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Participant
September 2, 2025
Answered

Sales Decline

  • September 2, 2025
  • 4 replies
  • 728 views

Hello everyone, I’ve been contributing icons to Adobe Stock for the past three years, and until recently, my portfolio was performing well, earning me around $35 a day consistently. However, over the past few weeks, my downloads have dropped dramatically, and now I’m barely making $10 a day, even though I continue uploading new icons regularly. This sudden decline is discouraging, and I’m wondering if others are experiencing the same. Has there been a change in the search algorithm, buyer behavior, or something else affecting visibility? Any insights or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Correct answer RALPH_L

If you are making $10-$35/day, you are what I would call a top contributor and I doubt that you will find someone here who even comes close to earning those amounts.  

Last year you also reported a decline in downloads where you reported that you were averaging 15 downloads/day. 
As you have noticed, there are periods of fluctuation.

4 replies

Abambo
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 11, 2025

Sales fluctuate. I assume you also have periods with higher sales figures and are not surprised by the change. The £10 may be the norm. There are indeed many factors that influence sales. One of these factors is the holidays, another is the ever-increasing competition. And then Adobe could also be experiencing a decline in customer numbers due to various other factors. 

ABAMBO | Hard- and Software Engineer | Photographer
Nancy OShea
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 2, 2025
  • Schools just started their Fall semester here.
  • People are coming back to work from vacations.
  • And, as fate would have it, COVID-19 is surging again. 😷
  • Everything comes in cycles, including Stock sales.

 

Don't worry unnecessarily about dips in sales.  If it becomes more serious, try submitting something other than icons. Customers are always looking for images of people interacting with people at home, school, work and recreation. Be creative. Try new things.

 

 

Nancy O'Shea— Product User & Community Expert
Participant
September 10, 2025

Thanks a lot for the suggestion.

Jill_C
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 2, 2025

August is often a slower month due to vacations and holidays around the world, but it usually starts to pick up again in September. If Adobe has changed the search algorithm they wouldn't tell us, but many others have noted slower sales so I suppose it's just a seasonal slump.

Jill C., Forum Volunteer
daniellei4510
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 2, 2025

It's also worth mentioning that AI may play a large part. Not the AI that is submitted as such, but AI that potential buyers are creating and using themselves. Adobe now offers about 20 other AI options in addition to Firefly. I suspect this might account for at least some decline in overall sales.

Adobe Community Expert | If you can't fix it, hide it; if you can't hide it, delete it.
Participant
September 10, 2025

Thanks a lot for the feedback.

RALPH_L
Community Expert
RALPH_LCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
September 2, 2025

If you are making $10-$35/day, you are what I would call a top contributor and I doubt that you will find someone here who even comes close to earning those amounts.  

Last year you also reported a decline in downloads where you reported that you were averaging 15 downloads/day. 
As you have noticed, there are periods of fluctuation.

Participant
September 2, 2025

Thanks a lot for the support.