Selling stock motion graphics

[adam 0]

Hi everyone,

 

I've been googling around a while and I can't seem to find much discussion on selling stock motion graphics... especially any that's relatively recent (many discussions are from around 2010 or earlier). Is that because no one is really doing it as much anymore?

I've been thinking of starting to sell some online.

I searched here and I see maybe a couple people do it, or used to at least.

Would anyone who does it be willing to to share any thoughts or general info on how they're liking it? I don't expect anyone to disclose numbers if they prefer not to, but I am curious if anyone is finding a way to sell enough clips to make, if not a full income, at least an income equivalent of doing freelance part-time?

 

Any comments from those who are doing it or have tried in the last year or two are much appreciated.

 

Thank you!

[scott frizzle 0]

I did a bunch of stock animation work going back to the late 90's and into the early 2000's, including several collections for Artbeats and 12 Inch Design. At the time there wasn't a lot of it out there, so it was a fairly lucrative deal. I was a partner at a small broadcast design company and the stock animation work was great for keeping employees busy between projects. Unfortunately there is just so damned much of it out there now that I can't imagine it being worth the effort, unless you've got a pile of looping animations sitting on a drive somewhere.

 

For some of the work we did we got a percentage sales for each collection we built, as well and a percentage of any bundle our collections were sold in. For the first year or so the collections sold very well and made a good amount of money for us, but over the years the sales dropped off considerably, mainly due to massive amounts of competition.

 

I've also done work where there was a flat fee for groups of animations; I think it was something like $1,500 for 5 animations at the time, which even then wasn't great and only really worth it if you had nothing else to do. There are tons of sites now where you can upload animations for sale, but generally you are one of thousands of options and aren't going to get much out of it even if your work is outstanding. Again, if you've got a pile of things already built, then it's probably worth getting them out there, but I just can't imagine building stock animations from scratch is going to be worth your time.

[adam 0]

Thank you Scott I appreciate you taking the time to share that.

I don't have much in the way of a back catalog I can put up... I was mainly thinking of making new stuff. So yes a very large time investment up front.

I do have some ideas for things that aren't out there in huge quantities as far as I can tell... but I suppose the only way to really find out if they would be in demand is to make them and put them out there.

[este.eri 0]

Hi Adam,

 

Check out MotionArray.com. We have a pretty great system with some really happy artists doing work there. Manly After Effects templates and music. Some artists can consistently see $1000-1500 each month. But since we are a membership company that shares revenue as members grow, revenue grows.

 

Go here to learn more:

 

https://motionarray.com/become-a-producer

 

Best,

[vozzz 2]

i made some stock christmas animations. Really just because i wanted to make some christmas themed animations. they've made a couple of hundred bucks.

 

i think if you put in full time in it, it could be profitable. but depends on what you make and how good you are i guess. and how fast you make it.

 

@este.eri: i don't get why they are making such a big deal on that website about profit sharing. It sounds like the artist gets 50% of the sales he makes. which is decent for a non-exclusive market place.

[este.eri 0]

It's not a big deal but it can be in the future. Since memberships can be more expensive later or we add other services then there is an opportunity for a bigger profit to share. It's not on a set price per product.