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Author Topic: it's possible to live only selling photos in microstock site?  (Read 51585 times)

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« on: February 11, 2017, 18:33 »
0
Hi, i'm new in this business, i wuold like to know if it's possible to live only selling photos in microstock site?


« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2017, 18:41 »
+19
Cue the "what it costs to live in various parts of the world" discussion.

« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2017, 18:49 »
0
I live in Caracas Venezuela, some services (electricity,Internet,water,gasoline) are very cheap, but food,health,medicine and private services are expensives.
Please help me with your sugestions. Thanks!

« Reply #3 on: February 11, 2017, 19:28 »
+3
The industry rule-of-thumb for years has been $1 USD per image per year in a stock library. A beginner in the industry won't likely make that much - even if that beginner is pretty good at stock photos. A beginner at iStock only makes 15% of the sale (I think) so won't make $1 PIPY. iStock has low royatlies for beginners but other sites are not much higher. So you might make some back-of-napkin wild calculations at maybe $0.10 (10 cents) per image per year USD and see how many images it would take for you to live.

« Reply #4 on: February 11, 2017, 19:55 »
+9
I don't think you can absorb calories just from shooting photography. You will probably need normal nutritional sustenance as well.

« Reply #5 on: February 11, 2017, 22:35 »
+7
alexander,
ss expects to pay out $35 a month.
if you can live well with that, then yes, it is still possible to live only selling photos in microstock  8)

outoftheblue

« Reply #6 on: February 12, 2017, 03:05 »
+5
Is it possible? Yes, it is. Everywhere in the world.

But expect to treat it as a real job, not as a hobby.

You'll need to work many many hours every day, earning next to nothing for the first months or years and slowly reaching that point when you'll have a few thousand good photos on every major site.

And then continue adding photos every day forever.
« Last Edit: February 12, 2017, 03:10 by outoftheblue »

alno

« Reply #7 on: February 12, 2017, 03:08 »
+3
Hi, i'm new in this business, i wuold like to know if it's possible to live only selling photos in microstock site?

The answer is yes I guess but the main problem is to build up some really good collection. This alone requires a lot of time and some money (gear, trips, props, models). Making up a good collection being a part-time microstock contributor would require far more time than doing this as a full time job. But the full time job is only possible when you have some considerable savings since your first months would probably only bring you several dollars and signs of despair. The main problem IMO is keep yourself motivated while looking at those pathetic figures of income for quite a long time.

« Reply #8 on: February 12, 2017, 03:23 »
+2
Possible but very very hard I'm guessing youd need to be in say the top 1-2%. Even if you are good and dedicated it will take time

« Reply #9 on: February 12, 2017, 03:30 »
+2
alexander,
ss expects to pay out $35 a month.
if you can live well with that, then yes, it is still possible to live only selling photos in microstock  8)
No they dont

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2017, 04:19 »
+1
I can live on what I'm making, but I make video. It helps that I'm in a cheap part of the world at the moment, but I could probably still live quite comfortably in most places... but not London, New York, LA, Paris etc.

Depends on how much work you put in, how good you are, and how much you need to live on. Even so, it's not exactly easy, but it is possible.

alno

« Reply #11 on: February 12, 2017, 04:44 »
+5
I can live on what I'm making, but I make video. It helps that I'm in a cheap part of the world at the moment, but I could probably still live quite comfortably in most places... but not London, New York, LA, Paris etc.

Depends on how much work you put in, how good you are, and how much you need to live on. Even so, it's not exactly easy, but it is possible.

It helps until you have to buy some camera or a new computer, then the cheap part of the world becomes usual expensive part :)

« Reply #12 on: February 12, 2017, 05:04 »
0
I can live on what I'm making, but I make video. It helps that I'm in a cheap part of the world at the moment, but I could probably still live quite comfortably in most places... but not London, New York, LA, Paris etc.

Depends on how much work you put in, how good you are, and how much you need to live on. Even so, it's not exactly easy, but it is possible.

It helps until you have to buy some camera or a new computer, then the cheap part of the world becomes usual expensive part :)
Yep very true a lot depends if you already have the equipment/software. I think these days its less necessary to "upgrade" regularly but say your camera suddenly blows up that could be a huge blow

« Reply #13 on: February 12, 2017, 05:11 »
0
It's quite possible, however it keeps getting harder every year in my opinion. You can still do it, but be prepared to put in a lot of hours. A lot also depends on your talent / workflow (automate whenever possible, use your time efficiently ...). Good luck!

« Reply #14 on: February 12, 2017, 05:37 »
+4
Yes, it's possible, but like most jobs only if you put in hard work and time (8-10 hours per day like a normal job).

So many people start out by uploading 100 photos and then sit back and wait, wondering why they aren't rich yet...

How many microstockers here can honestly say they put in 40 quality hours of microstock work every week?

« Reply #15 on: February 12, 2017, 06:00 »
+2
I think the ideal situation is for people who have another source of income that leaves them a lot of spare times (teachers for example).
Especially if shooting photo/video is your hobby and you enjoy it in your spare time, even better if you have already a few thousands of images sitting in your computer.
Microstock can give you a complementary income while having fun

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #16 on: February 12, 2017, 06:49 »
+1
Yeah, branded electronics are rarely as cheap as they would be in the US, no matter where you are. You might be able to have a night out for $10 in wherever, compared to $100 in New York/London... but that doesn't mean you can get a decent computer for $100 compared to $1000.



« Reply #17 on: February 12, 2017, 08:43 »
+2
Yes, it's possible, but like most jobs only if you put in hard work and time (8-10 hours per day like a normal job).

So many people start out by uploading 100 photos and then sit back and wait, wondering why they aren't rich yet...

How many microstockers here can honestly say they put in 40 quality hours of microstock work every week?
Not me I reckon if I scaled up to that I might scrape a subsistence living but would probably have to focus more on stuff that sells rather than stuff I like doing.

« Reply #18 on: February 12, 2017, 10:32 »
+1
Cameras, lenses and old computers can be very cheap on Ebay or a second hand shop.  My old Canon 300D photos still sell well and that camera goes for very little now.  No problem with 6mp if you stitch a few photos together.  The Gimp is free, that's all I used for image editing at one time.  If the camera is too expensive, just use Inkscape for free and make vectors.  I could probably do microstock with a $100 phone if that was all the money I had.

« Reply #19 on: February 13, 2017, 19:32 »
0
It's possible to reach  $ 1000 USD a year as a beginner like me?  Last Year i made $ 150 USD what do you suggest to me?

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #20 on: February 13, 2017, 19:58 »
+1
It's possible to reach  $ 1000 USD a year as a beginner like me?  Last Year i made $ 150 USD what do you suggest to me?

My first year was 2007; by the end of that year, I had <900 files, all not-very-commercial (no released images), and I earned $1460.
My best year was 2012, and it's been downhill for me since then.

It's much harder to start nowadays, unless you have access to some niche which most people couldn't access AND, crucially, that niche is in demand by buyers.
Otherwise, all you can do is study what others can do, and consider
   whether you can do it better,
   how much it would cost you to do it better,
   whether it's likely to be worth it.
And remember the most important thing: turnover is vanity; profit is sanity.
« Last Edit: February 13, 2017, 20:21 by ShadySue »

SpaceStockFootage

  • Space, Sci-Fi and Astronomy Related Stock Footage

« Reply #21 on: February 13, 2017, 20:36 »
+1
It's possible to reach  $ 1000 USD a year as a beginner like me?  Last Year i made $ 150 USD what do you suggest to me?

Make more stuff and make better stuff. There's a bit more to it than that, like where to upload, keywording, an efficient workflow for shooting and editing, but it pretty much boils down to that.

$1000 a month is achievable, but probably won't be easy.

« Reply #22 on: February 15, 2017, 12:13 »
+2
I think the ideal situation is for people who have another source of income that leaves them a lot of spare times (teachers for example).
Especially if shooting photo/video is your hobby and you enjoy it in your spare time, even better if you have already a few thousands of images sitting in your computer.
Microstock can give you a complementary income while having fun

Please cut the dig at teachers. ;) I don't know where you are, but here it is a mega job with all the admin, meetings and trendy new ideas. Thanks.

« Reply #23 on: February 15, 2017, 12:22 »
0
I think the ideal situation is for people who have another source of income that leaves them a lot of spare times (teachers for example).
Especially if shooting photo/video is your hobby and you enjoy it in your spare time, even better if you have already a few thousands of images sitting in your computer.
Microstock can give you a complementary income while having fun

Please cut the dig at teachers. ;) I don't know where you are, but here it is a mega job with all the admin, meetings and trendy new ideas. Thanks.
There is a cue to my location in my name.
Sorry I didn't mean anything bad about teachers, maybe I did not use the right word, but I know a lot of people that teach music, or photography, or painting, or image post processing for a few hours a week and also submit photo, video, graphics or video to stock agencies.
Similar situation for myself: I do tutorials on the Internet and stock video, the two things complement very well.
Probably instead of teachers I should have said people who do a bit of teaching

jonbull

    This user is banned.
« Reply #24 on: February 15, 2017, 12:39 »
0
I can live on what I'm making, but I make video. It helps that I'm in a cheap part of the world at the moment, but I could probably still live quite comfortably in most places... but not London, New York, LA, Paris etc.

Depends on how much work you put in, how good you are, and how much you need to live on. Even so, it's not exactly easy, but it is possible.

It helps until you have to buy some camera or a new computer, then the cheap part of the world becomes usual expensive part :)
Yep very true a lot depends if you already have the equipment/software. I think these days its less necessary to "upgrade" regularly but say your camera suddenly blows up that could be a huge blow

i disagree...well electronic cost sure...it' s the same...but try living in paris or rome and then go to budapest belgrade kiev outside moscow for russia,. in addiction the pay is in dollar....fo euro country is a minus due to exchange rate, for other country is big plus, especially in the last years.
in my opinion you can live well in some countries in other no. production cost are very cheap in those countries also.


 

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