where to sell stock photography

Stock photography sites at a glance

Stock Photography Site	Commission
iStock	15% – 45%
Shutterstock	15% – 40%
Alamy	40% – 50%
Adobe Stock	33%

Jun 28 2022

Full Answer

How to make money selling stock photography?

• Write a Business Plan
• Be clear about your costs.
• Get some good photography gear and learn how to take stock photos.
• Build an online presence shooting stock photos
• Create an Online Portfolio.

Where can I buy cheap stock photos?

iStock –previously known as iStockphoto– is headquartered in Calgary, Canada, and is the pioneer company in what is called “microstock”: selling royalty-free stock photos on the Internet, with a minimum payment threshold and very low per-image prices.

What stock photos sell best?

Who Buys Stock Photos, and What Type of Photos Sell the Best?

• People — kids, adults and everyone in between from every country and culture!
• People working — These images are very popular with businesses. ...
• Food — Various types of delicious foods even empty unwashed plates.
• Tools — Gears, hammers, nuts, bolts and screws can convey a lot of things for potential buyers.

More items...

Where to find the best free stock photos?

The best free stock photos in 2022: high quality images for your new project

• Stunning pictures from pro and semi-pro photographers. ...
• The biggest collection of free stock photos and illustrations online. ...
• Fun and surreal photos that provide a breath of fresh air. ...
• Free public domain stock photos from around the world. ...
• An excellent resource if you need natural-looking photos of people. ...

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Which stock photo site is best for selling?

Best Places to Sell Your Photos OnlineOn Your Own Website. The number one best place to sell photos online is on your own website. ... Adobe Stock. ... Shutterstock. ... Alamy. ... Etsy. ... Fotomoto. ... Crestock. ... 500px.More items...•

How much does it pay to sell stock photos?

In general, stock photos earn approximately 25-45 cents per image, per month. This obviously depends on many factors, including how many agencies you upload to, your skill in keywording, and the uniqueness of the images.

Can you sell pictures to stock photos?

The easiest way to make your photographs available as stock images for sale is by using a third-party microstock website such as iStockPhoto, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, 123RF, or Getty Images via Flickr. Selling your photos through a stock agency like this is quick and easy.

Does anyone buy stock photos?

Who buys stock photos? The answer to this question can be both long and short depending on how you look at it. Designers and Producers are the main consumers of Stock Photography and these images can be found across a plethora of today's modern media!

Can you make a living selling stock photos?

Earning money by selling stock photos is still possible, despite high competition. By regularly uploading high-quality stock images (and videos), you can gradually build an impressive portfolio that will earn you up to hundreds of dollars per month.

What stock photos are in demand?

Images that have strong leading lines will continue to be in demand for stock photography. Photos that capture relaxing scenes like beaches, snow-capped trees and fields of flowers will be the most popular.

Is it worth selling photos on Shutterstock?

For most stock photographers and illustrators, Shutterstock consistently outperforms all other agencies. If you are thinking of getting started as a microstock photographer, make sure Shutterstock is at the top of your list to join. For many contributors, Shutterstock represents around 40% of their monthly earnings.

How much do Shutterstock pay for photos?

New contributors start out at the lowest tier, US$0 – $500, and earn $0.25 per subscription image purchase or $0.81 per on-demand image (small-medium). Long-time contributors, who have generated over US$10,000+, earn $0.38 per subscription image or $1.24 per on-demand image.

How do I start selling stock photos?

The best way to sell photographs online is by selling them as stock images for sale on third-party websites like iStockPhoto, Dreamstime, Shutterstock, or 123RF. Selling your photos through stock sites is quick, easy, and affordable.

What type of photos sell best?

5 Things the Best-Selling Photos of People Have in CommonSingle Photos Sell Better than Group Shots. This one really surprised us. ... Candid Photos Sell Better than Posed Shots. ... Wide Shots Sell Better than Closeups. ... Looking Away is Better than Facing the Camera. ... Unidentified Subjects Sell Better.

Is it worth selling photos online?

It's all about what makes the most sense for you! If you can upload 1000+ photos and are happy with an extra $100 bucks from it each month then I say go for it. I think it's an excellent little side hobby to earn some extra cash, even if it's not your primary source of income.

Where can I upload my photos for money?

Best places to sell photos onlineAdobe Stock.Canva.Crestock.Depositphotos.Dreamstime.Fotolia.Freepik.Getty Images.More items...•

How much can you make selling stock photos?

According to ziprecruiter stock photographers can earn an income of around $36,991 per year, on average.

Is selling stock photos profitable?

Stock photographers make money through commissions each time someone downloads their image from a stock photo site. This means that profits in stoc...

How do I sell stock photos?

You can sign up as a photographer on a stock photography website and upload your photos to it. You will get commissions based on how many times you...

What is the best stock photo selling site?

Getty Images and Shutterstock are the two most popular stock photo websites and they command the lion’s share of the market when it comes to stock...

What is the best way to sell photographs?

The best way to sell photographs online is by selling them as stock images for sale on third-party websites like iStockPhoto, Dreamstime, Shutterst...

Where can I sell my photos online for money?

Some of the most popular place for selling photos online include: On your own website Alamy 500px SmugMug Pro Shutterstock iStockPhoto Etsy Getty I...

How do you make money from stock photography?

A stock photography website, or stock agency, sells high-priced and exclusive images that you upload. The agency licenses individual images to the...

Does a photographer keep copyrights?

But the photographer keeps the copyrights to themselves. Keeping the copyright allows photographers to reuse the stock images and make multiple sales of the same image, generating recurring income over time. While there might be some exceptions, this is how it usually works.

Can you submit images to Dreamstime?

Dreamstime. You can choose to submit images to Dreamstime either as a non-exclusive contributor or as an exclusive contributor. You can also mix-and-match the two depending on images that you have submitted. For non-exclusive images, Dreamstime pays 25-50% of the net sales of an image's downloads.

Can you license stock photos multiple times?

The brighter side is that since stock images can be licensed multiple times to multiple buyers, so there is indeed great potential for photographers to sell stock photos and earn residual income over time.

What is Shutterstock?

Shutterstock is a leading stock photography website for selling photos online. The platform has paid out over a billion dollars to its community in the past 15 years, and it can get your photos seen by millions of customers.

How much does Zenfolio charge for photography?

Plus, it offers photography print and digital product options, with a commission fee of 7%.

What is istock photo?

iStock Photo is the micro-stock offshoot of by Getty Images. The major difference between the two is your photos on iStock are non-exclusive, which means you can sell your photography with other agencies as well. However, this means you earn a much lower commission than exclusive photos. Commission ranges from 15% to 45%, depending on whether the photos are exclusive or non-exclusive.

What is Getty Images?

Getty Images is on the higher end of stock photography sites. It attracts brands and publishers looking for high-quality or hard-to-find exclusive images to license. The platform, along with its microstock site, iStock, reaches over 1.5 million customers around the world.

Is selling photos online a good idea?

As you can see, selling photos is a great online business idea. Whether photography is your hobby, your side gig, or your full-time hustle, there are more avenues than ever before when it comes to selling photos online—it just takes a little extra know-how.

Is 500px royalty free?

All content submitted to the site is royalty free, meaning it’s licensed for unlimited, perpetual use, and pricing is based on file size.

How does it depend on how many images you have in your portfolio?

It depends on how many images you have in your portfolio. It depends on how well keyworded your images are. It certainly depends on how well researched your subjects are and how closely they represent the clients’ demands. It depends, too, on how serious you are about stock photography.

How many downloads per image to make $1,000?

With an average of four downloads per image, you will make your first $1,000. You should make some 500 good quality and different images considering that the stock photography sites may not accept some pictures. How fast you can make 500 images of interesting objects/models is up to you.

How much commission does Fotolia charge?

Fotolia’s commission rates are good. You start off with a commission rate of 20 percent for non-exclusive images and hope to get up to 46 percent. For exclusive sales, you get 35 percent to start off going all the way to 63 percent.

What is photoworkout team?

The PhotoWorkout Team is always curious about the latest photography gear, post-processing software, up & coming photographers, and innovative ways to print your photos.

What is a model release?

A standard model release is a legally enforceable document that passes all rights to the images from the model to the photographer and also passes on the right to modify any images that s/he appears in during the shoot.

What is rights free image?

Rights-free images denote images that are free to be downloaded from a micro-stock website and used in any form deemed fit by the buyer. These images, however, have a non-exclusivity claus e and usually does not have a time limit for use.

Can I take pictures of the same caliber?

At your level, it may not be that easy to start taking pictures of the same caliber. I do not doubt your abilities. But there is a certain thing called experience, and that counts. However, as you grow, you will only get better, and in no time you will start to shoot images of the same caliber.

Benefits of selling your photography on stock photo sites

The most obvious benefit for photographers selling their photos via a stock photo site is that with focused effort, it can be a way to make a decent amount of passive income while maintaining complete control over what, when, and where you shoot.

Things to consider when comparing stock photography sites

So you’ve decided to start selling your photos through a stock photography website, but how do you choose which one (or which ones) to use? Here are some things to consider, because each of them is slightly different in its approach.

1. iStock

iStock is a big name in the stock photo business. The site was acquired many years ago by Getty Images, but their pricing and commission structure is kept very different from Getty’s. However, you do need to use the Getty Contributor app in order to upload images.

2. Shutterstock

Next on the list, Shutterstock is another industry leader in the stock photo game. They claim to have paid out more than a billion dollars to their contributors in the last 16 years they’ve been doing business and those who got in early will attest to that. Shutterstock has traditionally been well-loved by photographers.

3. Alamy

Alamy is a more traditional stock photography website than the other two we’ve reviewed so far. They charge their users a lot more per photo, and thus, your commission per photo is also higher. At the same time, it seems they have stricter standards for accepting contributors.

4. Adobe Stock

Relatively new to the stock photo game, Adobe Stock has quickly become one of the top players.

5. Dreamstime

Dreamstime is one of the oldest stock photography sites on the web, having launched 15 years ago. It’s a microstock site, similar in pricing strategy to iStock and Shutterstock. However, many contributors prefer selling their photos through Dreamstime because they consistently earn money there.

What is istock photography?

iStock is another popular name in the stock photography industry. As such, it can provide a good platform for displaying your images (and of course a better chance of selling).

When was Depositphotos founded?

Depositphotos has been on the stock photography market since 2009 when it was founded by Dmitry Sergeev. For 10 years the company has grown significantly and it’s continuing to expand its collection rapidly.

How many assets does Getty Images have?

Getty Images is undoubtedly a beast on the contemporary stock photography market, with an astonishing number of assets in its gallery: more than 200 million. It’s also one of the oldest stock sites, operating since 1995.

What does it mean when a photographer chooses non exclusive?

If the contributor chooses the non-exclusive option, it means that the photographer can upload the images not only to iStock, but to other stock sites as well. In this case the photographer gets a flat commission of 15%.

Is Shutterstock royalty free?

Shutterstock is another popular name in the world of stock photography. It offers an impressive 270 million royalty-free images to its clients. The site is visited by thousands of people daily, which increases the chance of your work getting noticed and purchased.

Who owns Fotolia?

It used to be an independent player on the market, but this year it was acquired by Adobe Stock.

Does Westend61 sell stock photos?

Westend61 can also offer a very tempting add-on: they’ll not only sell your stock photos, but they can also mediate commissions from their clients. In this case, since they’re just connecting two parties, you get 85% of the profits and the fee for them is 15%. Pretty sweet deal! 7.