Selling photos online... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

Former_MSE_Lawrence

This is a special discussion as part of the

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Selling photographs online

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anewman

Excellent, thank you very much. My girlfriend is a professional photographer but is out of work at the moment. This is worth a good look into and trying out.

anewman

mogster wrote: »

Ace idea - I've got a website -but I've not had much (if any!) luck selling stuff online.

There's some very nice pics there but IMO the price is a bit high for the average buyer. I guess you need to advertise somewhere to get exposure to the sort of people who will want to own pictures of the sort you sell and display them, you may get some luck by asking if it's possible to advertise in the Local library (a place where people interested in local history etc may go). You may also have some luck mailing local businesses. There's just one or two ideas.

Good luck!

MercilessKiller

Just to let you know mogster you're breaking rules by posting your website in here I'm afraid as it's advertisement.

darich

anewman - actually mogster's prices are average

My prices are similar - i can't check just now since i'm at work and blocked from accessing the photobox gallery with the prices but i do remember that i charge £40 for a 30"x20".

i've often tried to think of ways to maximise my publicity and had a few ideas
i've tried art and craft shows - limited success
an exhibition with a couple of others has been mentioned but so far hasn't happened.
stock photography is quite good but with so many prople having digicams these days and horrid websites selling images for a few pence, it can be very difficult to make any real money from that. I have managed to sell an image to a German calendar for over £85 though.

i'm always open to ideas and suggestions.

Mogster - if you're up for exchanging links, send me a PM and i'll send you my website - you can then decide if you want to

darich

i would add that shutterstock is one of many sites who completely devalue photographer's work and you'd be aswell giving them away.

Bear in mind that if it's good enough to buy from shutterstock then it's good enough to buy from macro stock agency rather than a micro stock.

Claiming that the photographer retains the copyright to the image as a selling point is very underhanded - it is retained no matter which site the image is sold to unless it is expressly sold by the photographer.

Selling images through shutterstock adn other sites like it where you get a measly 10p per image can land you in legal trouble if you receive a real bona fide offer of £100 for an image already on that site.

I've go around 10,000 images on my pc and not one has been uploaded to a site like shutterstock.
I've got around 150 images on photographersdirect.com and with one sale to Germany i made just over £85.

And i think you'll find that most internet based agencies sell worldwide so that's another advertising tactic that sounds better than it really is.

I would suggest that any photographer who can take a decent image doesn't need to sell them for a paltry 10p a time. Why not sell them for REAL money?????

EDIT : Micro stock is shutterstock and the like - royalty free images where you sell the image for whatever purpose the buyer wants - you cannot control where, how often, what product, country or which media it is used in.
Macro stock is https://www.photographersdirect.com where you control everything - the purpose, the price, how often, how long, which media, which country and for what product it is used.
You cannot sell the same image on both for legal reasons and pd.com will not accept your images if you sell through a micro stock site.

Incidentally - you retain copyright in both cases so don't be fooled by smart jargon!!

Think long and hard before you give away images you consider good enough to sell!!

RichardJohn_2

I'd recommend SmugMug: http://www.smugmug.com

cbr_2

Hi all.

Thought I would add my experiences.

I've been selling prints for just under a year now, through various channels. It all started when the BBC used one of my images on their news site and it was seen by several people who wanted to buy copies.
I do have a web site, but sales directly through that are rare. I've been regularly selling through a Sunday Art Market, and through events such as school summer fairs, craft evenings etc. The web site then comes into it's own as people can take my card and follow up later, which a number have done. Other sales have been though personal contacts, who then recommend me to their friends. I've also just been commissioned for a series of local images and one of my original customers is also talking about a commission sometime soon. I'll also be part of an exhibition of work at a local school in December.

I do advertise locally (only free advertising so far) and my attitude is a slow but gradual widening of people who know about my work.

I haven't yet used stock images libraries at all, but am considering it.

Colin.

skintcouncilworker

Hi, i got this from PC Advisor who rate this website. www.istockphoto.com. Hope this helps. Thanks.

darich

istockphoto is another microsite where you get a few pence per image.

CBR's method is similar to what have done although he's gone a bit further and sounds like he's had a bit more success.
I've sold several prints to friends and work colleagues and had a few enquiries through my site. I also got business cards made up and distribute them where i can.

Colin - if you're interested in exchanging links, send me a PM. I'll send you my website and you can have a look before deciding.

myato

hi, can someone please tell me how i go about copywriting a photo to sell online? thank you