How To Sell Photos Online: 15 Best Resources and Marketplaces
Photographers have a growing number of options when it comes to selling photos but it can still be difficult to understanding how to sell photos online. Stock photography sites aren’t the only options. Different companies have developed ways to help photographers sell their work online through their own website, and many of these options allow for the sale of both digital (downloadable) files as well as prints. Some of them even handle the printing and fulfillment for you.
In this post we’ll look at 15 options to help photographers with selling their work. Some of these options will provide the photographer with a website to display and sell the products, others can integrate with existing portfolio sites.
Some of these options allow designers to create customized sites for their clients, so if you work with a lot of photographers these options can be worth exploring. If you’re looking for some stunning pictures, check out our post on action photography.
Photocrati
WordPress is an extremely popular content management system, and it is ideal for photographers. While WordPress itself does not include e-commerce functionality the Photocrati theme does allow you to sell your photos. Photocrati allows you to set up your site on WordPress and you have almost complete control to customize the look and feel of the site without the need to touch any code, and you can also sell your photos with several customizable options. One of the great things about this option is that it only requires a one-time fee to purchase Photocrati, and no monthly fees like most of the other options listed here. You would still need a hosting account, but you can get inexpensive hosting from a host like Bluehost for less than $5 per month.
SmugMug
SmugMug gives you a customizable website to host your photos. You can choose from their selection of templates, customize it without any coding, or make changes to the CSS to fully customize the look of your site. SmugMug sites are response, so they’ll look good on mobile phones and tablets in addition to desktops. You can sell your photos as prints or as digital downloads. The prints can be fulfilled and shipped directly to your customers. You can upload photos to SmugMug directly from Lightroom, Aperture, iPhoto, and others. Prices range from $5 per month to $35 per month (or $40 per year to $300 per year).
PhotoShelter
With PhotoShelter you get to choose from one of their customizable templates. You will upload your photos to the site and visitors will be able to buy digital photos or prints. You can choose to have orders fulfilled by their lab, or you can fulfill orders yourself. Plans range from $9.99 per month to $49.99 per month.
Zenfolio
Zenfolio allows you to create a portfolio site of your work. You can upload photos, create galleries, password protect galleries, and make your photos available for purchase. For e-commerce, you can choose from different labs to fulfill your orders, or you can fulfill them yourself. Prices range from $25 per year to $250 per year, with a 14-day free trial available.
Fotomoto
Fotomoto is different than the other options listed here. With Fotomoto you get a widget that integrates with your existing website that allows you to sell photos. They handle the product fulfillment for you. Pricing is a combination of a monthly fee ($0 – $25 per month) and a transaction fee (22% – 10%).
Collages.net
Collages.net allows you to create websites for your events (like weddings) where customers can view and purchase prints from the event. You can choose between auto or manual fulfillment. It includes a discount tool that allows you to setup package pricing or other discounts to make more sales. Monthly prices range from $19 per month to $29 per month (both of those plans include unlimited galleries), or you can pay as you go at $7.99 for an event site.
Fotomerchant
Fotomerchant allows you to choose a website template and add a blog and galleries to your site. Each plan comes with unlimited storage and hosting so you can upload as many photos and create as many galleries as you like. The websites have an integrated shopping cart to allow you to sell your work to website visitors. You can choose to fulfill orders manually, or auto order fulfillment so prints will be shipped directly to your customers. Prices start at $8 per month, but you’ll need at least the $16 per month plan to use your own domain name, opt for direct fulfillment, and to have a blog.
Exposure Manager
With Exposure Manager you will get a website to sell your photos. You can use your own domain and customize the header and footer. Upload your photos and create galleries, which can also be password protected. For selling your work, photos can be sold as digital downloads or prints. Prints can be fulfilled by their lab, or you can set it up for self fulfillment. Prices range from $14.99 to $24.99 per month.
DigiLabs
DigiLabs allows you to create photo galleries that integrate with your own website. DigiLabs can fulfill your orders or you can fulfill them yourself. You’ll also have the option to choose a plan with a flat fee or one with a commission from sales. Prices start at $40 per month.
ifp3
With ifp3 you can get a website to sell your photos online. You can set up galleries (public or private) and pages to show your work. For e-commerce, the shopping cart can be set up to sell an unlimited number of products, both downloads and prints. The price is $30 per month if paid month-to-month or $16 per month if paid in advance for one year. A 10-day free trial is available.
More Photos
With More Photos you can choose from a variety of templates and set up a website for your photos. The shopping cart will allow you to sell your photos online in digital or print format. You can use their integrated vendors to print and drop ship orders directly to your customers. Pricing starts at $19 per month, but in order to sell your work you will need to $49 per month plan.
Instaproofs
Instaproofs allows you to create galleries and promote your photos from events. Customers can purchase your photos, and you’ll have them fulfilled at a lab of your choice, or you can have them fulfill the order for you. There are no setup or monthly fees. Instaproofs keeps 15% of the sale as commission.
Shutterfly
Shutterfly allows you to create a gallery of your photos at their site or integrate your own website with their ordering process. They have their own lab to handle fulfillment of your orders. Prices range from $99 – $199 per year.
PhotoBox
PhotoBox allows you to create customizable galleries and sell your work. Customers will be able to buy prints of various sizes plus magnets, mousepads, coasters and more. There is no cost to sell with PhotoBox, but they keep 10% of all sales as commission.
500px
500px is a popular site where you can create your own portfolio, and they also have some optional upgrades that allow you to sell your photos in their marketplace. The options for selling your photos aren’t very extensive, but for those who are already using 500px it may be a worthwhile option. Prices range from free to $75 per year.
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