How to sell photos online

Looking back at some photos you took during your last vacation, you found some particularly beautiful ones that, in your opinion, if sold, could arouse the interest of the public and yield a little something. Sorry so why don't you try to sell them on the Internet? Maybe you could really make a profit! How do you say? You've already thought about it but you've put the idea aside because you don't have the faintest idea of how to sell photos online? So let me give you a hand!

In today's guide, I will introduce you to some microstock services that allow you to sell your photographic works online at quite affordable prices. Sure, you can't expect to make a lot of money, especially if you're a budding photographer, but that's better than nothing, right? And then you can always create your own website and try to sell your shots directly there: an interesting challenge, isn't it?

Courage: Roll up your sleeves and take action right away! Make yourself comfortable, take all the time you need to concentrate on reading the next paragraphs and, above all, implement the "tips" that I will give you. I am sure that, by following my instructions scrupulously, you will not have the slightest problem using the solutions listed below. I wish you happy reading and, above all, I wish you a big good luck for everything!

Adobe Stock

One of the first solutions for sell photos online which I advise you to consider is Adobe Stock, the service that allows you to purchase photos to be used in projects created with Adobe Creative Cloud platform software (and more). It also allows you to upload your own photos and sell them for 33% royalty earnings for photos and 35% for videos. Payment is made via PayPal upon reaching at least 50 euros in royalty.

To use Adobe Stock, connected to its main page, press the button Sell located at the top right and, on the page that opens, presses the blue button Introduction to create your Adobe ID: you will be shown a form in which you will need to provide name, last name, email address, Password e date of birth. After that you will have to press the button Subscribe and follow the instructions that appear on the screen to complete the registration. If, on the other hand, you already have an Adobe ID, you can skip this step by pressing the button I already have an Adobe ID and logging in with your login credentials.

The first time you access the service, you will be asked if you are an author Fotolia (a microstock service that was acquired by Adobe a few years ago and which gave life to Adobe Stock): presses the button Yes, I'm a Fotolia author to link your Fotolia account to Adobe Stock or on the button No. Proceed to the next step. If you have decided not to link your Fotolia account, you will need to upload the images you want to sell on Adobe Stock: press the link Shop by Department placed in the center of the page and select the images you want to sell, or drag them into the browser window, in the area Drag and drop files.

After uploading an image, the service will automatically recognize the type of file uploaded and even the content present in it. In any case, make sure that the type of file, the category and the keywords automatically chosen by the service are correct and, if necessary, change them by selecting others to your liking. Finally, answer the question Are there any recognizable subjects or properties? from the menu on the right (below) by pressing on Yes o No and then presses the green button Invia per l'approvazione. Finally, upload the image of a valid identity document by pressing the button Select document (JPEG), in order to send the photo for approval.

If the image is approved by the Adobe team and is actually sold, you will be able to earn a small percentage from the sale, as I told you previously.

iStockPhoto

iStockPhoto is another site for selling photos on the Internet that I recommend you try. This is a microstock service created by GettyImages, a world-renowned US photographic agency, which allows you to earn money from the sale of your shots by receiving a percentage of the sale equal to 15%, which can reach up to 45% for exclusive contributors. Payment takes place in the month following the achievement of the minimum payment threshold, set at $ 100.

To sell photos on iStockPhoto, linked to this page and presses the button APPLY located at the bottom. Then fill out the registration form that is proposed to you by providing yours name, last name, email address and yours Country of residence. Then accept the conditions of use of the service, by putting the check mark on the appropriate box, put the check mark on the item I'm not a robot and, after following the instructions necessary to verify that you are not a robot, press the button Continue.

On the page that opens, press the button capacitor positive (+) lead placed in correspondence with the wording Photo. You can upload up to 15 photos, in order to upload the photos you want to sell on iStockPhoto (max. 15). On the page that opens, then presses the button Search your computer and upload the photos, remembering that they must be in JPEG / JPG format and that each of them can have a maximum weight of 3GB.

Then fill in the text fields Title of the photo, Photo description (optional) providing information on the image you have uploaded and presses the button Add to question. When you have finished the operation for the remaining photos you want to sell, press the button Submit your question And that's it. The GettyImages team will send you an email telling you that they will review the material you have submitted and let you know that your application is being accepted within 30 business days.

Please note that iStockPhoto is also available as a free application for Android and iOS.

Shutterstock

Did the services I mentioned in the previous lines not satisfy you? If so, I advise you to consider Shutterstock, another very famous microstock portal (also available as an app for Android and iOS), which allows you to sell your shots at prices between 0,21 and 2.90 euros / each. Payment is made at the end of each month and it is not required to reach a fixed minimum threshold.

To sell photos on Shutterstock, linked to this page, press the orange button Get started and register for the service by filling out the form that is shown on the screen: type your full name in the text field Full Name, choose the name to be made visible to other users by filling in the text field Display Name (if you want, you can also leave the name entered automatically), provide the email address with which to register indicating it in the text field Email Address and also indicates the Password login you want to use. To complete the registration, then, put the check mark on the item concerning the acceptance of the terms of use of the service and the declaration that you are of age and then press the button Next I will continue.

Within a few seconds, you should receive a message to the email address with which you registered: press the link Please click here to verify your email, so as to validate the email address you entered. On the page that opens in the browser, press the button Next and fill out the form you see on the screen providing the information about yours address and cellphone number e pigia again its pulsating Next I will continue.

At this point, you can finally upload your first image to Shutterstock. Pajamas on the red button Upload images and follow the instructions you see on the screen to upload one or more photos. I remind you that you can upload files in JPEG format that have a minimum size of 4 Megapixels. Then click on the button Got It! to close the information window containing the recommendations for uploading content to the platform and then drag the images you want to upload to the area Drag and Drop your files here, or press the button Select multiple files to select them "manually".

After uploading one or more photos, press the button Next placed at the bottom right of the page and then presses the red button Start adding details to add details (in English) about the uploaded content. I advise you to choose the keywords with which to describe the images very carefully because the visibility that the content will have on the platform will depend on this and, consequently, the possible downloads and earnings you will get.

Select, therefore, one of the photos you have uploaded and from the menu that appears on the right specify the type of file (Photo o Illustration), the use that can be made of it (Usage), the description (Description), the category (Category 1 e 2), etc. When you are ready to do it, then, press the button Save at the top right and click the button Submit located at the bottom right. At this point, you'll see a message informing you that the Shutterstock review team will review the content you've submitted and provide you with feedback within a few days.

Selling photos online with your own site

As you will have noticed from reading the previous paragraphs, if you decide to sell your shots by relying on external sites, the earnings will somehow be "shared" with the platforms in question, which, in exchange for a more or less high percentage on the selling price of the photos, they allow you to host the shots and make them accessible to their public.

If you have one your website, however, you could also try to sell the photos independently, without contacting the platforms in question, thus obtaining earnings that are equal to 100% of the sales made (excluding taxes). How do you say? You don't have a website right now but would like to create one to sell your photographic works? So I recommend reading my guide on how to create a website: there you will find explained in detail which solutions you can adopt to create a website in a few clicks.

If, on the other hand, you already have a site, but it is not very visited, you can try to improve the situation by applying the tips I gave you in the guide on how to index a website. Also consider buying the book "The fotoklan method”(Published by Mondadori Electa) in which I explain in much more detail which tools to use to create a successful website (which could be useful for selling your photos online to a potentially vast number of users).

How to sell photos online