Selling HD footage - any good sites that actually work?

[David Delaney]

I have been seeing different site for selling HD footage. My question is whether any of them actually work in producing some cash each month?
I was looking at revostock, footagebank.com etc.
I know it all depends on content, quality and timing for the footage, but I am more curious about how easy it is
1) sell the footage to the buyer through the site
2) get paid when sold
3) Rights for the footage
4) paper-work involved

Thanks

[David Delaney]

Is there no response because others haven't tried the HiDef video selling sites or because if they do work, people are reluctant to share their good fortune?

[Ervin Farkas]

I have no personal experience with them, but pond5.com and istockphoto.com are two reputable sites that buy/sell video footage, both SD and HD.

[Toby Creamer]

I sell both video and photos through iStock. I have been focussing on photos but I have a couple of clips up. The royalties are quite good but at the moment iStock has very slow processing/acceptance times for footage taking several weeks opposed to several days for photos. However, they have a very active feedback community and I'm sure it will improve over time.

[Alfred Diaz]

I am interested in this topic too. If you feel my questions are not appropriate, I will start a new thread.

I also have been looking into Istock. They seem to charge low and pay low. I think that is because they really don't sell any transmission or duplication rights (from what I understand the agreement to be).

Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that they don't sell any of those rights, but at the same time I realize that people are going to pay more for video they can transmit or duplicate (at least that's the case when I buy music, so I assume people will also pay more for more video rights).

Am I correct on their rights? How much have you earned, if you don't mind sharing? Finally, do you know which companies are paying the most for video?

Thanks

Al

[David Rice]

During this past year I have worked with a number of Web sites that sell HD video footage. I have submitted over 2,400 HD clips. I have sold some footage, however, I no longer submit footage.

A few observations and reasons why:

1. At this time, there is a lot of competition out there, and it looks to me that the market is currenlty flooded with people and companies trying to sell stock video footage.
2. Some of the earlier web sites have already closed down.
3. It is "very time consumming" getting your footage ready and formated.
4. There is no consistent format or delivery system among the sellers. Again very time consumming in order to get your clips submitted.
5. Once you provide the footage, you have no control over the quality of your footage that the sellers sell to their clients.
6. Sites with a established client bases are the most successfull. But, the same sites have 100,000's of clips available from 100's of producers. Sales is a numbers game, unless you have a large number of clips for sell, your clips will be very difficult to find or sell from their web sites.

For me, the time and energy involved was a total waste. To me, it looks like the only people making money in the stock video business, are the large well established companies who make their money by selling your footage.

So far, I know of no one who has every made more than a few thousand dollars a year from selling clips through those Web Sites. Then again, it's all about volume. I'm sure that if a person had the time and resources they could submit large volumes of clips and do better. I understand that you can expect 1% of your clips per year to sell. But, with that kind of time and resources, why not sell from your own web site?

If anyone has done any better, I'd like to hear about it.

[James Orlowski]

I jumped into the stock footage ocean a few months ago. I mostly do it in my spare time for some extra income.

I'm not getting rich, but then again, I'm not doing it full time, and I only submit video (no pictures).

Of the places I submit, I've had the most sales on Revostock. Today alone three clips sold (that's the most in one day I've had so far anywhere).

I submit about 20+ clips each month. Some people (who have much more time than I, apparently), submit over 100.

I hear if you devote plenty of time, and have a vast and diverse portfolio, you'll do well. But it takes time to reach that level. Don't get frustrated if you don't sell a lot in your first few months. Keep at it.

Think of things that aren't already done, or at the very least if you're having writer's block, improve on what's selling good from others.

Here's the list of places I submit to, in the order of number of sales:
1. RevoStock: Affordable Stock Video Footage, After Effects Projects, Music and Sound Effects
2. ODesigns at Pond5.com : The World's Stock Footage Marketplace
3. Shutterstock :: Make money with your photos!
4. Member Profile : OrlowskiDesigns | iStockphoto.com
5. Stock Footage | Royalty Free Stock Video | Motiondrops

All combined, I get a couple hundred bucks per month, with some months doing better than others.

It is very tedious to submit, especially if you submit to various outlets, but I don't mind--too much. Besides, I find it interesting to think of new shots, and it keeps my skills active.

I'm sure I'll get tired of it eventually, but even if I do, I still expect sales and residuals from clips I submitted long ago. Now that's nice.

Good luck.