If you are a photographer and you’re looking to either a) start making a living from it or 2) find additional ways to make passive income from your work as a photographer then this article will help you greatly.
Here are some different options for selling your photographs online.
Sell your stock photography through 3rd party stock photography websites.
http://www.photostockplus.com/
http://www.shutterpoint.com/Home-Photographer.cfm
If you sign up for photostockplus.com you’ll receive 85% commission plus be charged a small processing fee for each order that goes through. You’ll receive your own storefront and the website actively markets your photographs to corporate and individual clients. Like most stock photography companies, they don’t make money unless you do which means they have huge incentive to promote their photographers. They also handle all printing and shipping letting you focus on just taking photographs. You also have full control of print quality and the pricing structure for your photographs. They do provide pricing recommendations which range between $18 to $100 but in the end it’s up to you to set the prices.
Shutterpoint.com is very similar to the photostockplus. They will protect your images with watermarks and provide an eCommerce storefront that allows people to search through your photographs and order their favorite prints. They pay out between 70% and 85% of the purchase price to their clients.
Fotolia.com is another revenue sharing website that claims that “Almost 100% of all images uploaded* are online and generate revenue through direct sales or via our exclusive revenue sharing program from advertisement in the free pictures section.” You will have full control of pricing and this website which is a very popular stock photography website also allows for user and photograph ratings and they also have a high payout of 80% for the photographer.
Using these stock photography companies you can get the biggest commission (industry average is 52%) and you’ll get great exposure to your photographs and hopefully be able to earn some extra revenue through your hard work as a photographer.
Some photographers make a living selling stock photography. However, it usually takes years before your photography portfolio will be large enough to have the quality photographs within it for substantial commercial success.
However, selling stock photography is a great way to earn passive income (no mater how small the payments) and allows you to focus on photograph taking while the stock photography companies focus on website promotion and the business end of things.
Best of luck selling your photographs online.