No Sales Since Joining?
Mizamook
9 Dec 2022 21:46
Milescooper, I do recommend doing your experiment with a lot more than 100 of your "best" clips. Why? Because 100 clips, even if they represent a true cross section of your portfolio, are not even a drop in the ocean that is the "bucket" in this mangled metaphor. Any observations would be flukes at best. The fact that you are only at 427 video clips at this point means also that you are more likely to suffer low sales due to not having several thousand, and if you blame low sales on your prices, you'd be simply put, wrong.
Also, regarding "best" clips ... in my experience, time and time again, I am floored by what people choose to buy, and also not to buy. So many of my "best" (in my opinion) clips never sell, or very rarely do, while many of my "Oh gawd why am I shooting this boring tripe?" clips do sell and for very good money. Clips I had almost deleted, and, were I a curator, might have rejected, have sold for very good money, and often enough that it shows that I, for one, have no real idea what I'm doing as far as having my finger on the pulse of the market's demands ... and that also, more truthfully, that the needs of the buyers are very very complex and diverse.
Just don't undersell your work. It's just not worth the losses it causes in the future ... for you, or for the industry.
Also, regarding "best" clips ... in my experience, time and time again, I am floored by what people choose to buy, and also not to buy. So many of my "best" (in my opinion) clips never sell, or very rarely do, while many of my "Oh gawd why am I shooting this boring tripe?" clips do sell and for very good money. Clips I had almost deleted, and, were I a curator, might have rejected, have sold for very good money, and often enough that it shows that I, for one, have no real idea what I'm doing as far as having my finger on the pulse of the market's demands ... and that also, more truthfully, that the needs of the buyers are very very complex and diverse.
Just don't undersell your work. It's just not worth the losses it causes in the future ... for you, or for the industry.
WinterQuartersProductions
10 Dec 2022 18:17
Have agree Miz. I don't have the content you do nor the sales but am often surprised. I mean who would want the jury box of the Tombstone courthouse? Well, someone did.
WinterQuartersProductions
11 Dec 2022 00:51
Okay Miz here is an interesting one. I recently posted 12 clips on the same subject with different views, some with audio, some without. All were 4k so priced at $199 -- except one with audio that I priced at $129 as a test. Guess what sold? The one at $129. Now, it is not the best, so I am guessing the buyer thought -" hmmm why pay more - I will take the cheaper one". I won't miss the few dollars but it is interesting. I am going to leave it thus for a couple of months as a test.
GSfootageUK
11 Dec 2022 09:44
I joined in 2018 but only put up about 30 clips. I did get one sale, but of course I had no expectation of sales with such a tiny portfolio. I didn't have the right gear for video at the time so couldn't really compete very well. I mainly stuck to stock images elsewhere, but now I've given up with them for a variety of reasons. In the past year I've concentrated on video and once my pending footage has been accepted I'll have exactly 1000 clips available, with lots more on the way.
Sales have started to trickle through since adding more, slowly but surely. I'm very aware it's a slow game and I have no complaints about that. You get out what you put in, as I found out doing stock images for 11 years. Many people at that agency would be new and complain about a lack of sales when they had just a few hundred images, all poorly processed and badly keyworded. Until that agency dropped my rank for unknown reasons and wrecked their search engine, I was doing pretty well there.
I've discussed pricing on here a few times recently and have taken advice on board, but in some cases I've backtracked due to being the only one with higher prices. I'm all for pricing higher and I understand that many buyers will pay whatever it costs if they like the clip. For some buyers though where there are many alternatives of similar quality, they'll surely go for one of the cheaper options.
Pricing for stock in the UK, where I am, is not the same as the USA. At least with images, US sales prices are always far higher than here in the UK. I'd imagine it's the same with video too, and when you look at other UK contributors here you see that most price at the equivalent of $98 / $52 for 4K / HD. So in many cases I match that, but when I feel mine are superior I'll price higher, often $179 or more for 4K and $79 for HD. I do try pricing differently where I have several similar clips, just to experiment a little.
The race to the bottom is always going to be a problem and I won't join in with that, but at the same time pricing has to be realistic. Most my footage is particular to the UK so would likely be wanted by UK broadcasters, who would not pay US prices. It's hard to get it right and it's helpful to read this forum to see what others with more experience have to say about it.
Sales have started to trickle through since adding more, slowly but surely. I'm very aware it's a slow game and I have no complaints about that. You get out what you put in, as I found out doing stock images for 11 years. Many people at that agency would be new and complain about a lack of sales when they had just a few hundred images, all poorly processed and badly keyworded. Until that agency dropped my rank for unknown reasons and wrecked their search engine, I was doing pretty well there.
I've discussed pricing on here a few times recently and have taken advice on board, but in some cases I've backtracked due to being the only one with higher prices. I'm all for pricing higher and I understand that many buyers will pay whatever it costs if they like the clip. For some buyers though where there are many alternatives of similar quality, they'll surely go for one of the cheaper options.
Pricing for stock in the UK, where I am, is not the same as the USA. At least with images, US sales prices are always far higher than here in the UK. I'd imagine it's the same with video too, and when you look at other UK contributors here you see that most price at the equivalent of $98 / $52 for 4K / HD. So in many cases I match that, but when I feel mine are superior I'll price higher, often $179 or more for 4K and $79 for HD. I do try pricing differently where I have several similar clips, just to experiment a little.
The race to the bottom is always going to be a problem and I won't join in with that, but at the same time pricing has to be realistic. Most my footage is particular to the UK so would likely be wanted by UK broadcasters, who would not pay US prices. It's hard to get it right and it's helpful to read this forum to see what others with more experience have to say about it.