11 Best Apps for Selling Photos Android To Make Money

By | September 20, 2021

How To Make Money By Selling Photos On An App

Cell phone camera technology has gotten so good that many people don’t need another camera.

If you have a gallery full of thousands of photos, sell them at a photo market instead of leaving them to take up space on your phone.

Below I describe the best practices for selling photos, as well as how to sell photos online for beginners.

Best Apps for Selling Photos

1. 500 px

The 500px app offers both a free and a paid subscription. You can use this stock photo marketing app for free with more than 13 million members.

The downside of the free subscription is that you can only upload 7 images per week. It has three membership levels, each of which allows for unlimited uploads and much more customization.

This would be a good platform if you plan to test and don’t want to upload too many photos at once.

2. Now Images

One of the best features of the Agora Images app is that you keep all of your earnings. There are also no membership or commission fees.

There are different commission levels depending on how high your rank is. Levels are Junior, Advanced, Pro and Master.

At Agora Images, you do not sell all the rights to the photo once. You can continue to sell the same photo to other businesses.

The better you get at taking pictures, the more you sell, thus getting a higher rank that raises you in the rankings. A higher rank equals a higher payout.

You can also participate in the app’s photo contests to earn money and even win trips. Contests are called “requests” and are run by businesses, brands, and bloggers.

They will give specific image requirements for the request and the best photo wins.

3. Bylined

Bylined is an application that connects photographers and brands who want to create interactive photos on demand.

Basically, brands contact Bylined to create a photography contest. The contest is sent to people who use the app. You create a photo and get paid from your favorite brands.

4. Dreamstime

Dreamstime application allows you to keep the copyright of the photos. Photographers earn 25-50% of the revenue share.

There are several options that can increase your payment for selling your photos. Selling exclusivity rights gains 10% bonus for this image. These rights can be 1-3 years. You can also choose to sell all rights.

If you sign up as a private contributor and don’t sell your photos on another platform, you will earn 60% revenue share.

5. EyeEm

EyeEm is a network of over 25 million photographers worldwide. Similar to other apps, you earn money by selling your photos in the marketplace and also by brands posts.

In the EyeEm marketplace, you retain the copyright and receive 50% of the commission each time the photo is sold. The lowest license they sell is $20 per photo, so you get $10 every time.

This is a non-exclusive marketplace so you can put the same photos on multiple sites.

EyeEm’s goal is to build a creative global community to offer free tutorials and tips to help you improve your photography skills.

6. Foap

Foap is one of the best known photo apps and can be a profitable selling platform as some big brands buy photos from there. The commission rate is 50%.

One unique aspect is that for every photo you upload, you have to rate 5 photos from other people. These ratings are used to help rank you and your photos.

Foap is more than just a marketplace where people upload photos. Brands and companies send a request to Foap for the photos they’re looking for. They give information about style and type.

Foap then organizes competitions or Challenges where photographers submit their best photos or videos. If your work is chosen, you can easily earn a few hundred dollars.

Remember, your photos must have a minimum resolution of 1280 x 960 pixels, but you can still sell the same photo over and over.

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7. Scoopshot

Scoopshot is one of the best apps to sell photos if you want to set your own prices. This has the potential to earn more if your photos are top notch.

Other ways to win are daily quests and competitions. Tasks are requests for specific photos from brands. These missions are sent directly to your smartphone from Scoopshot based on your location.

Daily contests are photo contests created by Scoopshot that anyone can contribute to.

Submitted photos are available for sale in the Scoopshot store. You will receive notifications in your app every time a photo of you is purchased.

The interesting thing is that any photos you upload are available for free to publishers when an ad is placed on the photo by display networks.

If your photo is used by online publishers, you will receive a share of the advertising revenue. Every view of your photo earns you money.

8. Shutterstock

Shutterstock has been around for over 15 years and has millions of photos. They paid out over $1 billion in total to the contributing audience.

You must be a Shutterstock contributor to sell photos on their platform. A participant can earn between 20-30% of the price depending on the subscription type the customer uses on the site.

Being such a large and well-known company can make it difficult for newbie photographers to get in. You don’t have to sell exclusively on the Shutterstock marketplace, so this might be a good second app choice.

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9. Snapwire

Snapwire has close to 800,000 content contributors. You can also protect the copyright of your image.

You can earn using Snapwire in two ways: through your portfolio and market, and through demands and challenges.

Marketplace sales take a 50% commission, but requests and challenges take a 100% commission.

Their apps were created specifically with creators in mind, so they’re easy and intuitive to use.

10. Stockimo

Stockimo is an application created by Alamy, one of the largest stock photography agencies.

This is great for you, because Alamy knows how to sell stock photos, so your chances of success are higher. Stocksimo sells the license to use your photos to protect your copyrights.

Stocksimo is only for photos taken from your mobile phone. If you have photos taken with the camera, upload them to Alamy.

You will receive 20% of every sale. One plus is that, depending on the license, the sale can be hundreds of dollars. The Stocksimo app states that the average selling price is $90.

The downside is that it’s only an iPhone app so far.

11. Twenty20

The Twenty20 app allows every photographer to create a gallery. You get your own personalized link where you can promote and sell your photos.

You can also add your best photos to showcase and get more views. Each photo sold earns a percentage of the subscriber’s share.

For example, if a subscriber downloaded 20 photos per month and 6 of them are yours, you will earn 30% of that subscriber’s contribution.

If you participate in challenges, you can earn more. If a brand works with you directly through the Twenty20 platform, you will receive 100% of the commission.

This platform is not exclusive, so you can use other photo apps as well.

How to Sell Your Photos Online: Where to Start?

There are only a few steps you need to complete to start selling your photos.

1. Choose Your Stock Photography App or Site

I hope the above list of apps has helped you to sell photos.

I recommend starting with a photo app so you don’t get overwhelmed with so many apps.

Whichever app you choose, it doesn’t matter as much which catches your attention. Remember, just starting to use an app doesn’t mean you can’t use another app.

If you later decide to change the app where you want to sell your photos, it’s no big deal. Migrating to a new photo selling platform is usually straightforward.

2. Create an Account

After choosing a photo selling app from the list above, creating an account is standard process.

Fill in all the information for your profile in the text boxes. Make sure your information is correct.

Some account profiles are used as an app to join the stock photo network.

3. Start Taking Pictures

If the app you decide to join has a review system, it may take up to a week to hear from them for approval.

This is the perfect time to start reviewing all the photos you already have or to start taking new photos to sell them in the photography market.

4. Upload and Share Your Work

Once you’ve been approved for an app or stock photo network, you can start uploading your photos to the photo store.

Some apps have a social sharing feature to help you promote your photos easily.

Not all photos are easily sold. Some will do a better job than others. Take a look at popular photography trends to get more of your photos to sell.

Blogs and other businesses schedule their content for 3-5 months. They may be looking for Christmas photos in the middle of summer.

Keeping up to date with the best-selling photos on your app platform allows you to determine which of your photos are likely to sell well. It will also give you ideas for your next photo shoot.

Selling Photos Online for Beginners: How to Succeed?

When you commit to selling your photos online using one of the apps above, you may be wondering how you will get people to find and buy your photos.

Your success will depend on a few things:

  • Paying attention to trends.
  • Build an audience.
  • If you know what people want to buy, focus on that and be successful at it.

Which Photos Sell Best?

A large consumer of stock photos are bloggers and small to medium businesses. Take a look at a few popular websites and pay attention to what kind of photos they have.

Also, consider what the business is trying to convey with the photo. It can help you take photos that people will want to buy.

Some of the most purchased photos include:

  • Food – Delicious food with a nice presentation, as well as plates that are eaten and unwashed.
  • Working People – Very popular with businesses. Writing on a notebook or pen and paper are easy photos to stage with a friend.
  • People – People only in generally intimate settings. Parents having fun in a group with their kids or friends.
  • Cities – cityscapes, buildings, people commuting. The hustle and bustle of city life.
  • Travel – Travel shots from different parts of the world. Think Instagram style but unfiltered.
  • Tools – Construction site, hammers, screwdrivers, auto parts.
  • Nature – Almost everyone loves photos of animals or landscapes. Not going on safari soon? Take photos in the backyard or park.

Conclusion

Selling your photos online is a great way to make some extra money, but it can be confusing for beginners to know how to do it.