Marketing Clips in Multimedia Format

A month or so ago I tried offering my clips in multi-media format. It's been a small success, with average sales being 3 to 5 clips a month. I choose the 320 x 240 size and used streamclip to batch process the files at a 75 percent quality down conversion setting. I didn't choose the larger size as my logic was, didn't want to cut into my larger format sales. 640 x 480 seems close enough to SD DV standard so I stayed away from it. I priced the clips at $10 - so I make 5 bucks on each sale. Over a year or two, I figure the labor will pay off. (And I live in Thailand, the exchange rate is great!)

Does anymore have experience converting and selling in the multi-media formats? Do you convert to 320 x 240 or go up to 640 x 480? Which size are buyers mainly looking for? Has it been worth it for you? How do you price?

Thanks in advance, Terry

It's only my opinion. A buyer is looking for a specific subject. Therefore when the buyer finds the clip they need they buy it. So it really doesn't matter is the clip is a full 1920x1080 or 320x240 it is the subject and in the format they want or need. Therefore it has the same value for the project they need. Why is a SD in reality worth less than a HD? Everything needed to make the SD size was the same cost to produce; same time, same equipment, same computer, same software, same internet and same amount of work to produce. It's only my opinion but various sizes do help a buyer getting the format they need but the clip no matter what size has the same inherent value. If a SD clip is used in a marketing push and makes the buyer a million bucks the same HD clip would have done the same thing. The 320,240 cost you the producer just as much time and money to produce so why so little sales price??? Just MHO.

Phantemewo, thanks for the response. It's all opinion based, so it's hard to know. I suspect there are lots of buyers who shop on format. They are bargain hunters and web based workers. Why would they buy an HD clip of an ant when there are lots of options to purchase the exact format they need and subject too? If you have a particular shot that is unique and not easily reproduced by another seller, then it may be worth your while to restrict is to HD and force the buyer to purchase it for the content - getting the price you want. Many small sales add up to a large amounts of money, this I have discovered thru sales at istock, where the majority of the downloads to buyers are in SD and web formats. istock down converts for the buyer. No risk, no reward. We need to meet the buyers needs to make money.

Too much work for the seller to offer all sizes. This would have to be on P5's side to be a success. I do agree with Don though. The buyer will buy the clip for $50 if it is the right one they need. Now, if it is a clip of a duck walking around, they will probably go for the cheapest one :-P.
Small sales do add up to large ones, but we are selling to a pretty wealthy market and we don't need to sell them all at low prices (or specific size). I like the one size fits all route.
I do well at istock, but going through most of my sales there it seems people are buying 720 or 1080, not many SD/web clips sold.

I agree the buyer will buy the unique clip. I have this experience. But creating the unique clip is easier said than done. Mostly we are competing for money and attention. Gotta go with the flow of the market. I also have experimented with offering SD clips in 16x9, which if you are the only one doing it, generates interest (views) and they certainly sell more that standard SD clips. Selling by format works, or I wouldn't do it. I also don't find it particularly time consuming as all the templates have been established and the conversions are done in bulk via streamclip. Spend a day and one half uploading / applying templates and reap the rewards into the future. Thats on 700 files. I think experimentation on all levels of stock is a good approach. It's all work versus projected rewards.

I think P5 recognizes the market need, and therefore is not offering web sized clips themselves... yet. Maybe in the future they will convert all the clips and offer multiple format, or maybe the don't feel the reward is great enough for the work it would take.

P5 has said in the past they would allow buyers to convert, but they never seem to get around to adding that feature... not sure what the hold up is.

One thing I know is that on another site where they do offer different sizes at different prices, the smaller sizes sell a LOT because a lot of editors are buying what they NEED and not "future proofing" by getting the full HD version. I guess it's the economy.

We will all be sorry if "we" drive the prices down like what has happened at micro photo stock. I don't and will not play with the micro stock photo agencies. I still sell a number of stock photos through Alamy and make from $100 to $700 each photo. Why would we want to drive down prices as sellers? Automatic downsizing might (and is probably) be a good idea but reducing the downsized to micro prices is not good for the industry. Many of the established stock agencies have actually raised prices, that is good, every other product sold costs more year to year. If a person is more interested in the number of a product sold and not the production value and bottom line to the agency and the videographer then I hope they will go the the sites that advertise turning your hobby into cash. The buyers need a product, we should be fair in providing a value that both sides can pay for their business expenses. How many $5 payouts do you have to make just to pay for the annual expense of internet, telephone, transportation, camera, lenses, computer, software and then pay for your time to capture, convert, upload and do the administration and taxes on the income. The real actual cost at $5 is never reached. It's a hobby.

that brings up another question... why if you have full hd vs a web clip should the price be different? It is the same content, and that is what the buyer is paying for.

This debate certainly wasn't the original intent of my post. I have no issues with competing in the micro stock market on price. Markets are no longer controlled by stock agencies. The internet has changed all that and leveled the prices and the playing field. Anyone can enter and compete. The days of 100 to 700 dollar photo sales are, well, waning if not over. Let's get real about the market and what it is, not the particular should be's about it. It's a BUYER driven market now, not a SELLER driven one. There is lots and lots of competition on content and price because there are so many new sellers. There is vastly more content offered than people who buy it. Therefore, the real economics and the downward trend of prices. The BUYERS set the terms of the transaction and control the price. Prices find real marketplace levels - and they are not going to be high. People in Latvia can create production value cheaper than those in NYC and court those buyers with lower prices. That shapes the market too. Costs of photos and clips have gone down from the old days of agency control - the new internet marketplace with it's glut of images has permanently altered the game. I try base my strategy on what I think the actual market is - not what I want it to be. There is no way to find that out besides price and format testing, which is certainly a great virtue at Pond5. A lot of assumptions about who is buying may not be correct. As for the 5 buck hobby, better many steady 5 bucks than waiting for large sales. If I thought I was undercutting my own sales I wouldn't do it. I am approaching a 4 figure income every month now via 5 buck sales. And here in Thailand 1000 dollars is really 3000 dollars. Sell on as many sites and in as many formats as I can. Play all the angles.