Steady Decline in Sales on Envato Elements – Is This Platform Still Worth It for Authors in 2025?

[tanveerceo73]

Hey everyone,

I’ve been a contributor on Envato Elements for over 4 years now, and I never imagined I’d be writing this kind of post — but here we are.

Over the last few months, I’ve noticed a massive, consistent drop in sales and engagement across my entire portfolio. This isn’t a seasonal dip — it’s deeper, more persistent, and, honestly, worrying.

Here’s my full breakdown, analysis, and a few thoughts on where we might be heading…

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Portfolio Overview:

• Total Items: 420+
• Categories: Graphics, UI Kits, Print Templates
• Upload Frequency: Bi-weekly
• Portfolio Quality: Top-rated items, multiple featured previously

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What’s Actually Happening?

Month	Earnings	Downloads	Avg. per Download
January 2025	$198	711	$0.27
April 2025	$143	564	$0.25
July 2025	$89	347	$0.18

That’s over 50% drop in just 6 months — with no major changes in my upload routine, quality, or content relevance.

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What Might Be Causing This?

After connecting with a few fellow authors and doing some personal research, here are the likely causes:

1. Search Algorithm Overhaul

Older items have lost visibility. Even top-performing assets are buried unless refreshed regularly — which is practically impossible for large portfolios.

2. Platform Saturation

Elements has seen a huge influx of new contributors and AI-generated assets, making it harder for genuinely good content to stand out.

3. *User Behavior Shift*

Subscribers seem to be more focused on quantity, not quality. People are downloading bulk packs instead of refined individual templates.

4. Unclear Revenue Distribution

Let’s face it — $0.03/download? There is no transparency in how earnings are calculated. This is unsustainable.

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My Experiments (and Results)

• Optimized titles/tags — short-term boost, no long-term improvement.
• Exclusive mini niche bundles — downloaded, but didn’t move the earnings needle.
• Promoted items on social — increased views, but again, low conversion to downloads.

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The Mental & Financial Impact

Let’s be honest — this is draining. As creatives, we put in hours (sometimes days) into a single asset. And when it earns less than a cup of coffee… it’s demotivating.

I used to rely on Elements for a good chunk of passive income, but now I’m actively exploring alternatives (Creative Market, self-hosted stores, Patreon).

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Let’s Talk Solutions

• Envato should reintroduce human curation for featured/new uploads.
• There mus
  Sometimes, you just need a muffin and a moment to breathe.

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What About You?

• Are you seeing the same decline?
• Have you found anything that reversed the drop?
• Or have you already jumped ship to another platform?

Let’s start a meaningful conversation — the more data and feedback we share, the more pressure we can collectively create for transparency and change.

We built this platform — it’s time they start listening to us.

— A creator trying to stay optimistic in the storm

[ki-themes]

No need to create another one, you can join one of these:

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Sales down 70% from 2018 to 2023 !!! Terrible status! What do you think about the future?

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PS: Please, stop posting here with “puppet” account. Use your original one.

@tanveerceo73

Envato Elements for over 4 years now

There’s no related marketplace/element account at this username, if Envato wants to find you, your IP is registered anyway. It’s not hard.

[Boris_Cupac]

I’ve been on Envato Elements since the very first day it was announced and launched – back in October 2016.

With a lot of excitement and motivation, I started uploading fresh, high-quality designs. At the time, I was active on GraphicRiver, and they hand-picked a group of authors from that platform to contribute to Elements. The earnings were great in the beginning.

For the past 9 years, I’ve been consistently uploading new work. Today, I have around 1,000 items (brochures, magazines, newsletters, catalogs, etc.), but my monthly earnings have dropped drastically:
From $1,000, to $800, then $500, down to $200, and now – like many of you – I’m receiving just around $120/month.

This is, of course, a paradox: I have 10 times more work online, have invested 10 times more time and effort, yet I’m earning almost 10 times less.

Naturally, I’m disappointed and frustrated. I’m actively looking for a new platform and new opportunities that can provide a fair income – one that respects the time, effort, and quality we put into our work.

I also have a shop on Creative Market, but it’s basically a ghost town – maybe one sale a month, if I’m lucky (LOL).

So let’s be honest: Envato Elements is no longer what it used to be.
We don’t know who exactly is responsible for that decline – but one thing’s for sure: we, the authors, are not to blame.