Are you a professional photographer, or capture images for fun? Whether it’s your hobby or career, learning how to sell photography prints online is one of the best ways to monetize your photography skills.
In this article, we’ll look at how to make extra money selling prints and explore a diverse range of photo products to help expand your photography business.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you purchase through those links. This comes at no additional cost to you.
Key takeaways
- Selling photography prints is more profitable than digital photos due to higher margins as a premium product.
- Print-on-demand (POD) services like Printify simplify selling by handling printing, shipping, and inventory management, making it beginner-friendly.
- Marketplaces like Etsy, eBay, and Saatchi Art are popular platforms for selling photography prints, alongside your own website.
- Building a strong photography brand is essential for standing out and connecting with your target audience.
- Effective marketing through social media platforms, content, and email is key to driving print sales.
Sell prints instead of digital photos
There are two formats for selling photos – digital images and physical (or traditional) prints. While the digital route seems more convenient, it’s often less profitable and may not give you sufficient recognition to grow your photography brand.
Although digital photography is increasingly popular, prints remain sought-after by art enthusiasts, collectors, or simply as home decor. In fact, the global photo printing industry is expected to reach $29.19 billion by 2028, making it a lucrative market to cash in on.
To help you understand why it’s worth selling physical prints, let’s check the main differences between selling digital images and photo prints.
| Digital images | Photo prints | |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms to sell on | – Stock photo sites like Shutterstock, Alamy, Adobe Stock, and 500px. – Online marketplaces such as Etsy. – Your own website. | – Platforms like Etsy, eBay, and online art marketplaces like Fine Art America. – Your own online shop on Shopify, Wix, or Squarespace. |
| Profitability | – Adobe Stock photographers make between $0.33 and $26.40 per photo. – Digital photo files sell between $1–$15 on Etsy. | – The more premium the product, the higher the profit margin. – Prints sell for around $3–$220 on Etsy, depending on the image size, print finish, and framing. |
| Production needs | None. All you sell is a digital file. | Print the images at home or use a printing service. |
| Production time | No physical production is required. | Print partners usually take around 2-3 business days, minus the shipping time. |
| Demand | The stock photography market is growing, but the low barriers to entry make competition fierce. | The global wall art market is expected to grow 8.12% between now and 2032, driving demand for high-quality prints. |
Although selling stock photos doesn’t require physical production and lets you sell images quickly, physical prints bring bigger profits and help you expand your photography income.
How to sell your photography prints
Selling photography prints with Print on Demand is hassle-free and straightforward. Let’s discover how to start selling photography prints and bring your catalog of beautiful images to life.
1. Establish your photography business and brand
You got into photography for a reason – expand on your story to build a connection with your target audience.
Most photographers build their brand around their niche, shooting style, and personal motivations for creating art. Link your photography business to a compelling story, regardless of whether your focus is landscape, portrait, or wildlife photography.
Buyers will start associating your images with your brand as sales grow. Develop a solid brand name, logo, and visual identity to enhance your market positioning.
Whether selling photography prints on an online marketplace or a standalone store, use these brand assets consistently.
Learn more about growing your photography brand in our article on how to build a strong and unique brand identity.
2. Create photography prints
Next, determine how you’ll create the prints for selling photographs and wall art. There are three primary options – POD, bulk orders, or at-home printing.
Print on Demand
Print on Demand is the most convenient option for new print sellers. It lets you print photographs per customer order, and you don’t need to handle the items yourself.
Why choose Printify’s POD for your photo printing needs?
- No inventory. Simply add images to the product and Printify will handle all order fulfillment.
- No risk. You don’t need to purchase expensive equipment or invest in prints that might not sell.
- Global shipping. Our Print Providers deliver customers’ orders worldwide on your behalf.
- Beginner-friendly. You don’t need any prior experience selling prints – it’s a very straightforward process that makes a great side hustle.
Order in bulk
Another option is to find a local print shop and print your images in bulk, which could decrease costs per item.
But, there’s a risk of being stuck with inventory if all the items don’t sell. Because of this, we don’t recommend opting for bulk printing if you’re just starting out.
Do it yourself
There’s the option to print images yourself, but even the simplest printer will set you back at least a couple hundred dollars. For large-format prints, expect to pay several thousand for equipment.
Although this route gives you complete control over the printing process, it’s more difficult to achieve high-quality prints matching a professional print-on-demand service.
3. Decide where to sell photography prints
There are a few online and offline options for selling photography prints.
Sell prints in person
Art fairs, art stores, photo and art galleries, and local stores are perfect locations for selling your most popular images and limited edition prints.
Buyers can see the photography prints in person and get a feel for how they’ll look displayed in their homes. Meeting your customers also makes the experience personal and gives you the opportunity to network and expand on the story behind each picture.
Sell prints online
Selling photography prints online gives you the chance to reach art fans worldwide.
The best places to sell prints online include:
- Your own website or store. Many photographers run blogs or portfolio websites to showcase their work. Use platforms like Squarespace and Wix to create a website with eCommerce functionality, or create your online store with Shopify or PrestaShop.
- Online marketplaces. While stand-alone online stores give you more personalization tools, marketplaces already have a solid customer base. Try out sites like Etsy and eBay for your photo prints, but make sure to implement SEO and marketing strategies to stand out against competitors.
- Art marketplaces. Sell photos online on art-focused platforms to reach customers with a high intent to buy. Check out Fine Art America, Saatchi Art, and ArtPal.
Consider your target audience and how you want to manage your online business to determine which platforms work best for you.
4. List and price your prints
Once you’ve chosen a platform to sell your photos, it’s time to start listing and pricing prints.
Listing prints
Follow these tips to increase the chances of selling your art.
- Apply the right keywords. Include relevant keywords in your product titles, meta titles, and descriptions to rank higher in search results. SEO tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, and eRank help you find the most suitable terms for every image.
- Use high-quality mockups. In addition to displaying the actual photo print, include mockups of the picture in different interiors and provide close-ups of the finished product. If you’re offering canvases and frames, showcase them too.
- Provide details on product features. Be very clear about all print dimensions, finishes, materials, and any additional details that customers might find important.
Pricing prints
Do some market research to accurately price your prints. Keep your prices competitive but not too low. Aiming far below the market average will undervalue your photography prints, while setting premium prices can make it difficult for beginner photographers to make a sale.
Check out different photographer accounts on social media to find out where they sell photographs and their prices.
If you’ve decided to sell photos on a marketplace, research the prices of photography prints within your niche. Aim for a similar price range or go slightly lower to secure those first sales and reviews. But make sure to cover all costs and leave room for some profit.
See our detailed product pricing guide for valuable tips.
5. Market your photography prints
Enhance visibility and sell more prints with the right marketing channels. Let’s review how to grow your photography brand with the proper marketing strategies.
Social media marketing
While Instagram is still the best social media network for photographers to gain exposure and followers, platforms like Behance, Flickr, and Pinterest will also help you make a name for yourself.
Follow these tips to grow your photography brand on social media and attract customers:
- Keep a consistent style throughout your photos.
- Post regularly and keep up the quality.
- Use relevant hashtags.
- Incorporate trends into your posts.
- Engage with your followers.
- Do giveaways and run contests.
Content marketing
If you have a personal website to sell your prints, utilize this channel to market your art. Running a blog is one of the best ways to drive organic traffic to your site.
Write photography-related posts, create travel diaries with your snaps, and publish content relevant to your photography niche. Look into making videos or even running a photography podcast – the possibilities are endless.
Remember to optimize your content to appear higher in search engine results. Use relevant keywords, meta titles, descriptions, and alt texts for images.
Email marketing
Email marketing is another excellent channel for growing an online photography business. Use tools like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, and HubSpot to collect email addresses and segment your audience into groups.
Send emails to showcase your portfolio, offer prints for purchase, and provide special offers. As your email list grows, fine-tune your content and customer segments to get more people to purchase prints.
Make it happen today!
What to consider before selling photography prints online
Now that we’ve covered the main steps to start making money selling prints, let’s review three more aspects to help narrow your focus when selling photos online.
Your niche and photography type
While you might enjoy shooting various subjects and settings, focus on a specific photography niche for your personal brand. It may be portrait, street, and landscape photography, or architectural, travel, or aerial photography.
Think of it as perfecting your craft rather than putting yourself in a box. It’s especially true when selling prints – photographs will look more cohesive and help you develop a stronger brand.
Combine niches if it makes sense for your photo business. For example, event photography can complement portrait or documentary photos, while landscape or street photography goes well with travel imagery.
Open-edition prints vs limited-edition prints
The more prints you sell, the more money you make, right? Perhaps – but it’s also possible to increase your prints’ value and profit margins by making them exclusive.
With open-edition prints, you sell as many copies as possible. Limited-edition prints are capped at a specific amount, giving buyers a sense of exclusivity.
The rarity of a limited edition print not only makes the artwork feel unique but can also enhance its value over time, making it an excellent premium item to offer.
Printed product selection
Have you considered different products to offer when selling prints online? Printify’s vast Product Catalog has a variety of items to give customers practical options while showcasing your photos in unique ways.
Posters are the perfect starting point for selling prints. They are both cost-effective and versatile, letting customers display your photographs in homes, offices, or creative spaces.
To kick it up a notch, try canvases for your photos. They offer a premium finish, perfect for buyers to hang straight from the box. For an even more high-end look, consider framed canvases.
Look into acrylic prints, aluminum composite panels, and gallery boards to sell photos online. They offer buyers a professional, polished look and help you meet a wider range of customer preferences.
Other printed products
Expand the range of items showcasing your photography beyond wall art – photos look great on many different products and materials, including:
- Apparel. T-shirts, hoodies, and sweatshirts.
- Accessories. Phone cases, mouse pads, and stationery items.
- Home and living. Mugs, postcards, ornaments, and blankets.
Whether sticking to traditional photography prints or branching out with apparel and accessories, make sure the products align with your brand identity and have a clear target audience.
How to sell on different platforms using Print on Demand
From launching an eBay or Etsy store to running your own stand-alone shop, Print on Demand is the perfect solution for selling photos online.
Follow these guidelines to sell photography prints online with Printify.
1. Pick an item from Printify’s Catalog
After creating a free account, browse Printify’s Product Catalog and choose from over 900 products for your photo print.
2. Apply your digital photo file to the product
Use Printify’s beginner-friendly Product Creator (formerly known as the Mockup Generator) to apply your photograph to the chosen item. Simply upload your image and drag and drop it onto the product.
Printify supports JPG, PNG, and SVG files. Find the print file requirements for each item in the Product Creator.
3. Preview the mockups and order samples
Use the Preview function to see real-life mockups of your photography prints before ordering a sample to make sure you’re happy with the final product. This lets you see exactly what customers will receive and gives you a chance to snap some product images for your listings.
4. Integrate your online store with Printify
Printify connects to the most popular marketplaces like Etsy and eBay, as well as eCommerce platforms such as Shopify, Wix, and BigCommerce.
5. Publish and start selling photo prints
List your prints on your store, choose your image mockups, adjust the title and description, set your prices, and publish.
All that’s left now is to spread the word about your photography prints, start selling photos, and make money.
FAQ
To sell photography prints online, begin by building your photography brand and creating a portfolio of your best work. Then, choose platforms like Etsy, eBay, or your own photography website to list prints.
Use a print-on-demand service like Printify to handle production and shipping. Market your prints via social media, content marketing, and email campaigns to drive traffic to your store and make sales.
Yes, you can make money selling photography prints. Physical prints, such as canvases and posters, generally offer higher profit margins than digital photos. With a good selection of high-quality images, effective pricing, and consistent marketing, it’s possible to generate income.
Decide on the print format and choose a production method, like Print on Demand. List your prints on platforms like Etsy or your own store and publish product mockups and descriptions. Promote your prints through social media, blogs, and other marketing efforts to attract buyers.
Start selling prints as a photographer using Print on Demand, then showcasing the physical prints through galleries, art fairs, an online marketplace, or a personal website. Other methods include digital downloads, stock images, and licensing your work.
Yes, selling physical prints can be profitable. Prints typically offer higher margins than digital photos, especially if you focus on exclusivity and use quality materials and effective marketing strategies. Building a strong brand and reaching the right audience will increase your chances of success.
How to sell photo prints online: Final thoughts
Selling photography prints is a fantastic way for experienced and aspiring photographers to make money with their craft.
You don’t have to wait for the next local art fair or photo exhibition for people to notice your work. Display and sell your photos online to reach a global audience and increase profits.
Using print-on-demand services like Printify is one of the easiest ways how to sell photography prints. With free signup, no inventory, and global shipping, it’s the perfect solution to start making money with your photos.
