Selling Your Photos on Shutterstock: A Guide for Contributors

Shutterstock is one of the biggest websites offering photos, illustrations, vectors, video, and music downloads to businesses, marketing agencies, and media organizations worldwide. In order to work with Shutterstock as a contributor, you’ll need to set up an account and fill out an application to be accepted as an approved contributor. Fortunately, it doesn’t take too long to go through this process; with these steps you can complete your application and become a Shutterstock contributor in no time at all!

How to Sign Up

Joining the Shutterstock contributor community is easy and free. Just create an account and start submitting your photos following the submission guidelines. If your photos are approved, they'll be available for customers to license, and you'll earn a percentage of the sale price every time one of your photos is downloaded.

Uploading Photos

To get started, visit the Shutterstock website and create an account. Once you're logged in, click on the 'Contributor' tab and follow the instructions to complete your profile and submit photos for review. If your photos are approved, they will be added to the Shutterstock collection and available for purchase. You will earn a commission each time someone downloads one of your photos.

Pricing and Purchasing Licenses

When one of your files is downloaded, you'll earn a royalty. The amount you earn depends on the type of license that was purchased. Shutterstock offers several different types of licenses, including an annual subscription, which allows customers to download an unlimited number of files; a standard license, which allows customers to download up to 750 files per month; and an enhanced license, which allows customers to download up to 2,500 files per month. You can also earn royalties from video downloads and music downloads.

Choosing Prices

You'll need to decide how much to charge for your photos. This can be a difficult task, as you don't want to charge too little and miss out on earnings, but you also don't want to charge too much and deter buyers. Shutterstock has a contributor sign up process that allows you to set your own prices. When setting your prices, Shutterstock recommends considering the time it took to create the photo, the size of the file, and the subject matter. You can also compare your photo's price to similar photos on the site. Once you've decided on a price, you can start uploading photos!

How long does it take?

Joining the Shutterstock contributor community is easy and free - anyone with a camera and an internet connection can sign up. It's a great way to earn some extra money (or even a full-time income) by doing something you love - taking photos! So, how does it work? Once you've signed up and created your account, you'll start uploading your photos. Shutterstock will then review each photo to make sure it meets their quality standards. If it does, your photo will be added to the Shutterstock collection and made available for purchase. When someone buys your photo, you'll earn a commission - typically between 25-35%. And that's it! You can withdraw your earnings at any time through PayPal or direct deposit. So what are you waiting for?

Tips for Success

1. Read the Shutterstock contributor sign up page carefully and follow the instructions to create an account.

 2. Once you're logged in, take some time to familiarize yourself with the site and how it works. 

3. When you're ready to start uploading your photos, be sure to read the guidelines carefully so that your images are of the correct size and format. 

4. Once your images are approved, they'll be available for download by businesses, marketing agencies, and media organizations around the world. 

5. You'll earn a commission each time someone downloads one of your photos, so it's important to keep track of your earnings and monitor your account activity regularly.

 6. If you have any questions or need help with anything, Shutterstock's customer support team is always happy to assist you.