Tuesday, November 21. 2006
Microstock - great opportunity or just for fun
Introduction
As you might have noticed there is new Category on the site: Stock.
This is first article in the series about micro stock sites. I have decided to start selling photographs on them, so I will also post some interesting statistics about my success (or failure) in this category.
Since this is the first article, I will introduce to you the idea and perspective of this business.
History and reasons
Photo macro stock sites are sites which usually sell fine art and photographs with business concepts. They have been around for some time. Photographs upload photos, buyer chooses which ones he wants (and for what period), pays for them, and the photos are removed from the site. The buyer gets exclusive rights, and the photographer gets good payments (few hundreds of dollars).
This is the concept that worked well and is still working quite good. However, there are few things that are problems for this realization. Sometimes the buyer wants an professional looking image which he will use on a non-commercial site, and paying 500$ for such photo is not an option. Actually, there is a big demand for good photos from web designers. One site usually has more than 5 images in its design, so they needed other solution. Other times, the photographer might conclude that he could earn more money by selling the file for less money, but to more buyers. Also, the technical progress and lower and lower prices of photography equipment mean that there are more and more amateur photographers with creative ideas and technically perfect photos.
This all resulted in opening of so-called microstock sites. They are pretty much similar to their older brothers. Files that are for sale are usually photographs, illustrations (vectors), 3D, flash files. Contributors upload them. The buyer chooses file that he likes and he pays and downloads it. The license is usually Royalty Free, with some limitations (number of copies) or even without them. But, the same file is kept on the site and can be bought by someone else (no exclusivity, unless otherwise noted). If the photographer has not signed exclusivity agreement (and it is usually that way), he can sell the same file on other microstock sites. Also, the price here is much lower. Much lower prices - starting from 1$ per download for the buyer.
You might ask yourself - who wants to sell their images for 1$? Well, they are actually selling it even lower, since the part going to the photographer can be as low as 0.20$. And still, the number of contributing photographers is constantly growing. Sites are becoming more and more restrictive regarding technical details of the photos and also in terms of composition, creativity and so forth. Some of the biggest photographers from macro stock agencies have terminated their agreements with them, and started to sell on microstock. Macro stock agencies are changing in order to keep part of the pie - they change their prices, agreements, rights and even buy some of the new sites.
If few years ago someone could say that the highest quality photos can be found only on macro stock sites - this is not the fact today.
Financial side - selling photographs online
If you want to sell photographs on microstock sites - you might and you might not succeed.
If you just want to try it out, upload your old photos and see which ones will make you rich - most probably you will be disappointed.
Selling on stock demands determination in order to earn amount which will not be just a pocket money. Don't get me wrong - with lots of files - you can always earn enough to pay a few dinners for two in a month. But, lets think about what would you need to get higher than that.
First of all, photographs that are not technically perfect will not be accepted. If you have noise, artifacts, purple fridging, softness due to camera shake, wrong WB ... (you name it) ... - the photo will be rejected. If it contains copyrighted material, like logo on your snickers, name of your favorite soda drink, or someone other's artwork - it will be rejected. In case you have recognizable persons on the photo - you must have signed Model Release. If the photo has been made on private property - you must have Property Release. There are also requirements for file size. This is not the whole list of requirements, but it will give you a feel about technical stuff.
To make things even worse: there are subjects that are too exploited. For example, most sites won't take photos of flowers, pets, sunsets... If the photo is unique and perfect - give it a try. Otherwise, don't bother. Also, note that composition is important, bad composition or too much empty space around the main subject, can also be reasons for rejection.
And, once you have managed to send file which is approved, you might see that it has been viewed, but not downloaded. First, note that sometimes buyers will just open images and browse them. Other times, they will choose one from 100 similar. It takes time to sell even the good photographs. But, with some time - they will start to sell and earn you money. However, some images will sell better and others, even if they are your favorite, and all photographs told you that it is the best photo you made - will make no sale. You should know that stock photography is very different from art photography. They do not expel each other, but sometimes you will see rejected files because of not being stock-enough.
Buyers usually look for photos of people in various situations. Business, industry photos will sell better than landscape. Once you understand what is selling better than others, you can start making more such photographs. Don't think that creativity is not important. Actually, if you have unique concept - most probably it will sell much better than 'regular' photo on same subject.
Conclusion
Personally, I had some doubts about selling photos on micro stock sites. Some of my friends did not. Now, some of them are earning few hundreds of dollars each month with their photos, while I am just starting to upload my first photos.
In order to convince greater number of you to try this - I will periodically write about my experience and statistics.
Here are the most popular stock sites, register and start earning:
Buy & sell photos at Fotolia
Buy & sell photos at 123rf
Sell photos at ShutterStock
Buy photos at ShutterStock
Buy photos at IstockPhoto
Buy & sell photos at DreamsTime
Buy & sell photos at FeaturePics
Buy & sell photos at StockXpert
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