Sell photos online

[computermark]

I'm looking at using an online service called PhotografixPro.com to sell my wedding and portrait photographs online. Anyone have experience with them? Feedback appreciated.

[mttmrphy]

Looks a little shifty to me...

[bill_wasp]

:evil:
i used a URL called shutterpoint.com. same deal. on line photo gallery, priced items etc. 5 months....nada. i pulled out...one less thing to worry about.

[p3t3r]

has anyone been selling photos at microstock sites ?..

I read this article: http://www.dphotojournal.com/sell-photos-online/
and it looks very promising !!!

Cheers,

[peterdoomen]

At Shutterstock, wedding photos are in demand. Up to now, with a limited stock of pictures, it seems to work very well for me. Especially when you get "pay per photo" downloads at $4 per piece. I'll let you know about my experiences after I've got my first check.

But why not give it a try? The other option is loads of photos sitting on your hard disk eating up space. Besides, it's fun to know which of your pictures are attractive to professional designers.

On the second day of my subscription, my picture of playing raccoons was downloaded twice.

http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=51806 is the link. Also take a look at my gallery if you want.


PeteR.

[BrianEE93]

At Shutterstock, wedding photos are in demand. Up to now, with a limited stock of pictures, it seems to work very well for me. Especially when you get "pay per photo" downloads at $4 per piece. I'll let you know about my experiences after I've got my first check.

But why not give it a try? The other option is loads of photos sitting on your hard disk eating up space. Besides, it's fun to know which of your pictures are attractive to professional designers.

On the second day of my subscription, my picture of playing raccoons was downloaded twice.

http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=51806 is the link. Also take a look at my gallery if you want.


PeteR.

You get $4 per download? I thought it was just 20 cents.

[peterdoomen]

Yes, you get 20 cents for normal downloads and about $4 for "pay per photo" downloads. Of course the $4 dollar ones are what you want... nevertheless, with enough downloads of the 20 cents type, it also builds up... To me, what you earn depends on three things:

1) the number of photos you have in your stock. 100 is nice, 500 is better, and with 1000 pics it can pay *very* well

2) the quality and subject of your photos. Nobody wants to download pictures of your dog (unless it's a very special animal) or photos with poor composition, bad lighting or noise (these photos usually don't make it through the reviews, but even then, the better the pic, the higher the chance someone actually downloads it).

3) the keywords you submit with each photo, since that is what the users (graphical designers) use to locate what they want...

I'm fairly sure my next lens will be payed with my stock income.

[Mthorpe_Davies]

I'm fairly sure my next lens will be payed with my stock income.

What stock agency do you use?

[peterdoomen]

ShutterStock (http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=51806). Not that I did a lot of comparisons, but it seemed reasonable to me and I wanted to give it a try. I uploaded 10 more or less representative pictures and waited a month.

Then I multiplied the income generated with 100 (I plan to upload 1000 pictures) and thus got an estimate of what I can earn each month.

I suggest you do the same for your own situation. My result was: a new pro lens in less than a few months, so I decided to put some effort into it.

PeteR.

[zacker]

let us know how it goes peter.. it sounds very interesting!
-zacker-

[jfrancho]

What do stock photo sites have to do with the OP?

[peterdoomen]

let us know how it goes peter.. it sounds very interesting!
-zacker-

OK, here's my impression after a month of testing. I uploaded about 100 pictures during the month. My last batch was approved three days ago. A quick calculation shows that earnings per month are about 44 cents per photo in stock.

This means with 100 photos about $44 a month, with 1000 photos about $440 a month or more than $5000 per year. Which is not bad for a hobby and can almost certainly pay for my gear.

Don't know about other stock sites, don't know about your situation, but for me, the case is clear: I'm going to upload more pictures to ShutterStock ( http://submit.shutterstock.com/?ref=51806 )!

Success!

PeteR.

[zacker]

I SEE... THEN THE ONLY PROBLEM IS UP LOADING PHOTOS THAT WILL SELL.... A WHOLE NOTHER BALL GAME I GUESS!
lol.
-zacker-
ps. any research as to what sells and what does'nt??

[peterdoomen]

ps. any research as to what sells and what does'nt??

Yes, at Shutterstock, there's even a forum where the reviewers tell you what works and what not... for example, pictures of your shadow, sunflowers, pets, pebbles and the like might seem a good idea but they're not.

On the other hand, seasonal pictures like autumn, thanksgiving, christmas or even mundane subjects such as fire extinguishers and people with colored hair seem to be in demand...

My most popular image is one I took in a zoo, with two playing raccoons. Other popular pictures are those with a row of wine barrels or the word "coffee" spelled with coffee beans.

Again: you need to test it out for yourself.

PeteR.