Author Topic: Where do you sell photos for big money? (Read 12498 times)

Petr Toman · « **on:** June 06, 2013, 15:43 »

I do upload photos to different stock agency, but sometimes some photos are really exceptional, and I dont want to sell them for $0,35.

Any advice where you put really great pictures or pictures that actually cost more money for production.

Maybe RM Alamy ?

Thanks for any advice

ShadySue · « **Reply #1 on:** June 06, 2013, 15:53 »

Maybe, but last month I had an RM/Alamy netting me cents over $3 (Not NU, not in the UK newspaper scheme). You can get big sales there, but it's not the quality or even rarity of your photo that makes the difference, just what discount the buyer has negotiated with Alamy.

tickstock · « **Reply #2 on:** June 06, 2013, 15:57 »

ShadySue · « **Reply #3 on:** June 06, 2013, 16:08 »

Quote from: tickstock on June 06, 2013, 15:57

Getty

Maybe if you get into RM.
RF you can sell for less than on iS (or a lot more; deals are cut same as Alamy)
Posted by JoAnn:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/04/haiku-deck-update-brings-getty-images-to-slides-adds-image-history-public-and-private-notes
http://blog.haikudeck.com/premium-images-from-getty-images-now-in-haiku-deck
https://haikudeck.zendesk.com/entries/23868472-About-Premium-Images
in a thread that seems to be problematic (technically) (below)

There are still some old style RM agencies which may still bring in good money for specialist photos. Normally they are very picky, you have to provide either different subject matter or a distinctly different style, you have to provide a lot of unique photos to start with (that you don't have anywhere else), often e.g. 200, and you often have to agree to supply them with 'so many' more unique images in a particular timespace. Some of these may not even consider you if they find you're selling even other pics on Micros.
You should relatively easily be able to find the agencies supplying your specialty.

Petr Toman · « **Reply #4 on:** June 06, 2013, 16:37 »

Quote from: ShadySue on June 06, 2013, 16:08

Quote from: tickstock on June 06, 2013, 15:57
Getty

Maybe if you get into RM.
RF you can sell for less than on iS (or a lot more; deals are cut same as Alamy)
Posted by JoAnn:
http://techcrunch.com/2013/06/04/haiku-deck-update-brings-getty-images-to-slides-adds-image-history-public-and-private-notes
http://blog.haikudeck.com/premium-images-from-getty-images-now-in-haiku-deck
https://haikudeck.zendesk.com/entries/23868472-About-Premium-Images
in a thread that seems to be problematic (technically) (below)

There are still some old style RM agencies which may still bring in good money for specialist photos. Normally they are very picky, you have to provide either different subject matter or a distinctly different style, you have to provide a lot of unique photos to start with (that you don't have anywhere else), often e.g. 200, and you often have to agree to supply them with 'so many' more unique images in a particular timespace. Some of these may not even consider you if they find you're selling even other pics on Micros.
You should relatively easily be able to find the agencies supplying your specialty.

Thanks a lot for these hints. I really appreciate it. I will try to gather such collection and lets see.

ShadySue · « **Reply #5 on:** June 06, 2013, 16:44 »

Alternatively, seek out Lagereek, use the secret handshake, and he'll get you into Getty RM. It's one of his many talents/great influence benefits.

Then he owns your soul for ever.

Xanox · « **Reply #6 on:** June 07, 2013, 10:46 »

RF is destined to be worthless, it's the worst possible licence for photographers but great for cheap buyers.

ShadySue · « **Reply #7 on:** June 07, 2013, 10:58 »

Quote from: Xanox on June 07, 2013, 10:46

RF is destined to be worthless, it's the worst possible licence for photographers but great for cheap buyers.

So your useful suggestion, other than RM, which doesn't protect price (as exampled above) is ...?

asmai · « **Reply #8 on:** June 07, 2013, 14:27 »

Pond5, you set the price, and if people would like your photos on posters or canvas prints, try Zazzle , you set your commission.
Alamy is an disappointment for me, got all the micro price lately, you have no control of the price whatsoever.

Ron · « **Reply #9 on:** June 07, 2013, 14:33 »

Quote from: asmai on June 07, 2013, 14:27

Pond5, you set the price, and if people would like your photos on posters or canvas prints, try Zazzle , you set your commission.
Alamy is an disappointment for me, got all the micro price lately, you have no control of the price whatsoever.

I've heard that on Zazzle any product with royalty set over 15% is not considered in their marketing campaigns and is also not picked up by any of their partners. So, its another way of punishing you for trying to make money off your own work.

On GL you can set your own price as well, albeit limited, but this message from GL is also saying that setting the 15 dollar price will work against you:

Quote

The $6 price category, which makes up about 70% of the site, sells the most. Why is that? Because the $10 minimum deposit is the most popular and allows Buyers to purchase one or more images that are priced in the $6 to $10 range. If images are priced at $15 then the buyer has to choose the next higher deposit amount.

cthoman · « **Reply #10 on:** June 07, 2013, 14:42 »

Self-hosted?

topol · « **Reply #11 on:** June 07, 2013, 14:49 »

galleries

JohnItalia · « **Reply #12 on:** June 07, 2013, 15:13 »

Alamy! Sold a photo that was rejected on the Big Four but accepted and sold on Alamy for $196.00. However, I have sold photos on Alamy for a few hundred one time and sold them on Dreamstime for example multiple times which exceeded that few hundred. My advice would be to sell on Alamy and the micro sites.

fieldsphotos · « **Reply #13 on:** June 07, 2013, 16:24 »

Quote from: Ron on June 07, 2013, 14:33

Quote from: asmai on June 07, 2013, 14:27
Pond5, you set the price, and if people would like your photos on posters or canvas prints, try Zazzle , you set your commission.
Alamy is an disappointment for me, got all the micro price lately, you have no control of the price whatsoever.
I've heard that on Zazzle any product with royalty set over 15% is not considered in their marketing campaigns and is also not picked up by any of their partners. So, its another way of punishing you for trying to make money off your own work.

The Zazzle comments are entirely true - they will not promote your items at royalty rates set higher than 15%. Major affiliates for Zazzle will also not usually promote your items at royalties higher than 15% either. And based on the announcements Zazzle made today, I would expect that royalty cutoff amount to lower in the future.

I suppose you could try Fine Art America, but so far I have had zero luck selling anything there. Other folks seem to do OK, though.

Ron · « **Reply #14 on:** June 07, 2013, 16:29 »

I am doing ok on FAA, but Zazzle made me 45 euro in 13 months.

luissantos84 · « **Reply #15 on:** June 07, 2013, 16:33 »

I have my royalties at 25% (Zazzle) and have at least 1 featured selling regularly, where have you guys read that?

lbarn · « **Reply #16 on:** June 07, 2013, 16:40 »

I have several zazzle stores, the main one being approximately 700 business cards. Since their announcement last year about the 15% royalty not being included in their % off sales, it hasn't made any effect on my sales (still show growth), so some product types this may not actually be a problem. I created some cards at a 15% rate so they would be included in their %off sales, and they don't sell any better than the regular ones at around 30%.

I agree, that at 15% it isn't very attractive royalty rate when they deduct the % off sales and the 3rd party sales from my set royalty.

Zazzles announcement from today seems to indicate you can now set a 5% royalty rate if you want to, where the former minimum was 10%.

Petr Toman · « **Reply #17 on:** June 07, 2013, 16:44 »

Did you guys try to sell elswhere as RF and on alamy the same stuff as RM?

Any luck to sell stock image available on SS for $0,25 on Alamy RM for much more?

ShadySue · « **Reply #18 on:** June 07, 2013, 16:49 »

Quote from: Toopy on June 07, 2013, 16:44

Did you guys try to sell elswhere as RF and on alamy the same stuff as RM?

Any luck to sell stock image available on SS for $0,25 on Alamy RM for much more?

Alamy does not allow you to sell images RM if you're selling them RF anywhere else.
You are free to sell RF images RF there, provided you don't have any blurry pixels representing out of focus background people you don't have releases for. However, for studio work etc that's not going to be an issue.

ShadySue · « **Reply #19 on:** June 07, 2013, 17:01 »

Quote from: JohnItalia on June 07, 2013, 15:13

Alamy! Sold a photo that was rejected on the Big Four but accepted and sold on Alamy for $196.00.

Gross or net?
Only asking for clarity. Some people coming from the micros where we are used only to seeing our net amount per sale get inflatedly excited about quoted prices on the Alamy forum, which are usually quoted gross, of which our share is currently 50% or 30% (distributor).

luissantos84 · « **Reply #20 on:** June 07, 2013, 17:17 »

Quote from: lbarn on June 07, 2013, 16:40

I have several zazzle stores, the main one being approximately 700 business cards. Since their announcement last year about the 15% royalty not being included in their % off sales, it hasn't made any effect on my sales (still show growth), so some product types this may not actually be a problem. I created some cards at a 15% rate so they would be included in their %off sales, and they don't sell any better than the regular ones at around 30%.

I agree, that at 15% it isn't very attractive royalty rate when they deduct the % off sales and the 3rd party sales from my set royalty.

Zazzles announcement from today seems to indicate you can now set a 5% royalty rate if you want to, where the former minimum was 10%.

thanks for sharing

XNoneleftX · « **Reply #21 on:** July 05, 2013, 13:04 »

Thanks for hints.

danielsbfoto · « **Reply #22 on:** July 07, 2013, 02:18 »

Time ago I tried to apply with no fortune (its not the "time" was the answer) at Trevillion Images.

MichaelJayFoto · « **Reply #23 on:** July 07, 2013, 02:44 »

I have a few images on Getty submitted through the Flickr program. Some sold and made more money than they probably would have made on microstock in their whole life cycle.

I was lucky to be part of Stocksy United from the start but that is just a start up and we will have to see if it works out in the long term. Mid-tiered pricing and photographer participation in the profits are good enough reasons for me to try and wait.

Also I just started submitting to a local (German) macrostock agency. While all agencies tend to call for "local images", the reality in microstock seems to be that they don't get enough sales to A) pay off and B) get a spot in the top of searches. So for me it makes sense to have a place for images with local flavor that actually offers those images specifically to clients interested in this type of images.

Petr Toman · « **Reply #24 on:** July 07, 2013, 03:00 »

The local agency is a good idea. I also register with one of the biggest in Czech Rep. They still sell the smallest image for $25 and you get 50%. But it is mainly about editorial images. But worth trying.

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Author Topic: Where do you sell photos for big money? (Read 12498 times)

Petr Toman

ShadySue

tickstock

ShadySue

Petr Toman

ShadySue

Xanox

ShadySue

asmai

Ron

cthoman

topol

JohnItalia

fieldsphotos

Ron

luissantos84

lbarn

Petr Toman

ShadySue

ShadySue

luissantos84

XNoneleftX

danielsbfoto

MichaelJayFoto

Petr Toman

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