How to sell stock photos on the internet? Which platform offers the best earnings? What are the wages in different stock banks and agencies? What about the fees, how much do you have to pay to sell your stock images? Read the text to find out about the most popular options.

How to sell stock photos? – table of contents:

  1. Shutterstock
  2. Istock
  3. Adobe Stock
  4. Dreamstime
  5. Stocksy
  6. Getty Images
  7. How to sell stock photos? – Summary

Shutterstock

The cheapest version of the service is 29 euros per month (yearly payment) and it gives you 10 downloads a month with the standard license. Each package has a floating price list – several factors impact the final price: the number of downloads per month/per year, number of credits per month, payment options, and type of license.

Any photographer that wishes to sell his stock images can use the Shutterstock platform. There are tables, those present probable earnings for the creator. The more images offered the bigger the possible gain.

How to sell stock photos - Shutterstock

How to start your career as a creator? First and foremost you have to be over 18 years old – then there is a possibility of registering an account. You can create a corporate account as well, but you have to send the required documents that prove you are the owner of the company.

Istock

Similarly to the previous case, the price starts at 29 euros a month, when you chose a yearly plan. The company provides you with your first month free. At this price, you will get 10 downloads a month. The final price depends on the amount of monthly download, payment type, and license type.

To become a seller on Istock one should register with the form through a mobile application called “Contributor by Getty Images”. Then one should send 3-6 exemplary images if you are the copyright owner (or authorized representative). In the next step, after the verification, the platform will offer a new agreement and will encourage you to start your client’s account. The earnings are between 15% and 45% from each file license.

How to sell stock photos - Istock

Adobe Stock

In the case of the service, the price of the subscription starts from 29 euros per month – with an annual payment. Accordingly to the package, method of payment (yearly/monthly), and other parameters, the final amount may be different from the initial estimation. Each person that is above 18 years of age and is the rightful owner of the images can sell them with Adobe Stock. To be registered as an artist one should use Adobe ID. The rate or royalties for photographs, vectors, and illustrations is 33%.

How to sell stock photos - Adobe stock

Dreamstime

Dreamstime is the next platform that gathers the community of authors from all over the world. The buyers can benefit from existing plans. Their prices start at around 25 euros per month, with 5 downloads a month.

The first step to becoming a seller is account registration. Then the author has to familiarize himself with the requirements related to the send pictures. The platform retains the right to select the projects for technical, commercial, and esthetics assessment.

The fees are in the range between 25% and 50% of the share of the revenue calculated based on the net value of the transaction. Additionally, when the author decides to share pictures exclusively, the premium of 10% is added to the final value.

How to sell stock photos - Dreamstime

Stocksy

As we can read on Stocksy’s website, the whole collection, as well as the creators are hand-picked which improves the quality of pictures and movies that are on the platform. Pictures can be downloaded at different prices: small – 15$, medium – 30$, large – 75$, and x-large – 125$. The selection is connected to the place where the picture is used – the higher the price the better the quality and resolution of the image.

The standard license at the platform is set to royalty-free as default, but there is an option to extend the license with payment. The accurate price list can be found here.

Stocksy emphasizes that it offers a fair wage for the creators. The creator receives 50% of the price value of the image with the basic license and 75% of the price value with the extended license. To apply for the registration the author has to:

  • complete the application form – tell something about yourself, and share the portfolio,
  • how his work – send 10 images (movies or illustrations) in the jpg format (mp4 or mov),
  • wait for the acceptance – the analysis can take 1-2 weeks.

Stocky publishes an actual record of creators that are needed, the list can be accessed here.

How to sell stock photos - Stocksy

Getty Images

As it was already mentioned iStock and discussed here Getty Images are owned by the same company – Getty Images INC. For more than 25 years the platform provides images and videos of the best possible quality. There are three packages on the price list, and the cheapest package is 125 euros.

How to become an author with Getty Images? The first step is to download the “Contributor Getty Images” application that is available at AppStore and Google Play. Then one has to send from 3 to 6 pictures (images or videos) and wait for the review. After the successful verification, the link is posted to the e-mail address to finalize the registration.

The creators that cooperate with the platform can expect earnings that are around 15% to 25% of the income value. Detailed information can be found in the chart below.

How to sell stock photos - Getty Images

How to sell stock photos? – Summary

If you think about selling stock photos, consider the above options. Pay attention to the style of the platform and the payment options. There are many different platforms of similar type, but just a quick look at the most popular ones should give you a clear picture of the possibilities.

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How to sell stock photos? – Create & sell digital products #30 martin sparks avatar 1background

Author: Martin Sparks

E-commerce enthusiasts which constantly digs around the internet in order to make sure he hasn’t missed any important information on the topic of starting and scaling profitable online stores.

Create & sell digital products:

  1. What are digital products?
  2. Why you should create your own digital products?
  3. 8 digital product ideas
  4. Best sales models to sell digital products
  5. How to use subscription model to sell products?
  6. What is an e-book?
  7. What to write an ebook about
  8. How to create an ebook?
  9. 8 examples of best ebook creation software
  10. How to create an ebook in Canva?
  11. 11 common ebook writing mistakes to avoid
  12. 5 ebook publishing mistakes to avoid
  13. 10 best platforms for selling ebooks
  14. 7 reasons to write an ebook for your business
  15. What are online courses?
  16. Types of online courses you can create and sell
  17. 9 features of a good internet course
  18. 7 things you need to do before creating an online course
  19. How to create your own online course?
  20. The best online course creation tools
  21. How to record online video courses?
  22. How to sell online courses?
  23. Best online course marketplaces
  24. Best online course platforms
  25. Online templates: 7 ideas for online templates that sell 
  26. How to sell Canva templates: 6 steps to the final product
  27. Best online marketplaces to sell templates online
  28. What are stock images?
  29. How to make a stock photo? 10 great tips for awesome images
  30. How to sell stock photos?
  31. What is stock music?
  32. 6 stock music libraries to make money
  33. How to sell stock videos online?
  34. What is software? Types and methods of distribution
  35. How to sell your software? 
  36. How to create your own mobile app?
  37. 5 programs to build apps without coding
  38. How to sell mobile apps?
  39. 6 models of app monetization
  40. How to sell digital products on Etsy?
  41. How to sell digital products on Shopify?
  42. What do you need to know about selling digital products internationally?