Author Topic: How Much I can Make with 500 images (Read 16052 times)

stockyme · « **on:** July 07, 2015, 08:19 »

Hi All,
I am new to stock photography world & I am preparing 15 stock photos everyday. My plan is to upload these to all major stock photos websites. I just want to know a rough estimate of how much I can make with 500 photos initially & then with 2000-3000 photos in next 12 month time.

Please give me a detailed insight, I am using photos & photoshop to design most popular & professional images that are top sellers these days.

Thanks!
Stockyme

Shelma1 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:27 »

One MILLION dollars.

Kidding, but this question has been asked here a million times. Do a quick search to find the million answers.

amabu · « **Reply #2 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:32 »

On Bigstock? 10$/month - if you´re lucky

Semmick Photo · « **Reply #3 on:** July 07, 2015, 08:47 »

My guess:

I'd say if the quality and subject matter is spot on 100$-150$ per month. But it will be spread over the agencies. For example you'd make 60$ p/m on SS, 10$ on BS, 15$ on 123 and 15$ on FT. You wont be able to get all that money paid out to you in the following month as you need to hit pay out levels.

So if you make 10$ p/m on BS (min 30$ pay out), you need to wait 3 months to request the money. If you make 15$ p/m on 123 (min 50$ payout), you need to wait 4.5 months to get paid. etc

As for detailed insights, most people wont tell you how much they make and no one can predict how much your images will earn.

tickstock · « **Reply #4 on:** July 07, 2015, 09:04 »

According to the poll the average would be about 3 or 4 dollars per month.

dirkr · « **Reply #5 on:** July 07, 2015, 09:10 »

Quote from: tickstock on July 07, 2015, 09:04

According to the poll the average would be about 3 or 4 dollars per month.

How do you arrive at that result?

@Op: I don't think there is any relevant number available simply based on the number of files. Depending on topic, style, quality, keywording and luck (or lack of) the results can vary a lot.

tickstock · « **Reply #6 on:** July 07, 2015, 09:12 »

Quote from: dirkr on July 07, 2015, 09:10

Quote from: tickstock on July 07, 2015, 09:04
According to the poll the average would be about 3 or 4 dollars per month.

How do you arrive at that result?

@Op: I don't think there is any relevant number available simply based on the number of files. Depending on topic, style, quality, keywording and luck (or lack of) the results can vary a lot.

Average port is about 3500, average monthly income is $25. So for 500 images the average income would be $25/7 or $3.57 per month.

dirkr · « **Reply #7 on:** July 07, 2015, 09:26 »

Quote from: tickstock on July 07, 2015, 09:12

Quote from: dirkr on July 07, 2015, 09:10
Quote from: tickstock on July 07, 2015, 09:04
According to the poll the average would be about 3 or 4 dollars per month.

How do you arrive at that result?

@Op: I don't think there is any relevant number available simply based on the number of files. Depending on topic, style, quality, keywording and luck (or lack of) the results can vary a lot.

Average port is about 3500, average monthly income is $25. So for 500 images the average income would be $25/7 or $3.57 per month.

The average port size you take from the yearly survey (http://blog.microstockgroup.com/2014-microstock-industry-survey-first-look/)?

Where do you get the monthly income from? (Genuine interest, I always regard the poll numbers as a way to compare relative earnings potential across agencies, never tried to derive any monthly earnings figures).

If I take the survey as well, the average yearly income was $17.000, so roughly $5 per image / per year (across all agencies), so that would result in $2500 per year or $200 per month. Again, total across all agencies.

As the op says "My plan is to upload these to all major stock photos websites" I think it's misleading that the thread is in the Bigstock board...

tickstock · « **Reply #8 on:** July 07, 2015, 09:27 »

That number was just for bigstock.

etudiante_rapide · « **Reply #9 on:** July 07, 2015, 09:46 »

not much, unless your port is extremely quality vs quantity.
you look at the top sellers, they have what? 70,000 images
and contributing to a whole list to the right column on this page.
total earning 350K per year.

so, if you have 500 images, you won't earn much. esp with bigstock.
with ss or is , maybe, just maybe, with a very good port you might earn something.
but as already mentioned... 3 to 50 dollars a month.
50 dollars a month??? i think even that, you must be having a good port
to make 50 a month.

if you look at how many new images ss gets a day, it tells you more or less
why microstock is about numbers and not content. much like the big M in junk food.

Digital66 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 07, 2015, 10:04 »

Quote from: stockyme on July 07, 2015, 08:19

I am using photos & photoshop to design most popular & professional images that are top sellers these days.

Do you mean you are copycatting?

sweetgirll · « **Reply #11 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:12 »

Hi Stockyme,
In 2015...$20-$70. I think Semmick is spot on with his estimate. The golden years are behind us, because there is too much supply now.

Don't copy other photographers.You can work on the same idea, lets say a dog riding a bike, but as long as the dog, bike, composition, lighting, placement is unique to you and doesn't look like you copied someone else's photo. Companies shut down accounts that copy other contributors...

Why does everyone, newbies mostly think is a good idea to copy top sellers?

?

Popular images and keywords get a lot of competition too. And, even if you work on the same idea, still nothing guarantees that is going to get a decent search placement, and appear on the initial pages...So how good is an image if the buyer won't see it?

Quote from: Digital66 on July 07, 2015, 10:04

Quote from: stockyme on July 07, 2015, 08:19
I am using photos & photoshop to design most popular & professional images that are top sellers these days.
Do you mean you are copycatting?

Digital66 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:28 »

Quote from: sweetgirll on July 07, 2015, 11:12

Hi Digital66,
In 2015...$20-$70. I think Semmick is spot on with his estimate. The golden years are behind us, because there is too much supply now.

Don't copy other photographers.You can work on the same idea, lets say a dog riding a bike, but as long as the dog, bike, composition, lighting, placement is unique to you and doesn't look like you copied someone else's photo. Companies shut down accounts that copy other contributors...

Why does everyone, newbies mostly think is a good idea to copy top sellers?? Popular images and keywords get a lot of competition too. And, even if you work on the same idea, still nothing guarantees that is going to get a decent search placement, and appear on the initial pages...So how good is an image if the buyer won't see it?

Quote from: Digital66 on July 07, 2015, 10:04
Quote from: stockyme on July 07, 2015, 08:19
I am using photos & photoshop to design most popular & professional images that are top sellers these days.
Do you mean you are copycatting?

Hi sweetgirll,
I guess your message is not for me, but for the person who started this thread: stockyme

I hate copycats!

pkphotos · « **Reply #13 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:42 »

Quote from: stockyme on July 07, 2015, 08:19

Hi All,
I am new to stock photography world & I am preparing 15 stock photos everyday. My plan is to upload these to all major stock photos websites. I just want to know a rough estimate of how much I can make with 500 photos initially & then with 2000-3000 photos in next 12 month time.

Please give me a detailed insight, I am using photos & photoshop to design most popular & professional images that are top sellers these days.

Thanks!
Stockyme

$5

Hongover · « **Reply #14 on:** July 07, 2015, 11:59 »

With 500 images, you can make about $150-$250/month if you know what you're doing.

Find a niche and try to shoot/create images that are unique. If you try to shoot 500 pics of cherries, you can expect a $0 next month because you have no less than 30,000 images ahead of your images in nearly all the microstock websites.

dbvirago · « **Reply #15 on:** July 07, 2015, 12:53 »

Nobody can put an accurate or even ballpark number on it, there are too many variables and they change constantly.

I looked at your work on Dreamstime. You have some good work, interesting concepts and well shot. I'm not sure about the cutting off the heads part, but only time will tell. If you enjoy it and hope to make some money, keep it up. If you are depending on this for your livelihood, have a backup plan. The ship sailed on easy money in microstock about 6 years ago.

sweetgirll · « **Reply #16 on:** July 07, 2015, 13:24 »

Hey Digital66,
I'm so sorry about that, I mixed up the nicks...I tried to revise the post, I hope it worked.

fmarsicano · « **Reply #17 on:** July 07, 2015, 13:24 »

With 1600 images I make around 130$ on SS every month all together the other agencies are about 130$ too but it really varies SS is stable

Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

PaulieWalnuts · « **Reply #18 on:** July 07, 2015, 16:29 »

Here you go... http://www.microstockgroup.com/newby-discussion/how-much-should-new-contributors-expect-to-earn

This was more toward figuring out hourly earnings but also covers earnings per image per month. I'd say if you get 500 images accepted across the top 10 sites listed to the right in the Microstock Poll Results you'll probably start off earning between $0-.10 cents per image per month. So $0-$50 per month across all sites.

Quote

So, on average

About 5% of the images you shot will be sellable
You spend 30 minutes per image in an image editing program like Photoshop doing post-processing, keywording, etc
You start with about a 20% acceptance rate, 80% rejected
You earn .10 cents US per accepted photo per month

So let's say...

You spend two days, about 16 hours, shooting 2000 images
You select 100
100 images x 30 minutes processing each = 50 hours
Because of poor focus and other issues you find only 80 are usable
You submit 80 images
16 images get accepted (20% acceptance rate)

So for your 16 approved images…

You’ve worked 66 hours that month and 16.5 hours per week
You’ve earned $1.60 for the month and .40 cents for the week (.10 cents per accepted photo per month)
Based on a 40 hour work week, you’ve earned .10 cents US per hour for your efforts

stockyme · « **Reply #19 on:** July 08, 2015, 04:52 »

Quote from: Digital66 on July 07, 2015, 10:04

Quote from: stockyme on July 07, 2015, 08:19
I am using photos & photoshop to design most popular & professional images that are top sellers these days.
Do you mean you are copycatting?

I am not copying anyone ideas its just that I am trying to make what sells most.

stockyme · « **Reply #20 on:** July 08, 2015, 04:54 »

Quote from: dbvirago on July 07, 2015, 12:53

Nobody can put an accurate or even ballpark number on it, there are too many variables and they change constantly.

I looked at your work on Dreamstime. You have some good work, interesting concepts and well shot. I'm not sure about the cutting off the heads part, but only time will tell. If you enjoy it and hope to make some money, keep it up. If you are depending on this for your livelihood, have a backup plan. The ship sailed on easy money in microstock about 6 years ago.

Thank you so much for going through my work on dreamstime

Fatmanphoto · « **Reply #21 on:** July 09, 2015, 03:20 »

Quote from: fmarsicano on July 07, 2015, 13:24

With 1600 images I make around 130$ on SS every month all together the other agencies are about 130$ too but it really varies SS is stable

Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

The problem is that if the OP has a mode of 500 images per site, with current acceptance levels that equates to about 30 images on SS.

Rage · « **Reply #22 on:** July 09, 2015, 12:01 »

230$ a month for 1600 images translates to about 0.125$ per image per month. Seems reasonable, also you'd be raking in about 7$ a day. Which would give an idea of what a bad or good day is. Gets complicated if there are ELs and subs involved, but thats what MS is full of these days.

With the same success OP should rake in about $60 a month with his 500 images. So about $2 a day.

langstrup · « **Reply #23 on:** July 09, 2015, 13:12 »

Within the last 2 month I uploaded 550 images.

I know my images is not in the "right" position yet because of the search engine system takes time. But right now I´m earning about 500 dollars a month, and if my old statistic "works" that will about tripple within 4 month´s time (search engine system )

pancaketom · « **Reply #24 on:** July 09, 2015, 13:22 »

Quote from: langstrup on July 09, 2015, 13:12

Within the last 2 month I uploaded 550 images.

I know my images is not in the "right" position yet because of the search engine system takes time. But right now I´m earning about 500 dollars a month, and if my old statistic "works" that will about tripple within 4 month´s time (search engine system )

I wouldn't count on that. The search giveth and the search taketh away.

Depending on the images I'd say with 550 images getting $500 a month is about as "right" as you can get these days.

langstrup · « **Reply #25 on:** July 09, 2015, 13:43 »

Hi PancakeTom

I know for a fact that´s not true, so let´s see about that

PROStalkFatagopher · « **Reply #26 on:** July 09, 2015, 21:01 »

You shall be rich beyond your belief! Bigstock is a very high earner with great royalties for contributors. I count my blessings for every 25 cents I EARN there. Oh yes, believe you me, you will be up to your neck in cold, hard cash, if your a gopher anyway...why, one of my tunnels has been rendered unnavigable for it's choked with quarters. Whew! I would go to my local CoinStar if I could reach that high. Alas, I'm just a gopher...(sigh)...

Rage · « **Reply #27 on:** July 09, 2015, 22:19 »

Quote from: PROStalkFatagopher on July 09, 2015, 21:01

You shall be rich beyond your belief! Bigstock is a very high earner with great royalties for contributors. I count my blessings for every 25 cents I EARN there. Oh yes, believe you me, you will be up to your neck in cold, hard cash, if your a gopher anyway...why, one of my tunnels has been rendered unnavigable for it's choked with quarters. Whew! I would go to my local CoinStar if I could reach that high. Alas, I'm just a gopher...(sigh)...

Guys, we found him...... The legendary stock photographing, rooting tooting gopher

All hail

marthamarks · « **Reply #28 on:** July 10, 2015, 01:10 »

Quote from: izzikiorage on July 09, 2015, 22:19

Quote from: PROStalkFatagopher on July 09, 2015, 21:01
You shall be rich beyond your belief! Bigstock is a very high earner with great royalties for contributors. I count my blessings for every 25 cents I EARN there. Oh yes, believe you me, you will be up to your neck in cold, hard cash, if your a gopher anyway...why, one of my tunnels has been rendered unnavigable for it's choked with quarters. Whew! I would go to my local CoinStar if I could reach that high. Alas, I'm just a gopher...(sigh)...
Guys, we found him...... The legendary stock photographing, rooting tooting gopher

All hail

Yep, and I think I've got his photo in my own critter collection on SS, DT, FT, et al. He's one verrrrry cute and cuddly gopher!

Titus Livius · « **Reply #29 on:** July 10, 2015, 02:40 »

Quote from: stockyme on July 07, 2015, 08:19

how much I can make with 500 photos

possibly nothing because you need a critical mass of a few 1000s to get a rough idea of what's working in your niche, 500 is just too small nowadays.

moreover, you won't get far anyway as a stocker with a small portfolio, it's all a numbers game now, if you can't produce enough you better forget about stock and focus on fine art or whatever else you're good for.

PROStalkFatagopher · « **Reply #30 on:** July 10, 2015, 02:45 »

Quote from: marthamarks on July 10, 2015, 01:10

Quote from: izzikiorage on July 09, 2015, 22:19
Quote from: PROStalkFatagopher on July 09, 2015, 21:01
You shall be rich beyond your belief! Bigstock is a very high earner with great royalties for contributors. I count my blessings for every 25 cents I EARN there. Oh yes, believe you me, you will be up to your neck in cold, hard cash, if your a gopher anyway...why, one of my tunnels has been rendered unnavigable for it's choked with quarters. Whew! I would go to my local CoinStar if I could reach that high. Alas, I'm just a gopher...(sigh)...
Guys, we found him...... The legendary stock photographing, rooting tooting gopher

All hail

Yep, and I think I've got his photo in my own critter collection on SS, DT, FT, et al. He's one verrrrry cute and cuddly gopher!

Or have I found you? Ah yes, those are my fellow gophers you have captured in your images. Make no mistake those are some naughty ones though. They are concocting a plan to tunnel under every photo "agency" to demand higher royalties and respect or leave them with even shakier foundations.

etudiante_rapide · « **Reply #31 on:** July 10, 2015, 16:21 »

Quote from: marthamarks on July 10, 2015, 01:10

Yep, and I think I've got his photo in my own critter collection on SS, DT, FT, et al. He's one verrrrry cute and cuddly gopher!

are you 3 talking literally about gophers???

if so, go to the SS forum under the thread "SOD" and you will find gopher announcing SOD sale for this month.
imagine SOD for gopher. we have lots of them here all over the land . why would anyone pay SOD for a picture of a gopher???

even scarier when it is announced in SS forum of your great SOD .

no wonder all our stock contributors of old-school are seeing a big drop in earnings. all the 38 centers.
time to get my grand child to be a contributor and give him a mob to take pics of gophers and all these critters tearing up my land

Rage · « **Reply #32 on:** July 11, 2015, 21:31 »

Looks like there is a niche for gophers... Both as subjects and photographers

marthamarks · « **Reply #33 on:** July 11, 2015, 21:41 »

Quote from: izzikiorage on July 11, 2015, 21:31

Looks like there is a niche for gophers... Both as subjects and photographers

LOL!!!!!!!!!

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #34 on:** July 12, 2015, 03:36 »

Here's actual numbers: $2700-$4900+/month or $0(literally)/month

I just checked and those are the actual figures for my top 500 and bottom 500 earning images this year

Rage · « **Reply #35 on:** July 12, 2015, 06:25 »

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on July 12, 2015, 03:36

Here's actual numbers: $2700-$4900+/month or $0(literally)/month

I just checked and those are the actual figures for my top 500 and bottom 500 earning images this year

That's the problem here. There are so many ifs and buts that go into making a successful image. All skill aside, when it got uploaded, luck in the initial few downloads, search placement and all will put it on a great upward sprial... Or make it totally disappear

dirkr · « **Reply #36 on:** July 12, 2015, 13:13 »

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on July 12, 2015, 03:36

Here's actual numbers: $2700-$4900+/month or $0(literally)/month

I just checked and those are the actual figures for my top 500 and bottom 500 earning images this year

So you have 500 images that together produce more than $2700 each month?

Congrats, that's impressive.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #37 on:** July 13, 2015, 03:15 »

Quote from: dirkr on July 12, 2015, 13:13

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on July 12, 2015, 03:36
Here's actual numbers: $2700-$4900+/month or $0(literally)/month

I just checked and those are the actual figures for my top 500 and bottom 500 earning images this year

So you have 500 images that together produce more than $2700 each month?

Congrats, that's impressive.

Thanks, I do, those 500 images made me $2700 in the worst month of the year so far and $4900 in the best.

And that is a super misleading stat.

I have a very large portfolio, the next 500 best earning earn me half that, and those top 1000 make up more than 50% of my total sales. Above a certain quality threshold it is basically a numbers game. If you have one or two images in your portfolio of a few hundred images making you $5 a month when you have a few thousand you can multiply that up. If I just give you the stats of my best sellers I can make myself look like some kind of stock genius, when actually I am pretty average for a pro producer.

ETA just checked and my images for zero earnings for 2015 actually number close to 2000. I almost didn't want to check that, but how depressing, all that work for probably no returns at all!

Rage · « **Reply #38 on:** July 13, 2015, 06:05 »

Might just being in long term returns. I've seen a few images that take time to get discovered, but then sell well. Others specially in SS will sell well only if they start like a house on fire..

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #39 on:** July 13, 2015, 06:31 »

Quote from: izzikiorage on July 13, 2015, 06:05

Might just being in long term returns. I've seen a few images that take time to get discovered, but then sell well. Others specially in SS will sell well only if they start like a house on fire..

There will always be a big chunk of images that never get discovered or sell well regardless of quality or saleability. Many of the 2000 zero earners have been up for years. If I included images that were low earners over their lifetime, i.e. more than zero but never paid me back for the work put in, that would probably add several thousand images to that 2000. There is a big luck factor involved whatever the agencies try to tell you.

Rage · « **Reply #40 on:** July 17, 2015, 13:56 »

That's there... Like that guy with the amazing lightening photo that got monsoon pic of the year and sold well. I'm sure there are others who have similar great images that are 0 earners

ComfortEagle2095 · « **Reply #41 on:** July 17, 2015, 14:25 »

In my experience the Pareto principle applies very well: 20% of my photographs earm 80% of my income. It's been that way for 10 years.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #42 on:** July 17, 2015, 14:55 »

Agreed, I think of it like a lottery. It's luck but you can improve your chances by buying more tickets. Each high quality saleable image is another entry, but if I think of it on an image by image basis I'd go mad with frustration. You have to think about the earning from your whole portfolio.

The problem is that when someone looks at your portfolio they look at the top earners and think, "wow all I need to do is produce 500 images as good as that and I'll be making the same amount of money". The reality is even if they could upload the exact same 500 as my top earners they would just be entering the lottery 500 times, while I had to enter many, many thousands of times for those 500 wins. Psychologically it's very hard to get that across, even now people are reading this thinking they can make $5000 a month with a portfolio of 500 images if only they can produce the right ones.

Hongover · « **Reply #43 on:** July 17, 2015, 15:57 »

It is possible to make $5000 from $500 images, but it's not without a lot of trial and error and lots of knowledge about specific markets.

I calculated that if you have 500 images, you just need a download for each image per day at $.33 to make about $5000/month. It's certainly possible.

Right now, I have a few images that are very unique to its category. In the 45 million images on SS, only my images show up for a specific keyword(s) and I get on average 1-2 download per day based on that keyword(s). Now I just need 497 more of those type of images.

qwerty · « **Reply #44 on:** July 18, 2015, 02:06 »

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on July 13, 2015, 03:15

Quote from: dirkr on July 12, 2015, 13:13
Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on July 12, 2015, 03:36
Here's actual numbers: $2700-$4900+/month or $0(literally)/month

I just checked and those are the actual figures for my top 500 and bottom 500 earning images this year

So you have 500 images that together produce more than $2700 each month?

Congrats, that's impressive.
Thanks, I do, those 500 images made me $2700 in the worst month of the year so far and $4900 in the best.

And that is a super misleading stat.

I have a very large portfolio, the next 500 best earning earn me half that, and those top 1000 make up more than 50% of my total sales. Above a certain quality threshold it is basically a numbers game. If you have one or two images in your portfolio of a few hundred images making you $5 a month when you have a few thousand you can multiply that up. If I just give you the stats of my best sellers I can make myself look like some kind of stock genius, when actually I am pretty average for a pro producer.

ETA just checked and my images for zero earnings for 2015 actually number close to 2000. I almost didn't want to check that, but how depressing, all that work for probably no returns at all!

On Bigstock or across all your agencies. This is a confusing thread.

Justanotherphotographer · « **Reply #45 on:** July 18, 2015, 04:39 »

I was talking about across the top five agencies, missed that this was in the Bigstock section. Imagine earning anything like that off of Bigstock! You could maybe even make it up a rank!

qwerty · « **Reply #46 on:** July 18, 2015, 18:41 »

Quote from: Justanotherphotographer on July 18, 2015, 04:39

I was talking about across the top five agencies, missed that this was in the Bigstock section. Imagine earning anything like that off of Bigstock! You could maybe even make it up a rank!

Hence my clarification question. Bigstock makes 3% of my earnings. so if 3% = $4900 then the drinks are on you

GoetzPhilippines · « **Reply #47 on:** July 19, 2015, 18:58 »

With 500 photos you make a money - but just a small one.

I started 3 month ago with stock and now just have around 20 - 100 photos online - but that are the numbers for 13 agencies now.
I am not in a rush with earning, I do this thing slowly - maybe I will upload 200-300 photos a year, but I will do this constantly over the next years and if the market isn't going down the drain totally I will earn some money each month in about 3-5 years from now.

If you need to earn money fast better go work in an office :-)

einstein · « **Reply #48 on:** September 09, 2015, 13:22 »

500 Illustrations will make you on average about 60$/month if I you submit to 10 best known websites. My own value is a little bit higher, but I estimate that this is the average for many.

Rage · « **Reply #49 on:** September 10, 2015, 07:18 »

OP I'm sure you have some images up now. So how much are you earning with your current portfolio?

Had a good month in aug. Made about $50 with most of it coming from SS (85 files online) and iStock (480 files online).

Guess not all pics are created equal

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Author Topic: How Much I can Make with 500 images (Read 16052 times)

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