How to Sell Photos Online & Make Money in 2024

Do you know that you can sell photos online to endure your passion and turn it into a profitable business? If you have an eye for taking great photos, then why not make money from them by selling them online?

Nowadays everyone has a camera no matter whether it’s a smartphone camera or even a DSLR/Mirrorless camera. Capturing photos has never been this easy. So why only fill your storage with photos when you can put them online to make money?

It’s only the start of 2024, so you better be prepared yourself with your photography tools or the stock photos you already have with you. We are going to suggest you the best platforms to sell photos online.

So without further ado, let’s get started.

Prerequisites of Selling Photos Online As A Digital Product

Before we get into stock photo/stock image or other forms of photography selling platforms, there are a few things you should keep in mind and maintain to get the most out of your effort.

You just can’t put your digital content here and there. Without proper knowledge and research, your efforts will go in vain.

It’ll be wise to know the facts to become successful in selling photos online. Let’s learn some crucial steps.

Take High-Quality Photos

No matter you’re a professional photographer or an amateur, it’s important to make sure your photos are of the highest quality. Make sure to use the right camera settings, choose an appropriate background or setting for the photo, and light your subjects properly.

Taking quality photos will ensure that your photos will be more attractive to potential buyers. Additionally, it’s always good practice to keep a portfolio of your best work so you can showcase your photography skills and professionalism to prospective clients.

Once you’ve chosen the right platform for selling your photos, it’s time to create quality content that people will want to buy. Make sure that all of your high-quality images are high-resolution and well-lit, with interesting compositions and subjects that will draw people in.

You should also consider adding captions or descriptions that explain what each photo is about in order to give potential buyers more information about what they’re buying.

Price Your Photos Competitively

Pricing is an important factor here. Before you start your photography business, you need to ensure that you price them competitively. Do some market research to determine the typical rate for your style of photography and other similar photos on different sites.

It helps to depersonalize this process by comparing the pricing of other photographers’ work so you can get a more objective idea of how much you should be charging. Once you have a good idea of what is reasonable, set prices that reflect the value of quality photos at a competitive rate.

Once you’ve created quality content, it’s time to price your photos. Different platforms have different pricing models, so be sure to research the best way to price your photos for each platform. You should also consider offering discounts or bundles of multiple photos in order to encourage people to buy more than one photo at a time.

Research Potential Digital Photography Buyers and Markets

Proper planning could benefit you a lot to become familiar with the various markets interested in purchasing your photos. Extensive research will help you to identify buyers and make sure you target them in the right way.

Knowing who might be interested in buying your photos also helps you to craft a portfolio specific to those buyers, allowing them to see what they need quickly.

Some of the most common online marketplaces for photography include publishing houses, magazines, websites, stock photo sites, and corporate clients.

After narrowing in on the potential clients and markets, it‘s time to reach out.

Sending cold emails to potential buyers is a great way to reach out and start conversations. Start by introducing yourself and your photography, before letting illustrators or other professionals know what you are looking to accomplish in terms of selling your work.

Be sure to include links to the portfolio website so they can quickly view your photographs. Consider including marketing materials such as letters of introduction, printed portfolios, postcards, and business cards.

Promote Your Photos Online and Offline

Introduce your work to a broader range of potential buyers. It’s important to actively promote each piece before and after the shooting. Creating a portfolio website is essential for showcasing images available for licensing.

Additionally, social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube can be used to drive web traffic and gain followers. Further consider advertising campaigns such as paying for banners directly on websites that target image buyers, or investing in paid sponsored posts and newsletters across the Web.

The final step to selling photos online is to promote them. You can do this by sharing your photos on social media, creating a website or blog to showcase your work, and even reaching out to potential buyers directly. The more people who see your photos, the more likely you are to make sales.

What Are The Most Demandable Photo Categories

Photos/images can be different types and the usage of these are uncountable. Business owners, bloggers, graphic designers, marketers, and publishers buy and use photos regularly online.

As a photographer, you could choose specific subjects or objects for your niche. You could capture photos of people, including children, adults, and everyone in between, hailing from a variety of nations and cultural backgrounds!

Images depicting people at work are very common in corporate marketing materials. people using laptops, writing, giving presentations, etc. in various settings. Just make sure they aren’t so cliché that they turn into a meme.

Food is also a great choice to get started with your photography. Capture a wide variety of mouthwatering foods, including empty plates that have not been cleaned.

Tools can communicate a great deal of information to prospective customers. Gears, hammers, nuts, bolts, and screws are just some examples.

Cities are characterized by cityscapes, buildings, and people commuting to work. You could capture these as landscapes for specifically using as wallpapers or hero images for websites.

The natural world is a surefire moneymaker that never gets old to photograph or offer for sale.

Traveling photographs taken in different parts of the world are in extremely high demand all the time.

Last and most important, do not forget to capture nature photos with your photo gear.

Choose The Right Platform to Sell Photos Online

Here comes the most important part, choosing the right platform to sell photos online. There are many different platforms available, such as stock photography sites, print-on-demand services, and even social media sites like Instagram.

Each platform has its own set of rules and regulations, so be sure to check out our research-based suggestions to help you decide which one is best for you.

1. WooCommerce

WooCommerce is the most widely used eCommerce platform built on WordPress. The most exciting fact about WooCommerce is you can run your entire eCommerce business without making it a full-fledged online marketplace.

This means, if you built your website on WordPress, you can install WooCommerce on your site for absolutely free. You don’t have to spend any extra cash to get started with your own online store.

Isn’t that great? Let’s get more into details.

When it comes to selling photos online, you’ll be selling digital photos or digital images. It means you’ll be selling digital products and you don’t need to share your earnings with anyone else.

Moreover, WooCommerce is capable of selling digital products by ensuring all the basic functionalities for selling your photos online.

To sell your photographs, licensing is one of the most important factors. Creating one-of-a-kind products from your photographs can guarantee your private label and ownership.

You could then sell licenses to brands, publishers, or anyone else who may be interested in using your photographs for their own purposes.

Therefore, the WC Serial Numbers plugin can assist you in protecting your digital photos and images from being lost in the online crowd.

Check how to sell your digital products with WC Serial Numbers for better knowledge.

2. Shutterstock

When it comes to the stock photography websites we’ve researched, Shutterstock is clearly the winner. Selling your photographs on the Shutterstock marketplace can net you a substantial income as a content creator over time.

In addition, Shutterstock lets you keep your copyright, so you can still exercise some creative control over your images. In addition, they give proper credit to the image’s creators, which is a huge help when establishing a name for your creative output.

Your monthly earnings as an exclusive contributor can range from 15% to 40%, depending on how many times your content was downloaded by their customers.

3. Adobe Stock

If you’re looking to make some extra cash online by selling photos, Adobe Stock is a great option. If you’re already comfortable using Adobe products for other creative endeavors, you’ll be pleased to learn that you can also use Adobe Stock to make money off of your photographs.

It’s home to the largest creative community online and offers a generous commission rate of 33% for any images you sell. However, you’ll be up against some of the best photographers in the world.

You are under no obligation to grant Adobe Stock exclusive rights to sell any of your images. This means you aren’t limited to just selling through Adobe Stock but can instead utilize a variety of channels.

4. Getty Image

As a leading stock photo agency, Getty Images is a household name. Please submit only your best work to GettyImages. You can get by using GettyImages as a beginner, but it’s really designed for experts.

After your digital work has been accepted, you have the option of either donating it or licensing it to others. You can make money off of exclusive photos. In addition, you will be able to monitor your revenue as customers purchase licenses to use your work. When users select your images, Getty Images will pay you a fee.

Every month, Getty takes $20-$30 out of your hard-earned profits. There are no data suggesting how often photographs are actually bought and sold. Customers will pay different amounts for various licenses and amounts of content use.

5. SmugMug

If you have photos you’d like to sell, you can do so on SmugMug by setting up your own individualized gallery.

When your photos are sold through SmugMug, you keep 85% of the profit, which is much higher than most stock photo sites.

On the other hand, you’ll need to commit to a monthly subscription, the cheapest option for which is the Portfolio plan’s yearly price of $200.

Facts About Selling Photos on Stock Photography Sites

For the most part, stock photography sites will demand that you go through an approval process before you can upload any photos. You can’t just throw up some images and expect them to sell themselves. There are content and quality requirements for your photographs.

Sites that sell stock photographs do not permit the user to determine the price. You must sell your photos for the same prices as the stock photo website.

While popular stock photo sites can increase your visibility, there is a lot of competition there. Although there is a chance that your photos will be seen by many editors, keep in mind that they will be competing with millions of others for the same attention. That’s why making an impression is crucial.

You’ll get paid on a commission basis, but only a portion of the money made. When it comes to commission, online stock trading sites vary widely. Do some digging to find the option that works best for you. Otherwise, you could increase your earnings by using multiple sales channels.

The stock photo website may have exclusive use requirements. As a result, you will be prohibited from posting your photos to any other stock photo websites for sale. You should read the fine print.

You own the rights to any photos you sell through a stock photo website. But the images are being sold under a royalty-free license, so the buyer will have certain rights to use them. They could put it on a brochure or their website to promote their business. They are prohibited from reselling your image.

Wrap Up

Finally, it is important to remember that selling photos online is a business, and you should treat it as such. Make sure to keep track of your sales, expenses, and profits so that you can accurately assess the success of your venture.

Once you have started selling your photos online, it is important to keep up with trends and stay on top of the latest developments in the photography industry. This will help you stay ahead of the competition and ensure that your photos remain attractive to potential buyers.

Lastly, choosing WooCommerce to sell photos online and make money is the best option for you especially if you consider doing business.