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Shutterstock sales by month days

Elnur — Tue, 04 May 2010 18:12:36 +0000

There is an persistent myth at microstock forums that sales at Shutterstock increase towards the end of the month because buyers want to use up their subscription limits. I have always believed that this is not the case, and thought I would do an analysis on my sales, and share results with you.

Notes:

- excludes Decembers because Christmas would distort month end sales

- excludes Januaries because sales only start picking up on 2nd week

- in total, it counts more than 32 months for every day, so the sample is representative

- I upload on regular basis for the last 4 years, so the results aren’t impacted by my upload pattern.

So here is the graph which looks at average sales by month days over the past 3.5 years.

As you can see from the analysis, there is no increase towards the end of month. As expected, the sales are pretty steady over the course of the month, although the sharp dip on the 1st day is hard to go unnoticed. Anyway, hope you find this analysis useful.

Author: Elnur Amikishiyev

April microstock sales – summary

Elnur — Mon, 03 May 2010 19:01:30 +0000

It is time for April statistics !! The total earnings are up 1%, and I still expect some partners sales which might mean another 2-3% growth.

Here is how each of the site performed:

Fotolia – flat with March. Downloads are down, but more extended sales helped to stay flat with March.

123rf – decline 15%. Still strong downloads, however down in extended sales which led to decline in dollar terms.

Shutterstock – growth 8%, which helped to offset decline on other stocks. Great month for extended sales – 1 for every 315 ordinary downloads.

Dreamstime – growth 35%. Dreamstime rebounded from awful March, however, there is no feeling of sustainable recovery.

Istockphoto – decline 32%. Unexpectadly poor month from Istock, but this kind of inconsistency is typical for Istock, so I would expect a reversal of fortunes in May.

Bigstockphoto – growth 10%. But it is peanuts, as usual.

Late in 2009, I started contributing to a few more microstocks but the sales there are too small to deserve a mention in the report.

And also a chart with all-time earnings dynamics:

March microstock sales – summary

Elnur — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 17:26:49 +0000

It is time for March statistics !! The total earnings are up 7%, and I still expect some partners sales which might mean another 2-3% growth. Here is how each of the site performed:

Fotolia – growth 14%. Fotolia is getting stronger from month to month (the same comment I had in Feb). BME both by earnings and downloads. Well Done !

123rf – growth 14%. Two months in a row with BME for both earnings and downloads. Almost double of Dreamstime.

Shutterstock – growth 7%. Steady month despite missing one upload week.

Dreamstime – decline 22%. Dreamstime was the only microstock to drop in sales. This is not a good sign.

Istockphoto – growth 1%. Even before partner sales, Istock already posted a growth, once those are added it is likely to be a BME.

Bigstockphoto – growth 28%. But it is peanuts, as usual.

Late in 2009, I started contributing to a few more microstocks but the sales there are too small to deserve a mention in the report.

And also a chart with all-time earnings dynamics:

February microstock sales – summary

Elnur — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:07:03 +0000

February is over, so it is time to report the earnings dynamics. The total earnings were down 9%. Despite only 28 days in February, this is still disappointing outcome. Last year, February rose 9% against January.

Here is how each of the site performed:

Fotolia – growth 3%. Very close to monetary BME, and downloads BME. Fotolia is getting stronger from month to month, is now a clear number 2 for me after Shutterstock.

123rf – growth 12%. Excellent month with BME for both earnings and downloads.

Shutterstock - decline 7%. Downloads actually increased, however, sharp decline in extended sales spoiled the month.

Dreamstime – growth 35%. This high growth is driven by very poor January, however there was a good increase in downloads, but too many subscription downloads don’t contribute much.

Istockphoto – decline 19%. This is extremely disappointing especially after 15% decline in January.

Stockxpert – decline 74%. This microstock is now dead.

Bigstockphoto – decline 15%. But it is peanuts, as usual.

Late in 2009, I started contributing to a few more microstocks but the sales there are too small to deserve a mention in the report.

And also a chart with all-time earnings dynamics:

January microstock sales – summary

Elnur — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 20:50:09 +0000

As it happens at every month end, it is time to sum up the January. Overall, I felt that January was too slow to recover from holidays, and only picked up the pace in late January.

The total result was 1% up versus January, and around 12% lower than Oct-Nov BME’s. Here is how each of the site performed:

Fotolia – growth 10%. Downloads decreased, but higher prices helped push up the sales in dollars.

123rf – growth 26%. Growth is driven by more extended licences rather than organic growth, but still steady performance.

Shutterstock – growth 8%. Downloads were the same, but increase in extended licence sales helped.

Dreamstime – decline 43%. This is the biggest decline among the peers. Hopefully, it is just me being unlucky.

Istockphoto – decline 12%. This is not the biggest decline, but the biggest disappointment of January. Istock keeps tweaking Best Match, and latest changes seem to favour exclusives more.

Stockxpert – growth 12%. In what appears to be its last full month, stockxpert didn’t disappoint – growth is always welcome.

Bigstockphoto – growth 33%. But it is peanuts, as usual.

Late in 2009, I started contributing to a few more microstocks but the sales there are too small to deserve a mention in the report.

I have also prepared a chart showing the earnings growth from Aug 2006.