How to earn by selling your photography online?

Photography is an artistic pursuit, and like all art forms, the attraction lies not in its earning potential but in the person’s desire to do something fun, creative, and worthwhile. Starting to make money with photography means you can continue with your passion.

Everyone from large corporations, small and medium-size businesses to bloggers, graphic designers, marketers, and publishers buy and use photos regularly online.

Do you enjoy snapping pictures around you? As long as you can provide high-quality images that have good lighting and color, a captivating moment, and good composition then you can start earning money by selling photos online.

If you have a passion for photography there are many ways to sell your photos and services for cash.

There are lots of opportunities. There are lots of companies, businesses, and bloggers use stock photos for advertisements, brochures, editorial content, instruction manuals, and more. The largest buying base of stock photos are bloggers and small to medium-sized website business owners. Using stock photos saves them the hassle of having to stage a photoshoot and hire a photographer. You can make a good amount of money by selling your photos to stock photo sites.

So, here are some ideas for selling your photography online.

Shutterstock

Get paid for photos, illustrations, and video clips. Rates vary on the subscription plan, exclusivity, and type of vector. They have over 200 million images, videos, and music tracks for folks to purchase royalty free which also means they have millions of purchasing customers. The site says you can earn up to $120 per image download and 30% royalty on every clip purchased.

Now iOS and Android users can sign-up to become a contributor straight from the app and start making money from their mobile imagery instantly. Users may access the contributor application for iOS here and for Android here. To learn more about the mobile contributor sign-up process, click here.

Adobe Stock

Adobe Stock is a stock photo marketplace by the maker of the most popular photo editing software solutions like Photoshop and Lightroom. It has been around for over 10 years and is known to be the very first online platform to sell photos. The royalty share is also higher than the other online shops.

Getty Images

Getty Images hands over 15% of an image’s sales price, but promise a bigger cut if you make the pic exclusive to the site. Photos typically sell for £7 or £20 a go, but the type of license or subscription plan the customer buys determines how your slice is calculated.

InstaPrints

Simply upload your Instagram photos to InstaPrints and determine your prices. When a customer purchases one of your prints, InstaPrint will finalize all the details. A couple of other ways you can make money on Instagram are by selling your own Instagram images. Or if you have a LARGE Instagram following – you can work with brands to make $5,000 – $10,000 per Instagram post.

PhotoShelter

PhotoShelter is an online shop to sell and deliver prints to the clients. They allow you to set up your template for sharing the photos. You need to buy the space on their platform to upload the photos. There are multiple plans for monthly and yearly options with different features.

Envato Market

Price your items, pay the Envato fee (which varies on exclusivity and how much you sell) and the remainder is your seller fee. See site for a detailed fee table.

SmugMug Pro

SmugMug Pro lets you keep 85% of the markup for your images. The catch is you have to buy a Pro subscription, starting at $12.50 per month, to take advantage of this high royalty; there’s no free option. Once you sign up, you’ll upload photos, select the products you want to sell and pick prices. This is a good site for someone with a truly entrepreneurial mindset since you get to decide how much to charge for your images.

Scoopshot

Earn money by completing photo and video assignments via Scoopshot. This money making an app is available for both iPhone and Android systems. Money is made from a direct photo and video purchases and also via revenue sharing options.

Foap

Download the Foap application (available for both iPhone and Android operating systems) to your smartphone and upload your photos. Once your image receives five positive ratings from other Foap users – your photo will be published for sale. You will earn $5 each time someone purchases your photo.

iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto is a great place for those just starting out selling stock photos. Its popular forums and resources will help you to find your feet, and to understand the world of photo sales. The standard royalty payout for iStockPhoto starts at only 15% per download, but this can increase to 45% depending on the popularity of your photos. If a customer purchases a photo using one of the subscription “credits” however, royalty rates are 15% by default.

DepositPhotos

Commission depends on the license type under which the image is uploaded and the resolution in which it has been purchased. It is also influenced by your author level and status on the website.

Stocksy

This company is founded in 2013, it is a royalty-free stock photography website where you find stock photos and stock videos. It gives 50%-70% royalty when some download or purchase your photos.

Alamy

Alamy has over 60 million images and videos for sale on its website. It’s because it offers photographers a huge 50% royalty payment on each photo sold. The site also allows photographers to sell their photos elsewhere. It now has a huge number of monthly visitors.

Tips to do with Stock Photography

• If you are planning to click stock images with people in them, then you will have to get a model release signed by each and every human whose face is visible in the photos.

• You might also have to get a release signed by the authorized person, in case you are clicking a private property such as a house or a building.

• Leave some breathing space around the subject as the agency or individual who buys your stock image might want to add some text to it. Think like an advertiser.

• Take multiple shots of the same subject from different angles, you never know which one is chosen by the advertiser.

• Uploading bulk images is a better idea as it increases the chances of an image getting selected by the buyer.

• Explore stock image website and check their best selling images, then plan your shoots around those images for better sales.

 

To sell photos online, one of the best places is your own website. You can set your own prices. You have 100% control over how to display your photos. After creating your website, you need to showcase the photos beautifully to attract visitors and convince them to buy. We recommend you to use a top-rated WordPress plugin for your photos.

 

Stock photo from Abscent