If you’re a budding photographer or someone who takes nice photos and would like to make a little side cash, then you might be interested in the best paying stock photo sites.
These sites supply breathtaking photos to creators and businesses all around the web, and they pay people like you to take those images. So, if you’re interested in making a little extra cash this year and want to do it by selling to stock photo sites, here are the sites you’ll want to keep in mind:
Getty Images
Getty Images is kind of the pinnacles of stock images. Their name bares inclinations of quality and prestige, so it’s no surprise that a lot of photographers would love to get their images accepted there. They have 125+ million photos available to their subscribers and sell them according to size from $150 to $499 each. But your potential earnings are only 20% of that.
iStock
You might be surprised to know that iStock is actually owned by Getty Images, it was purchased for $50-million in 2006. However, unlike Getty, they are a microstock agency, which essentially has low-cost images. So while your commission ranges from 15% to 45%, it’s typically on a lower cost item.
Adobe Stock
Adobe Stock offers both solo image sales and monthly plans for subscribers. Best of all, they’re willing to buy from you and give you 20% to 60% commission. They also don’t require you to sell to them exclusively, so you can make additional cash by selling on multiple stock photo sites.
Shutterstock
Shutterstock has a collection of over 200 million stock images for sale. Contributors can make 20% to 30% on each photo sold, which is paid out monthly. You also get photo credit and you get to keep your copyright, and you don’t have to sell exclusively so feel free to upload to Adobe Stock as well!
Cavan Images
Cavan is a smaller, newer entrant to the market. They sell lower-cost photos to community members but they pay a whopping 50% out to the photographer. If you’re looking for the biggest percentage of earnings, this is bound to be one of them. That said, they have fewer photos and fewer users than some of the bigger stock photo sites.
Pond5
Pond5 sells a lot of stock content for creators, namely music, but it’s worth it to mention that they also have stock photography. While it’s not the most popular of the stock photo sites, it’s great because you get to choose your own price. Once you’ve set it, every time it sells you get 50% of the revenue. While I’ve never purchased photos from Pond5, I have purchased stock music. They have a pretty great system.
Offset
Offset was created by Shutterstock and it prioritizes high-end photos by more experienced creators. If you have some experience under your belt and some amazing photos you want to sell, then this might be the best answer for you—however, while you can submit a portfolio, they typically refer to recruit on their own. It’s unsure how much they payout, but their photos sell for a great price of $249+.
What are your favourite paying stock photo sites? Share it in the comments below!
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Tae started out as a journalist before following the money into the corporate world. But it turns out that the grass isn’t always greener and now you can find her spending most of her time writing about all the things she loves. Namely, money, travel and business with a hefty dose of self-deprecating humor. She is a podcast fanatic, blogging aficionado and loves to find new ways to turn passions into cold hard cash!