Why Did Pond5 Stop This!?

That's been talked about in the artist only section.

It creates endless copying and thousands of duplicates in the collection. People go through your portfolio and copy all your bestsellers and on pond5 they can undercut in price.

For the customer the sales data has no value, the files are not exclusive and can have hundreds of downloads elsewhere.

If you want to find your niche and make money, you will have to experiment yourself and find your own style.

For inspiration you can browse the sales thread where artists share and celebrate first sales or special sales.

But I am very grateful that sales numbers for individual clips are removed. I believe everyone should find their own market and artists that are good at finding niches should not be punished by having their best work copied.

Jcobalt + 1...

Each Artists is an independent business. Great to have it removed. Artists need to be able to do their own work and investigation in how to improve their business without using data from others. Some Artists may share their information privately but it was the right thing to remove it.

Its good thing that it has been removed.

While I agree on the download and views count removal, I wish P5 would put the upload date back publicly somewhere on the details page. It was a good way to see if an artist was "inspired" by (i.e., copied) another artist's shot or ideas.

Eduography why did you delete your comment and suggestion? You started this thread by saying you use other Artists sales and hard work to help you figure out what to copy or duplicate. Ya need to stand up and be counted, just because other Artists disagree that doesn't mean we don't like you ;).

It is sad in a professional business like this to see how many Artists can't figure out what to shoot or even can't do their own work and study to describe and keyword without blindly copying other Artists who realize the importance of hard work and determination. It's not difficult to do your own work.

I would not necessarily assume the worst about people, especially seasoned "pros" ... condescension is not a pretty thing to see in a person. Especially so often.

I found the views/sales information very useful, not because I didn't have my own ideas, but because I wanted to see if my ideas had already been done, or how well, and what kind of attributes make for successful clips ... there were many times I found several or better clips than I would be able to achieve that were similar, or related to my concept, yet had no sales. As result, I decided not to pursue said ideas.

Sometimes I would see clips that were related, but NOT the same as mine would be, and with sales figures running the gamut from nil to zillions ... well why should I not try my hand at my interpretation of that type of clip? It might be fun, I might have a useful take on it, or unique perspective, or setting/subject attributes, etc.

Sometimes that worked out, sometimes not.

It is, in fact, a kind of study, to be able to look at clips and see what kind of stuff sells ... "Wow ... that sold 39 times? Cool ... I had no idea such would be accepted, nevermind sell!" or "Huh? This is a GREAT clip, and it has never sold .. I wonder why not?" ... and in thinking thusly, one could apply the kind of data gleaned to the decision-making process when it comes to deciding what kind of clips to make or not bother with.

It is not necessarily that a person wants to COPY another's successful ideas. Using information as a tool is the opposite of "blindly".

That's what best of week and month gives. Also the best place to see what sells is watch TV or go to a movie. Using ideas from other Artists is not necessary. This thread started by a statement that by seeing what sells he can then (I believe he used the term) copy or duplicate the better selling ones. Guess that's why the original post was deleted. There has been many threads over the years where new Artists have said that they learned by copying other clips that have sold. Maybe I'm a loner but I seldom even look at best of week or month and never browse other Artists portfolio to see if I can do something similar to their most successful sellers. There is just too many opportunities and subjects without getting ideas from other photogs. I do watch TV and go to movies, I can see how stock footage is used and get a much better idea on what is popular.

No other stock agency shows what other Artists are selling and no one complains in their forum ... why here?

We are all independent businessmen and women, P5 should not help in releasing data on "industrial or business espionage". Thanks P5.