Stock photos

[JDArt]

Anyone selling to stock agencies? Is this worth the trouble of investigating?

[chucklyman]

I have sold some work on another site. The average price for most of the stock photos I see there is about $20.00 to $25.00. Some of the more erotic photos are going for $50 to $75. I hope this helps.
chuck

[Steve Buchanan]

The stock industry is in a bit of upheaval right now with the biggest player on the block (Getty) being up for sale. Stock can make you really big money but the way to get there is to invest heavily in the production of the images. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of microstock agencies out there selling mediocre work, or downright junk, for very little. IF you want to stand out and make money you'll need to differentiate yourself from them. This means really good work and you'll need to charge accordingly. If anyone tells you your going to get rich earning $.35 / image, they're either wrong or lying to you.

Bottom line - if you want to make money in stock photography you'll have to put some significant time and money into generating the images.

[grsphoto]

Originally Posted by Steve Buchanan

<snip>
Bottom line - if you want to make money in stock photography you'll have to put some significant time and money into generating the images.

And if you get a couple of killer images ( images that are selling) the agencies will recreate them with their own photographers and crews and sell their version instead of yours.

[Steve Buchanan]

Yes sometimes that happens but most of the reputable stock agencies don't have their own staff photogs also submitting to the library. If they did they would alienate their contributors and be left with a lower library. This is something to look into before you sign with an agency.

Stock is a moving target. Constantly shooting new images for submission is required. And even then, the results aren't guaranteed.

SB

[grsphoto]

I'm not in stock, so I don't know for sure, but I understand Corbis, Getty and Masterfile all produce their own images.

[Mark McCall]

I bought a stock photo recently...set me back a whopping $9.
How in the world does the original creator make any money, unless they are submitting thousands of pics to a stock house?

[ToJohn]

Originally Posted by Mark McCall

unless they are submitting thousands of pics to a stock house?

Biiiingo!!!

And that's just it.. as mentioned.. you need to invest allot of time and money, just to qualify.

If you have, say, three prize winners, I don't believe you'll make the short list.

Like song writers going to publishers .. you need to approach stock houses with a large library. Not just a few great shots.

hope this helps.


john

[Nikonfreak]

There was an article somewhere in one of the photo magazines that I was reading through about some lady that bought a new house with all the stock photography she was selling (after about 3-4 years or so) and most images were going for a few dollars each. She said she had a portfolio of thousands of images online at a micro stock agency and that she submitted a few hundred images per month.

This was a while back so I don't know about now. Also, I talked to a guy that was shooting for Getty but he didn't make it sound like he was making much for shooting the concerts. I was shocked.. he made it seem like he was getting around $400 for shooting the concert.

Julio