Tips for trying to sell photos
Nov 15, 2017, 7:46 pm
#1
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Tips for trying to sell photos
I have been an on again off again photographer for decades. I’ve shot everything from 4x5 to Minox with mostly digital. I was curious about trying to sell some of my photos. It’s still from a hobby interest, not planning on leaving my day job, but I thought it might be fun.
Most of my my digital images are on Flickr as well as some scanned film images. I was searching around on the web and found Smugmug and Shutterstock as very different models of selling.
Any suggestionson son how to proceed? Thanks.
Most of my my digital images are on Flickr as well as some scanned film images. I was searching around on the web and found Smugmug and Shutterstock as very different models of selling.
Any suggestionson son how to proceed? Thanks.
Nov 27, 2017, 7:24 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: GRR, USA
Posts: 3,298
I have been an on again off again photographer for decades. I’ve shot everything from 4x5 to Minox with mostly digital. I was curious about trying to sell some of my photos. It’s still from a hobby interest, not planning on leaving my day job, but I thought it might be fun.
Most of my my digital images are on Flickr as well as some scanned film images. I was searching around on the web and found Smugmug and Shutterstock as very different models of selling.
Any suggestionson son how to proceed? Thanks.
Most of my my digital images are on Flickr as well as some scanned film images. I was searching around on the web and found Smugmug and Shutterstock as very different models of selling.
Any suggestionson son how to proceed? Thanks.
Dec 6, 2017, 3:52 am
#6
Join Date: Mar 2014
Programs: BA Exec Club - Bronze. Emirates Skyward - Blue. Virgin Flying Club - Red.
Posts: 8
Hi LufthansaFlyer,
I've been selling my photos for a couple of years now, and while I've not made much ($2000 in 2 years), it does fund my hobby and allow me to upgrade equipment.
Biggest earner for me is competition prizes. So quick and easy compared to the labour of stock photography, and I've earned more in 3 months of entering competitions than in 2 years of selling stock. Example competitions are in National Geographic Traveller, The Telegraph (UK), The Guardian (UK), Lonely Planet Magazine.
I also have 4000 photos on stock websites (average 500 on each), but it is very time consuming for not much reward. The ones worth your time are iStock, Shutterstock, Dreamstime and Alamy.
One other avenue is contacting magazines about publishing your photos, but very few have a budget for this and will probably insist on paying you in "exposure". I'm only starting out myself, so can't tell if this will lead to anything, but it's still exciting getting your photos published regardless.
I do sell downloads and prints on my website as well, but I've not had a single buyer! Feel free to check it out: www.pleasemindtheyak.com
Any tips or advice from others much appreciated...
From Bagan, Myanmar
I've been selling my photos for a couple of years now, and while I've not made much ($2000 in 2 years), it does fund my hobby and allow me to upgrade equipment.
Biggest earner for me is competition prizes. So quick and easy compared to the labour of stock photography, and I've earned more in 3 months of entering competitions than in 2 years of selling stock. Example competitions are in National Geographic Traveller, The Telegraph (UK), The Guardian (UK), Lonely Planet Magazine.
I also have 4000 photos on stock websites (average 500 on each), but it is very time consuming for not much reward. The ones worth your time are iStock, Shutterstock, Dreamstime and Alamy.
One other avenue is contacting magazines about publishing your photos, but very few have a budget for this and will probably insist on paying you in "exposure". I'm only starting out myself, so can't tell if this will lead to anything, but it's still exciting getting your photos published regardless.
I do sell downloads and prints on my website as well, but I've not had a single buyer! Feel free to check it out: www.pleasemindtheyak.com
Any tips or advice from others much appreciated...
From Bagan, Myanmar
Dec 13, 2017, 7:19 pm
#7
Join Date: Aug 2004
Posts: 64
Adobe Stock article: https://petapixel.com/2017/12/11/sol...arned-pennies/
Feb 14, 2018, 3:44 am
#10
Join Date: Oct 2012
Posts: 762
Hey! I have started to sell photos on Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and Dreamstime; along with some others such as 500px, EyeEm, 123RF & Alamy) but they havent payed out well yet.
So far it is working pretty well with about 60$ in nearly 2 months and only about 200 pictures up so far. Still got around 400.000 pictures left from my trip, probably wont have enough time in this life to upload them all! Haha
But i would say Shutterstock is best since it just sells the most. If you arre able to sell some single pictures rather than the 0,25$ you get for Subscriptions ones, it can be very lucrative!
Cheers,
Chris
So far it is working pretty well with about 60$ in nearly 2 months and only about 200 pictures up so far. Still got around 400.000 pictures left from my trip, probably wont have enough time in this life to upload them all! Haha
But i would say Shutterstock is best since it just sells the most. If you arre able to sell some single pictures rather than the 0,25$ you get for Subscriptions ones, it can be very lucrative!
Cheers,
Chris
Mar 12, 2018, 12:56 am
#11
Join Date: Mar 2016
Programs: Flying Blue Platinum
Posts: 177
Shutterstock is great if you want some cents quick. You'll get subscription sales starting at $0.25 and can also get other sales which are more.
But work is being sold at a very low price and is devaluing things for people such as myself who make a living from photography.
If you work happens to get stolen off the net and used by a company without paying, this has happened to be with one photo more than 50 times, then having work in Shutterstock means that if you catch the offender then you're very unlikely to get any decent recompense out of them.
The other side of the coin is what is know as Rights Managed. This is when a buyer purchases your photo for a specific purpose and they can only use it for that purpose; So if they need an image for the web and also want to use it in a poster then they have to buy two separate licenses.
The top library for this, which is where my own work is, is Getty Images. But there are others such as Alamy (50% commission); Robert Harding; AGE Fotostock; Blend etc.
Don't go down the rabbit hole of microstock libraries people as it is the death bell for serious photographers.
But work is being sold at a very low price and is devaluing things for people such as myself who make a living from photography.
If you work happens to get stolen off the net and used by a company without paying, this has happened to be with one photo more than 50 times, then having work in Shutterstock means that if you catch the offender then you're very unlikely to get any decent recompense out of them.
The other side of the coin is what is know as Rights Managed. This is when a buyer purchases your photo for a specific purpose and they can only use it for that purpose; So if they need an image for the web and also want to use it in a poster then they have to buy two separate licenses.
The top library for this, which is where my own work is, is Getty Images. But there are others such as Alamy (50% commission); Robert Harding; AGE Fotostock; Blend etc.
Don't go down the rabbit hole of microstock libraries people as it is the death bell for serious photographers.
Mar 12, 2018, 12:34 pm
#12
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Posts: 3,881
I sell on Getty. Can you share your portfolio and I'll advise accordingly?
Mar 24, 2018, 10:12 am
#14
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