Imagine taking photos of nature and making money by posting them online. How cool would that be! But what is even cool is that people are already making a good sum of money like this. And this is exactly what you will learn; how to make money by selling pictures online. Also, I will review some of the best platforms that offer money for selling pictures to them. So if you are looking for some easy earning means, this article is for you.
Can you make money by selling pictures to websites?
Yes, you can earn money by posting pictures of nature, cars, architecture, pets and food online on different websites like Shutterstock, Pixaby, Pexels etc. Shutterstock will hold copyright on these pictures unless someone else pays to buy them. However, Pexels and Pixaby are copyright-free sources for downloading pictures.
Is it legal to sell pictures and earn money?
Yes, it is legal to sell pictures to other websites and earn money unless it is of something illegal like drugs or any crime scene. Even though some websites also buy such offensive pictures, those are mostly media websites. You should have a license for that or they have to hide your identity in such cases. But let’s not talk about that a lot.
Can we sell pictures of celebrities to make money online?
Well once again, it’s a yes. You can sell celebrity pictures to media websites and make huge sums of money online. However, this is important to know that these pictures will be sold to, or purchased by paparazzi, and can be used for whatever purposes. You will also see these pictures when taken without the knowledge of celebrities, are posted by some really big channels and Websites. They are mostly ranking at the top in searches.
How to make money by selling pictures online; best website reviews
Here are some of the best websites to sell pictures online and make good money:
- Alamy
- Getty Images
- Shutterstock
- Adobe Stock
- 500PX
- Etsy
- Snapped 4U
- Fotomoto
1.ALAMY
Alamy is one of the biggest British sites that pays you for selling pictures. From a proven track record, it is estimated that Alamy pays $1 million each month to its users. Alamy allows its users to have full control over their stock images and posts them as it is without making any changes to them.
The agency provides you with various tools to fulfil your needs regarding picture editing and posting. This website comes with 3 premium models for commission. The first is silver, which pays you a 10 to 20% commission on each picture sale. The second one is gold, which pays up to 30-40% commission and the third is Platinum which pays 40-50% commission. Now the best thing about this website is that it gives 100% commission to its student contributors. So if you are a student and reading this article, you must sign up on this site. Now let’s see the second site to make money by selling pictures online.
2. GETTY IMAGES
Getty Images is operating two more websites right now which are Unsplash and iStock. While Getty Images is a stock pictures provider, Unsplash offers free image downloads without copyright. And iStock offers microstock pictures to its users. Now as compared to Microstock websites, iStock offers fewer sales. However, this website offers higher rates respectively. Now if we talk about the commission, iStock offers 15-45% commission to the users and Getty Images offers 20% to the seller for a still image and 25% commission for a video clip.
Those who sell their pictures on Unsplash, get a one-time payment for one image ranging from $5-30. If you are looking for a website to see pictures with one-time money, you can go to the Unsplash website.
3. DREAMSTIME
Dreamstime is a microstock website that has over 40 million users now and 200 million stock images. Not only stock photos, but this site also offers vectors, audio clips and video files as well. Dreamsite offers its users a commission of 20-25% with an additional 10% bonus. The website also offers a 10% affiliate of the total gross value of the transaction.
You will also get tools to use for the images like banners, links, badges WordPress plugins etc.
4. SHUTTERSTOCK
Shutterstock is a website that offers videos, images, audio and vectors. For the past 15 years, Shutterstock has paid $1 billion to its users for selling their images. The more your content gets licensed, the more earnings you make.
Shutterstock has 6 earning stages with a commission of 15-40% on each image. Now, if a person signs up on the website using your referral link, you will get a 10% bonus on each sign up when a video is downloaded. As for the image, you get $0.04 and when a buyer signs up using your reference, you can earn up to $200. This is one of the main reasons why Shutterstock has so many users who are selling images on this platform.
5. ADOBE STOCK
Adobe Stock is another microstock website that offers a variety of media players like videos, music, illustrators and still images. Now if we talk about royalties, Adobe pays its artists 33% of the revenue for images, illustrators and vectos, while 35% royalties for the videos. Also, if you want to make more money, you can promote Adobe with its banners on your social media platforms and get $72 per month or 8.33% revenue for the total amount of purchase.
Now let’s talk about the next 500PX platform and see how to make money by selling pictures online on this platform.
6. 500PX
500PX is a platform where photographers post and sell pictures online, review each other’s pictures and connect. Now this website has three different levels including free level, Awesome level and Pro level. The Awesome level is $3.99 per month, the Pro level is $7.99 per month. The free members of this website get 60% off when they license an image exclusively with the website. However, the paid members get a $100 commission.
7. ETSY
Etsy is one of the most famous websites for handmade items like bags, and cutlery and also for selling physical images as well as digital pictures. All Etsy users get three different fee stages including, listing fee, transaction fee and payment processing fee. Now, for image listing, the fee will be $0.20, and if the picture gets sold, Etsy will charge you a 6.5% fee from that sold amount. Also, if you use Etsy to take payment, it will charge you 3% of that total amount, including 0.025$ fee for payment processing.
Now, using Etsy has its perks and you can sign up on the website for free also, but the listing fee would be added as I have mentioned earlier.
You can also advertise your shop offsite by paying 15% to the platform which will result in giving you more customers to buy your pictures. So basically, Etsy is like a freelancing platform where you get perks by paying them.
8. SNAPPED4U
Snapped4U is a pretty decent platform if you are you looking for a hassle-free website. Because here, you just have to sign up for free, create your shop where you can upload your portraits or the pictures you have taken, and earn money by selling them. Once a customer books your portrait or picture, you can take payments from them and send them the picture via email.
Now, you will upload your desired pictures in .jpej format, create a description for them if you want, and add URLs too. Also, you can private your gallery whenever you want with your password.
Now if we talk about the registration fee, Snapped4U charges $10 for registration, which is, of course, a one-time payment. However, signing up and uploading pictures is free as I said above.
If you are from the US and your image is $5, the commission fee will be $0.50. And if your pictures are above $5, the commission fee will be 10% respectively. Similarly, the non-US accounts will pay a $0.60 commission on pictures of $5 or less and a 12% commission on pictures above $5 respectively.
10. FOTOMOTO
Fotomoto is a freelancing website where freelancers make money by creating digital portraits on demand and selling them. This site easily mergers with your WordPress site and you can buy photos of any genre easily. The layout of this website is pretty easy and you can get your desired portraits and pictures ready on demand for e-commerce platforms as well.
The website sign up is free, and the listings are free as well. So this is a pretty much user friendly website for a start up. Now, you might be thinking how much commission do you have to pay?
Fotomoto comes with 3 payment plans and no extra fee in the start up. The free version is the best for students who are just starting out because you only have to pay 22% transaction deduction of the total amount. And, the Pro plan will deduct 12% transaction with $10 as monthly subscription.
Similarly, the Pro Plus plan deducts 10% transaction with $25 monthly subscription. So yes, you have to pay deductions just when have a picture order and nothing from your pocket. And that too, with the access to tools.
So, as we have reviewed some of the best sites and learned how to make by selling pictures online, there are few facts about this earning opportunity that you must know:
Which are the most demanded pictures to sell online?
Here are some facts about the pictures that sell better than the other, so if you are willing to make more money, read below:
- Mostly, people believe that group pictures are more likely to get attention. However, that’s not true, solo pictures are more likely to grab attention.
- If you are selling a person’s picture, even of yourself, make sure you give random shots, rather than looking into the camera lens. These types of pictures grab more attention.
- Most websites need office interior pictures like Shutterstock, so if you can get any such pictures, that’s a plus.
- Do not post or sell pictures of things/activities that are illegal.
- Wide shots are more likely to grab attention rather than close ups.
- People prefer buying candid photos for their blogs or articles as compared to posed pictures.
Now, after doing a whole discussion about the best selling websites, you might be thinking which one is the best and the highest paying?
Which website pays the highest amount of money for pictures?
500PX is the highest paying website for selling pictures online. As a premium member, you can get 70% of royalties by selling non exclusive pictures and 100% royalties by selling exclusive licensed pictures. Free members can also get 60% royalties by selling portraits or pictures.
Also, there are some peoples that are mostly in demand these days. If you are willing to sell photographic pictures, you need to know this:
What pictures are mostly in demand right now?
- Taking headshots in pictures are more likely to generate more revenue as these pictures are very generic.
- Social media pictures.
- Pictures captured in class.
- Pictures captured during wedding events.
- Family or individual pictures or events or at home.
- Wedding veneu pictures.
What is the most highest paying photography niche?
Commercial photography is the highest paying photography job. You can make annual $100,000 by taking commercial shots with license. So if you think photography can turn you into a millionaire, yes, commercial photography can turn you into a millionaire.
Conclusion:
So, now you know how to make money online by selling pictures of your favorite genre, and you can simply sign up on one of the above mentioned websites and can make money sitting in your home. You can even use whatever device you want, be it a laptop, PC or mobile phone. So if you find this article helpful, leave a comment about what website are you going to sign up and what pictures will you sell?