Which agencies do I currently submit to?
It’s no secret that I’m now a very keen user of Stock Submitter to upload and submit my images and videos to the various stock agencies. But which sites do I currently support via that program?
I thought a brief post on that might be useful! My referral links (if available) are in the links provided – hope you don’t mind using them!
All images:
Shutterstock
Adobe Stock/Fotolia
Dreamstime
123RF
BigstockPhoto
DepositPhotos
CanStockPhoto
Pond5
ColourBox
iStock
Alamy
StoryBlocks
CreativeMarket
Zoonar
Canva
iClipart
Editorial:
Shutterstock
Dreamstime
123RF
BigstockPhoto
DepositPhotos
Pond5
ColourBox
iStock
Alamy
StoryBlocks
Video:
Shutterstock
Adobe Stock/Fotolia
Pond5
StoryBlocks
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Hi Steve.
If you do travel photography – what is the list of agencies that provide the best return?
There is no easy answer to that. It is hard to make a lot just doing travel photography and so I do a mix of that and studio type work. I publish my earnings per agency and so you can get a good idea of which ones provide most income, although I have no way to split it out between different types of image to be honest.
Thanks, this is mostly a side income for me, I just like travelling and not sure I can dedicate time to studio work.
Probably Shutterstock, istock, Adobe and Alamy for just travel stuff I think.
Thanks, that’s what I do. I thought there is a hidden jewel or diamond in the waste somewhere that I’m not aware of.
Thanks, Steve.
Hi Steve,
Just wondering if you have a specific reason for not contributing video to iStock & 123rf? Is it just for convenience?
Hi Kaleb – good point. I think I chose the sites I did because those tended to be the ones with more video sales although I was dubious about the low sale values on iStock that others had reported. But I know you also get those tiny sales in images as well and I’m “happy” with that. Funnily enough I decided that I wasn’t being very logical in ignoring iStock and so I uploaded some videos that I have just made to them yesterday to see what happens. Why not 123RF? Videos are enormous files (500MB or more) and take a long time to upload, with a bit of an impact on my other internet stuff while the upload is going on. So I don’t want to tie up my internet connection to sites that are rarely going to generate money. Not a great bit of logic I agree, but that is where I have ended up!
Sorry for another question Steve. Do you ever actually sell photos on Pond5? I know they accept them but I’ve heard nobody actually buys from there. Would like some first hand experience before I spend a long period of time uploading images.
It varies a lot – in December it was 9 images, in November 3. I’m not very consistent on my pricing for all sorts of historic reasons, but I generally get between $5 and $10 net for each image. It comes back to my approach – if a site is easy to upload to (and it is with StockSubmitter) then I might as well upload there.
Hi Steve :
How did you apply to CreativeMarket, some special photos? , was the first or you had to try several times, I see that you have good sales in that agency, I wanted to enter but they just rejected me in the same way I will form a new portfolio next week and I will postulate there again.
This was back in 2016. I put together a special portfolio on my own stock site (about the only thing it has been useful for!) as I think I first got rejected by simply pointing them at my Shutterstock portfolio. This is the one I used
Good luck!
Great teacher, I’ll keep it in mind for the next time I apply, Thanks for so much
– Steve, do you use RM license on Zoonar (which is a default) or did you switch to Royalty Free.
– Any insights on pros and cons of going with one or another with Zoonar?
Thank you.
I always use the RF license now on Zoonar and have stopped it sending images to Alamy, which I once did. As a result, I only upload commercial images there. It doesn’t sell very much, and most of the sales are either older Alamy images or Getty partner ones. If you want to use it as a way to get to some of the smaller German agencies, it is OK for that, but in order to also sell your images on the main micro sites, you must choose RF. I also choose the “standard” price. Always have done and so I continue. No idea what it means really!
Thank, I gave up on Alamy as well. Here is my port on SS (https://www.shutterstock.com/g/elijah%20lovkoff) is sells ok, but on 4 months no sales at all on Alamy with the same images.
Did you drop any other agencies from this list?
https://i0.wp.com/www.backyardsilver.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/EarningsJan2018.png?ssl=1
No, I don’t think I have dropped any since I published that list. You have some nice images there. Colorful and dramatic in most cases. At first glance, the keywords look OK as well. Alamy can be very difficult to be honest. Some months not much, other months it improves. As it is easy to upload to via StockSubmitter, I just add everything there and see what happens. It might be worth you doing some “studio” shots of things to round out your portfolio a bit for when travel shots aren’t selling. I usually have a mix of sales each month – some travel, some just “things” I have photographed.
Thanks, Steve, I’m just an amateur who like to travel – not sure I’m good for studio shots. Have no idea how to use light setups and so on.
It would be nice to gain some knowledge in this department, but most of my time is taken by my own company (I create websites), so I’m not sure I will have time to look into it.
On the other hand, maybe it is not as scary as it seems and won’t take a lot of time to get acquainted with…
It isn’t too difficult – the same skills are used, but of course you do need to think about what to take. That is often the hardest task! Nice website for your company by the way!
As to the StoryBlocks https://contribute.storyblocks.com – looks liek you stopped submitting with them?
It looks like it is no longer in the list here: https://contribute.storyblocks.com
No – I probably still call it videoblocks in my spreadsheet. I ought to change that. I still submit stills and video to them and get a few sales. Last month was good for videos, for instance.
Hi Steve, another question – you say you submit to ColourBox.
Can you share the reasons for submitting there?
It is just easy to submit to via StockSubmitter. No effort at all and so I do. Low earnings, so it is a site that is only worth supporting if the effort approaches zero!
Hi Steve, quick questions.
Do you know if Creative Market accepts editorial images?
They seem to have only standard and extended licenses but I couldn’t find any information about editorial images.
Thank you.
No, I don’t believe they do. I certainly don’t upload them.
Thank you.
Hi Steve, how do you find storyblocks since they changed to subscription?
I think they removed my content? I’m not sure now what happened but I don’t think I have any content in their subscription area?