Organize your photos and sell them to commercial stock photo agencies to earn money! Microstock agencies are your best choice.
For those who enjoy taking photos or are just starting out, turn on your computer and phone, organize your photos, and upload them to Microstock（Adobe Stock、Shutterstock、Getty Image, etc） to generate passive income.
What is Microstock
Microstock photography, also known as micropayment photography. As the name suggests, it is a type of “microprofit image” stock in the stock industry, belonging to a business model of low-profit and high-volume sales.
Simply put, it is the buying and selling of affordable and inexpensive stock image materials online. The most common ones are photos used by major media outlets, blog illustrations (such as the built-in gallery on Medium), or stock material libraries commonly used by graphic designers.
Top 10 Microstock Sites
- iStock Photo — Best for Contributors and Buyers
- Shutterstock — Easy to Use Interface
- Adobe Stock — Excellent Content Searchability
- Pond5 — Great Pricing Options
- Dreamstime — Comprehensive Collection of Images
- Depositphotos — Simple Registration Process
- 123RF — Extensive Selection of Royalty-Free Photos and Graphics
- Getty Images — Worldwide Coverage and Recognition
- Alamy — Professional Quality Content
- Creative Market — Creative Resources For Creative Professionals
To become a microstock contributor, you need
a lot of photos and should not expect to make a lot of money.
The more photos you upload to the microstock, the greater the chance of being downloaded, and the more potential earnings you can make.
According to a survey of netizens, on average, contributors can expect about 20% of their uploaded images to be purchased in the stock photo market. This means that out of 1000 photos uploaded, only about 200 of them are expected to be purchased.
Therefore, provided that you offer photos of a standard quality, the more photos you have, the greater the chance that your photos will be downloaded.
In the past two years, due to various factors, microstock contributors have experienced a significant decrease in income. If you are a beginner or new to photography, don’t expect to make a lot of money because the entire photography market is nearing saturation.
Keep a level head, aim to earn a few free cups of coffee each month, and you will be able to enjoy photography more.
If you’re ready, then welcome to join us as a contributor, let’s enjoy photography and earn a few cups of coffee together.
The next article will introduce how to apply for an account. If you want to learn in advance, you can refer to my Chinese article: “Shutterstock Application Tutorial”.
If you are interested in managing a microstock agency, you can also join through my “Shutterstock referral link”! During the first two years, every time your image is downloaded, I will receive an extra $0.04 per image as commission. This will not affect your earnings in any way!
If you are a designer who wants to buy photo materials from the image bank, you are also welcome to register as a buyer through my “Shutterstock referral link”, and I can also receive a small referral bonus.
Now, get your photos ready and you can start applying for a microstock account.
The article was also published in Gina’s Slashie Life 〈MAKING MONEY WITH STOCK PHOTOGRAPHY: INCREASE YOUR PASSIVE INCOME〉
