Selling photos online... official MoneySavingExpert.com discussion

Tamaringirl

photos4me.com offer a good profit margin (80%) for you to sell your photos and registering is free!

geesh

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, however I have read some of the replies on this forum. I was thinking of selling my photos via shutterstock but some of the stories and advise on here has put me off a little!

I was thinking of registering on photographers.com.

Has anyone on here used this site and what are they like to deal with?

Also all my photos have been taken with a compact digital camera, althought the picture quality is very good, am I better off investing in a digital SLR?

thanks in advance.

MeNikki

Hello All,

Great reading and a nice collection of many ideas, concerns and suggestions.

I have signed up for Photographers Direct, but was asked to supply a link where my work may be viewed before my registration will be validated. I do not have my own website and am not sure if they would appreciate a link to a picture album at any of the online printing websites... Nor do I have 200 pictures online there.

How did other people deal with this part of the registration?

Thanks and happy snapping,
MeNikki

themonkster

A very interesting thread.
I too have signed up with a few photo selling websites. I sold a couple on shutterpoint recently.
One site that hasn't been mentioned yet is http://www.freedigitalphotos.net
I have found them to be quite strict on quality as a lot of my photos have not been approved, but many have been approved too. They are not as fussy as istockphoto.
I like the fact that I can set my own selling price. The website takes a commission of 25%
You have to agree for small versions of your photos to be given away for free, (the clue is in the website name), but I guess there is potential for some sales ... although I haven't sold anything yet! Early days I guess.

ThinkingOfLinking

sarahriches1983 wrote: »

Does anyone have any sites where you can sell *ahem* adult content?

Yes. www.adultwork.com is free to sign up to; they make money by taking a cut of your earnings; 30%. You can sell photos from a mimum of 65p and they can be as explicit as you like. YOu can also offer sales of other adult goods, escort services, webcam, phone and SMS chat on there but nothing is compulsory. I have done phone services for them and have made money quickly and they do pay out although it takes about a month to get your money after you ask for it.

ThinkingOfLinking

Which is the best site to sell live concert photos on? They are not "exclusives" but egs are front row Oasis recently and front row Nitin Sawhney.

LittleCharlie

I know this goes against the grain a little, but I'm rather disappointed in this thread. Selling photographs is a highly professional trade, and shouldn't be treated as a get rich quick scheme.

People here are asking if they can get away with selling small compact camera photographs etc, or if they can scrape by with XYZ.

It's an incredibly complicated business, and you're likely to get into serious trouble if you don't know your way around contracts, licensing, copyrights etc like the back of your hand. Not to mention knowing the ins and outs of what you can and cannot sell for different purposes and usages.

Anyone selling through sites such as photographers direct or similar should first consult a specialist media lawyer and ask them to draw up basic contracts for their business dealing with the hows, what's and why's of the license they wish to offer. At the very least they should look at the association of photographers website and spend a very long time reading the sample contracts and then writing their own.

Just as a base figure too, you need around 10,000 pictures to make an average of about £600 per month. People with twenty or thirty pictures are going to see pennies. Sites such as the microstocks rely on thousands of photographers signing up and never, ever making their first payout. This is one of the ways that they make money.

I don't mean to sound like a downer, but this is my livelihood, and in April will be my ONLY income. And when I see snap shots being touted as a professional product, it makes me want to scream inside. It's no wonder that so many friends I know who have been professionals for years are going out of business, because now everyone with a £100 compact camera is a professional.

I urge people to think about their actions. You may think that getting twenty cents for selling a picture is great, but you SHOULD be getting hundreds of dollars for each sale if your pictures are up to standard. And if they're not up to standard, then they shouldn't be for sale.

(Rant over).

Charlie - Military, stock and social photographer.

LittleCharlie

Flickering_Ember wrote: »

Which is the best site to sell live concert photos on? They are not "exclusives" but egs are front row Oasis recently and front row Nitin Sawhney.

Two things.

You will most likely find that in your tickets terms and conditions you cannot sell pictures from the concert. The concert promoters could potentially sue you.

Secondly, all the mags will have had their own photographers there in the pit. They will buy from them, and will probably will have already run the feature and forgotten about it.

LittleCharlie

sarahriches1983 wrote: »

Does anyone have any sites where you can sell *ahem* adult content?

What quality are they? Plenty of opportunities. Most mags and websites prefer natural looking, but studio shot, and mags usually prefer slide film.

(one of my photographic sidelines...)

srichards

British images sounds great, but I have a lot of good pics from overseas, where can I upload these to?

And not pay a subscription or membership fee.

thanks