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Where is a good site for selling my images? Not sure if this is the right place to post this question, but I am wondering if anyone here knows of or have has an experience with selling images online throught a stock site or others. I would like to put my photos to good use, and maybe make a little cash as well. Any ideas, suggestions on how these site work would be great. Thanks,
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John Rhodes |
Vickie, First of all, photographers who have not established a name for themselves will rarely have success selling from a web site if they simply count on potential buyers stumbling upon their site by chance. If you have a clientel ready to purchase from a site for convenience, that may offer a different degree of success. Do you do local events such as art festivals and gallery exhibits? If so, you could begin to spread the word about purchasing from a web site. If you don't do these activies, I suggest you do so. Start locally before looking for success with on-line sales. I don't do stock, but I think there are two extremes: an agency like Getty where you must be juried in all the way to micro-stock where you would upload lots (maybe a thousand or so) and make $.10 if something sells. Maybe someone here can give you better guidance on stock agencies. Again, my best advice: Make a splash in the local market before looking outward. John
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John Rhodes |
I forgot to add, I sell a couple of prints a year through Pro Lab Express's (PLE) Grand River Imaging (GRI)feature. Check on the site www.prolabexpress.com and establish an account (no cost to you). Upload your images, and build your sales profile with the GRI feature. Basically, you set the price of the image and provide your customer an event code. They order directly from GRI and you get a deposit into your bank account after their print costs are deducted. Read the details or call PLE. John
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Christopher A. Walrath |
This best way to sell you images is to promote yourself from start to finish. Only big names will get picked up by galleries and if the smaller ones do, generally it's by a small enough gallery that may not know how to promote their artists or how to price works of art. I would get a copy of Microsoft FrontPage 2000 or 2003 and make your own site, publish it, submit it to work engines, drop hints everywhere, put the url on business cards, you name it. But unless you get out there and sell yourself, you can't expect anyone else to do it for you. Thank you
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Thanks for everyones response and suggestions. I was mainly currious. I really don't want ot get in with some of these "stock" sites that only pay pennies for your images.
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R K Stephenson |
Hi, Vicki, One of the instructors here, Jim Zuckerman, wrote an excellent book, "Shooting & Selling Your Photos: The Complete Guide to Making Money with Your Photography". It is available on Amazon, among other places. You will find information on the entire gamut of sales venues for your images. Cheers, RK
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Carolina K. Smith |
Hi Vicki, The microstock agencies can yield a very good return for quality images. While there is much truth that some images sell for 'cents', anymore, I find that my images on the microsites sell for much more, usually 50cents to 4 or 5 dollars a pop. Those all add up over time, and I would rather sell a $1 image hundreds of times rather than sell one $200 image once. The other thing to keep in mind is that the buyers at microsites are often those businesses or organizations that are worthy, but may not have a huge budget... non profits, students needing photos to flesh out a school report, pastors wanting to illustrate a sermon, I've had feedback from those very same folks. I have only about 300 photos online, but have earned $16,526.33 so far, and counting... you do the math on how much I average per photo! And there are still many years of life left in those photos, I think. If you want more information, the best microsite to start with is Shutterstock, as their operation is very clean and they market your accepted photos worldwide. You can click on the link below for more information and you can get an idea of what I sell by looking at my BP website. Good luck, Carolina
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R K Stephenson |
There is a pretty good discussion about microstock agencies elsewhere on BP forums. From what I've heard/read from some pro's, stock has really changed a lot in recent years and it will probably be more difficult going forward to make a go of it with the big agencies. But I know a couple of photographers who are making a small income in micro with niche images. One guy I know who is making a tidy sum from his micro stock is strictly studio images designed with advertisers in mind. And he has thousands of pics online. You should go into it with reasonable expectations. For example, I don't know of any reputable micro agencies that pay over $1, much less $4-$5 a pop. Shutterstock, mentioned here, pays 25 cents. And if your images are yet-another-Grand Canyon shot or yet-another-swan shot, you're probably going to be disappointed. Carolina, I don't personally have a problem with people posting referral links from which you will monetarily benefit. But if you do so, I think you should be clearly identified it as such. Regards, RK
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