Could I sell photos online although I'm not a professional photographer?

Irish Guitarist

I'd like to sell some photos online. I'm by no means a professional photographer but I take photos all the time. I've got tens of thousands I've taken in the last few years and at least a fraction of them are decent, some are even very good in my opinion.

I made an account on Canstockphoto a while ago. I had to send them a number of photos to be accepted on to the site. They accepted me but when I started uploading photos to sell they rejected them one by one (they even rejected one of the ones that had gotten me accepted in the first place). They gave reasons for rejecting them but only one reason ("this picture is overexposed") made some kind of sense. One of the others they rejected was a picture of a comma butterfly and they wouldn't accept my title 'Comma Butterfly'. Another one was a picture of Carlow Castle and they rejected that because it was copy protected or something even though it was my own photo. I ended up deleting my account.

I think I need to stay away from stock photography sites and find a site that sells photos to people that just like the photo.

Even if I don't manage to sell anything I'd like to just get my photos uploaded without having someone scanning over every pixel for imperfections or rejecting photos for bizarre reasons. I just want to upload my pictures to a site and see if the users will buy them. If they don't it's no loss but I'd like a chance to at least get them online so the potential is there for someone to buy them.

Are there any sites that you don't have to go through hoops to get your picture accepted?

xshayx

What you're looking for are sites like www.redbubble.com upload what you want, pick your products, set your commission. Then let people know about it on facebook, twitter etc.

samhail

Check out 500px.com
I use it to store my photos, but they have a massive marketplace

Roselm

I suppose you could sell your photos on Etsy or Notonthehighstreet. The transaction would happen online but you'd really then have to print the photo and post it. I'm not sure if you were hoping to do it completely digitally

Portlawslim

Give this site a try

https://www.picfair.com/

kelly1

Thanks Portlawslim, I've signed up with Picfair. Just waiting for the cash to roll in now!

Mjollnir

http://fineartamerica.com/

Archeron

I joined www.Imagebrief.com free and signed up for their newsletter. they send an email every few days with details of images people are looking for, how much they are willing to pay, and invite you to submit yours for consideration. The themes can be pretty specific and obscure but some of the fees offered are huge.
I've never entered or tried to yet, but it's a good experience looking at the photos that other people submit and someday I might actually have that picture of a Chinese tourist on a bicycle in Paris with the Eiffel tower behind them that somebody will pay five grand for.

dinneenp

It's a good question. There's many options out there- Fine Art America (FAA), Zazzle, Redbubble, Etsy and more. I think whatever option people pick you need to promote and market.
FAA has a very good setup and they are meant to come up as 1st result if you search for 'topic' photography prints, e.g. abstract photography prints/nature photography prints BUT there's so many artists using it that your photos can be buried.
I'm on FAA but have 'only' about 100 photos online with it. Some people have thousands.
I have about 10 photos with Getty, 1 was licensed twice for tv and, even at only 30%, earned me some nice money. got lucky I guess.

Poncke

http://semmickphoto.com/2013/06/19/top-8-microstock-agencies-explained/

That might give you an idea about stock photography