It's no use trying to sell original stuff

Once again. No use (aha) trying to sell original (or may I say creative) stuff. I mean here on graphicriver. I find it boring to make another “shiny font style” or “plastic download buttons”. (I also find oh so boring looking at the front page stuffed with those things (or something one would expect to find on istock but that’s a different story.)

What do you guys think? I hope no one here actually “does it for a living” so we still have certain freedom of making what we like and not trying to please virual customer who (apparently) only wants plastic kindergartenish stuff. Am I wrong?

Hello Kvakin,

I think you are half way right on this one. It’s true that on graphicriver you will find a lot of buttons, price lists, business cards, web elements (menus, boxes, separators… ) and so on, but it is only cause these make a pretty good sale.
Why upload a file that you know it won’t sale but it has a great quality and it has a big dose of creativity. I’m not saying authors won’t come and comment and appreciate a good file but the sales will remain on a small level. There are websites where you can really show your creativity to the world, like Creattica .

I’m not saying that files all around graphicriver are boring. You can find many button files that look great and you can see that they have some creativity in them. That is cause there are creative authors on Graphicriver, and a lot of them.
Nothing stops you to bring to the marketplace new ides of files and do everything that your mind wants to do or you can take an allready existing idea and try to add something new to it (crativity, make it easier to use).

Ex. My files don’t bring a new idea, i’m also doing menus, buttons, backgrounds but i’m trying to add a + to the quality of every file. I can’t say that i managed to do that to every file .

Ok to much talking.
My point is if you want to show your creativity on Graphicriver there is nothing that’s stoping you and there are a lot of ways you can do that.

Just my opinion.

I think many people here are actually doing it for a living. Also, I think majority of buyers here are buying stuff for their projects and are probably not going to buy an item they don’t need, even though they like it. I like a lot of items here and on other marketplaces but can’t afford to spend the money on things I don’t really need for my client’s projects. At least not at the moment.

A lot of authors have comments placed on items they have for sale i.e great idea, nice file. But the person placing the comment more often than not is not actually going to or has purchased the file in question. Its nice to get this sort of feedback but still does not put any money into your account though the comment may encourage other potential buyers to make a purchase. There are some awesome files here on GraphicRiver but unless purchasers have a need for them then they are not going to make the sales that shiny buttons make. You would have to be very talented to make a living on this site but I am sure there are one or two authors who actually are doing it. Me, I just do it for the learning curve and boost when I get a purchase.

You would have to be very talented to make a living on this site but I am sure there are one or two authors who actually are doing it.

Well, to me it seems there’s quite a few authors here (meaning all marketplaces) that make a nice monthly income. Also, it’s a big difference where you live – for a buck in my country you only get a pack of chewing gum, somewhere else you might get a lunch.

You would have to be very talented to make a living on this site but I am sure there are one or two authors who actually are doing it.

Well, to me it seems there’s quite a few authors here (meaning all marketplaces) that make a nice monthly income. Also, it’s a big difference where you live – for a buck in my country you only get a pack of chewing gum, somewhere else you might get a lunch.

For a lunch, as you say, someone in some country is ready to stuff marketplaces with zillions of stupid amateurish buttons. And then people ask why there are so many ugly sites nowadays.

I only make original items, I believe there is long term value it having a unique portfolio but there’s no ways I could make enough from sales from just GR. Next year It’s looking like I’ll author professionally which will mean I’ll expand onto VideoHive and Audio Jungle.

It’s not that original stuff would not sell. The clients have different taste of yours, you see your item pretty impressive but they don’t. Not because it’s not good or because it isn’t built right, just because he ( the client ) doesn’t need it in that particular moment.

I do stuff that in my perspective will sell like crazy – but, in reality, they don’t.

For example : I really dig your “Newsletter Widget/Button” file but that doesn’t mean I will buy it. Not right now.

A good selling item is one that is constantly needed in design business. The majority of popular items here on GR are items that you can download right now and use it right away. You can find almost instantly an idea to implement that specific item.

Things that are original are often not as flexible. I think the focus should be on quality in the execution and not on originality.

Things that are original are often not as flexible. I think the focus should be on quality in the execution and not on originality.

Spot on, in my opinion.

If people wanted something totally unique and original, they wouldn’t be buying from a stock graphic site.

Besides, unique isn’t always great. If you’re making web elements (which you are) familiarity is a good thing! Using the example of your newsletter widget, whilst it is technically impressive – it is also quite stylised so would fit into a huge number of sites – then on top of that it’s an email sign up form without any buttons (and no actual form unless you click). From a usability point of view, I’d be concerned my customers don’t understand it… leading me to buying something less original that you’d consider to be worse thna your file but still fits my needs better.