9 Best Photo Buying Websites: How to Sell Photos Online for Cash
Having multiple streams of passive income has become so easy with the internet. Did you know you can sell photos online for 100s of dollars? Yes, there a lot of websites out there, ready to pay to you for images you take, even with your smart phone. Mmhhm!
You don’t have to be a very good at taking pictures but if you’re a professional photographer, then you have a big advantage with this.
People are using images now than never before, so chances are that, your pictures would be downloaded or paid for, and that’s how you earn your cash. Selling photos online is actually of the ways to make money on instagram.
Yeah, a few bucks here and here may not seem enough at first, but they can add up quickly before you know it. One thing about making money online is that, you don’t actually have to always be online.
There millions of bloggers and graphic designers out there who use millions of photos everyday; photos of office settings, room decors, apartments, recipes, tools, nature, travel shots, name them.
Niche down to any of these areas, and with a bit of creativity and consistency, you can make some cool cash from selling photos online.
So if you really want to get into it, you can visit any of the photostock websites listed below, look at their categories, focus your photography or photos on one or two, and make a choice.
Now, let’s explore the best photo stock sites where you can sell photos online:
1. AdobeStock
AdobeStock is one of the best sites to sell photos online. Once you list photos here, it can be accessed by millions of users of Adobe products; Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Illustrator or even Fotolia software.
This helps your photography becomes more popular. Usually, you can earn around 33% commission per photo sale or download.
Adobe also gives you the right to sell your photos to other photo stock sites with no restrictions. Upload your photos here
2. Foap
Foap is great option among the best sites to sell photos online. It pays out 50% royalty on every photo sold through the site.
It is recognised as a profitable photo stock app, and this is what is offers its contributors;
- $5 for every photo through its platform
- $100–$2,500 for missions, where brands submit a photo brief and set a cash prize for winning entries.
So, Foap is not your regular stock photography site. It prides itself with creative visual content made for creative professionals. Upload your photos here
3. iStockPhoto
iStockPhoto is a baby company of Getty Images, that allows you to upload and sell photos nonexclusively.
When you sell your photography through their platform, iStockPhoto permits you to sell the same photos to another agency.
The commission on iStock per photo downloaded or sold, ranges from 15% to 45%.Sell your photos on iStock here
4. Getty Images
You might have heard of Getty Images before now. Well, it is among the best of stock photography websites feeding brands, graphic designers and publishers with high quality and exclusively licensed images.
Getty Images owns and operates its baby company, iStock, also an online photo stock site. These combined help contributors reach over 1.5 million of image users around the world.
The platform has very high standards for contributors to sell their photography. With high-quality photos licensed through Getty Images, the commission per photo sale or download ranges from 20% to 45%. Submit your photos online here
5. Alamy
Alamy has very flexible rules to sell your stock photos online. Although it is not as popular as Getty Images or AdobeStock, Alamy has the most diverse of photo collections, so there is always a market for any kind of photo.
You can sell images, videos, vectors, and even 360-degree panoramic images. It is reported that, Alamy has paid over $180 million to contributors, at a pay commission of 40% on each sale.
The platform gives an option to exclusive and non-exclusive sales. If your photo sales are exclusive with Alamy, you make 50% on direct, otherwise you earn 40% commission for non-exclusive rights.
Alamy accepts iPhone photos on its Stockimo app, where you can sell and make extra money from your just selfies. Upload your photos here
6. ShutterStock
Shutter has existed for over 15 years, with millions of contributors and over a billion of dollars’ pay-outs made. How to sell photos on shutterstock shouldn’t be difficult.
The platform is considered as one of the simplest stock photography website to sell photos online.
This means that you have a high chance of earning some good money selling your images on the Shutterstock site. Earnings start from 15% lest to 40% high.
More, you are given exclusive rights to the images you sell on the website. If you are a starter in the photography or image stock-sales, Shutterstock can be a great platform for you to explore. Upload your photos here
7. Stocksy
Stocksy is a new entrant to the image stock marketplace, so you should expect low contributors and customers. However, it a very good photostock website for beginners, as it is not populated with too images.
Here is a snippets from their website; “At Stocksy, we are renowned for our co-op model, making artists co-owners in a business that pays the highest royalties in the industry (50-75%) and is dedicated to creative integrity”
In short, Stocksy has a bias for creative artists and more professional photographers, with all photos 100% exclusive. That is why they pay the highest in the industry. Upload your photos here
8. 123 RoyaltyFree
Once you join 123RF as a contributor, you have the chance to market your photos to over five million active customers worldwide, and earn royalties between 30% and 60%.
It is stated on their site that, a contributor will get get between $0.216 and $0.432 per image download.
That may seem pretty low compared to other photo stock websites. But the name of the game is; the more photos you upload, the higher your earnings, and it can add up decently. Upload your photos here
9. InstaPrint
Instagram has become more than just a social media site. Did you know you can make money on Instagram in many ways?
Read This:
8 Proven Ways On How To Make Money On Instagram In 2022
When it comes to making money on Instagram through photo sales, all you need is to link your profile to a website called Instaprint.
You can upload and sell your photos as hard prints in the form of; posters, T-shirts, phone cases, greeting cards etc.
Instaprint allows you to set your own selling prices and they will handle the printing and shipping of the items to the buyer.
As a contributor, you can earn from $5 to more $50 per image sold. Make money selling your photos online here
In conclusion
It isn’t difficult to make money selling photos online. In fact, it is one of the easiest ways to make passive income, whether you’re a pro photographer or just a beginner with a smart phone.
All you need is to take some quality photos and upload them to the any of the sites. Just niche down your photography to either nature, restaurants, recipes, houses, streets, everything. Just anything at all.