Pete asked me on another thread how to add links to Instagram, which doesn't allow clickable HTML links to posts. Because questions like this can be useful to others and may get lost on other topic thread, I thought we could start a thread for sites and tools recommendations for selling direct or promoting your portfolio - especially those that are free and/or easy to use. Please add your own recommendations as well.

Here was my answer to Pete:

That's right. You can't add HTML links to a post in Instagram.

I use LinkTree, and then add it to my bio (instead of my website). I have always used the free version, and find that's all you really need. There are similar tools. But linktree is fine. It also even automatically adds a shop tab for things like books that you sell on Amazon. Then you can show all your links in one place and add it to your website and social accounts. For Instagram, you can say, "refer bio links for more" or "see bio links" at the end of your post or reel.

Here's mine:

https://linktr.ee/milleflore

or go on my Instagram profile and see how it appears in my bio.

https://www.instagram.com/millefloredesigns/

The other recommendation that has worked very well for me, that I have spoken at length about in other threads, is Payhip.

It is a reputable UK site that I have found very good for direct selling. I use it for selling eBooks and other digital products (that I previously used to sell on Etsy). In this case Cookbook Canva templates. And downloadable print-at-home posters.

But you also use it for selling images and video.

I have always used the Free version, and found I was able turn it into a very attractive website with all the bells and whistles. Plus Payhip only charges 5% on sales, and pays you immediately. No other fees.

Payhip may not have the direct traffic that places such as Etsy, Amazon, and eBay have, but it does have lots of marketing and promotional tools to help you. I use it in conjunction with social media promotion. Its tools include:

- creating coupons
- running sales
- cross selling between products
- adding discounts
- creating mailing lists
- analytics dashboard

Products you can sell: ebooks, software, templates, music, images, videos, design assets, and online courses. You can also sell physical goods with inventory tracking.

Storefront & Customization is very good. It has fully customizable storefront and landing pages. Themes and layout controls. Custom domain support. Secure payment processing. Instant payouts. Handles EU & UK VAT automatically.

And all very, very easy to use - with NO additional apps necessary - which I found annoying with Shopify. (and no, I am not a Payhip representative  - I just like it very much)

https://payhip.com/MillefloreImages


Downside: not much site traffic, you will still need to promote your site, and yes, perhaps in the future it may not be free.

Another Instagram tip: you can add a link to a story.

In the past, this feature was limited to accounts with a certain minimum number of followers (I think 10k), but should be now available to all accounts.

That said, don't expect significant traffic from it unless your audience includes a substantial number of potential buyers.

Hi everyone,

I'm working on a direct-licensing website/admin system for stock photographers and footage contributors, and I'd appreciate honest feedback from people who have tried selling direct.

The idea is not to replace marketplaces like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 or Alamy. It is more of a second channel: a contributor-owned site where selected collections can be licensed directly, with your own brand, pricing, SEO, checkout, license PDFs, download delivery, analytics and metadata workflow.

I'm especially interested in the practical objections. Uploading and metadata work is already time-consuming, so the admin is built around shoots/production folders, AI metadata generation, visual filters, separate microstock metadata and export workflows.

Another reason I'm exploring this is the rise of generative content on large platforms. Some brands and agencies may become more careful about using footage or images unless they can clearly see that the asset is real, properly licensed, and comes from a known creator or production source.

Demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo

Admin demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo/admin

I'd love feedback on what would make a direct licensing system worth testing, and what would stop you from using one.

Quote from: bigshottheory on April 29, 2026, 09:33
Hi everyone,

I'm working on a direct-licensing website/admin system for stock photographers and footage contributors, and I'd appreciate honest feedback from people who have tried selling direct.

The idea is not to replace marketplaces like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 or Alamy. It is more of a second channel: a contributor-owned site where selected collections can be licensed directly, with your own brand, pricing, SEO, checkout, license PDFs, download delivery, analytics and metadata workflow.

I'm especially interested in the practical objections. Uploading and metadata work is already time-consuming, so the admin is built around shoots/production folders, AI metadata generation, visual filters, separate microstock metadata and export workflows.

Another reason I'm exploring this is the rise of generative content on large platforms. Some brands and agencies may become more careful about using footage or images unless they can clearly see that the asset is real, properly licensed, and comes from a known creator or production source.

Demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo

Admin demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo/admin

I'd love feedback on what would make a direct licensing system worth testing, and what would stop you from using one.

Quite pleasing to browse and it seems very good planned.
The most boring things selling directly is the EU tax management for sure and this seems to be taken care. I like the price options.
Only a first impression, but good

Quote from: AM24 on February 14, 2026, 20:37
The other recommendation that has worked very well for me

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and recommendations. It is all very interesting, and you have found some really great tools.

But I cannot help, every time I read your posts, wanting to ask what "has worked very well for me" actually means. Maybe you have shared it somewhere, but I couldn't find what the actual results are, what the monthly sales volume is, or who your clients are.

I have been doing stock for more than 15 years, and at different times I have tried all the tools you describe. I have built shops on both Payhip and Photodeck, and have also driven traffic from YouTube and stock sites themselves. Yet I did not have a single sale when it came to images, and I always ended up going back to marketplaces. Etsy is probably the closest you can get in terms of an "own shop" with real customers, but never a standalone website.

If what you mean is that you have had success selling ebooks to other photographers, and perhaps some success with your audience here, how can that be transferred to selling actual images outside of agencies? Do you personally have consistent sales and clients this way, as you say it has worked very well for you? How well, exactly? 🙂

Thanks.

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 12:08

Quote from: AM24 on February 14, 2026, 20:37
The other recommendation that has worked very well for me

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and recommendations. It is all very interesting, and you have found some really great tools.

But I cannot help, every time I read your posts, wanting to ask what "has worked very well for me" actually means. Maybe you have shared it somewhere, but I couldn't find what the actual results are, what the monthly sales volume is, or who your clients are.
Thanks.

It typically means that I have reached my own personal goals. Whenever I start something new, whether its selling my photography or other products, I set up a plan based on this framework:

https://payhip.com/MillefloreImages/blog/photography-tips/how-to-create-a-marketing-plan

Is this what you do?

Without a plan to guide you, or goals to measure if you are on track, people can easily fail to achieve their desired outcomes. (I used to consult in this area, and my husband still does, invariably whenever the client would say - oh, I tried that and it didn't work - when we set up a full plan, we would discover that something critical was missing.)

Quote from: AM24 on April 30, 2026, 18:25

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 12:08

Quote from: AM24 on February 14, 2026, 20:37
The other recommendation that has worked very well for me

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and recommendations. It is all very interesting, and you have found some really great tools.

But I cannot help, every time I read your posts, wanting to ask what "has worked very well for me" actually means. Maybe you have shared it somewhere, but I couldn't find what the actual results are, what the monthly sales volume is, or who your clients are.
Thanks.

It typically means that I have reached my own personal goals. Whenever I start something new, whether its selling my photography or other products, I set up a plan based on this framework:

https://payhip.com/MillefloreImages/blog/photography-tips/how-to-create-a-marketing-plan

Is this what you do?

Without a plan, or goals to know if you are on track, people can easily fail to achieve their desired outcomes.

Thank you for yet another link to your website, but I have a Master's degree in Marketing, so I don't need it 🙂 (And if you need professional advice, I'd suggest starting with a proper domain name linked to Payhip and promoting that instead)

So, essentially, what you're doing here is promoting your website by pushing links to it in every post. That suggests that any sales you've had likely come from this forum, if at all.
No more questions

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 18:46

Quote from: AM24 on April 30, 2026, 18:25

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 12:08

Quote from: AM24 on February 14, 2026, 20:37
The other recommendation that has worked very well for me

Thank you so much for sharing your experience and recommendations. It is all very interesting, and you have found some really great tools.

But I cannot help, every time I read your posts, wanting to ask what "has worked very well for me" actually means. Maybe you have shared it somewhere, but I couldn't find what the actual results are, what the monthly sales volume is, or who your clients are.
Thanks.

It typically means that I have reached my own personal goals. Whenever I start something new, whether its selling my photography or other products, I set up a plan based on this framework:

https://payhip.com/MillefloreImages/blog/photography-tips/how-to-create-a-marketing-plan

Is this what you do?

Without a plan, or goals to know if you are on track, people can easily fail to achieve their desired outcomes.

Thank you for yet another link to your website, but I have a Master's degree in Marketing, so I don't need it 🙂 (And if you need professional advice, I'd suggest starting with a proper domain name linked to Payhip and promoting that instead)

So, essentially, what you're doing here is promoting your website by pushing links to it in every post. That suggests that any sales you've had likely come from this forum, if at all.
No more questions

I know that you don't know me, or my circumstances, or you wouldn't have said that.

I wish you peace 

Quote from: AM24 on April 30, 2026, 19:08
I am sorry, you are so aggressive, I am not sure what you are trying to do. Or promote? My book sales largely come via social media - my main target audience are food bloggers. I come here because I have a lot of friends here and like to offer help if I can or just chat. To show them whenever I can how to increase their sales. They are not my target audience. Yes, I have an official website that links to Payhip. But building up Payhip to its own website, is my way of directing traffic to my eBooks specifically. As opposed to my books listed on Amazon.

I know that you don't know me or you wouldn't have said that. I wish you peace 

Well, as you see, I am, in contrast, not promoting anything here.

It is your answers that are passive-aggressive.
I asked exactly that, what are your actual sales? You just shoved a link to some article on your website again.

You are just giving a false impression that stock photography (this is a stock photography forum) can be sold on a standalone website, and you keep "presenting tools for it" without any evidence.

So, by taking your kind advice, I would be mislead into building online shops and wasting time on posting on social media instead of actually doing what works in stock photography: working with stock agencies and producing a large volume of material.

Your target audience is other photographers, so your advice unfortunately is impossible to implement. I don't sell books to other photographers, I sell photography.

Social media, "portfolio promotion" and standalone websites will only waste my time, because stock photography is mostly about selling to businesses, not to consumers or hobbyists.

It is great if selling educational ebooks to photographers works for you (and it would be interesting to know, although you are also quite secretive about actual success numbers there - all seems to be in theory), but it cannot be applied to selling photos.

It might intersect with selling fine art prints, but in that case payhip is not the right platform for selling prints.

I apologise if I interrupted, and if everyone and your friends are very interested in how to sell ebooks (which, again, I would be grateful to hear actual numbers about), but unfortunately it has nothing to do with "Sites and Tools for Selling Direct" in the context of photography.

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 19:24

Quote from: AM24 on April 30, 2026, 19:08
I am sorry, you are so aggressive, I am not sure what you are trying to do. Or promote? My book sales largely come via social media - my main target audience are food bloggers. I come here because I have a lot of friends here and like to offer help if I can or just chat. To show them whenever I can how to increase their sales. They are not my target audience. Yes, I have an official website that links to Payhip. But building up Payhip to its own website, is my way of directing traffic to my eBooks specifically. As opposed to my books listed on Amazon.

I know that you don't know me or you wouldn't have said that. I wish you peace 

Well, as you see, I am, in contrast, not promoting anything here.

It is your answers that are passive-aggressive.
I asked exactly that, what are your actual sales? You just shoved a link to some article on your website again.

You are just giving a false impression that stock photography (this is a stock photography forum) can be sold on a standalone website, and you keep "presenting tools for it" without any evidence.

So, by taking your kind advice, I would be mislead into building online shops and wasting time on posting on social media instead of actually doing what works in stock photography: working with stock agencies and producing a large volume of material.

Well said, many of us have tried varied approaches to selling online and this appears to be just another get-rich-quick wannabe with no actual results they can show as to why their app can compete w etsy, shopify,et al.  also need to k now why  (undocumented) sales on book websites would translate to selling images

Quote from: cascoly on May 01, 2026, 00:33

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 19:24

Quote from: AM24 on April 30, 2026, 19:08
I am sorry, you are so aggressive, I am not sure what you are trying to do. Or promote? My book sales largely come via social media - my main target audience are food bloggers. I come here because I have a lot of friends here and like to offer help if I can or just chat. To show them whenever I can how to increase their sales. They are not my target audience. Yes, I have an official website that links to Payhip. But building up Payhip to its own website, is my way of directing traffic to my eBooks specifically. As opposed to my books listed on Amazon.

I know that you don't know me or you wouldn't have said that. I wish you peace 

Well, as you see, I am, in contrast, not promoting anything here.

It is your answers that are passive-aggressive.
I asked exactly that, what are your actual sales? You just shoved a link to some article on your website again.

You are just giving a false impression that stock photography (this is a stock photography forum) can be sold on a standalone website, and you keep "presenting tools for it" without any evidence.

So, by taking your kind advice, I would be mislead into building online shops and wasting time on posting on social media instead of actually doing what works in stock photography: working with stock agencies and producing a large volume of material.

Well said, many of us have tried varied approaches to selling online and this appears to be just another get-rich-quick wannabe with no actual results they can show as to why their app can compete w etsy, shopify,et al.  also need to k now why  (undocumented) sales on book websites would translate to selling images

Yep, you got me. I am trying to push a site that is free to use, pays me no benefits for doing so, and force people to buy my books, by linking my blogs here. Really? Is that all that goes through your minds? The links at the end of my blogs are for social media traffic. Yes, they are horribly offensive, aren't they? (Seeing you like passive-aggressive.  lol)

My sales are none of your business, and frankly, you don't even need them. (I did put them in, and then thought - no, read the next para)

A shop is a shop is a shop. Its what you do with it that matters. I link my shop to show others what you can do with it. How you can design it and make it work for you. If you want to - if not, then that's fine. No skin off my nose. But its up to you to make it work. No amount of sales that I make can remotely influence how many you make.  Its all up to you.

If you had asked nicely in the beginning I would have explained to you, that my first post abput Payhip, at the top of this thread was actually a solution to a problem. It was written months ago because on an even earlier thread about selling direct, someone had said they had problems finding a shop which was easy use, and you could easily upload and sell VIDEOS!! Yes, you can do this with Payhip. No apps or plug-ins needed.

Don't get too negative guys - in the long run, you will hurt yourselves more than you hurt others.

Anyway, on the bright side - thank god its Friday!

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 19:32
It is great if selling educational ebooks to photographers works for you (and it would be interesting to know, although you are also quite secretive about actual success numbers there - all seems to be in theory), but it cannot be applied to selling photos.

Just to add my 2 cents here: I do occasionally sell licenses directly through my standalone website (and also through social media), so I don't agree it's a waste of time. BUT: your potential clients have to be able to find your work through search engines (or stumble upon a viral post if it's on social media) - so you need to have a well ranking website and your work needs to stand out from the crowd. I won't give any exact numbers, but for example in April I made more from licensing directly to customers than through hundreds of downloads on Adobe. I wish every month was like this, but it's not (yet)  .

So selling directly can work, if you can get the traffic to your website and your work isn't the same stuff everyone else is also selling.

I agree with what Mike said, and the kind of backlash AM24 received is uncalled for. This thread is about selling directly and she brought attention to a platform that provides the tools to do just that.

Quote from: LizC on May 01, 2026, 16:33
I agree with what Mike said, and the kind of backlash AM24 received is uncalled for. This thread is about selling directly and she brought attention to a platform that provides the tools to do just that.

I think this is exactly the problem. There's a difference between people who read AM24 for entertainment or friendly chat and those who actually try to implement what she's saying, or at least ask whether it really works, even for her, because there's no evidence of that.

Payhip (being a wonderful tool) does provide a way to sell digital products, yes. But it does not provide any real functionality to sell photography. You have to upload files one by one, there's no keyword search, no watermarking, no proper way to manage images, you cannot even change a price for multiple products at once (I did actually go and wasted much of my time to discover all of this after all the rosy posts here). There's no print integration either, so you can't even sell prints properly. That's not a small limitation, that's the core of what photographers need.

So it ends up being unworkable advice in practice, unless the idea is to sell ebooks to other photographers. And even that is questionable.

What bothered me was not her mentioning a tool. It was the claim that "it all worked well for her" with no explanation, no numbers, no proof. When I asked what that actually means, the response was just a link to an article on her own site and a suggestion that I must have failed at SWOT analysis . That's not an answer, that's deflection.

The backlash didn't come from her sharing a platform. It came after she was asked simple, reasonable questions about results and instead of answering, she avoided it and started getting offended that she has to answer anything at all, when all she wants is to post these fantasy posts filled with multiple links to her website every time.

Quote from: mike123 on May 01, 2026, 09:41

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on April 30, 2026, 19:32
It is great if selling educational ebooks to photographers works for you (and it would be interesting to know, although you are also quite secretive about actual success numbers there - all seems to be in theory), but it cannot be applied to selling photos.

Just to add my 2 cents here: I do occasionally sell licenses directly through my standalone website (and also through social media), so I don't agree it's a waste of time. BUT: your potential clients have to be able to find your work through search engines (or stumble upon a viral post if it's on social media) - so you need to have a well ranking website and your work needs to stand out from the crowd. I won't give any exact numbers, but for example in April I made more from licensing directly to customers than through hundreds of downloads on Adobe. I wish every month was like this, but it's not (yet)  .

So selling directly can work, if you can get the traffic to your website and your work isn't the same stuff everyone else is also selling.

Thanks, that is very encouraging. I assume they contacted you via a contact form or email, and that you have a standard photographer's website with a portfolio and contact details, which most of us have.

Or is it that you're running an online store with your photos listed and an "add to cart" setup? That's what was being suggested here, and that is what would take a great deal of time to build, without much if any hope that it would work.

This is what has been suggested here:

"Payhip may not have the direct traffic that places such as Etsy, Amazon, and eBay have, but it does have lots of marketing and promotional tools to help you. I use it in conjunction with social media promotion. Its tools include:

- creating coupons
- running sales
- cross selling between products
- adding discounts
- creating mailing lists
- analytics dashboard"

And if you cannot sell photography this way, then you should go and read AM24's article again [link to her website]. And stop asking silly questions [here goes another link to her website].

Quote from: bigshottheory on April 29, 2026, 09:33
Hi everyone,

I'm working on a direct-licensing website/admin system for stock photographers and footage contributors, and I'd appreciate honest feedback from people who have tried selling direct.

The idea is not to replace marketplaces like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 or Alamy. It is more of a second channel: a contributor-owned site where selected collections can be licensed directly, with your own brand, pricing, SEO, checkout, license PDFs, download delivery, analytics and metadata workflow.

I'm especially interested in the practical objections. Uploading and metadata work is already time-consuming, so the admin is built around shoots/production folders, AI metadata generation, visual filters, separate microstock metadata and export workflows.

Another reason I'm exploring this is the rise of generative content on large platforms. Some brands and agencies may become more careful about using footage or images unless they can clearly see that the asset is real, properly licensed, and comes from a known creator or production source.

Demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo

Admin demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo/admin

I'd love feedback on what would make a direct licensing system worth testing, and what would stop you from using one.

Your platform looks very nice!

Would be interesting to know what the monthly fees are for photographers, what the storage limits are, and whether the platform acts as a Merchant of Record (handling all taxes and compliance internationally).

Because without a Merchant of Record setup, the main problem, apart from marketing budget, when selling direct is taxes. If you sell $5 photos and have hundreds of sales a month to different countries and states worldwide, all your profit can end up going to an accountant who has to account for each sale across multiple jurisdictions. Unless you are in the US and only selling to US customers, it quickly becomes unmanageable (or maybe you have your own solution to this, since you are located in Europe :-)

I would 100% use it if it were free and only took a percentage when sales occur (as traditional stock agencies do), but I doubt that's realistic to hope for 🙂

Quote from: bigshottheory on April 29, 2026, 09:33

I'd love feedback on what would make a direct licensing system worth testing, and what would stop you from using one.

Is this a licensed software from you and I'd be self hosting everything? That would be attractive. If it involves a subscription or your handling the images, that would be a no.

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on May 01, 2026, 17:28

Thanks, that is very encouraging. I assume they contacted you via a contact form or email, and that you have a standard photographer's website with a portfolio and contact details, which most of us have.

Exactly. I have a price list online, and clients contact me directly if they want to license an image. I don't run a traditional e-commerce setup with a cart and automated checkout for licensing, which was a deliberate decision.

When I originally built the website, I considered adding that functionality later on. But over time, I shifted more toward RM licensing, which is extremely complex to implement properly in a standard automated checkout workflow.

I can imagine I'd generate more licensing sales with a built-in checkout system, but I'm not convinced it would make a significant difference at the price points I work with ( I don't offer licenses below 100 Euro).

Quote from: mike123 on May 01, 2026, 20:13
I can imagine I'd generate more licensing sales with a built-in checkout system, but I'm not convinced it would make a significant difference at the price points I work with ( I don't offer licenses below 100 Euro).

Thanks! This is very interesting.
I'd imagine that at this price point and beyond, customers prefer direct contact rather than an automated checkout (on standalone photographers' websites).

Quote from: BeautyStockUK on May 01, 2026, 20:59
Thanks! This is very interesting.
I'd imagine that at this price point and beyond, customers prefer direct contact rather than an automated checkout (on standalone photographers' websites).

This is my impression as well. Clients often ask questions or need advice before committing to licensing. The positive side to this is your clients get to know you personally, so they might come back in future for additional images (which does indeed happen).
But of course I'll never know how many sales I might be losing due to missing automated checkout 

Quote from: gameover on April 30, 2026, 10:32

Quote from: bigshottheory on April 29, 2026, 09:33
Hi everyone,

I'm working on a direct-licensing website/admin system for stock photographers and footage contributors, and I'd appreciate honest feedback from people who have tried selling direct.

The idea is not to replace marketplaces like Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, Pond5 or Alamy. It is more of a second channel: a contributor-owned site where selected collections can be licensed directly, with your own brand, pricing, SEO, checkout, license PDFs, download delivery, analytics and metadata workflow.

I'm especially interested in the practical objections. Uploading and metadata work is already time-consuming, so the admin is built around shoots/production folders, AI metadata generation, visual filters, separate microstock metadata and export workflows.

Another reason I'm exploring this is the rise of generative content on large platforms. Some brands and agencies may become more careful about using footage or images unless they can clearly see that the asset is real, properly licensed, and comes from a known creator or production source.

Demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo

Admin demo:
https://bigshottheory.com/demo/admin

I'd love feedback on what would make a direct licensing system worth testing, and what would stop you from using one.

Quite pleasing to browse and it seems very good planned.
The most boring things selling directly is the EU tax management for sure and this seems to be taken care. I like the price options.
Only a first impression, but good

Thanks, that is very useful feedback.

Yes, the tax/VAT side was one of the things we wanted to avoid handling manually. The checkout can be set up through a payment provider that handles the tax/VAT calculation and collection automatically, depending on the buyer's location.

So the contributor does not have to manually calculate EU VAT for every small sale. In a simple setup, you receive the payouts from the payment provider, and then you account for / invoice based on what actually arrives in your account, usually on a monthly basis.

That was important for us too, because direct licensing only makes sense if the boring admin parts are not worse than using a marketplace.

Glad the first impression is good