Is there a reliable place where we can sell our digital photos? The Net has millions of such sites but I have yet to log on to any where I would be sure to get a sale.
From what I can tell it's not about selling photos, but selling photo-related services. I see a lot of services listed there about doing retouching in Photoshop, logo design, and other graphic design-related jobs. I don't think it's a place where you just sell the photos you take.
I do hear comments here and there users having successfully sold their photos and I did try offering them at some sites but got no response. The day I sell my first photo will be a day to remember (lol)
I have loads of photos mostly flowers, fruits, sun rise and sunset and pets. There is not a day that I do not click. I will feel satisfied if I can sell them.
At first glance I too did not find anything about selling photos but as I have commented elsewhere I will have a deeper look and see what the site is all about. Thanks for trying to help me out.
It's good to know SeoMerTech has another platform for digital photos or graphics too, as we know Monster Backlinks is a good and trusted site, hence I believe PixelClerks is an awesome place too.
I think Etsy might be a good place to sell digital photos too, but one has to set up a store.
I took a look on PixelClerks, but i didn't found any rating or feedback about the products the sellers post there. What makes that site good in your opinion?
@kaka135 I get the feeling PixelClerks could be a place for me to try my luck. I will go there and see how to go about offering them. I have been trying for so many years but have met with no success. I can imagine how happy I will be the day I succeed.
I looked there and I think it is more to do with designing. I did not see any anyone selling or showing interest in buying photos.
I will go to Etsy and try my luck. Thanks.
Have you had any success selling there. I have tried here and there and so far I have not sold a single one. Photography is my passion and someone appreciating it and giving it a value would make my day.
Thank you for the suggestion. I just had a glance and see the word graphics. Wonder if it is the same as photos. I will dip further and see what others have done and whether they have sold photos. if yes then I think I have landed.
There are so many different websites that are interested in buying your pictures... but don't expect to sell them right away. Sometimes it takes months to sell even one photo - it really depends.
Just a small list that you should check out:
- Alamy,
- Shutterstock,
- BigStockPhoto,
- iStockPhoto,
- PhotoShelter.
Each of these sites have different systems though. They will vary how much percentage of the sold photography you will receive.
These are new sites to me. I will first study them and see which one would be the likely source for me. Most of these have conditions and I may not fulfil those conditions. However, keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for the suggestions
No problem, iamawriter. I am more than happy when I can somehow help our Monster Backlinks members
Just remember to check every option available because they might seem the same ''sell your photos'' but in reality, they differ in many aspects! Good luck.
I agree with you. Before uploading one must look at their needs closely Some have specifications that I may not be able to meet. I would go to a place where I am definite they will pay me and that is the most difficult thing I guess.
"There are so many different websites that are interested in buying your pictures... but don't expect to sell them right away."
Or at all, to be quite honest. I've read too many stories of people posting hundreds--if not thousands--of photos to stock photography websites, and only selling maybe a couple a month, earning the total of a handful of pennies. And the worst part is that I've checked many portfolios and they have some really fantastic work consistently uploaded. Some photos are so great they could be considered art, yet won't sell. Others are people taking a selfie with a camera phone, and they somehow sell. So much of it is about luck.
I would agree with that the Articulate. I think trying to sell photos unless you have really good equipment,or a background in photography is going to be an exercise in frustration. In these days of digital cameras and smartphones everyone seems to be a photographer, so there is lots of competition.
Shutterstock and Amazon are good marketplace for photograph that I can vouch for. I was selling pictures on shutterstock till last year December that I lost my mojo for photograph. But it is pretty reliable site that you can sell yiuit photos and be sure to get sale fast. But one thing about shutterstock is that the photo must be genuine and original.
I remember attempting to upload at shutterstock but I did not know about amazon, I will check there and see . I have thousands of photos as phptography is my passion and the day I sell my first photo that will be the day I shall celebrate.
For selling your own photos,you can take a look at those android apps: Foap,Clashot,SnapWire,MarkedShot,Dreamstime,ShutterStock.
As long as you sell high quality photos,buyers won't arrive late.There are also contests to give you some ideas of what should be captured to increase your sales rate.
Good luck!
I prefer apps, yes you can save the photos on your phone and do it or if you'd like you can take the pictures on your phone. If you search "sell photos app" there'll be tons that pop up.
There are alot of places you can supposedly sell your photos, but most of the ones I know about on the smartphone have reviews from people that have used them saying that they have submitted hundreds of pics and none were accepted.
Not only that, but I've found that a lot of those apps don't have a very large customer base anyway. I played around with Foap for a while, participated in the community and promoted my pictures, but didn't get any sales after months of effort. I took a look at the top earning users, and even they weren't making very many sales. Less than 10 or so per picture, it seemed. I think the problem with apps like that that don't have a staff reviewing photos is that too much stuff is submitted as well. Combine that with a small client base, and it's probably not worth your time at all.
That is what I notice There are countless sites on the net that talk of buying photos and there are many who talk about these sites but I have yet to hear anyone making money selling their photos.
If you have the patience, and you're able to take rejection really well, I'd recommend submitting your photos to Shutterstock to try and get on with them. They're reliable and have a large customer base, but be prepared to have your stuff rejected by the staff. In order to apply, you need to submit 10 photos for them to review, and a minimum of 7 out of those 10 photos must be approved by the staff in order for you to become a contributor with them.
It took me two tries, but I know people who have been trying for quite a while to get on with them. Even though I passed and have a small portfolio of 16 images online, every photo I submit has to undergo critique again, and I find that still only 50% of my images are accepted every time, if that.
The key here as with any stock photo site is to have a good sized portfolio. Keep shooting and uploading because the more images you have the more likely you are to make sales. I made just short of $12 this past year, and could have made a lot more if I'd been more intent on submitting photos for my portfolio.
Sounds to me like it's more aimed at professional or semi professional photographers at most. A newbie like wouldn't stand much of a chance there right? Or is it worth a try? While I do like photography I don't have much technical knowledge.
Shutterstock is geared more toward professional photographers for sure, but if you have an eye for photography and know what people may want, I think it'd be worth a shot at least applying. When they reject your photos they give you a reason as to why they didn't accept them, so you can go back and edit them, reshoot, and then resubmit the photos again. I don't consider myself a professional by any means, simply a hobbyist.
I don't know what your proficiency with photography is, but here's a link to my portfolio on Shutterstock so you can get an idea of what their staff has accepted from me. Interestingly enough, almost all of my sales have come from a photo I took of a dirty mailbox.
And to be honest, half of the photos in my portfolio were taken when I barely knew anything about photography, and were shot on an entry-level Canon t3i with a kit lens. I don't see why a newbie wouldn't have a chance when I got in!
Oh, i see! Well, you do see to know a bit about photography. Not only I am an amateur but I also don't have quality equipment. I will research some more and maybe in the future. But thanks for the tip! It's always good to stay up to date about new niches.
I had a look at your photos. I have some nice ones too. It was a long time ago that I gave up as they kept on asking me for my passport page. My passport page or whatever is not my making and they did have something to say about it.
Thanks for your input. Let me go there again and see where I stand.
You don't need tehnical knowledge,but some artistical sense .You need a good quality camera in order to have your photos sold as soon as possible.
You can capture a frame of the nature,or a beautiful sunset.Create a gallery of photos.Certain themes,with 20-30 photos,may be sold as a collection.
Study the market and see for what are people actually looking for(a niche,a category).
I have tried shutterstock and at that time never knew how to face rejections (lol). Since you say that is how it is with them, may be I should give them another chance and get back there with my tail tucked in.
Happy for you that you succeeded and that I am sure is the beginning.
I faintly remember getting stuck with my passport photo. Each time I tried to send it they rejected it. How long did it take you to earn that money. I will go there again as my earlier attempt was months ago.
Thanks for your encouragement. Yes. One should be ready for rejections.
Hi, I heard good things about iStockPhoto, and Fotolia. I have tried Fotolia but I didn't have any luck selling pictures. I have seen people earning a lot of money from this hobby, but I don't know what are their secret!
Yeah me too. I've heard a lot about theses sites from another forum. Haven't used them but I'm guessing there's something that is somewhat a 'key' on how to make successful photo selling.
My dad used to do photography professionally and got into stock photography for a while. The three sites he used were Shutterstock, iStockPhoto and Fotolia. Essentially, if you can build a portfolio on one site, I'd start submitting those accepted photos to the other three sites as well, like my dad, so get the most ROI on your photos possible.
You should check out istockphoto and shutterstock if you are into photography, but if it is majorly graphics design, the envato market place should be good. Pixel clerk also get you what you need.
There are a lot of options online on stock photography if you want to try anyone of them. But the important thing is your photography skills and also knowledge about the photographs you are clicking. You need to be updated about photography world and also current affairs because it always helps what's the trend right now. Click good pictures but also something which is very useful in the stock photography market.
If you have DSLR and some knowledge of Photoshop, then yes, those images can be sold. But the thing is that you need some good quality photos. And you have to understand that in some of the sites those images may or may not be accepted. I think selling digital photos would not be that easier for some. But you can see that if you establish some portfolio then that can be easily done for sure. I have seen some of the photographers struggling hard on this though. Not an easy service.
I agree that it could get quite difficult. But if you are a professional photographer I don't think you would have any difficulties as you are already used to what you are doing.
Starting today builds up your experience though so there's that.
In case of professional photographer, they have plenty of things on their plate. They usually don;t need stock sites. Unless they are going through some bad patch. In such case you can see that you have to only give away the photographs which are not purchased. That's how the stock sites are getting the photos. Nobody takes images exclusively for stock sites.
I always push etsy in cases where people are trying to market some sort of creative art form, even digital. People often look there when trying to find something to decorate with, and digital photos definitely fit the bill! I'm not sure how their distribution model really works so I don't know how easy it is to make a sale there, but at least it's a platform that markets themselves towards the proper kind of audience you'd want!
I am sure there are a few apps which allow you to make money with your photo's. As for selling them online, there will be a way as there is a way for much about everything on the internet as it is a massive resourceful place. Try on sellfy as you can sell software and all kinds of things from photo's to programs and ebooks.
All of them require very high quality images. You can see that these images are HD quality. And this is not something you'd find with the camera phone. You'd need very high quality. So yeah these sites may pay per download. But it;s not something you'd get that easy. On the optic, I'd say foap is one that accept images from phone.
I've tried Foap but I've had little luck there. Still I am confident that I will be able to sell my photos online and the weirdest part is I don't even own a professional camera. I do believe I'll make a breakthrough selling photos that I have taken with my phone. I think I'm on to something here. In fact I'm about to shop for some phone camera lens to enhance this hobby/ potential side service of mine!
Being that I've been an amateur photographer for a while now (picked it up as a hobby from Digital Photography classes in college) and have thought about making some money from it by selling stock photography, I can throw in my two cents. I looked up several sites online that provide the service, but before taking the leap I went on to look at stories from other people selling stock photography. Needless to say, I realized it was definitely not what I'm looking for. Some people must post hundreds upon thousands of photos in order to start making a miniscule income. It seems that the amount of work you put in versus the reward you get are severely out of balance in the stock photography business.
I like photography too and I wanted to sell some of my photos. I joined shutterstock last year but unfortunately my photos got rejected. Those were very good photos and I took them with a very good camera too. I have been looking for other sites ever since but I have not found a trustworthy one. I saw someone suggested Pixel clerks above. I will try to check that forum.
You can sell your photography on various sites. You can sell your photographs on stock photography website. You can also use pixelclerk, a sister site of monsterbacklinks, or fine art america to sell your photographs.
As has been mentioned on this site previously, it is pretty hard to sell photos online. Many people are taking decent quality photos these days and there are not too many buyers out there. Even though there are several sites that buy photos, most of their pic of what photos to buy and just choose the cream of the crop.
I have put some photos on Amazon kindle and shutterstock but yet to reach the mininum payout.I think you can as well try this two.It quite easy to upload and that is it.you just need an account then you can start uploading.
We have a huge archive of photos from our digital camera since we had the first one in 2004. They are a mix of personal photos and human interest like nature, city life, food and other items that may be of interest to the general public. My husband had checked some sites to sell some of our photos but he did not find a good deal. Besides, photos seem to be priced so cheaply that it is better to just keep it in the archive.
November 9, 2018, 8:07 pm
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Surely they have guidelines photographers have to follow?
I think Etsy might be a good place to sell digital photos too, but one has to set up a store.
I will go to Etsy and try my luck. Thanks.
Just a small list that you should check out:
- Alamy,
- Shutterstock,
- BigStockPhoto,
- iStockPhoto,
- PhotoShelter.
Each of these sites have different systems though. They will vary how much percentage of the sold photography you will receive.
Just remember to check every option available because they might seem the same ''sell your photos'' but in reality, they differ in many aspects! Good luck.
Or at all, to be quite honest. I've read too many stories of people posting hundreds--if not thousands--of photos to stock photography websites, and only selling maybe a couple a month, earning the total of a handful of pennies. And the worst part is that I've checked many portfolios and they have some really fantastic work consistently uploaded. Some photos are so great they could be considered art, yet won't sell. Others are people taking a selfie with a camera phone, and they somehow sell. So much of it is about luck.
As long as you sell high quality photos,buyers won't arrive late.There are also contests to give you some ideas of what should be captured to increase your sales rate.
Good luck!
It took me two tries, but I know people who have been trying for quite a while to get on with them. Even though I passed and have a small portfolio of 16 images online, every photo I submit has to undergo critique again, and I find that still only 50% of my images are accepted every time, if that.
The key here as with any stock photo site is to have a good sized portfolio. Keep shooting and uploading because the more images you have the more likely you are to make sales. I made just short of $12 this past year, and could have made a lot more if I'd been more intent on submitting photos for my portfolio.
I don't know what your proficiency with photography is, but here's a link to my portfolio on Shutterstock so you can get an idea of what their staff has accepted from me. Interestingly enough, almost all of my sales have come from a photo I took of a dirty mailbox.
And to be honest, half of the photos in my portfolio were taken when I barely knew anything about photography, and were shot on an entry-level Canon t3i with a kit lens. I don't see why a newbie wouldn't have a chance when I got in!
Thanks for your input. Let me go there again and see where I stand.
You can capture a frame of the nature,or a beautiful sunset.Create a gallery of photos.Certain themes,with 20-30 photos,may be sold as a collection.
Study the market and see for what are people actually looking for(a niche,a category).
Happy for you that you succeeded and that I am sure is the beginning.
Thanks for your encouragement. Yes. One should be ready for rejections.
I think here you will find what you need. Good luck!
Starting today builds up your experience though so there's that.
iStockPhoto
Shutterstock
BigStockPhoto
They pay per download.