Stocksy

Stock photos can be a great visual tool for content designers and companies to use.  They add a much needed visual punch to any content that helps to draw the eye of the viewer.  Not all stock photo websites are created equal, and should be examined before deciding which site you want to use to purchase your stock photos.  Stock content can get rather expensive, so knowing what you are getting into from the beginning can help you to have a positive buying experience.

Stocksy is a relatively new company that has only been in business since 2013, but they have a lot to offer when it comes to finding the best stock photos.  They want to offer a positive experience for everyone that comes into contact with their company.  They treat their photographers in a different way than most of the other companies that offer stock images in that they are more of a co-op to help the photographers get a good deal on uploading their images to this company rather than another.  They also want to provide the best service possible to their customers and go through a different process in finding what images they want to curate for their customers.  They try to eliminate the content that users are not looking for and focus on what is popular with customers.

Simple Breakdown

This company was established in 2013 to provide royalty-free images.  There are only a few licensing options for this company.  Payments can be made by Mastercard, Visa, American Express, and their personal credit account that you can apply for on their website.  Their company headquarters are located in Canada, but they list their prices in US dollars which can make it easy on any clients in the United States.

Specifics for Stocksy

Stocksy has a different take on how to connect photographers with individuals that are in need of stock images in that they feel that photographers are not just a commodity, but that they are a valued part of the business.  This means that the company is cooperatively owned among the members and photographers.

They sell licensed images that you cannot find anywhere else, so even though they are a small business, they still pack a pretty powerful punch.  They are pretty specific about what types of images they are looking to sell and wanting to let their customers find images that are worthwhile due to their vetting process.

Stocksy is also different in that it strives to provide customers with a simple experience in making the process of finding and buying your images easy.  For instance, if you find a photographer that you enjoy using, you can go to their personally branded gallery on the website to find more of their work.

The head office is located in Victoria, British Columbia, and buyers will note that their charges are listed in US dollars, but because of their location in Canada, there is a GST tax involved that will be included with the purchase.

Ways to Buy

Stocksy has worked to try to simplify the buying process for their clients for their royalty free licenses.  Each image is royalty free, and every image is going to be the same price.  The prices for their images will start at 10 dollars, and then go up to 100 for the largest image size.  This is for a basic license that grants you 500,000 uses of the image in a standard way.  If you have plans to use the images in other ways, you will need to check out the extended licensing.

Licensing 

They offer three types of extended licensing.  The unlimited print run is where the user is able to print more than 250,000 copies of it, and the web use for it is unlimited.  You can also get an image for products for resale that can be used on cards, calendars, screensavers, t-shirts, posters, templates, and more.  There is also Multi-Seat, which allows for an unlimited number of users in your organization to use the content.  Several other stock image companies will only allow one team member at one computer to download content, so this particular extended licensing can be valuable depending on how content is downloaded.  100 percent of an extended license is paid to the photographer.  An extended license cost starts at 300 dollars and goes up to 700 dollars.

Tools

Users will also find the homepage to be a great place to search for images as it has a place where you can see the most recently uploaded images to the site.  You can also look through the curated images.  You also have a nice selection of categories from holidays to themes that you can look through if you just have a basic idea of what you are looking for in your stock images.

Stocksy allows users to use a basic search tool to find the images that would be most useful to them.  You can search for images based on the location, composition, people, or a keyword.  These search types can be combined to find the pictures that best represent what you are looking for with your stock images.  For instance, you can look for pictures taken in the United States, and look for business people.  The filters are easy enough to add or remove as you go through the results to help you pinpoint the right image.

One of the best features of this site is how they work so closely with the photographers.  They want you to connect with the photographers and have created the galleries that the photographers can use to showcase their work to you.  It is a great way to search for images that match the style you like from a photographer’s personal style.

Offerings

Stocksy is raising the standards of quality that both photographers and buyers can expect when it comes to stock photo sites.  It offers a great model for photographers that want to get their product noticed and make money along the way while providing beautiful images for the buyers.  No longer will a buyer just have to settle for an image that is just okay, but will able to choose from some high-quality images.  The images that draw the eye to content is not just any run-of-the-mill stock image, but something that was taken with love and care.  There may not be as many images on Stocksy in comparison to some other sites, but that can be because of the fact that they only accept certain quality photographers to upload images to their site.

It can be easy for buyers to focus more on the price of the image that they are looking to buy since stock photos can be very expensive.  They pick the cheapest website, and find an image that might be exactly what they are looking to purchase, but it’s in their price range.  Stocksy is changing that view.  It allows buyers to actually afford beautiful images that are realistic and useful to their content.

Pros

The pros of this company are that they offer a simple method of buying images with a straightforward cost.  They offer a good variety of images that have been selected for their quality.  Since they treat their photographers well, there is a good chance that their quality and variety will continue to go up as time moves forward.  They also have the bonus of offering more than just a basic license.  You do not have to register for an account.  It is pretty affordable compared to many of the other stock image sites, especially when you consider the quality of the offerings.

Cons

They do not have a monthly membership or subscription plan.  Also, they do not give any discounts if you purchase a large number of images from them.  This can certainly be a downside if you plan on purchasing a large number of images, but there are plenty of benefits that can outweigh this issue.

Bottomline

Stocksy is the website that you go to when you want to buy high-quality images that make you sit up and notice.  It’s got an easy to use search tool, and you can just browse the images based on how new they are, if they are in the curated gallery, and under different themes.  This website does not have millions of images that you have to scroll through to find something basic but offers a more artistic touch to stock images.

In conclusion, Stocky is a website that offers a lot of high-quality images that are just waiting for you to select which one will go well with your content.  You get a lot of quality for a small price in comparison to some of the other stock picture companies.  It does not require an expensive monthly subscription if you are just looking to purchase a single image but also does not offer any discounts if you are looking for a great deal of images.  Finally, if you are looking to actually support the photographers over just purchasing the same old stock pictures, Stocksy is the site for you because of their structure.