If you speak to anyone about where to sell photography the standard response is probably going to be "go with one of the Microstock libraries". However , if you're serious about selling photography online, you'll often find the real profits are made when you stop following the crowd and think outside the box.
The demand for stock photography has increased dramatically in over the last 20 years, starting with the advent of desktop publishing and more lately with Internet publishing. Nowadays virtually every business in the world is publisher and a potential photo-buyer.
Not surprisingly a host of super-cheap stock libraries "the Microstocks "have sprung up to serve those markets with massive picture collections at super-discount prices. Publishers can buy photos of every possible subject for a buck or less, with many Microstock photographers happily accepting 25-50 cents per sale.
With the advances in digital photography, nearly any photographer with the most fundamental talents and consumer equipment can supply images to the Microstocks. And for good or bad, there's plenty of photographers prepared to deal on those terms.
For a bit there were a lot of photographers swearing there was big money to be made giving their images away for less than a dollar, but nowadays they have gone a bit quiet.
It looks like we could have come the full circle and the competition has reached a level that makes it difficult for the average photographer to generate reliable income with Microstock.
I am sure there are some doing quite well with Microstock, but you can be sure they're highly accomplished photographers with giant image collections, who are consistently creating unique and new material. They're putting real effort and time into researching their markets, and they are probably investing seriously in each new shoot.
For the main part, the idea of any photographer just submitting thousands of random images to a Microstock library and making serious cash are long past.
Another major drawback that's emerged lately with the Microstock libraries is, as soon as someone does come up with a stock photo idea or idea that actually sells well, it gets copied by lots of other Microstock photographers. The libraries themselves facilitate this, publishing live lists of photos which are currently being downloaded the most, so that the lazy photographer can just throw together a fast copy, upload it and exploit the other photographer's work.
So even if you do the hard-yards and find some lucrative new market, then put in the effort and time to capture top quality original commercial content, chances are that you will not have the niche to yourself for long. If it's working, it is going to be copied
So the question has to be asked: if you've got to put that sort of effort and time and money into making new stock images, does it actually seem clever to toss them away for a dollar each?
Would it make rather more sense to sell stock photos where you are facing less competition and you get paid a fair and reasonable price, every time someone uses your photography?
Plenty of photographers are starting to think so, and more and more, when people ask where to sell photography online, the answer's 'find a rights managed library'.
With rights managed you license the image for a specific use for a specific period. The buyers pay only for the rights they need , so it's a better deal for them, and a superior deal for the photographers. Rather than making 50 cents or less for someone using your image, you can make $100-$200 or more. Sometimes a whole lot more!
Since you're controlling the usage as well as the sales, you can offer the top-end photo-buyers a history of the image, and offer those buyers who need it, first rights, exclusive use, and all the assurances the high-end users need for the best paying jobs.
So if you really are serious about selling photographs online, you actually need to decide what type of photography business you would like.
One where you struggle with countless other photographers to mass produce photographs for a market that expects to own your photographs for a couple of bucks each?
Or one that caters to a market that values your skills and creativeness, and is prepared to pay well for quality images that actually talk to their audience?
Either way, the business has changed and the stock image sales are going to go to the savvy photographers who research their markets and create high quality original material.
So at the end, isn't it just a matter of deciding what you want to get paid for it?
The demand for stock photography has increased dramatically in over the last 20 years, starting with the advent of desktop publishing and more lately with Internet publishing. Nowadays virtually every business in the world is publisher and a potential photo-buyer.
Not surprisingly a host of super-cheap stock libraries "the Microstocks "have sprung up to serve those markets with massive picture collections at super-discount prices. Publishers can buy photos of every possible subject for a buck or less, with many Microstock photographers happily accepting 25-50 cents per sale.
With the advances in digital photography, nearly any photographer with the most fundamental talents and consumer equipment can supply images to the Microstocks. And for good or bad, there's plenty of photographers prepared to deal on those terms.
For a bit there were a lot of photographers swearing there was big money to be made giving their images away for less than a dollar, but nowadays they have gone a bit quiet.
It looks like we could have come the full circle and the competition has reached a level that makes it difficult for the average photographer to generate reliable income with Microstock.
I am sure there are some doing quite well with Microstock, but you can be sure they're highly accomplished photographers with giant image collections, who are consistently creating unique and new material. They're putting real effort and time into researching their markets, and they are probably investing seriously in each new shoot.
For the main part, the idea of any photographer just submitting thousands of random images to a Microstock library and making serious cash are long past.
Another major drawback that's emerged lately with the Microstock libraries is, as soon as someone does come up with a stock photo idea or idea that actually sells well, it gets copied by lots of other Microstock photographers. The libraries themselves facilitate this, publishing live lists of photos which are currently being downloaded the most, so that the lazy photographer can just throw together a fast copy, upload it and exploit the other photographer's work.
So even if you do the hard-yards and find some lucrative new market, then put in the effort and time to capture top quality original commercial content, chances are that you will not have the niche to yourself for long. If it's working, it is going to be copied
So the question has to be asked: if you've got to put that sort of effort and time and money into making new stock images, does it actually seem clever to toss them away for a dollar each?
Would it make rather more sense to sell stock photos where you are facing less competition and you get paid a fair and reasonable price, every time someone uses your photography?
Plenty of photographers are starting to think so, and more and more, when people ask where to sell photography online, the answer's 'find a rights managed library'.
With rights managed you license the image for a specific use for a specific period. The buyers pay only for the rights they need , so it's a better deal for them, and a superior deal for the photographers. Rather than making 50 cents or less for someone using your image, you can make $100-$200 or more. Sometimes a whole lot more!
Since you're controlling the usage as well as the sales, you can offer the top-end photo-buyers a history of the image, and offer those buyers who need it, first rights, exclusive use, and all the assurances the high-end users need for the best paying jobs.
So if you really are serious about selling photographs online, you actually need to decide what type of photography business you would like.
One where you struggle with countless other photographers to mass produce photographs for a market that expects to own your photographs for a couple of bucks each?
Or one that caters to a market that values your skills and creativeness, and is prepared to pay well for quality images that actually talk to their audience?
Either way, the business has changed and the stock image sales are going to go to the savvy photographers who research their markets and create high quality original material.
So at the end, isn't it just a matter of deciding what you want to get paid for it?
About the Author:
Matt Brading contributes articles on how to market photography to GlobalEye Photo Stock Agency. If you're looking where to sell photography, Matt recommends the co-operative approach of GlobalEye, where like-minded photographers have been working together to increase exposure, reduce costs and sell stock photos since 1998.
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