best place to sell images online????

[michael.488]

now i know im a crap tog but every now and then i do get images that look good and i am wondering where is the best online place to sell them if i get any worthy of selling

[simonpaul64]

now i know im a crap tog but every now and then i do get images that look good and i am wondering where is the best online place to sell them if i get any worthy of selling

You can sell through various places, although the quality has to be extremely high I would say. Check out alamy for instance. Not many crap togs on there though, so I hope you are joking about that though....

[Weathergirl]

Have you thought about setting up your own website where people can buy them? Worth a thought at least, or maybe not?

[SeanNeedham]

Both simonpaul64 and weathergirl have a good idea on this, and both are very workable...

However, here is my take on it, just to blur the edges up a little.

From the selling aspect, I would go for a site like Alamy, it saves on messing around from your side with the shipping and the billing for the images, though they do take a cut out of the charge.

As for the point of a website, it would be wise to set up one that will get you some better coverage out on the internet, with your own domain on there, and get it set right for getting some good search traffic in from the search engines; then directing the potential client to where they can purchase your images.
A web store on something like Alamy is ok, but you consider how many other photographers are out there trying to get some of the client cash. If you put in the method so they could find (as a search term) "pink spotted horse", for example, and the first images that come out of Google are your site, then they come to your site, and then click "buy this image", off they go to the store and you are in a higher position to get that sale.

If you look at it from a 'real world' perspective, Alamy is like a clothes shop, with racks and racks of clothes. People walk in through the doors, and browse, and maybe find something they like.
If you have your own site, that is like having a placard on the street corner saying "buy your woolly jumper here" and Joe Client walking past thinks 'Hey, I need a woolly jumper', the odds have significantly increased of them walking in to the clothes store and buying that woolly jumper.

Sorry for the crap clothes shop advertising analogy, but it is the easiest method to describe active web product advertising (own site) as opposed to passive (just pages of thumbs from a stock library).

[simonpaul64]

Both simonpaul64 and weathergirl have a good idea on this, and both are very workable...

However, here is my take on it, just to blur the edges up a little.

From the selling aspect, I would go for a site like Alamy, it saves on messing around from your side with the shipping and the billing for the images, though they do take a cut out of the charge.

As for the point of a website, it would be wise to set up one that will get you some better coverage out on the internet, with your own domain on there, and get it set right for getting some good search traffic in from the search engines; then directing the potential client to where they can purchase your images.
A web store on something like Alamy is ok, but you consider how many other photographers are out there trying to get some of the client cash. If you put in the method so they could find (as a search term) "pink spotted horse", for example, and the first images that come out of Google are your site, then they come to your site, and then click "buy this image", off they go to the store and you are in a higher position to get that sale.

If you look at it from a 'real world' perspective, Alamy is like a clothes shop, with racks and racks of clothes. People walk in through the doors, and browse, and maybe find something they like.
If you have your own site, that is like having a placard on the street corner saying "buy your woolly jumper here" and Joe Client walking past thinks 'Hey, I need a woolly jumper', the odds have significantly increased of them walking in to the clothes store and buying that woolly jumper.

Sorry for the crap clothes shop advertising analogy, but it is the easiest method to describe active web product advertising (own site) as opposed to passive (just pages of thumbs from a stock library).

Hmmm... just to make sure I understand your analogy...

You seem to be saying that if you have a niche market (woolly jumpers) then your own store is the best way forward. That right?

[SeanNeedham]

Hmmm... just to make sure I understand your analogy...

You seem to be saying that if you have a niche market (woolly jumpers) then your own store is the best way forward. That right?

Basically yes and no!

The yes, is each photographer is their own niche, and to get the right eyeballs over the product (photos) then a bit of proactive advertising doesn't do any harm.

The no part, is to sell your images through a library system, as unless you are shifting a large amount of stock, then the pricing of online storage, the content management system, and the billing solution is too prohibitive to make it work for yourself.

[simonpaul64]

Basically yes and no!

The yes, is each photographer is their own niche, and to get the right eyeballs over the product (photos) then a bit of proactive advertising doesn't do any harm.

The no part, is to sell your images through a library system, as unless you are shifting a large amount of stock, then the pricing of online storage, the content management system, and the billing solution is too prohibitive to make it work for yourself.

Ah yes - I see what you mean. I have heard that you need many thousand of stock images to make it worthwhile...