Clark Howard

These apps and sites let you make money from the pictures you take on your phone

There’s great news if you’re a shutterbug. There are simple websites and apps out there that will let you turn the pictures on your smartphone into money.

RELATED: Check your mail: Valpak may be sending you a $100 check!

Sell your smartphone pics for fun and profit

Most Americans now have smartphones with quality built-in cameras. A lot of times the pictures on our phones just stay there, or else get uploaded to the cloud and sit there unloved and unviewed for the most part.

But there are opportunities to make money on those photos.

Adobe Stock, iStock and Shutterstock are all big players in the non-exclusive photo world. That means that if you sell a photo to any of these guys, you're still permitted to market your work elsewhere as well.

That's in contrast to the exclusive model typified by a big player like Getty Images.

While Getty is an industry leader in photography, anything you might sell to them is done under a contract that’s exclusive so you’re locked in with them on that image.

But those are all the big dogs of the stock and editorial photo world. If you’re more of a beginner, here are a few smaller players that offer non-exclusive contracts.

Check them out and see if they might be right for you to get your foot in the door so you can start making some money on your pictures.

Foap

If you’re an amateur photography, this might be the best place to start.

Advertisers, agencies and brands want unique images at a cheap price for their ad campaigns. That’s why they flock to sites like Foap to get the best in crowdsourced photography.

Foap charges buyers $10 a shot and splits the money with you 50/50.

ScoopShot

This app allows you to become a freelance photographer providing crowdsourced images based on requests from potential advertisers.

Alternately, you can also submit general photos of whatever strikes your fancy for sale as part of your general portfolio. With Scoopshot, you set your own price for your portfolio photos.

If you're shooting on behalf of a brand or ad agency, you can earn anywhere from $7 to $150 per pic, according to MakeUseOf.com.

Snapwire

Do you take beautiful, high quality images on your smartphone? Then maybe Snapwire should be the first service you check out.

You can either accept commissioned tasks — called requests and challenges — or submit your own portfolio of general interest pics for sale.

Snapwire takes a 30% fee of the sale price on requests and challenges and a 50% fee on portfolio pics that sell.

The average photo in the requests and challenges category sells for anywhere between $50 and $75, according to one recent review.

Other services that might be worth a shot — pun intended!

General rules of the road before you begin

When it comes to selling your photos online, there are a few things you should keep in mind:

  • Uploading an image with a thorough description and relevant hashtags will help your photos sell better.
  • Whether shooting or recording video, it's best practice to hold your phone horizontally — not vertically.
  • In general, you must have permission of your subject when you're shooting or filming on private property or in a commercial space.
  • Don't take pictures or videos of people in their homes without permission. Otherwise, you open yourself to invasion of privacy charges.
  • If there are any recognizable people in photos or videos that will be resold, you must obtain their express permission.