selling stock footage – worth it or not?

[Rick Dolishny]

Sign up with a stock site that mirrors your corporate culture, get your stuff up there, automate the entire process (download only) and collect small royalty cheques every quarter. Do NOT try to do it yourself. There are processes in place that make it easy for you, of course they charge for the management and google presence they offer, but try it yourself and you’ll become a full-time web developer.

The key is to do as little as possible while ensuring producers have access to it when they need it with the minimum of barriers.

You will not make a lot of money, but you will make money on the stuff you put out there; and it sounds like you have a lot of well logged material. It’s the practice of long-tail distribution: there is always a market for something. Your sales will never be zero if you have enough obscure stuff out there that someone wants.

Go for it.

And send us a link to your _stock.com shop when it’s up and running.

[Russ Stiggants]

Thanks Rick….

You’ve confirmed what I thought. I guess I was looking for some ‘magic bullet’ that made stock footage worth at least something above the poverty line.

I was (and still am) hoping to find stock footage sites that actually pay

[Russ Stiggants]

Sorry people – I meant ‘POND 5’ as opposed to ‘post 5’ – Freudian slip!

[Rick Dolishny]

Another crude way of describing this marketing model is “volume” sales, but that suggests the Wal-Mart mentality and that’s not what I’m suggesting. Sure, it’s great to get $1500 for a five second clip (I have a library of deep-arctic polar bears that fetches that regularly), but I’m suggesting and you seem to agree that it’s not the five dollar sale that matters, it’s the hundreds of five dollar sales you might generate each month that really ads up. This model could not exist or be sustained without the nearly-free distribution model the internet offers.

Of course, if you have footage that is just so unique by all means set that $1500 price, you will find a buyer!

Best of luck with your venture.

[Melissa Smith]

I’ve been selling stock media for a year and a half now. I am almost to the point where I can make a full time salary off of it. I do sell mostly animated backgrounds, which I actually think is harder b/c they take longer to create than some footage.

But to answer your question- Yes- it is definitely worth it. Especially if you already have a library of footage stocked up! Right now that footage is sitting, rotting on your shelf– it could be making you money! I’ve tried most of the major stock sites and sold on most of them for awhile. However, I got tired of the hassle of uploading to multiple sites so I choose my favorites and stuck to those few.

I upload mostly to Revostock.com. They had the easiest and most hassle free upload/approval system of any of the major sites. They also have a wonderful producer community and their technical support is excellent. Their royalty rates are 45% for a non-exclusive clip and 60% for an exclusive clip– you can choose your exclusivity on a clip by clip basis too! Check out their forums– they recently had several producers say why they love their site and one of them mentions how much he takes in each month from the site. You can sell audio files and After Effects projects there too if you have them!

Hope this helps give you some more information about the stock business.

[Russ Stiggants]

Thanks for your advice Melissa – it’s good to hear from a producer who is actually turning a buck out of stock.

I do take your point that the more ‘generic’ animated stuff has opportunities – the more I look on the stock sites, I see more and more of that being offered. I will check out Revostock again – I am also looking at Pond5, so if anyone has experience there, I’d appreciate comments. I do agree that the hassle of uploading (and I know there are ‘auto uploaders’ out there) seems to offer challenges…but I guess they can be tolerated on the understanding that it might be worth it in the end.

I’d also like to hear from those who may actually use stock footage (any ‘customers’ out there?) to get an understanding of how they use stock footage and what they may be looking for. For example, are there people out there only looking for a ‘grab’ to insert in a Powerpoint – or maybe only interested in a ‘still’ from stock footage? What about ‘screen’ sizes? Smaller screen sizes at more modest resolutions than may be needed for ‘mainstream’ television raises interesting selling opportunities – and scalable pricing structures.

I certainly have an extensive library which I am looking at afresh with the notion that some stuff at least is ‘offerable’ as stock footage; as I see it, this is a new area for many pro camerapersons/videographers like me (particularly those who have never trashed original camera tapes), so I am feeling my way.

I really appreciate your comments – and those of others who may want to contribute.

[Randy Taylor]

Melissa,

I have been investigating developing some stock footage products. Mostly shot video footage.

You mentioned that most of your Revostock products were animated backgrounds. If possible I would like to look at some of your products on Revostock. To do this I need your Revostock producer’s name or a link to your portfolio there.

Regards,

RW

PS: I inadvertently push something about “being a friend”. Not sure what that is all about. I was just trying to see how to send you the above message without posting to this thread. I am really new to this site and do not understand exactly how things work here.

[Craig Mccourry]

If you have quality stock footage, we have a new concept on bringing that footage into the marketplace at http://www.StockFootageMarket.com. One of the big advantages with our service is that you have direct contact with the stock footage buyer. This can lead to building a relationship with companies that might need the type of footage you offer on a regular basis – including hiring you to do more shoots for them. Full disclosure: I am the manager of this website.

All the best,
Craig

[Charley Fernandez]

Hello: A bit to late to answer, but definitely you will make money by selling your stock footage. As some have mentioned, your videos are stored, not doing a thing for you.

Anyway, we are currently developing a stock house and we are in need of videos of all kind…visit us when you have the opportunity.

http://www.motiondrops.com

I also recommend revostock, definitely one of the best, great customer support and great commission. Pond5 is another good option.

There are others out there but to be honest, the upload process is so painful that it becomes unworthy……..that’s besides their low commission….just 20%….after you do all the work…

Cheers.

[Russ Stiggants]

Thanks for this Charley….

I have looked at your site and am interested in exploring the options…unlike other stock sites however, I don’t have any clear idea about how you can help me, what your commission is or how I would get my images to you, given you are in Florida and I am in Australia. With Pond5 I can send QT files by disc, rather than attempting long uploads.

While I appreciate your post, Let me say as a weather-beaten ol’ journalist, I find that the responses I am getting are from outfits like yours keen to represent my (potential) video-library – but remarkably I am not hearing from fellow video-pro’s who have used any of the growing numbers of stock-sites out there in internet-space – and more importantly can report that they are making money, relative to their ‘cost-of-acquisition’.

This indicates that either (a) selling stock footage returns ‘peanuts’ in terms of value to the shooter, (b) it’s still the province of amateurs and kids with ‘toy-cams’ who reckon 20-bucks is really good, or (c) so-called ‘hi-end’ video sales are the province of Getty Images and the like.

Being self-critical, my stuff is in the middle to upper-end of the range. I don’t want to sell stuff for hundreds of dollars a minute, but neither do I want to sell it for chicken-feed.

I am still to find that middle ground.

That’s why I started this thread and after 4 months am still not getting the response I’ve been hoping for.

Is this because the pro’s are not interested in selling stock, or is it because the ‘fundamentals’ still are not right?