5 Highest Paying Photography Websites To Sell Photos Online

Photography in general is a saturated profession. Photographers packed to the brim with the latest gears as well as years of experience really puts you at a disadvantage when you are starting a business. 

And starting can be a daunting task. An uphill battle that seems to give less as much as it is hard.

So how does a struggling photographer support his business? Well, you can try to sell photos online.

Selling photos online can be the lifeblood of photographers who are just starting out. It can provide you with decent pay which can help you push through the challenges that haunt aspiring photographers and give you a chance to show what you are capable of. With that in mind, we have searched the internet for the best places to sell your photos online.

Shutterstock

Let’s start off with the most popular site where you can sell your photos online. Shutter stock is home to a large customer base. The interface is well thought off and images would take as much as 2 days to be accepted in.

There are a lot of pros and cons to Shutterstock. Of course a high customer base means there are a lot of photographers aside from you who are constantly submitting their images. But you should not be intimidated at all by these. 

Photos, in general, are unique, your photo will definitely be different from other photographers. With that into account, it is a fair, even battleground for you.

With Shutterstock, you can earn as much as $120 per image download! Join here.

iStock Photo

Another massive platform for photographers to showcase their talent is iStock. It has been around for as long as 2001. What makes it great is that you can sell the same photos in other sites which means more dollars.

When you’re accepted in iStock, you can receive a minimum of 15% of any sales. But if you decide to go through with the exclusivity option, you’ll have a chance to earn even more. Your earnings can increase up to 45%. Join here

Getty Images

Getty images is without a doubt the top-dog of stock photography. What sets this site aside from the rest is its ability to provide high-quality images. Here, you can find the photographers with serious hundred thousand dollar cameras. Why? Because Getty images is home to serious customers, customers that pay top dollar for high-quality images.

When your submission gets approved, you could earn as much as 20% to 30% royalty per photo!

Getty Images also is more lenient with accepting photos so you have that going for you which is nice. The only thing you should consider is that Getty images is an exclusive site. This means that the photos you upload shouldn’t be uploaded anywhere else. Join here

Pond5

As early as 2018, Pond5 is reported to have the largest collection of stock footage hosting in the world. That’s over 10.5 million photos!

By signing up, you’ll be given 50% off the sale of your photo which is higher than most photography sites. To earn more in Pond5, be sure to focus more on producing professional royalty-free photos. Join here

500px Prime

According to 500px Prime, over 5 million photographers around the world list their stock images with them. And it’s no surprise why. 500px Prime offers as much as 70% net for every license sold. Standard licenses are at around $250.

And the best part? You might get the chance to have your photo featured in big-name ad campaigns if you submit your photos to commercial licensing.

To join, you can sign up with a free account and choose to select a non-exclusive or exclusive license for your images. Of course, exclusive license earns more! But this also means that you can’t sell your photos to other sites. Join here


There you have it, a list of high paying sites where you can sell your images online. They might come off as intimidating browsing through images submitted by other photographers. But, there are no hard consequences for trying. Who knows, maybe you’ll find love in doing it and find yourself becoming a stock photographer.

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