Photos are part of our lives. If they capture moments that can't be exchanged for a million dollars, they can also create merchandise by selling photos online.
How does it work?
There is no magic in selling your photos online. Like any business, you have to work for it. There are platforms that make it easy to sell your photos.
All you have to do is choose the platform that best fits what you're aiming for, create an account, and make money.
As a photographer, you can use your talent to make some money and start a career selling your photos online.
Photographers and now and I demand more than ever their work from people interested in photo shoots, promoting their brands, capturing events, bloggers and graphic designers.
In this article, we hope to share the 12 best places to sell photos online and make money doing what you love.
How to Sell Photos Online in 2022
1. Do it yourself
Having your website has many advantages and one of them is total control over all business. In this case, you can set your own prices, you don't answer or give money to anyone, and you can display your content the way you want.
It is not difficult to create a website. The majority of professional online photo sites are created under WordPress.
After creating the website, post some of your photos to attract visitors and convince them to buy your images. If you don't like WordPress, you can use Wixer or Square Space instead.
2. Action Adobe
This is a photo marketplace created by the manufacturer of the most popular photo editors such as Photoshop and Lightroom. It is the first online marketplace to sell photos and has been around for over 10 years.
Adobe stock doesn't intend to keep your photos, so you can sell on other platforms at the same time.
It has a photo sharing fee. Adobe will continue to grow to become the top destinations for organics and stock photography sellers.
3. Shutterstock-
Shutterstock is another market for photographers. Shutterstock offers many benefits, such as copyright protection. It is only up to you to set the rights on your photos.
They also give credit to the owner of the image, which protects your property and also markets your brand.
As a contributor to the site, you are likely to make money every time someone uploads and buys your images. It does not require an exclusive right to your photos, so you can publish on other sales platforms.
You get paid 20% to 30% of everything your image sells on a monthly basis.
4. Alamy
Alamy is another platform where you can sell your photos online. Alamy doesn't have as many buyers as Shutterstock and Adobe Stock, but it's a big competition.
With Alamy, photographers can upload their photos without a license or copyright.
The Alamy Marketplace paid photographers 50% of each cell if you exceed the limit of $25,000.40 per year, 25,000% for each sale if your annual sale is less than $250,20 but more than $250 and 250% of contributors whose sale is less than $250.
5. Etsy
Etsy is another popular platform to ship these photos for sale. You can sell digital and print photos on Etsy. With over 30 million users and several ways to sell your photos. It is best known for buying and selling unique handmade products.
With Etsy, you have a wider audience and a demographic ready to buy your image. With printed images, consider the cost of printing, packaging, and sourcing.
Etsy allows you to price your own photos and the site gives you all the power over what you want buyers to see. If you want full control over the sale of your photos but don't want to create your own site from scratch, then Etsy is what you need.
6. Fotomoto
Unlike others, Fotomoto is not an online marketplace but rather a widget that integrates with your website to help you sell photos. Be sure to add it to your site and let Fotomoto handle the entire photo selling process for you.
Fotomoto allows you to offer digital photo prints and can even blow up your site visitors. It handles the packaging of your material photos so you don't have to.
With 4000, you can customize and change the widget settings to display your own brand by giving your logo so that visitors to your site can put a face to the name.
Fotomoto has great features that work well with your existing WordPress.
7. Crestock
Crestock is a bit passive and complicated. To get started, simply create an account and upload your photos.
Once Crestock has evaluated your images, you add them to your Crestock portfolio so that customers can purchase them.
You can add keywords and a description for each image, they would increase your chances of being approved by the Crestock editor.
And these same keywords and description will make it easier to locate your photos among others.
8. 500px
500px is an online platform that helps you create a portfolio of your images and make money. To use 500px, you need to create an account and add your images and wait for the results.
What makes 500px special is that it provides analytics and tracking services so you can monitor your images against those of your friends.
For example, how many clicks your images receive and how you rank relative to your peers. 500px sometimes run contests for photographers, so be sure to keep an eye out.
9. Snapped4U
Snapped4U allows you to create a gallery and upload images and then set the price of your photos and that's it. It sells your images as jpeg files and sends them by email and request.
It's easy because snapped4u sellers have their own gallery page so customers who book you for multiple events can find your images in one place and you can give your URL to anyone who wants to buy your photos.
Snapped4u will charge a commission if your photos are sold at a good price but you get the largest share of the profits.
10. Photo shelter
Photoshelter is an online store to sell and deliver prints to the customer. They allow you to set up your photo sharing templates.
To do this, you need to buy space on the platform to upload photos, they have extensive plans of monthly and annual options different features.
11. TourPhotos
TourPhotos is a hub for tourists and travel photographers around the world. In fact, many travel agencies and tour operators use it to upload photos of their adventure trips that participants and the general public can buy.
It's a great platform for travel photographers who want to sell their photos online to a like-minded audience.
And, you'll probably feel inspired by all the beautiful photographs that can be found on TourPhotos!
12. Getty Images
Getty Images is another platform where you can sell your images. It attracts brands looking for exclusive images of high quality and difficult to find under license.
The platform as well as iStock has more than 1.5 million customers worldwide. The probability of selling your images is quite high.
In addition, prices for photos licensed through Getty Images start at 20% and can be as high as 45%.
Frequently Asked Questions
How can I sell photos online?
As with any profession or hobby, you need to set a niche. Every photographer must have a consistent style that they reflect. Is it travel, fashion, etc.
Finding your niche is something you need to find. To sell your photos online, you have style and photos resonate with your audience.
Second, integrate ecommerce into your portfolio. This includes the ability to accept payments from PayPal or Shop Pay. You can open several other doors on how to sell your photos online, such as selling courses, physical products, and services.
What types of photos are sold?
It depends on your audience and what they want
People - children, adults and everyone from all countries and cultures!
People who work — These images are very popular with companies. People who work on laptops, write, talk in a meeting, etc. Don't make them so generic that they become a meme.
Food - Different types of delicious food, even empty unwashed plates.
Tools – Gears, hammers, nuts, bolts and screws can convey a lot to potential buyers.
Cities — Cityscapes, buildings, commuters.
Nature - This is a matter of course that never ages to shoot or sell.
Travel — Shots from around the world are still in high demand
Conclusion
Selling your photos may not be easy at first, but it's just the beginning. Don't stop trying because if you do what you love, you'll never work a single day of your life.
We hope this guide has helped you find the best places to sell photos online and make money.
