500px launched its Prime photo-licensing marketplace to help photographers sell their images and ultimately earn a decent wage. The service was announced last month, but for its official release 500px has slipped in a huge change related to how much photographers are paid. Instead of 30%, the company has flipped its offer and will giving shutterbugs a 70% cut of each sale instead.
When 500px unveiled its Prime photo licensing store, it stirred up a hornet’s nest — many photographers were outraged that the image host would keep most of the cash from their work. Give credit to the company for a change of heart, though. It just launched Prime in beta, and the royalty rates are much more favorable. While 500px now sells all photos at a $250 flat rate (instead of a $250 minimum), photo owners get 70 percent of that revenue; unless you regularly sell pictures at higher prices, you stand to earn considerably more per shot. You’ll have to get an invitation to the beta to give Prime a chance, but the revamped service could be a sweeter deal if you’d make a pittance from rival photo services.