When anyone with the latest iPhone can call themselves a photographer, selling photos online can be a challenge. However, many photographers are making profits from their photography work online by choosing a specific niche, growing their social media followers, and partnering with photography licensing platforms. Here are 17 of the most popular places to sell photos online, along with tips on how to sell stock photos.
Best Places to Sell Photos Online
Photo licensing is one of the most popular ways to sell photos online. Stock photo sites will license your images to brands, agencies, and anyone in need of high-quality images for commercial use. They will then give you a portion of the revenue.
If you are building a collection of high-quality professional images, consider contributing to a stock photo site to profit from your collection. Choose a site from this list based on your level of photography expertise and preferences for exclusive licensing.
1. Alamy
Alamy has several commission models for photographers to choose from. Alamy has one of the largest stock photo collections online, with over 300 million stock images, vector graphics, videos, and 360-degree images. It also offers an app called Stockimo, where you can sell photos from your phone. Alamy pays contributors monthly and has several commission models. Photographers receive between 17% and 50% of sales, depending on the popularity of the image and the type of license. There are no long-term contracts with Alamy, and you can receive payment in multiple currencies.
2. 500px
500px combines stock photo licensing with community features. 500px Licensing hosts millions of photographers selling photos online through the 500px stock photography site. 500px’s distribution partners serve over a million clients worldwide and are the go-to for creative content. 500px is also a community-based platform for beginner and professional photographers. You can follow other photographers, showcase images in the online marketplace, and participate in photography contests to win prizes. Paid members can earn royalties up to 100%, and free users can earn royalties up to 60% for exclusive images.
3. SmugMug Pro
SmugMug offers three different subscription plans. Whether you are a new photographer or a certified professional, SmugMug can help you sell your stock photos online through your portfolio, sales platform, and other tools. SmugMug allows you to keep 85% of the profit from the price you set and SmugMug’s default print prices.
4. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is one of the most well-known stock photography sites. Shutterstock is a famous site for selling photos online and has paid over a billion dollars to its community in the past 15 years. Shutterstock is a microstock site, where images are cheaper and non-exclusive. The main way to increase downloads is to contribute a large quantity of images. You might not expect to earn a lot with Shutterstock, but it is a good place to start if you are learning how to sell stock photos. Earnings payments depend on the revenue over time and range from 20% to 30%. There is also an affiliate program through which you can earn more money by referring new photographers or clients.
5. iStock Photo
iStock Photo is a microstock branch of Getty Images. The main difference between the two platforms is that photos on iStock can be non-exclusive, meaning you can sell your images with other agencies. Commissions range from 15% to 45%, depending on contributor agreements. To sell photos on iStock, you need to apply with a portfolio of sample images.
6.
Getty Images
Getty Images has a large library of premium images. Getty Images attracts brands and online publishers looking for high-quality or exclusive images that are hard to find for licensing. The standards for how to sell your images online with Getty are stricter than many other stock photo sites. However, prices for licensed high-quality images start at 20% and can go higher. You will also need to apply to be a contributor with a set of sample images.
7. Stocksy
Stocksy is a popular site for selling stock photos. It’s one of the best ways to sell images online for many publishers and creatives, as Stocksy offers high payouts to contributors. Photographers can earn a 50% commission on standard licenses and a 75% commission on extended licenses. However, all images must be exclusive to the platform. Stocksy is an artist-owned cooperative, meaning contributors are part owners of the business and can help guide the direction of the work. Contributors can also receive a share of profits when the cooperative has a surplus.
8. Can Stock Photo
Over 100,000 photographers sell images online with Can Stock Photo. The site offers different payment structures with varying rates and fixed amounts. When selling images on Can Stock Photo, your images are also displayed for sale on Fotosearch, a stock photography agency.
9. Adobe Stock
If you use the Adobe suite for your photography projects, you can add your photos, videos, vectors, and illustrations to Adobe Stock, the company’s online stock photo platform. Assets can be uploaded directly from Lightroom and Bridge. Contributors who link their Adobe ID to Adobe Stock can earn a 33% commission.
10. Envato Elements
Get a share of total subscription revenue by joining Envato Elements. Envato Elements is a powerful site for selling stock photos where you can sell images online and connect with potential customers. You can sell images on the Envato Elements app or upload images to your own site under your brand. In any case, it’s a popular place to sell images and make money online doing what you love. A 50% share of the net subscription revenue goes to contributors.
11. Depositphotos
Depositphotos connects photographers with well-known companies. Depositphotos is a global marketplace for visual content with a library of over 270 million files and 38 million clients worldwide. Pay is based on the contributor’s experience and standing on the site, as well as the image resolution and type of license. Commissions range from 25 cents to $33.82 per image.
12. Dreamstime
Dreamstime is a well-known site for selling images online. Since 2000, Dreamstime has provided high-quality images to clients in the creative marketplace – from private freelancers to Fortune 500 companies. The photo agency has over 50 million registered members and over a million contributing photographers. Dreamstime offers royalties up to 60% for contributors. However, you must be an exclusive user to earn the highest commissions, and non-exclusive contributors can earn 25% to 45%, depending on the popularity of the image.
13. EyeEm
EyeEm focuses on stock advertising photography, making it a suitable place to sell images online if you work in commercial photography. Their clients include Apple and Spotify. You can also get photography bookings through a dedicated location feature. Images uploaded to EyeEm also appear on Getty for increased visibility. Contributors can receive a share of licensing revenue up to 55%, depending on their total annual revenue.
14.
123RF
123RF is a straightforward site for selling non-exclusive images. All content on 123RF is non-exclusive, so you can sell your photos on its platform as well as on other sites. 123RF markets your images to over 10 million registered users. Once you become a contributor, you can earn between 30% and 60% of each license sold.
15. Foap
You can pitch to large brands on Foap. Foap features a community of over three million creators. The site offers contributors various ways to sell photography, including fees per image and missions, where brands provide a brief and set a cash prize to win the missions. Foap’s clients include KraftHeinz, Nivea, and Volvo.
16. Zenfolio
You can build an online gallery using Zenfolio to showcase your work, attract clients, and sell your images. The site provides both printed and digital product options. You will need a subscription to use Zenfolio, starting at $3.50 per month if paid annually, and the company charges a service fee of 6.9% for self-fulfilled products and 9.9% for seller-fulfilled products and digital products.
17. Pixieset
Pixieset offers photographers the ability to share, deliver, and sell images online. With Pixieset, you can create an online store to sell photo prints, products, and more with automatic fulfillment. Pixieset takes a 15% commission for free plans but does not take a commission on paid plans, which start at $8 per month when billed annually.
How to Sell Stock Photos
Now that you know where to sell photos online, you can learn how to sell stock photography as a successful and legitimate business. 1. Define your stock photography niche 2. Use Instagram 3. Integrate e-commerce into your website 4. Sell stock photos as prints and photo books 5. Sell photography as a service 6. Protect your rights to use your images
Sources:
https://www.shopify.com/blog/sell-photos-online
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