How to Sell Photos on the Web
Selling photographs on the Internet expands the photographer's sales arena to reach customers around the globe. In the Sept. 2, 2008, issue of "Forbes," Taylor Buley states that selling photographs online "is an increasingly lush business." Various types of photo marketplaces are available online. The top three ways to sell photos on the Web are: specific artist sites that offer space for a percentage of the sale price, stock photo agencies (each with different requirements) that pay royalties to photographers for usage, and photographer's websites where the photographer sells directly to the client.
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Instructions
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Create a sample portfolio for the Internet. Stock agencies require samples of photography in various categories. They want to see a cross-section of the photographer's work, skill and style. Art gallery sites will not ask for a review of work, but the photographer will need the samples to put on the site under their logo. The same goes for the photographer selling photos on their own website.
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Size the images to the specifications required by the stock agency or image marketplace.
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Organize image files into categories. Once the photographer is selling his work on the Internet, images will be found through keyword searches. It pays to give some thought to framing categories. Once they are set up, they are hard to change. This is the framework for an image database. Having an organized image database will help the photographer track images and usage.
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Apply for an Employee Identification Number (EIN). This step is for United States residents. The photographer will need either an EIN number or a social security number for tax-reporting purposes.
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Set up an account to receive payment and royalties for the photos. Paypal is widely accepted and easy to set up. Other electronic payment services are available, including services for international payments. Generally, stock sites prefer to pay photographers electronically. Most will offer the option of payment by check, but payments are slower and the minimum the photographer has to make in royalties is usually higher before the site will make a payout.
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Fill out the registration information for the image-resell site. Make sure to specify payment preferences and tax ID information.
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Upload the required number of sample images (choose images from your sample portfolio) for review. The average time period for review is seven to ten days. Once the photographer is approved by the stock agency, images can be uploaded at any time. For image marketplaces that do not require reviews of work, images can be uploaded immediately.
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