EyeEm is widely recognized as a platform that enables photographers to sell their digital images and earn extra income. Whether you’re seriously considering entering the online stock photography market or simply looking for an effortless side income, understanding how EyeEm works is essential before creating an account.
In this comprehensive EyeEm review, you’ll discover how the platform operates, the process for selling your photos, how pricing is determined, and key considerations to weigh before joining. This guide will give you a clear understanding of whether EyeEm suits your photography skills or if exploring alternative stock photo platforms might be a better option.
Let’s dive in and explore EyeEm step by step, from account setup to maximizing your photo sales potential.
What is EyeEm and How to Sell Photos Online
EyeEm is one of the leading marketplaces for royalty-free images, offering photographers and artists a platform to showcase their work and turn it into a reliable source of income. Once you become a contributor on EyeEm, you can upload your photos and artwork to be featured in the marketplace, earning a percentage of the revenue whenever your images are sold.
Before deciding whether EyeEm is the right platform for you, it’s crucial to understand exactly how it works and how profits are generated. Selling photos isn’t as simple as uploading an image and waiting for sales; success depends on the quality of your content, its relevance to the commercial stock photography market, the pricing model EyeEm uses, and its licensing system.
To get a complete picture, you need to explore the earning opportunities and the platform’s monetization process. This will help you determine whether investing your time and photography skills on EyeEm is worthwhile, especially if your goal is to create a consistent revenue stream from your photos.
Below, we provide a detailed guide on how to make money with EyeEm and maximize your photo sales potential.
How to Sell Photos and Artwork on EyeEm
Selling photos and artwork is the primary way to earn income on EyeEm. As a contributor, you can upload your original work—whether captured with a professional camera, smartphone, hand-drawn and scanned artwork, or ready-to-sell digital illustrations.
To start, log in to your EyeEm account and go to the upload section in your dashboard. The platform provides clear options to select the type of content you want to sell and guide you through the simple, step-by-step upload process, which takes just a few minutes.
Once your work is uploaded, it appears in the EyeEm marketplace, making it accessible to buyers. One of the platform’s advantages is that your images aren’t limited to EyeEm alone—they can also be featured on major partner platforms like Getty Images and iStock. This exposure significantly increases your chances of selling, especially if your content fits commercial or advertising needs.
Pricing is determined by the type of license chosen by the buyer—commercial or editorial. EyeEm handles marketing and pricing, and you earn a percentage of each sale. The exact share can vary depending on the partnership type and licensing market.
While selling on EyeEm can be appealing, it’s important to note that income isn’t guaranteed. Your earnings depend entirely on buyer demand for your images and the competitiveness of your content among large stock photo platforms. Therefore, if you seek a steady, predictable income, this may not be the ideal option.
However, if your goal is to showcase your work to a global audience without worrying about marketing or managing sales, EyeEm provides a straightforward and efficient platform to sell photos and artwork with minimal hassle.
EyeEm Missions: Photography Contests to Showcase Your Skills
EyeEm offers another way for photographers and artists to engage with the platform through “Missions,” which are essentially photography contests organized in collaboration with brands. These missions are usually announced periodically, often quarterly, and invite participants to submit photos or videos that meet specific requirements.
Each mission comes with detailed guidelines, including the subject, style, composition, or even the emotions your shot should convey. Submissions are time-limited, and once the deadline passes, a panel of judges selects the winning entries, which are then publicly announced.
Prizes vary by mission but are typically non-monetary, such as featuring your work on global platforms, appearing in well-known magazines, or having your images highlighted in brand marketing campaigns. Cash prizes exist but are less common.
Missions are best seen as a way to boost your visibility and reputation as a photographer or artist rather than a direct income source. They provide valuable opportunities to develop your style, gain experience with real-world market requirements, and enhance your portfolio, which can improve your chances of selling images later on EyeEm or other stock photography platforms.
How to Withdraw Your EyeEm Earnings via PayPal
Every time one of your photos or artworks sells on EyeEm—or through a partner platform like Getty Images—your share of the revenue is added directly to your EyeEm account balance. Naturally, the next question is how to access these funds.
EyeEm offers a single, widely-used global payment method: PayPal. A key advantage is that there’s no minimum withdrawal threshold. You can transfer any amount, no matter how small, as soon as it appears in your account.
It’s important to note, however, that EyeEm charges a service fee on withdrawals. The platform does not specify the exact fee, so the amount credited to your PayPal account may be slightly less than your total earnings. This practice is common among stock photo marketplaces and is something to consider when planning your income.
Overall, EyeEm’s payout system is straightforward and fast, allowing you to access your earnings with minimal hassle. Using PayPal makes it especially convenient for international photographers, providing a reliable and widely accepted payment option.
For those exploring other stock photo platforms, it’s useful to compare commission rates and payment methods to ensure you’re maximizing your revenue potential when selling photos online.
EyeEm Earnings: How Much You Can Make Selling Photos
The amount you can earn on EyeEm largely depends on how many of your photos or artworks sell. However, a key limitation is that you cannot control buyer demand or the number of purchases; your best strategy is to upload high-quality images that meet the needs of commercial and editorial markets, which increases the likelihood of sales.
While optimizing image quality, selecting effective keywords, and following photography trends can improve your chances, there’s no guarantee of consistent income. Therefore, EyeEm should be considered more as a platform to showcase your work to a global audience rather than a reliable source of steady revenue.
Regarding earnings, each sale is processed according to EyeEm’s licensing system. When a buyer purchases an image, revenue is split 50/50: you receive 50% of the sale, and the platform retains the other 50% to cover marketing, exposure on partner marketplaces like Getty Images, and handling the transaction.
Although a 50% share might seem low given the effort involved in creating your images, this rate is common across most major stock photography platforms. It may be less ideal for photographers who want to retain full value from their work or prefer direct sales to buyers.
Overall, profit potential on EyeEm is moderate, especially when factoring in the commission and the possibility that some images may not sell for extended periods. If you’re seeking a stable income, consider diversifying across multiple stock platforms to maximize your earnings and reach a broader audience.
Using EyeEm Mobile App to Sell Photos on the Go
EyeEm provides a dedicated mobile app for both iOS and Android devices, making it easy for photographers and artists to manage their accounts and sell images directly from their smartphones. You can download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store and start uploading, managing, and tracking your work without needing a computer.
The app is user-friendly and mirrors most of the essential features available on the web version. From your phone, you can upload photos, edit metadata, add keywords, track performance, and participate in missions and contests—all in one place. This makes EyeEm a convenient option for those who capture images with their phones or prefer managing their portfolio on the go.
The user experience is generally smooth, with an organized interface, responsive design, and easy navigation. Being able to upload images immediately after taking them adds significant flexibility for mobile photographers.
For Android users, EyeEm can also be combined with other mobile apps that help monetize photography, providing additional ways to maximize earnings without relying on a computer.
Who Can Join EyeEm: Registration and Requirements
EyeEm is accessible to photographers and artists from nearly any country, making it a truly global platform for selling images online. While the platform does not maintain an official list of supported countries, users from both Arab and European nations—and most regions worldwide—can create an account and participate without complex geographic restrictions.
The primary requirement for joining EyeEm is age; you must be at least 18 years old to register, sell photos, and withdraw earnings. There are two registration methods: you can sign up using your Facebook account for a faster process or create an account with your email and a new password.
After submitting your information, EyeEm sends a verification email containing an activation link. Your account cannot be used until you click this link, so be sure to check your inbox—and sometimes your spam folder. Once activated, you can log in to your dashboard, start uploading photos and artwork, edit descriptions, and add keywords to prepare your content for sale in the marketplace.
EyeEm does not impose complex acceptance criteria, making it a suitable choice for both beginners and professional photographers who want a global platform to sell images without lengthy requirements or additional hurdles.
EyeEm Support: How to Get Help and Resolve Issues
If you encounter any issues while using EyeEm or need clarification about your account, the first place to check is the Help Center. This section offers comprehensive guides covering nearly every aspect of the platform, from uploading photos and managing rights to payment issues and withdrawing earnings.
If you can’t find the answer in the Help Center articles, you can contact EyeEm’s support team directly. Simply go to the Help page and click on “Submit a Request” at the top. A straightforward form will appear where you can describe your issue or question and send it with a single click.
One of the helpful features of EyeEm’s support system is the ability to track all your previous requests. You can revisit them at any time to check the status or review responses, making it easier to manage ongoing issues, especially if you’ve contacted support multiple times.
Overall, EyeEm provides a solid support system compared to many other stock photo platforms, offering multiple channels for assistance and clear tools to track and resolve issues efficiently.
EyeEm Final Review: Is It Worth Selling Your Photos?
EyeEm is a legitimate platform that allows photographers and artists to sell their original photos and artwork, generating extra income. The platform offers useful features but also comes with limitations that you should consider before joining.
- Convenient PayPal payouts: You can withdraw earnings easily once your balance reaches $10 or equivalent.
- Global availability: Photographers and artists from most countries can register and sell their work.
- Flexible image ownership: Non-exclusive licensing allows you to sell the same images on other platforms simultaneously.
- Clear revenue sharing: You earn 50% of the license fee when your images sell via EyeEm Market or its partners.
- Limited earnings percentage: You only keep half of the revenue, with the rest going to EyeEm for sales management and marketing.
- No guaranteed sales: Your income depends entirely on buyer demand, which may fluctuate or remain low.
- Potential payment delays: Some users report delays in payouts or difficulties linking PayPal accounts.
- High market competition: A large number of contributors make it challenging to sell individual images, especially if they are not in high demand.
Overall, EyeEm serves well as a secondary channel to showcase artwork and earn from photos, but it is not the optimal solution for generating regular income. If you have personal experiences or insights using EyeEm, sharing them in the comments can help other readers evaluate the platform effectively.