throwstock

I spend about $1k/mo on groceries and basic necessities for a single immigrant mom with five kids who escaped an abusive relationship. Plus some extras like birthday or Christmas presents for the children. Emergency costs too.

Started buying some items for them in 2020 when the pandemic hit and they lost what little income they had. Slowly it grew into large-scale support, and I'm committed to help to get the folks to adulthood.

The impact: I've learned to let go and become less stingy. Donate much more frequently these days because I realized I have more than enough. Much happier this way.

Stock photographers and illustrators are already mostly from poor countries (predominantly non-EU Eastern Europe and South East Asia). Individuals working full-time earn somewhere between $600 and $2,500 monthly on average (depending on the popularity of their content). It's going to become unprofitable even for them.

I think it's quite saturated and the success depends on how well you can attract companies who already use some other stock.

Currently, the best-paying stock is Adobe. Getty isn't as bad as "new" Shutterstock but they also lowered their rates years ago. The same portfolio earns 52% at Shutterstock, 25% at Getty/iStock, 12% at Adobe, 6% at 123RF, 5% at four more small stocks.

On Shutterstock more than 50% of sales come from outside the US, so it doesn't seem like there's much room to grow globally. The problem with Shutterstock is being a public company with growth expectations while not diversifying whatsoever.