These days, there are numerous ways to make money online. The rapid growth of technology and the continuous advent of newer things has birthed diverse means of making money from the internet. Selling photos online is an excellent way to make extra income. This is regardless of whether you intend to pursue your passion and make it a career or simply as a passive income.
But where is the best place to sell photos online? You have numerous options on the internet. With this comprehensive guide, you can learn how to share your stock photography photos to make money.
This post also highlights the strengths and otherwise of each marketplace to help you make a decisive stand on your new adventure. Keep reading!
Best Places to Sell Photos
An avid photographer would have a library of photos on their hard drive or other storage devices. Rather than let those beautiful images gather digital dust, would you not rather sell your photos online and earn money? There are numerous ways to do this. One of them is to take the photos to stock photo websites, social media platforms, or other art marketplaces. We understand which of these works best, and that is why we recommend stock photo websites.
10 Best Websites to Sell Stock Photos
Stock photography websites are among the best places to sell photos online. They offer an incredible amount of significance because you have to put in little effort. They do the selling for you. All you have to do is upload your photos, sit back and watch the profits pour in.
In addition, the stock photo websites like the Getty Images free service give timely information on trends. That way, you have a holistic idea of the type of images that stand a higher chance of giving you more money.
There are, however, a few downsides to using stock photography websites and they are:
- Too much content out there: The amount of stock photos ready to be used is growing minute by minute. This indicates that your photos will have to compete with millions of others on the internet for attention.
- It can take a long time to get your photo or images ready. You might have to spend a lot of time editing your photos before you upload them. These websites have stringent guidelines regarding selling photos online, and you have to follow these
laid-down rules regarding the information required for each image and its quality.
Once you’ve taken these potential downsides into consideration, it’s time to start thinking about which site might work best for your stock photo selling needs:
1. Alamy
Alamy is a stock photography website with millions of videos and photos. It attributes the tremendous amount of content to the 50% royalty payment on each photo sold on the website. While the commissions are huge, it also does not allow you to sell photos to them.
2. iStock Photo
iStock photo is the microstock branch of Getty Images. You can sell stock photos on iStock photo, especially if you are just starting. It comprises resources and popular forums that foster a better understanding of selling photos online. It goes without saying that iStock is the place to consider selling photos if you are clueless about where to start from.
On the website, the royalty payment is at 15% on every download, and this can spiral to as high as 45%. The indicator of the extent to which the payment can get is the popularity of the photos. Put into perspective, if a customer buys a photo with their subscription credits, you can only receive 15%. On the other hand, if into exclusivity, iStock photo will give you up to
3. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is home to over 350 million photos and over 90 million videos. The website has been enjoying consistent growth in sales since its establishment in 2003. In 2017 alone, more than 17.2million images were downloaded from the website.
To upload photos to the marketplace, you will spend up to 30% of the sale price of your photo, and this percentage is equally dependent on the size of the photo. Payouts range between
4. Etsy
Etsy is an alternative marketplace to stock photography websites. Being the biggest known marketplace for handmade stuff, you can sell your physical prints on Etsy as long as the products are unique and are
The website takes 20 cents on each photo or item you upload and 3.5% of the selling price. Selling items on Etsy can be a bit of a challenge, but one good thing about them is that they offer a guide in the form of a handbook. That is to teach users how to brand and market. That way, you have detailed information on pricing items, selling photos, and how to succeed in the long run.
5. 500px
500px is a photography community and a marketplace to sell photos. The website features
Additionally, you can sell your photos through licensing without submission fees. The commission is split between exclusive and
The approval process on 500px is, however, strict as each photo undergoes a thorough review. That is no problem anyway as long as you have the right quality images to upload.
6. 123RF
123RF is one of the leading microstock websites/agencies. You can sell your illustrations, videos, music and photos online by registering, uploading your items and earning money. It is that simple! Besides, you can also discover the best
7. Dreamstime
On Dreamstime, you can sell photos and earhttps://www.dreamstime.com/n royalties between
8. Adobe Stock
Formerly called Fotolia, Adobe Stock is a stock photo website or marketplace by
9. Depositphotos
Depositphotos is another site where you can sell stock images and get Royalty Free stock photos. Depositphotos allow you to sell photos and files via other online platforms, services, and partner websites. But in that case, the contributor’s royalty rate may not be constant depending on the partner service you choose and their respective terms and conditions. To start selling on Depositphotos, sign up and create an account. Then, upload your photos and start making money.
10. Your own website
Another place to consider for selling photos online is your website. The perks of choosing to run the business on your website outweigh the pros of using other platforms. You own total control over your website and can control how you want your photos to be displayed.
Also notable is the fact that no one else takes a cut or some commission. Meanwhile, creating a photography website is pretty straightforward as the majority of professional marketplace for photography are built on WordPress. Having created your website, you can begin to showcase your photos to attract visitors and get them to buy your photos immediately.
It is also possible to develop photo albums with lightboxes customized to display while your images are categorized as unique and different from others. Ecwid’s ecommerce plugin makes this even more seamless.
Final Thoughts
The days are gone when you have to struggle to sell your photos online to make extra money. There are a large number of options available to sell stock photos. These are available on different websites.
In essence, you must know the right place to look when it comes to selling online, and given the variety of skill levels of photography in demand, the use and purchase of photos online has become even more pronounced in recent times.
Ultimately, the knowledge and appropriate application of ecommerce solutions offered by Ecwid offers you the required competitive advantage and ultimately makes it a profitable adventure.
