17 Best Places To Sell Photos Online And Make Money

Have you ever dreamed about turning your hobby and love for photography into a means for extra income? Selling pictures online is both possible and rewarding. That dream can be turned into a reality.

There are several places to sell photos online and earn money. Thinking if you could sell photos online shouldn’t be your major concern. Your major concern should be where to sell these photos as selecting the most appropriate place can pose a challenge.

In this post, we’ll take a look at the best places to sell photos online. You’ll be doing yourself a great deal of good if you read this post to get end.

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CAN I MAKE MONEY ONLINE SELLING PHOTOS?

Yes! You can make money selling photos online. For individuals who have a strong interest in photography, one of the best methods to earn money online is by selling images.

Companies and marketers are constantly looking to buy pictures for their marketing collateral and a plethora of websites link these companies with photographers.

Professional stock photographers make between $0.05 and $0.25 per image each month, whereas amateur photographers make an average of $0.02 per image. Sales without royalties can yield between $0.10 to $99.50, while extended licenses can yield up to $500.

HOW TO SELL PHOTOS ONLINE

1. Choose Your Niche Carefully

Determine who your target audience is and select your topics accordingly. You should choose a niche that’s got a widespread appeal and strong demand.

An excellent method to find out about the need for stock photos right now is to look into prevalent trends in the industry like people, food, buildings, and the outdoors. For instance, images of people in offices are common since they are frequently used on corporate or business websites.

2. Pay Attention To Lighting and Composition

To take clear, sharp, and eye-catching pictures, you need to master the fundamentals of photography. Composition and lighting are one of those fundamentals that make the difference in your photos.

The direction of the light is the source of the light and the type of shadows it produces, whereas intensity describes how bright the light is. The softness or hardness of the light is referred to as its quality. In terms of composition, you’ll need to remove extraneous items to highlight the main subject of your shot. 

3. Use Relevant Keywords And Descriptions

One aspect of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the use of keywords and descriptions. It makes photos searchable and recognizable for search engines. The images will show up under pertinent categories or niches and rank higher in search results.

Make sure your title is clear and descriptive. Explain the scene in the picture, but don’t go into too much detail. Make sure your title and description contain the relevant keywords.

Use every tool offered by the photo-selling website to label and classify the picture. Tags, position, size, and orientation are a few examples of these.

4. Promote Your Photos On Social Media

Developing an audience and drawing in new customers can be accomplished with the help of social media. Make a social media presence to highlight your finest work, use hashtags to get more attention, and communicate with fans to grow your following.

Create profiles on several social media platforms to increase your exposure and reach distinct demographics. This includes social media sites for photographers, such as Flickr and VSCO, where you can interact with other photographers and get inspiration. You could also use sponsored posts since they allow you to track data and target particular demographics, 

5. Diversify Your Portfolio

For those who are just starting, concentrating on one area or style may be a good option. In the long run, diversifying your photographic portfolio can make it more likely that people will find and buy your pieces.

Expanding your skill level and maximizing your revenue are two benefits of diving into multiple niches and studying new styles and genres of photography. A broader spectrum of target people will be exposed to your work when you produce in multiple niches, genres, and styles. 

6. Upload New Pictures Frequently

Adding new images to your portfolio regularly while keeping the quality good will help you develop your talents and following. It draws in additional potential clients. This is because your frequent uploads will allow people to observe the consistency and quality of your photo production.

7. Improve Your Images

Buyers of stock pictures demand images of a higher quality than what they could take themselves. Therefore, using different image-editing tools to enhance images is a terrific idea. It may take several edits to get crisp, high-quality images. You could pick from any of the many editing software available.

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8. Understand Your Legal Rights And Obligations

Before selling your images, be sure they are legally permitted. For instance, there must be no copyright infringement in your work. Before selling the picture, you must have the appropriate release paperwork if it features identifiable people or property. 

Uploading images to photography websites does not entitle you to sell copyright to others. Rather, you are licensing the ability to utilize your creation in a variety of contexts. Exclusive, non-exclusive, and controlled rights are a few types of permissions you can grant.

PLACES TO SELL PHOTOS ONLINE AND MAKE MONEY

There are a good number of places to sell photos online and make money. The following are some of the best: 

1. Getty Images

First on our list of places to sell photos online is Getty Images. Brands and online publications seeking to license unique, hard-to-find, or high-quality photographs are drawn to Getty photographs. The platform serves more than 1.5 million users worldwide, in addition to its microstock website, iStock. 

Compared to many other stock picture websites, Getty has tougher guidelines for how you can sell your photography online. Rates for high-quality images licensed through Getty Images, however, begin at 20% and go up from there. To become a contributor, you’ll first need to submit sample Images.

2. Shutterstock

Next on our list of places to sell photos online is the very popular Shutterstock. Since its launch in 2003, Shutterstock has been a major source of revenue for numerous people. With its new strategy, the site has reduced earnings, but depending on your contribution level, you still receive 15% to 40% for each download.

Adding a lot of photographs to your Shutterstock account is the key to increasing your earnings. You can also earn extra money by referring other photographers and earning money from each sale they make. 

3. Alamy

Alamy is next on our list of places to sell photos online. Alamy’s extensive library of stock photos is what makes it most famous. More than 215 million stock vectors, photographs, movies, and 360-degree panoramic images are available on the marketplace. You can make more money from your work by selling anything from commonplace photographs to specialized specialties.

Alamy rewards authors regularly and provides a simple payment mechanism. You will receive 50% of sales if your images are unique to Alamy while other photographs earn 40% of all direct sales and you don’t need to sign any kind of long-term agreement.

4. Snapped4u

Snapped4u is one of the best places to sell photos online. If your niche is engagements, weddings, parties, or other occasions, snapped4u is ideal for you.

You can use it to post your images and create a visually appealing gallery. Then Snapped4u sells your pictures as JPG files and sends the customers an email with the pictures right away and the money you made is transferred to you through PayPal on the first of the month.

5. Stocksy

Stocksy is one of the popular places to sell photos online. For many publishers and creatives, it’s the greatest option to sell photographs online because Stocksy pays contributors well. With ordinary licenses, photographers can receive a 50% royalty; with extended licenses, they can earn a 75% royalty. However, every image must be unique to the platform. 

Because Stocksy is an artist-owned cooperative, contributors have a share of the company’s ownership and influence over its course. When the co-op has extra money, contributors can additionally have profit-sharing in the form of patronage returns. 

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6. Etsy

Etsy is also one of the best places to sell photos online. Starting an Etsy stock photography shop could be a terrific way for you to sell your photographs online. It’s simple to get started: all you have to do is register, select a store name, and add images to your storefront.

You also need to spend money marketing your Etsy store to let people know that you’re offering unique products on the website. Only 5% of the sale price, including the shipping amount that you specify, is taken as commission by Etsy.

7. Adobe Stock

Do you already use Adobe Creative Suite? Then using Adobe Stock to sell photographs online ought to be quick and simple for you. Direct stock photo importation into the Adobe Stock library is possible via the Internet, Adobe Bridge, and Adobe Lightroom.

Selling with Adobe Stock will enable you to connect with millions of potential customers and join a sizable creative community because of Adobe’s extensive community. That’s why it’s one of the best places to sell photos online. You’ll also receive a royalty charge of 33% on any sold images.

8. Fotomoto

Next on our list of best places to sell photos online is Fotomoto. It is a widget that works with your website to enable you to sell images online; it is not an Internet marketplace. Fotomoto takes care of all the photo-selling procedures when you add it to your website.

With Fotomoto, you can provide your website visitors with digital images, photo prints, and even canvases. The truly amazing thing about Fotomoto is the widget’s customizability.

The widget’s settings can be changed to show your branding details, including your logo! Customers will learn about your brand and come to link it with your images in this way.

Regardless of your experience level—amateur, professional, or even graphic design—Fotomoto offers some fantastic features that will integrate flawlessly with your current WordPress website.

9. 500px

500px is one of the great places to sell photos online if you’re searching for a quick and cost-free platform to start selling your photos. It not only provides a fantastic platform for sales, 500px also holds photography competitions. Selling through 500px, you can receive up to 60% of sales revenue.

Because of the platform’s partial exclusivity, you are not restricted to selling only through 500px. Additionally, 500px is a safe and devoted forum for aspiring photographers, having been founded by other photographers.

10. BigStock

Next on our list of places to sell photos online is BigStock. The way to become a contributor here is to register for an account with your email address first, then pass an exam to begin uploading your photos. 

The customer’s payment plan and the size of the file determine how much you make. $0.50 is paid by BigStock for each credit used. You must make at least $30 from sales as a minimum. Payments can be made with checks, PayPal, or Skrill.

11. Crestock

Crestock is one of the best places to sell photos online and it can be a more passive way to earn money for your photography. Just upload your pictures to Crestock after creating a free account. After reviewing your photos, the Crestock staff will add them to your portfolio so that buyers can buy them.

Each image has the option to have a description and keywords added, which improves the likelihood that the editors at Crestock will approve it. Additionally, your photos will be easier to find in the sea of stock photos and other websites.

12. Storyblocks

Next on our list of places to sell photos online is Storyblocks. You can become a contributor to Storyblocks and earn money while taking pictures. Simply submit a link to your portfolio along with a few of your images.

Your income is determined by two things. The first is your sales volume while the second is the money from Storyblocks’ subscriptions. Every month on the 15th, payments are made with a $25 minimum. Payoneer, PayPal, Direct Deposit, wire transfer, check, and eCheque are the available banking options.

13. Dreamstime

Dreamstime is also one of the best places to sell photos online. With 31 million registered members and more than 600,000 contributing photographers, Dreamstime boasts a vast user base.

You can use Dreamstime without having to sell only through it, albeit exclusive vendors will make more money and referrals can bring in a little extra money.

Dreamstime provides a far more aggressive sales approach. Your pay varies from 20% to 60% depending on several criteria. The degree of originality, the level of popularity of your work, and the exclusivity of the image all go into determining your rate.

14. Eyeem.com

Next on our list of places to sell photos online is Eyeem.com. Creating an account is very easy as you can create an account by using your email address, Facebook account, or Google account traditionally.

After you upload your pictures and wait for approval, you can concentrate on selecting the best ones. You receive 50% of the proceeds from each photo that is sold on Eyeem.com. You can get the payments by linking your PayPal account to the Earnings section of your account.

15. Picfair

Picfair is one of the famous places to sell photos online. You can upload up to 10,000 photographs to Picfair and sell them through their platforms. You determine the download prices, so you don’t get paid a commission. Picfair receives payment each month from your membership.

Your money can be deposited straight into a UK bank account holder’s account while people from other countries receive payments through  Wise or PayPal.

You can link your Picfair store to your custom domain name if you so desire. Undoubtedly, this option seems the most professional. You can create your stock photo website with Picfair. You also get to retain all of the proceeds from the sale of the images.

16. SmugMug Pro

SmugMug Pro is one of the amazing places to sell photos online. Whether you’re a new photographer or an established pro, SmugMug can help sell your stock photos online with a portfolio, sales platform, and other tools. 

You retain 85% of the difference in price between what you set and SmugMug’s preset print prices. 

To use SmugMug, you have to subscribe to a monthly membership which comes in 4 different levels; Power at $13 per month or $110 per year, Portfolio at $28 per month or $225 per year, Pro at $45 per month or $384 per year and Venture at a custom price.

17. iStock Photo

Concluding our list of places to sell photos online is iStock. iStock Photo is part of Getty Images. The primary distinction between the two stock picture platforms is that images on iStock can be sold with other agencies, making them non-exclusive. 

Commission amounts vary according to donor agreements, ranging from 15% to 45%. You’ll need to apply with a collection of sample photos if you want to sell photos on iStock.

FAQs

CONCLUSION 

Selling photos online is not as dangerous and impossible as it seems. There are numerous places to sell photos online. These include portfolio pages, hosting galleries, stock photo websites, and even simple blog sites with plugins. There’s no reason why you can’t start making money right now by selling your images online, regardless of your initial budget!

We hope this post was helpful. Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section below.

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REFERENCE 

• https://expertphotography.com
• https://promoneysavings.com
• https://enviragallery.com

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