Thanks to the Internet, photographers can now sell their images through several different types of online agencies. Two examples of this are macrostock and microstock. But which should you choose?
Basic Information
To understand macrostock and microstock agencies, you'll need to know the difference between the two. Macrostock agencies will sell your photos for a hundred dollars or more per sale. These images can sell over and over again, which makes this a nice way to earn a passive income.
Microstock, on the other hand, is slightly different. With Microstock, you sell your images from $.25 to several dollars(a lot less). Occasionally, you will have a buyer request your image for a few hundred or even a few thousand dollars. At this point, though, this is like winning the lottery. As for your images, they will sell over and over again just like they would with macrostock.
Why sell your images for such a small amount of money? Simple. With macrostock, you can expect to sell your images a couple of times per month if you have a large enough or popular enough portfolio. So if you have a portfolio with a thousand high quality images then you could make a few hundred dollars per month with macrostock. However, thanks to the low cost of microstock imagery, you could make the same amount of money.
While those two or three sales you have at the macrostock agencies will bring in a lot of money; you could have several hundred downloads at the microstock sites. This will still bring you in a few hundred dollars as well. This means that both types of agencies generate a similar amount of income(more or less).
Separate Your Images
Whatever you do, don't use the same images you use at the microstock agencies for your macrostock portfolio. It's not illegal, but it's definitely not ethical. Plus, if a buyer were to ever discover a macrostock image on a microstock site then they might never do business with you again. Buyers don't want to waste their money, so it's best to simply separate your macrostock images from your microstock imagery.
Problems Down the Road
The only real problems with the microstock and macrostock business model are competition, world wide recession, and photo theft. Why a world wide recession? Mainly because these online agencies have clients that are scattered all across the globe.
The amount of downloads you receive would probably decrease a bit if the United States were to go into a recession; however, thanks to other countries this would not be as big of a problem as it could be.
Selling your images through online agencies is a great way for photographers to make some extra money. Even if you're just a hobbyist, these online agencies can still work for you. Just keep uploading photos and don't give up.
