I have a portfolio on a few micro stock agencies. There are small, medium and large agencies. Here is my list of all my portfolios:
- Canstockphoto.com
- Bigstockphoto.com
- Depositphoto.com
- Dreamstime.com
- Pond5.com
- Shutterstock.com
- Storyblocks.com
Are they all the same? Do all perform the same way? The answer is of course no. The first four on my list are not worth your time. I make 90%+ of my sales on Pond5, Shutterstock and Storyblocks. Shutterstock also has a referral program where if in this case I sign up a photographer or a videographer, I get a bit of a payback from Shutterstock. Granted, it's not a whole lot but could turn into a bigger paycheque if I sign up a lot of people.
Photography and using my camcorder to crate footage is an awesome hobby for me. I also make a few bucks with it every month. I really, really enjoy doing it and I wish I could do it full time. With 4 plus years experience with microstock agencies I'm only uploading to 3 agencies now where the return is half descent. With Pond5, I'm able to set my own price where with the others it's a set price set by the agencies. I may say 1-4 videos a month on Pond5 and generally it's a good return. Currently I sell my videos for $299US per clip. I get half of that. With Shutterstock, I sell my photos starting at $0.36US a photo and videos start anywhere from $12US to $120US. The clips are generally 5-60 seconds in length. I only shoot 1080p/60fps so it takes a few minutes to edit my footage and about 10-20 minutes to upload my videos to each agency. Of course this depends on how many clips I have and how fast my internet speed is.
Overall it's a really good passive income for me. It's something I enjoy and wish I could do full time. So if you're looking for a photographer who does photos and videos, hit me up. I'm sure we can work well together.
