10 Popular Microstock Photography Sites To Sell Stock Photos With (in a roughly preferential order with no.1 being my most favored and so on).

“What is stock photography? Stock photography is a set of ready-to-use images for subscribers who have purchased the rights to use them. With digital stock photography, you get to see the final image even before you are granted the rights to use them and these images can be licensed immediately. The cost for stock photography, especially royalty-free images, are much lower compared to assignment photography.”

1. Crestock – Free to join, and they strive to make uploading your images SIMPLE, with the “stock industry’s best and fastest upload system… (includes bulk uploads).” Soon as you sign up you can submit your images… when you hit 100 sales you earn a hefty 30% commission…

Check our the Crestock blog for photo tips, digital stock photography tutorials and a superb photo blog layout. Notice the use of small thumbnails images next to each post…

2. iStockPhoto – iStockPhoto is one of the bigger names out there today. They accept high quality jpg photos, Flash, vector illustrations, and video with a royalty structure of 20%. If you’re eligible for exclusivity, you can make up to 40%.

To apply to become a photographer on iStockphoto, you’ll need to read through their online training manual and then upload a piece of government issued identification in the form of a JPEG. (I scanned in my passport for them). Then you’ll be asked to submit 3 sample images which will be reviewed by our inspection team.

Popular site and sure to be worthwhile being a photographer with them. Yes you have to step through hoops to get ‘inside’ but the long term value could be priceless.

3. Fotolia – Nice community of creative people who enjoy sharing and learning. Solid forums for any questions you might have. You’ll receive commission from each photo sold and revenue from advertising on the free section. The commission amount depends on the exclusivity given to Fotolia for selling the image and it depends on your ranking. This commission is between 33% and 80% of the sell price.

Photographers define the price of their images within their rank and exclusivity to Fotolia. If you choose to sell your images only on Fotolia, you can increase your price faster and your commissions will be higher (from 50% to 80% of the sell price).

By the way, the more you sell images on Fotolia, the more you will increase your ranking, and the more you will have the ability to increase your prices. Fotolia challenges the traditional closed agency model by offering to everyone hobbyist or professional the opportunity to monetize their talents, whatever their fame, status, or size of portfolio. High cool factor…

4. Shutterstock – Great, simple, easy to navigate microstock site and possibly the largest subscription-based stock photo agency in the world. Shutterstock will pay you 25 cents every time one of your images is downloaded. Once you reach $500 in earnings, your commission goes up to 30 cents per download. The subscription model encourages buyers to download a greater volume of images than they would at most other agencies.

Their current payout is $0.25 (US) per download. (That means that at just 2000 downloads/month, you can earn $500 (US) per month!) NB: Photo buyers subscribe on a monthly basis and can download up to 750 images over the course of 30 days. Which seems to be a nice idea for contributing photographers… you might find more of your images getting downloaded (and make more $).

5. Bigstockphoto – Clever, well detailed stock photo site with among the highest paying commissions out there (33%-50%). Photographer get from 50 cents to $3.00 per image download. Special licensing deals can increase your payout.

Also unique in that photo buyers can use images from BigStockPhoto for web site templates, and also re-sell that web site template design. This encourages web template designers to use images from BigStockPhoto… which is good news for contributing photographers!

In summary (they say): The more photos you upload the higher chance of making more money with BigStockPhoto. The subject matter and quality of the photos also plays a key role. We have a list of “Photos We Need” here and supplying photos from this list may increase your likelihood of making $$ as well.

Lastly, the creativity and judgement used in your photographs will be a big factor in how often your photos are downloaded – the more creative and attractive and striking your work is the more downloaded it will probably be.

6. Dreamstime – Beautifully simple laid out stock photo site community. Sell your stock images and get 50-80% from each sale you make (depending on size and licensing factors).

For each transaction, the photographer receives a 50 percent fee. Exclusive images receive a 60 percent fee, while exclusive photographers enjoy an additional bonus of $0.20 for each approved submission. Considering all bonuses that are awarded to the buyer, the actual royalties can reach up to 80% or more. According to a recent study of PDN Magazine, Dreamstime awards the highest royalties in the industry.

7. 123rf.com – Nice funky, colorful microstock site with 24 hour support and a wealth of information to absorb. Your photos are submitted on a royalty-free basis (not exclusive) and you may submit and continue to sell your photos to other websites and stock photo agencies too.To apply you need to upload your ID and then a minimum of 10 photos of your work for initial review.

123rf pays by check, PayPal and Moneybookers. Here’s an idea of how much you’d receive if a photo buyer downloads an ultra high resolution version ($3) of your photo. You’d pocket = $3 × 50% = $1.50 from that sale. They will also (if you enable it) email you if your images have been approved or rejected.

8. Stockxpert – Stockxpert is a popular royalty free stock photography community with the goal to provide customers with affordable stock imagery while offering a powerful tool to photographers and digital artists who would like to sell their work.

As a contributing photographer you’ll receive 50% from each download you generate. Also, you can view your earnings in real time at your account and manage your images with a powerful, easy to use interface! Uploading your images is an easy process. They also have a community forum which includes categories such as picture critiques and newbie corner. Nice little stock photo site.

9. CanStockPhoto – Simple and popular microstock site which has been around since 2004). What they say: “Although you do not have to be a professional photographer, you should have professional quality images. This does not necessarily mean that you must have National Geographic quality images, but it does mean that your images should be up the current commercial standards. This includes composition, content, and image quality.”

CanStockPhoto also have a good discussion forum too, so that’s helpful if you’re just starting out. Payments for contributing photographers are 50% commission for guest & member purchases, and a flat $0.25 for subscription sales. Photographers are free to submit as many photos as they like, and will never be charged a cent.

You always retain ownership of your images, and are free to edit and remove them whenever you want. Once you earn $50, you can request a PayPal cash-out, or $100 for a mailed check.

They say: “Submitting your images to CanStock is a breeze! We are proud to have one of the fastest submission systems available anywhere. By using our dynamic uploader, you can drag files from your desktop right to our servers. We also increase your productivity by saving model releases for future submissions…”

10. Photostockplus – Not a microstock site as such in comparison to the others listed here. Rather Photostockplus offer you an e-commerce enabled website type setup that allows you to upload and sell your photos online, and set your own prices.

They say: “Using our site is an easy and reliable way to showcase and sell your work while we handle all of the shipping and backend hassles, giving you more time to do what you do best – take pictures! We actively promote the stock database and our photographers to a wide variety of buyers guaranteeing you worldwide exposure. We provide you with the tools and client base to be successful; you keep 85% of the profits…

Images are sold on a royalty free basis; this means there is a one time purchase fee for the unlimited use of an image per buyer. You are free to sell your images over and over again and raise or lower prices as you see fit. You maintain all rights to the photos.

As a pro member, we provide you with your very own e-commerce enabled website modeled after your username (www.username.photostockplus.com) where in minutes, you can put together online showcases for your events with the help of our site templates. Customize your site with your own logo and contact details, and have clients email you directly through an online form and more…”