Is 7 bucks what your photo is worth?

Is $7 The Magic Number For Microstock?

February 13, 2008

By Daryl Lang

As Corbis prepares to launch the first ad campaign for its micropayment site SnapVillage this month, the site is in the unique position to answer a vexing question: What's the right price for a royalty-free microstock image?

SnapVillage, unique among microstock sites, lets photographers assign their photos one of five prices ($1, $5, $10, $25 or $50). The hope is that photographers will monitor their sales and settle on the prices that generate the most revenue. (SnapVillage does not charge different prices depending on file size.)

Early figures at SnapVillage suggest the sweet spot is $7.

That's the average price of an individual SnapVillage image so far, according to Adam Brotman, senior vice president of SnapVillage.

Read the rest at PDN.

Let's see how this average sweet spot works out for SnapVillage. I appreciate them sharing the data with the community. Cutcaster will do the same for the betterment of licensing content online and finding the correct market price so both seller and buyers are happy.

I also asked Daryl about the footage market which he responded with this, "I tend to pay more attention to photos than video, since our readership is mostly photographers, but I’m glad to know about your site. I think Shutterstock recently lowered its prices for footage, and I think Getty did the same thing. It’s a really unsettled market right now, kind of where micropayment photos were 3-4 years ago." It's definitely a fragmented and highly segmented market ;-)

Thanks Daryl

New Licensing Model? Will it work?

Images today are generally licensed for a flat fee, exclusively or non-exclusively. GumGum founders Ophir Tanz and Ari Mir think a better way is to charge for impressions, or on an advertising-supported basis.
GumGum allows any publisher to search for images (there are thousands available now via a number of photography agencies) - here´s an example search for "Britney" [these images are from the X17 photo agency]. Images can be licensed on a CPM basis (generally $0.20 or so, but determined by content owner), or for free with an advertisement.
Any photographer can now upload images and sell them. And any publisher can create an account to license images. Down the road, GumGum says, they´ll be adding video, audio and text content for licensing as well.


This is interesting. I think I understand it conceptually, but not practically.

Content our Buyers want

If you have footage, photos, animations or motion graphics similar to the examples below and you own the rights to them, upload the content and help satisfy some of the needs we have come across when reaching out to potential buyers. These topics and niches have been requested by our growing list of buyers.

Footage and photos that we want (in alphabetical order):

Animations: 3D background animations, 3D/2D motion graphics, background for text in DVD projects and menu systems, web graphics, promotional images and characters, etc.

Action Shots: People eating, working, playing, driving; things in motion or transit

Commercials: Spec commercials, pre and post roll ads, 15-30 seconds in length. All subject matter is welcome and will be listed under short film.

Concept Stock: Deep Hidden Meanings (DHM), images that represent emotions

Corporate Footage: Office shots, conference room shots, presentation shots, people in their work environment, etc.

Documentary/Short Films: All issues and topics

Geographic: Video and images of people and places around the world past, present and future; reels of specific locations, domestic and international

Healthcare: Administrative footage, imagery of healthcare providers and staff attending to administrative tasks in hospital/office settings, images of prescriptions such as pills, medicine, etc.

Historical/Archival: Images and video that capture a moment in history, archive footage

Journalism: News worthy images or video content of relevant issues around the world; local, national and international

Photography: Portraits, still-life, abstract, aerial shots, architecture, motion photography, photo journalism, satellite photography, infrared, cityscapes, travel photography

Rare Artifacts: Footage in King Tuts tomb, an archiaelogical digs, findings, etc. The more rare, the more downloads.

Religious/Spiritual: Footage of rituals, festivals, representative imagery, sermons, etc.

Specialty/Niche Footage: For example, firefighting, extreme fighting, extreme weather reels, hard to find captivating footage

Sports: skateboarding, Squash, mountain biking, ping pong, beer pong, soccer, karate, billiards, Championship ceremonies and shots (i.e. the winning shot), etc. Remember you need your releases.

We are building a high definition library and seeking HD or HDV footage or photos for almost any subject. If you have this content our buyers are interested. Please upload it to the marketplace for review.

Do you need a particular image or video? Post your requirements in the Project Request Forum! Cutcaster offers royalty free images, stock photos, stock footage and stock photography for advertising, publishing or web design.

More digital video and photo content that Cutcaster wants

MORE CONTENT WE WANT…For Television and Print media

Think newsworthy and actuality. Are you the first to crime scenes? Got a great shot from your apartment building? Do you love being the first to report the news? Do you have the inside scoop on accidents, fires, local happenings, good Samaritans, or anything newsworthy.

Are you near the news worthy story. Think impact and quality. What about Huntington video footage of the earthquake. Do you have footage of the trapped miners in Utah? Is a national or international political convention or something that an editor at a news channel would want to put on the air happening around you. Get your camera out and get in contact with us. Put the fruits of your labor to work by submitting and uploading it to sell in Cutcaster’s marketplace for digital content.

Don’t let us forget about hurricane katrina environmental problems, Palestinian refugees, Iraqi and Afghanistan conflict zones, and global poverty. Upload and license your video series, photos and audio clips. Television and newspapers can use this in stories they are reporting on and provides them the most attractive content for their licensing needs.

Microstock Group

If you don't know about this forum it is truly a great find on the Internet for people interested in Microstock and selling their photography online. Microstock is an emerging market, just ask Getty, for selling photos, vectors illustrations and video footage under a Royalty free agreement and at low prices. For a great overview of this market, check out Lee Torrens description from Microstock Diaries here.

The Microstock Group forum is a great place for people selling content online to express their views, get help from one another and spread details about other agencies out there that they are using.