Are you looking for photography sites where you can make revenue from your photos? Stick around as we will share with you the best places to sell photos online and make money.
If you are a traveler who often visits places and outstanding topographies, you must have surely taken photos of these areas. Did you know you can make money out of those photos? Yes, you can.
Many individuals self-employ themselves by selling images online. It isn't hard to start with a stock photography business — all you need is a good camera and visit attractive sites (such as mountains, beaches, etc.) where you will take photographs.
If you're most likely located in a local area, no qualms, there are many out there looking for where they can buy Vintage images. Every business has its fit.
Large organizations, small and medium-sized businesses, bloggers, graphic designers, marketers, and publishers all buy and use photographs on a regular basis on the internet. This should motivate you not only to make money online but also to make your work known to many out there.
With all that in mind, we will show you the best stock photo sites where you can sell your photos and make money.
Table of Contents
Who Buys Stock Photos, and What Type of Photos Sell the Best?
Bloggers and small to medium-sized website owners are the major buyers of stock pictures.
What are the most popular photographs they purchase?
- People — kids, adults, and everyone in between from every country and culture!
- People working — These images are very popular with businesses. Folks working on laptops, writing, speaking at a meeting, etc. Just don’t make them so generic they become a meme.
- 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.
- Cities — Cityscapes, buildings, people commuting.
- Nature — This is a no-brainer that never gets old to shoot or sell.
- Travel — Shots from around the world are always in high demand.
10 Best Places Photography Sites and Places to Sell Photos Online
1. Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock (previously Fotolia) is a stock photo marketplace run by Adobe, the company behind some of the most widely used photo editing products, such as Photoshop and Lightroom. This platform has been active for almost a decade and is credited with being the first internet marketplace to sell photographs.
Adobe Stock's royalty share is bigger than that of other online stores, which you'll appreciate.
Photos posted to Fotolia become part of the Adobe Stock library, making them accessible to millions of Adobe users and potential buyers through other Adobe applications.
With Adobe Stock, contributors can earn anywhere from 20% to 60%. Adobe Stock does not require you to give them sole selling rights to your photographs, unlike some other markets. As a result, you can simultaneously sell on Adobe Stock and other sites.
Given Adobe's size, it's probable that Adobe Stock will continue to be a popular site for stock photography buyers and sellers.
2. Shutterstock
Shutterstock has been a popular site for buying stock photographs online for over 15 years. They have approximately 200 million royalty-free photos, movies, and audio tracks available for purchase, which implies they have millions of paying clients.
In the long term, as a photographer, you can make a lot of money using this marketplace. Shutterstock merchants have profited over $500 million globally, according to its website!
Shutterstock allows you to safeguard your copyrights, so you have complete control over how your photographs are used. Shutterstock also gives credit to the image's creators, which is a significant benefit that protects your intellectual property and promotes your business.
When you register to contribute to the site, you'll start earning money every time someone buys and downloads your stuff. As a contributor, you can earn anywhere from 20% to 30% of the sale price of your image, which Shutterstock pays out weekly.
Shutterstock, like Adobe Stock, does not compel you to utilize its marketplace solely. You may even sell on both Adobe Stock and Shutterstock simultaneously!
Pro tip: You can also download Shutterstock images and videos for free without a watermark on them.
3. Getty Images
Getty Images is unquestionably a beast in the contemporary stock photography industry, with more than 200 million assets in its gallery. It's also one of the most established stock platforms, having been around since 1995.
They provide their clients with 125 million high-quality royalty-free photos spanning a wide range of topics, including editorial imagery.
Getty Images receives a lot of traffic to its site because of its good reputation, which increases your chances of selling your work.
Small photographs cost $150, medium images cost $350, and huge images cost $499, according to Getty.
Although this price list appears appealing, keep in mind that the agency places a high value on your prospective earnings: Getty receives 80% of each sale and only 20% goes to you.
4. iStock
Another well-known name in the stock photography sector is iStock. As a result, it might be a good place to show off your photos (and of course a better chance of selling)
iStock used to be a stand-alone company, but Getty bought it for $50 million in 2006.
There is one important distinction between these two sites when compared to Getty: iStock is classified as a "microstock" agency, which refers to low-cost stock photography.
Contributor commissions range from 15% to 45 percent, depending on the options selected by the photographer when contributing fresh visual content.
There are two types of licensing available: exclusive and non-exclusive.
If the contributor selects the non-exclusive option, the photographer will be able to upload the photographs to other stock sites in addition to iStock.
In this situation, the photographer is paid a flat 15% commission.
Depending on the amount of downloads, the fee for the first option — submitting original content – might be as high as 45 percent.
The higher the proportion, the more downloads you have, and it's in these upper tiers that you can truly start to profit from stock photography.
5. Dreamstime
Dreamstime is undoubtedly a platform that holds its contributors to high standards.
Abstracts, Animals, Holidays, Arts and Architecture, and many other genres are covered. The company is one of the oldest stock agencies in the world, having been created 15 years ago.
Dreamstime is a microstock provider, with iStock and Shutterstock as direct competitors today.
Many contributors believe it is one of the greatest locations for photographers to sell their work.
The commission you receive from each image sold ranges from 25% to 50%. What factors go into determining the rate?
It works in a similar way to the other stock sites: whether the supplied content is exclusive or non-exclusive determines the price. Exclusive photos provide a bigger profit margin.
It also relies on how many times the photograph has been downloaded, or whether the image is considered popular.
6. Alamy
Alamy is another great marketplace for selling stock photographs because it has no hard and fast regulations.
Although it doesn't have as many buyers as Shutterstock and Adobe Stock, it's nevertheless a strong contender and cash source. Photographers can upload their images to Alamy without having to worry about licensing or other copyright issues. Alamy has paid out $180 million to photographers so far.
Alamy's prices are also competitive. The marketplace pays photographers 50% of each sale if their annual sales surpass $25,000, 40% if their annual sales are less than $25,000 but greater than $250, and 20% for contributors whose annual sales are less than $250, which is higher than some of the competitors.
7. Westend61
Westend61 is a German stock exchange that has been active in Europe since 2003. It is both a stock photo company and an image distribution business.
They sell images to partner agencies all around the world and sell directly in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Westend61 maintains a high-quality photo collection and focuses on images that are very relevant to corporate, advertising, and journalistic customers.
This company places a high value on its contributors and treats them with dignity.
With each new submission, the photographer chooses whether the photographs will be used exclusively by Westend61 or if the agency can distribute them to their worldwide partners.
Commission fluctuates between 40% and 60% of the revenues, depending on which of those alternatives the photographer picks.
Westend61 may also provide a very appealing add-on: in addition to selling your stock photographs, they can also facilitate commissions from their clients.
Because they're simply connecting two parties in this scenario, you earn 85 percent of the profits while they pay 15 percent. It's a great deal!
8. Cavan Images
Cavan Images is a fantastic new addition to the market, and it believes that every excellent tale starts with a strong image.
Cavan specializes in original, high-quality images that are both bold and bright.
They recognize the value of forming a collaborative community of contributors. They already have 2600 members from over 80 countries throughout the world.
I've had an account with Cavan for about a year, and I can see they work hard to make their customers feel important.
However, there are a couple of negative aspects. The time it takes for the editors to review your submissions is one factor. It may easily take more than two weeks, which is excessive.
Second, they used to have a crew that was in charge of keywording, which is time-consuming and obnoxious in my opinion.
They now have a new submission platform, and each user must keyword their or her own photos.
They have competitive pricing, with little photographs starting at $50 and large, full-resolution images costing up to $500. Contributors receive a fair 50% commission on each photograph sold.
The only drawback is that the site is still relatively unknown, thus it receives few daily visitors. That means it's not a given that potential clients will come across your work.
Another thing to remember is that all of the pictures you upload to Cavan are exclusive to them; you do not have permission to distribute the same images to other agencies.
9. Pond5
Pond5 isn't the most well-known stock photography site, but it's still worth mentioning.
It began in 2006 as an agency that assisted video makers in licensing their material to third parties.
Pond5 is a marketplace for royalty-free media situated in New York. They also sell stock footage, audio tracks, sound effects, 3D objects, and After Effects templates in addition to photographs.
Pond5 has complete faith in their community of artists and allows them to establish their own prices!
As a contributor, you get to set the price for each file, and you get 50% of the profit every time it sells.
Clients can choose from four file sizes: small, medium, large, and extra large. The costs for full-resolution photographs range from $15 to $500.
10. TourPhotos
TourPhotos is a global forum for visitors and travel photographers. Many travel agencies and tour firms, in fact, use it to sell images of their adventure excursions to attendees and the general public.
It's a terrific way for trip photographers to sell their photographs to a similar audience online. Also, all of the wonderful photography that ends up on TourPhotos is likely to inspire you!
Final Thoughts
Photographs are one of the best things that give life to most individuals. Photographs encourage people to visit areas they've never done before. If you are someone who travels often, then you must have lots of photos. You can make money out of these photos by selling them on stock photo sites. This article compiles the best places to sell photos online and make money.
Which site did you choose for selling your photos? How far have you gone with it? Let us know in the comments section or in our Telegram forum.
References:
https://shotkit.com/best-stock-photography-sites/
https://enviragallery.com/best-places-to-sell-photos-online-and-make-money/