30 Plus Ways to Make Money online by Selling Photos.

 30 Plus Ways to Make Money online by Selling Photos.

by Masohail

July 22, 2024

Is photography your hobby? Do you enjoy taking pictures of the world around you? Then you can start making money selling photos online.

 30 Plus Ways to Make Money online by Selling Photos.

The great thing about selling photos online is that you don't need any specialized training, the opportunities are plentiful, and most of the time you don't even need your own website to get started.

Ways to make money selling photos

If you would like to make money selling photos, here are 33 types of gigs, where to find them and how much they pay.

Sell ​​your photos on stock photography websites

Companies, businesses, and publishers use stock photos for advertisements, brochures, editorial use, instruction manuals, retail use, and more. Using stock photos saves them the hassle of taking pictures and hiring a photographer.

If you would like to make money selling your photos, check out these photo websites.

1) 123RF

With 123RF, register a contributor account, upload your original photos and earn up to 60% commission when someone downloads your image.

2) 4-corner images

Is one of the following disciplines your specialty? Travel, nature, food or lifestyle? If so, use 4Corners Images to work with. See their website for full submission instructions. 4Corners Images currently offers a 50/50 split.

3) 500 pixels

Make money by uploading and selling your 500px photos. They are currently offering 60% on exclusive images and 30% on non-exclusive images. Payments are made via PayPal or check.

4) Adobe Stock

If you take amazing photos or videos, create cutting-edge vectors and are at least 18 years old, you can make money with Adobe Stock. Create an account and upload your content; every time a customer buys one of your images, you earn 33% commission on photos and vector art and 35% commission on videos. Payments are made via PayPal and Skrill.

5) Alamy

With Alamy you get up to 50% of every sale when the image is exclusive to the website. With non-exclusive images, you get 40% of every sale. Payments will arrive on the first business day of the month once your account balance reaches $50 via PayPal, Skrill or funds transfer.

6) Animals Animals

Get 50% commission on your high quality animal and nature photos. All images should be taken with a 10 MP camera or higher and edited to ensure quality.

7) Bigstock

To start selling on Bigstock, you need to sign up as a contributor and view their online tutorial. After completing these tasks, you can upload your images to the web. Your earnings are per digital download and are based on the customer's payment plan type and the size of the image purchased. Prices range from $0.25 to $3.00 per image.

 30 Plus Ways to Make Money online by Selling Photos.

8) Crestock

Royalty rates are calculated on a progressive scale based on the total number of images sold since joining, ranging from 20% to 40% commission.

9) DepositPhotos

With DepositPhotos, you will first need to create a user account and pass a trial test before uploading your images. The amount of commission depends on how many files you sell on their site and the type of file (photo, vector, video or audio). Commission rates range from 30% to 42%.

10) Dreamstime

With Dreamstime, you can upload your photos online or through a smartphone app. For each sale, contributors earn a 25-50% revenue share. Additional income is available for exclusive photos and extended licenses.

11) Getty Images

To get started with Getty Images, download their contributor app (available for iPhone and Android) and share 3-6 of your best images. They will review your work and let you know if you are accepted into the program. Must be at least 18 years old to apply. With Getty, you get 20% on royalty-free images and 25% on royalty-free video clips.

12) Ingram Group

The Ingram Group consists of three libraries, Ingimage, SignElements and VectorState. With this group, you upload your content once and it will be distributed to all three sites. Every time one of your images is downloaded, you earn up to 40% commission. Payments are made via PayPal, Skrill or direct deposit once your account reaches $50 in earnings.

13) Photo by iStock

iStock, part of the Getty family, has the same conditions to start as a contributor. With iStock, you get 15% on photos, 20% on video clips, and 25% and 45% on exclusive images and videos. Payments are distributed via Payoneer or PayPal.

14) Image Professionals

Image Professionals specializes in premium food, home interiors, garden and flower, beauty, science, landscape and travel images and videos. To apply, please send your contact information and website portfolio to artist@imageprofessionals.com. More details can be found on their website.

15) Pond5

Sell ​​photos, videos, music clips and more. Set your own prices and get 50% of every sale. And you don't have to sign any exclusivity contracts.

16) Scopio

To get started with Scorpio, upload at least 20 of your best photos and create your profile page. If models are used in your photos, you must have them submit model release forms. Once these parts are complete, they will check your work to let you know if you made the cut. Payments are made through PayPal and you earn 20-40% of the sales of your images.

17) Shutterstock

Get paid for stock images, illustrations and video clips. Prices vary by subscription plan, exclusivity and vector type. The site says you can earn up to $120 per image download and a 30% royalty for each clip purchased.

18) Stocks

With Stocksy, you can earn 50%-75% in royalties, but all images must be exclusive. To request an assessment, fill out the application, upload ten photos and wait for approval (1-2 weeks). You do not need to be a professional photographer to apply.

19) Warehouse

The Stockvault program is a bit different in that it is a revenue sharing program where you can earn money through Google AdSense and donations. Just create an account, upload at least 25 of your best photos, and add AdSense and PayPal information. The more traffic your photo gets, the more money you make.

20) Story blocks

Storyblocks is a membership platform where contributors are paid for how many files are downloaded from the member's library. Through this platform, you can send photos, videos and audio clips to members for download.

21) Tetra Images

To join Tetra Images, you must email them at creative@tetraimages.com with a link to your online portfolio. After reviewing your images, they will contact you with the next steps to get started.

22) Hi Micro

Yay Micro pays contributors for photos, illustrations, videos and sound effects. You get 50% commission for every asset sold. Payments are made via PayPal.

Are you wondering if people are really making money selling photos? See how Evgeny Tchebotarev earned $1,602.50 with 500Prime in just a few weeks.

Want to learn more about making money with photos? Check out Sell and resell your photos.

Make money taking photos using smartphone apps

Smartphone cameras are very advanced these days, taking extremely high quality photos that you would never guess were taken by a phone! If you want to test the waters of selling photos online, download a few of these apps to start catching on!

23) Agora

Agora is a smartphone app for iOS and Android devices. To start making money on the app, upload your best photos and when someone buys one of your pictures, you'll earn money. Users can also vote on your images. Agora gets a 4.5 star rating in the app store.

24) Twenty20

Get 80% commission on single photo licenses. Get 20% commission on subscription plan licenses. Available for both iPhone and Android operating systems, Twenty20 gets a 4.5-star rating in the app store.

Sell ​​your photos on social networks

25) Make money using social networking sites

If you enjoy using social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, you can make good money by selling your videos and pictures through these platforms!

One Instagrammer who has found success in selling on social media is Daniel Arnold. In fact, he made over $15,000 in one day! Or if you have a HUGE Instagram following – you can work with brands like Danielle Bernstein who makes $5,000-$15,000 per Instagram post.

Make money selling photography services on Craiglist

26) Craigslist

Recently my friend Aimee bought a $5 ad on Craigslist promoting her photography services to potential buyers. With some good copy, images, and keywords, she got $2,700 for her photography work—no website, business cards, networking, or marketing. If you want to know more about how she did it 

Sell ​​pictures and artwork on Etsy

27) Etsy

When you think of Etsy, you probably think of fine arts and crafts. But Etsy has all kinds of ways to make money selling your photos, from wall prints, canvas prints, and photo books to adding your images to things like mugs, t-shirts, keychains, gifts, and so much more!

If you already have a photography business, you can earn even more by selling items like Lightroom presets, photography contracts, and price lists. The great thing about selling on Etsy is that it only costs $0.20 per listing and they have a huge audience!

Start your own stock photo subscription

28) Start a Stock Photo Subscription Website

Don't want to share profits from your images? Then consider starting your own photo stock subscription site. For this option, you will need your own eCommerce site to host and sell your images. Shopify or a WordPress plugin like WooCommerce can be a good choice to start with. Once you have your online marketplace ready, upload your photos, create subscription packages and start promoting your website.

29) EyeEm

EyeEm is a smartphone application available for both iOS and Android operating systems. To license your photos for sale, create an account, upload your photos, and get a commission when one sells. With EyeEm, you retain the copyright to your images and it receives a 4.8 star rating in the app store.

30) Foam

Download the Foap app (available for both iPhone and Android operating systems) to your smartphone and upload your photos and video clips. Once your image has received five positive ratings from other Foap users - your photo will be published for sale. You get 50% commission every time someone buys your photo or video. Payments are made via PayPal when the user requests a withdrawal. Foap gets a 4.5 star rating in the app store.

31) PhotoSesh

PhotoSesh is an on-demand app just like Uber, but for photographers. Download the iPhone app, select the types of projects you want to work on, the dates and times you can work, then sync your calendar with the app. You must have an iPhone 8 or better to use. According to their website, photographers can make up to $25 an hour, sometimes more. This app gets a 3.8 star rating in the app store.

32) Snappr

Another on-demand app, Snappr, connects individuals in need of photographers in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Colombia, Israel and Singapore. Photographers who would like to work with Snapre will need to submit an online application for consideration. They are hiring freelance help, but you must have past paid experience, a DSLR camera, and experience with Adobe Lightroom. Snappr gets a 4-star rating in the app store.