Did you know, you can make money online by selling your photos? Yes, the same photos you clicked. It doesn’t matter if the photos were taken from a professional camera or from the camera of your mobile phone, you can sell it and make money online.
In this article, you’ll see 20 best sites to sell your photos to make money from it. All these sites are highly trustworthy and used by thousands of photographers like you to sell their jaw-dropping clicks. If you’re that type of person who captures anything and everything you see from a cup of coffee to flowers and buildings, then this can be a great way to make money with your photos.
Selling photos on these sites can generate you passive income for lifetime, whenever someone purchases your photos. If you can take good photos, then you can make good amount of money from it.
How Much Can You Make Selling Photos?
You can earn anywhere between few cents to hundreds of dollars whenever someone purchases your photo. There are sites that have the feature of subscription. So, if a user having a monthly subscription purchases your photo, you’ll only make few cents but if someone without subscription purchases that same photo, then you can make upwards of hundred dollars for it.
1. Shutterstock
Shutterstock is a popular website where you can buy and sell royalty-free images, illustrations, and videos. It’s a go-to platform for businesses, designers, and content creators who need high-quality visuals for their projects. If you have good quality photos, then you can sign up to become a contributor and start earning money by selling your photos or videos on Shutterstock.
How to Sell Photos on Shutterstock?
Step 1: Create a Contributor Account
To start selling your photos, you’ll need to sign up for a contributor account on Shutterstock. To sign up, visit the Shutterstock Contributor page and click “Sign Up” to create your account. There you’ll need to provide some basic details about you like your name, email address, and payment method to get paid.
Step 2: Upload Your Best Photos
After you’ve created your account, you need to upload the best photos or videos you’ve clicked. Make sure to choose high-quality photos that showcase your skills and are highly in demand. Shutterstock decides if they will approve or reject your application to join based on the photos you submit for approval. So, send the best clicks you have to increase your chances of getting approved. They do this to ensure that your photos meet their quality standards.
Step 3: Wait for Approval
After submitting your photos, Shutterstock’s team will review them thoroughly. If your photos meet their guidelines, then you’ll be approved, and you can start uploading more content to sell. Don’t worry even if your first submission isn’t accepted, take the feedback into account, improve your work, and try again. One day you’ll get approved for sure.
You can cash out your earnings from Shutterstock through PayPal, Bank transfer or Skrill. The minimum threshold to request for payout is $35.
2. Adobe Stock
The next platform on our list is Adobe Stock. This might be the most popular platform to sell photos in our list. It is highly trustworthy and has millions of users worldwide as it is a product of Adobe itself. It is very friendly and easy to use platform for both sellers and buyers. The best part is, you don’t need to get approved to start selling your photos. You can start selling your photos immediately after you complete the sign-up process.
How to Sell Photos on Adobe Stock?
Step 1: Create your Adobe ID
To start selling your photos on Adobe Stock, you need to create your account which is also called Adobe ID. Don’t worry, it’s completely free and you can sign up using your email or Facebook account.
Step 2: Setup your Profile & Start Selling
Once you’ve created your account, you need to setup your seller profile. It includes the seller name your buyers will see and your personal details like address and tax information. After you complete setting up your profile, you can start selling your photos immediately. To be able to get your photos listed on their marketplace, your photo must pass their content submission guidelines.
You can get paid from Adobe Stock through PayPal, Payoneer or Skrill. The minimum payout threshold to get paid is $25 for all payout methods.
3. Getty Images
Getty Images is one of the most well-known platform in the world for licensing high-quality images, videos, and illustrations. It’s the best platform for photographers who want to sell their clicks to a wide range of buyers, including global brands, news companies, and advertising agencies. If you have great photos or videos that meet their standards, then you can make good money with Getty Images.
How to Sell Photos on Getty Images?
Step 1: Sign Up for a Contributor Account
To start selling your photos, the first thing you need to do is, sign up as a contributor just like for Shutterstock. Visit the Getty Images Contributor page and click on “Sign Up” to create your account. You need to provide some personal information like your name, email address, and payment details to get paid for your work.
Step 2: Submit Your Portfolio for Review
Getty Images is the world’s most renowned platform for selling photos so, they’re highly selective when it comes to accepting new contributors. To increase your chances of getting approved, you need to submit the best photos you’ve clicked. While sending for approval, make sure that your portfolio clearly showcases your skills and meets the quality standards that Getty Images is known for. This is the only way to impress the reviewers on Getty Images and increase your chances of getting approved. Remember, if you have high quality photos, then you’ll surely get approved.
Step 3: Wait for Approval
Once you’ve submitted your portfolio, the review team at Getty Images will carefully review your work. They’ll check your photos for factors like, quality, originality, and marketability. If your images meet these standards, then you’ll be approved as a contributor. After that, you can start uploading your photos and make money from them. If your application is rejected, don’t get demotivated. Take the feedback you receive, work on improving your portfolio, and submit for review again. It can take some time, but with hard work and consistency, you’ll get approved.
Getty Images offers several payout options, including PayPal, Bank Transfer, and Direct Deposit. They pay their contributors on the 15th of each month for the earnings made in the previous month. The minimum payout threshold to get paid is $50.
4. Dreamstime
Dreamstime is another well-known site that allows photographers to sell their photos, illustrations, and videos to a wide range of buyers. It is one of the largest stock photo sites and has millions of customers worldwide. it doesn’t matter, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced photographer, Dreamstime is a perfect fit for everyone. As much as I know, it is much easier to get into Dreamstime than the first two. They have a community of highly passionate and supportive photographers. So, if you want to monetize your photos and want to showcase your skills around the globe, Dreamstime can be the best platform for you.
How to Sell Photos on Dreamstime?
Step 1: Create a Contributor Account
To start selling your photos on Dreamstime, you need to sign up for a contributor account. To sign up as a contributor, go to the Dreamstime Contributor page and click “Join Now” to create your account. You’ll be asked to provide some basic details such as your name, email address, and payment information to receive payments.
Step 2: Upload Your Best Photos
Once your account is set up, it’s time to upload the best photos you have. While uploading the photos, focus on it’s originality, creativity, and quality. These 3 are the main factors they consider while taking in new contributors. The better your photos are, the more chance you’ve to be approved and stand out in the marketplace.
Step 3: Wait for Approval
After uploading your photos, Dreamstime’s review team will review your photos to ensure they meet their quality standards. This includes reviewing factors like image quality, originality, and some technical stuffs. If your photos meet their guidelines, you’ll be approved as a contributor. It’s much easier to get into Dreamstime but still if you don’t get approved, try clicking photos from different angles, perspectives, etc. to show your creativity while maintaining your quality. When you apply next time, there’s no way they aren’t going to approve you.
Regarding payments, you can withdraw you earnings from Dreamstime through PayPal, Bank Transfer, or Skrill when you reach $100. They also have a royalty-based payment structure through which you can earn certain percentage of the sale amount. How much percentage of the sale amount you’ll get depends on your contributor level, which increases as you upload more content and generate more sales.
5. Canva
This might be a little unlikely for you but yeah, you can make money selling your photos on Canva! Canva isn’t just a tool for designing, but also a great platform for photographers and designers to make money selling their photos and illustrations. It allows you to upload your photos and make them available for millions of Canva users worldwide. As a Canva user myself, I’m always in search for fresh images to use in my designs. Whether you’re a photographer, illustrator, or graphic designer, Canva provides an easy and reliable way to monetize your art.
How to Sell Photos on Canva?
Step 1: Sign up to Become a Contributor
To start selling your art on Canva, you need to sign up as a contributor on Canva’s Creator Program. Click on “Join Canva’s Contributor Program” and create your account. You can either become a template contributor or element contributor. Here, you need to sigh up as an element contributor. As an element contributor, you can sell your photos, illustrations, gifs, videos and more. While signing up, you’ll be asked to provide some basic information like your name, email address, and portfolio/past works.
Step 2: Wait for Approval
After you’ve submitted your application to join, Canva’s team will review it thoroughly to make sure that you’re a good fit to become a contributor . While reviewing, they look for photos that are unique, high-quality, clear, and free of issues like poor lighting or blurriness. If your photos meet these standards, then you’ll be approved as a contributor. It takes about a month for them to review your application. If you don’t get approved, they won’t even spend their time sending an email about it. So, even after a month, if you don’t get any updates regarding your application, then it’s clear that you were not accepted. After getting approved, you can start uploading your photos and make money from them.
As a Canva contributor, you earn royalties whenever someone uses your photos in their design. You can withdraw your payments through PayPal and Payoneer once it reaches the minimum threshold of $10 or $25 for wire transfers.
6. EyeEm
EyeEm is a great platform for photographers who want to sell unique and authentic photos. It has a great community of photographers and buyers to whom you can showcase your photography skills. Through EyeEm, you can list your photos for sale on their marketplace and even get a chance to participate in photography challenges and competitions. It can be a great platform for those who want to sell their images while also gaining exposure in their field.
How to Sell Photos on EyeEm?
Step 1: Sign up as a Seller
To sell your photos on EyeEm, you need to go to their contributors page and click on ‘start selling your work’ to sign up as a seller. You can sign up using email or Facebook account. As much as I know, you don’t need to get approved to start selling your photos on EyeEm but everytime you list your images for sale, they get reviewed. So, some photos may get accepted and some may not.
Step 2: List Your Photos for Sale
After you’ve completed the sign up process, you’ll be taken to a page where you need to click on ‘Join Market’ if you’re using their app or ‘Sell your Photos’ option if you’re on their website. Then, you can start selling your photos and make money from them. That’s it!
You can withdraw your earnings from EyeEm through PayPal once it reaches the minimum threshold of $10. In my opinion, the only drawback of EyeEm is only having a single payment method to pay their contributors.
7. Etsy
Etsy is a popular online marketplace for selling handmade goods and digital products but did you know, you can even sell your photos through it and make money online. Etsy can be a great platform for selling your unique and creative photos as users on Etsy are always looking for something unique and attractive to buy. Selling on Etsy is super easy and doesn’t require any kind of approval at all.
How to Sell Photos on Etsy?
Step 1: Create a Seller Account
To sell your photos on Etsy, you need to create a seller account. Head over to Etsy’s homepage and click on the “Sell on Etsy” option. Then, you’ll taken to the sign up page. If you already have an Etsy account, then you can sign in with it but if you don’t have an Etsy account, create one. After signing up, click on “Open Your Etsy Shop” to start the setup process.
Step 2: Set Up Your Shop
At this point, you’ve signed up as a seller on Etsy. Now, it’s time to create and customize your shop to sell your photos. Choose a name for your shop that is both catchy and memorable. You can change your shop’s name later on if you want so, no need to worry about it. Pick a name that resembles with the product you’re selling. After naming your shop, select the categories that represents your products. You can choose categories like “Photography,” “Prints,” or “Wall Art” depending on the type of photos you plan to sell.
Next, you need to fill out some basic details about your shop, including your shop policies (shipping, returns, etc.) and payment information. Etsy offers several payment options like PayPal, Etsy Payments (credit cards, debit cards), and more, so choose the one that works the best for you.
Step 3: List Your Photos for Sale
Once your shop is set up, you can start listing your photos for sale. While listing your photos, make sure to list high-quality photos with detailed descriptions and relevant tags. This can help you to reach your potential buyers on the platform. Writing description and adding tags on Etsy is just like doing SEO for your blog post.
You can withdraw your earnings from Etsy through either Bank transfer or Payoneer. The minimum threshold amount to cash in depends on the country you’re in and the payout method you use.
8. Stocksy
Another great platform to sell your photos is Stocksy. Stocksy is a premium stock photography platform known for its high-quality and authentic images. Not just photos, you can even sell videos and illustrations on it. Unlike other photography selling sites, Stocksy focuses more on creative and artistic photography. It shares more revenue with it’s contributors compared to other such platforms. If you’re a photographer with a unique style and taste for perfection, then Stocksy is a great option for you.
How to Sell Photos on Stocksy?
Step 1: Apply to Become a Contributor
Unlike other stock photo sites, Stocksy is highly selective about who can contribute to their platform. To start selling your photos on Stocksy, first you need to apply to become a contributor. To apply as a contributor, go to Stocksy’s Contributor page, where you’ll find detailed guidelines on how to submit your application.
After applying, you’ll get receive an invitation email where you need to submit 10 of your best photos. Based on those 10 photos, Stocksy will decide if they’ll accept or reject your application. To increase you chances to get approved, make sure that your photos are unique and original.
Step 3: Start Uploading Your Photos
If your photos meets their criteria, then you’ll receive an invitation to join the platform. After that, you can start uploading your photos and make money with them. Even after getting approved, always upload photos that are original and of high quality otherwise, they hold all the rights to kick you out of their contributor program.
Regarding payments, you can get paid every month through PayPal or Bank transfer once you reach the minimum payout threshold of $50.
Conclusion
So, these were 8 of the best and well-known sites to sell your photos and make money online. Other than these, there are several sites where you can sell your photos and make money like, IStock Photo, Vecteezy, Foap, Snapwire, MiPic, 500px, SmugMug Pro, DepositPhotos, Photocase, etc. If you find it difficult to get approved on the above 8 sites, then you can consider selling your photos on these sites as well. Now, it’s totally upon you, where and how you want to sell your photos to make money. You can even sell your photos on multiple sites at the same time to increase your chances of getting more sales and generating revenue.
