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Which stock photography agencies are the best for selling your images or even buying royalty free stock photos? Maybe you wonder if you can make any money selling your images online. I wondered the same thing, back when I was a full time graphic designer. I was purchasing hundreds of stock photos for use in my designs. Then I thought, “Hey – why can’t I sell my own photos?”. Professional stock photo collections can cost anywhere from $200-$500 per disc, with single traditional royalty free images costing anywhere from $80-$200 themselves. It’s thrilling to find places online where you can purchase high-resolution, professional quality images at a fraction of that price. In the past 5 or 6 years there has been a boom in the microstock photography and royalty free stock footage business. Many times I also talk with fellow artists that have their work only on one to three different agencies, and they ask, “Where else can I sell my photos where there are actually sales, and it is actually worth my time to submit?”. Sometimes artists that are exclusive with istockphoto or any of the other larger agencies decide they don’t want to put all of their eggs in the same basket any more. Of course it is more work to submit images to more places, but you need to figure out which balance is best suited for your own needs, according to how much time you have to invest each week, as well.
Which stock photo agencies are worthwhile?
Trying to see which site sells more images than the next is tricky. There are a lot of elements involved, and it seems like sales figures fluctuate from month to month amongst the micro sites. Factors like portfolio size, photo types, site search engines, and even categorization all play a part. All I can do is give you my best sites – the ones that I personally think are worth my time to upload to. Below are the links to my top-selling sites – sign up, and try them out. Then you can make your own conclusions. Here are my personal recommendations:
The All-StarsImage may be NSFW.
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Shutterstock
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iStockPhoto
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BigStockPhoto
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Dreamstime
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Fotolia
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123 Royalty Free
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Slower Earners
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Featurepics
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Crestock
Newer Promising Agencies:Image may be NSFW.
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The above links are also excellent places to buy stock images. I also sell images from my own portfolio and other select artists here at ArenaCreative.com at budget prices. At present, we have thousands of images to choose from, ranging everywhere from graphics, to vector art, to lifestyle photography.
Everyone creates different types of art, and some of it is very marketable. Some has high commercial value, while a lot does not. It might look great, and you might want to make a print of it for your grandmother, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to make enough money to make a living. How do you know how well you’ll do? You have to try it for yourself. Then make your own conclusions. This is definitely not a get rich quick scheme. You will “get back” out of stock photography, what you “put into it”.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the blog at the upper right of this page. I’ve consulted so many for free on how to get started over the years, only to find that I have less and less time for it. Especially when the majority of people I’ve spent hours helping, never ended up going through with regularly submitting images Image may be NSFW.
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Like I said, stock is definitely not for everyone. Lots of people give it a shot and then realize how much work is involved. My time is valuable, as is yours, but if you are interested in one-on-one consulting regarding your microstock efforts, feel free to contact me for further info. I highly recommend the Expanded Microstock Photographer’s guide – a really affordable ebook by Rasmus Rasmussen, a 10 year veteran in the world of microstock photography.
