for a clip but now only few cents today they sold 15 clips for about 2 usd each. i should be happy but i am not. Yes! Regardless of our tiers and commissions the sales prices have dropped to ridiculous lows. I would be okay if I was seeing increased volume but not. This is why I post my vids on three sites so not relying solely on one platform - Shutter, Adobe and Pond5. Pond5 performed the best for me last month - November. To date, Adobe is doing way better than Shutter in December. And it's a dark summer in these parts of the planet where I'm from. 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 Just now, Doug Jensen said: @blvdone I am the voice of reason and here is my advice to anyone in any walk of life: If you don't like your job, quit and find another employer someplace else. If you can't find a business that is run the way you want to be run, there is probably a good reason for that. But if you think you are smarter than your employer, you can always open your own business and do it the way you think it should be done. Nobody is stopping you except yourself. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 4, 2020 Share Posted December 4, 2020 1 hour ago, davidek1 said: i dont care much about 30 or 35%. the problem is about the price they are selling clips now. few months ago i was earning at least 23.70 usd for a clip but now only few cents today they sold 15 clips for about 2 usd each. i should be happy but i am not. Don't get too hung up on individual downloads where you don't make as much money as you'd like. You have to look at the big picture and understand that if you have a good portfolio you will make decent money at the end of the month. For example, I normally have 3 downloads per day at an average of about $30 each. Today I had 29 downloads and the average was $6.75. Am I crying in my pillow that I didn't make $870 for those downloads? No, I am happy that I earned $196 today which is double the income of my normal $100 day. THAT is what matters. It is the total money that you earn at the end of the month, regardless of how that number is divided up. Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 45 minutes ago, Doug Jensen said: You are officially the voice of reason? OK. Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 Just now, blvdone said: You are officially the voice of reason? OK. Thank you for agreeing. That is a step in the right direction. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Just now, Doug Jensen said: Thank you for agreeing. That is a step in the right direction. I didn't say I agreed, but I'm not a big time like you are. So, good luck. Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 4 minutes ago, blvdone said: I didn't say I agreed, but I'm not a big time like you are. So, good luck. I don't know what "big time" means, but if you don't have the sales you want . . . look in the mirror. The great thing about stock footage is that YOU are your own boss and YOU control your own destiny. It is up to you to determine how successful you will be. You can waste time complaining over and over again about things you cannot change or control, or you can accept the rules of the game and direct your energy towards succeeding within those parameters, or go find another game where the conditions are more to your liking. Link to post Share on other sites
blvdone Posted December 5, 2020 Author Share Posted December 5, 2020 Contributor forums are a place for contributors to complain about things that aren't going well for us. I though we all knew it. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
Doug Jensen Posted December 5, 2020 Share Posted December 5, 2020 3 minutes ago, blvdone said: Contributor forums are a place for contributors to complain about things that aren't going well for us. I though we all knew it. No, it is place to share ideas and information. If you just want to complain and you have no solutions to share or ideas to help others, go away. I thought you disabled your portofolio? If so, go away and take your negative energy with you. You are negative person who will always see the glass as half empty. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
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