Whether you’re a hobby photographer or a pro, you’ve most certainly heard of stock photography. Perhaps you’ve been interested in selling some stock photos but were unsure on how to start, where to sell, or how much one can actually make selling images through stock photography websites. Well, you’ve come to the right place because today we are going to cover all of these topics so that you can start selling your images today!
What many of you may not have known is that stock photography actually dates all the way back to the 1920s! The idea came about when publishers wanted to cut back on costs and not have to commission photographers for every single photoshoot or article. The Bettmann Archive, which was based in NYC, was an early example of a stock agency. Fast forward to the present day and stocks are still booming.
Stock photography in its simplest form is the supply of photos from a large database of images, which are then usually licensed for various purposes. Stock agencies host image databases as well as sell/license these images to clients globally. Stock photos fall into two categories, commercial and editorial. Having said that, stock photos can be pretty much anything and everything. Here are some examples of popular stock photography categories: travel, lifestyle, education, fitness & health, corporate, food, cultural events, sports, and much more.
This is the original form of stock photography. The major difference between macro and micro stocks is the rights and exclusivity. Due to this, clients can expect to pay between $100-500 per licensed image. Long story short, you have the potential to earn a lot more on a per image basis through macrostocks, but keep in mind, due to exclusivity, you may only be able to sell/license that image one time. In addition, due to exclusivity contracts with macrostock sites, you will only be able to upload and sell your images on that particular platform.
Microstocks are one of the most popular types of stock photography, although they are somewhat controversial. Due to microstock sites selling images at very cheap rates, as well as offering subscription plans, they are extremely popular with businesses, agencies, and individuals alike. Unfortunately for contributors, microstocks do not pay very well. You can expect to earn on average between $0.10-0.25 per image with microstock sites. However, your images are not exclusive with microstock sites. What this means is that you can upload and sell the same photos an unlimited amount of times on multiple platforms simultaneously. Microstocks are all about volume and this is where they shine. The more images you have and the more often they sell, the more you will earn!
Once an image is purchased, the owner can use that image perpetually without having to make further payments. It’s essentially a one-time fee for unlimited and unrestricted usage. This makes things a lot easier for the client, as they no longer need to worry about license restrictions and are free to use the image as they please. Usually this type of license does not come with exclusivity, therefore, the client may not be the only one in town using a particular image.
This type of licensing is completely opposite to that of the royalty free license. Rights managed licenses allow the client to purchase one-time rights to an image. The cost of the image will depend on various factors, including, what the usage is (web, print, etc.), file size, length of usage, and so forth. If the client wanted to reuse the image again, or on a different project, they would then need to purchase a new license. This type of license can also come with exclusivity, which would of course increase the cost.
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