For Photo Lovers: [Snapmart x Smartphone Photo Sales] A 7-Day Record Until the First 1 Yen
Do you know about Snapmart? It's a photo-selling service where you can list photos taken with your smartphone as stock images!
If you love taking photos and have a camera roll full of pictures of food, your room, or the sky, this is perfect for you, so please give it a try!
I tried listing some smartphone photos I had on hand, and on the 7th day, I received a sales commission of 99 yen.
Snapmart is a service where you list smartphone photos via an app, and you earn a commission when companies or individuals buy them as stock images.
When your photos are sold, the sales commission is reflected in your account balance.
Platform: Snapmart
Task: Smartphone photo sales
Initial cost: 0 yen
Time to first earnings: 7 days in my case
First earnings: 99 yen commission for one photo sale
When it occurred: The moment it was reflected in my Snapmart sales management
Difficulty: Medium. Choosing photos and tagging them is surprisingly important
The day I started selling smartphone photos on Snapmart
I had too many unused photos on my smartphone.
Photos of cafes, my desk at home, the sky while walking, and pictures of food. They weren't quite good enough for social media, but it felt a bit wasteful to delete them.
Snapmart was a place where I could list those photos as stock images.
You just select the photos in the app, add a title and tags, and list them. You get a commission when they are bought.
When I first looked at it, there was no screen for me to decide the selling price of the photos myself.
The selling price and commission rate were determined by Snapmart's system, and the amount sold was reflected as earnings.
I was a little confused here.
It's not like a flea market app where you list something for 980 yen, so I didn't have a feel for how much it would be at first.
▶ Snapmart's smartphone photo sales is a type where you earn a commission on sales when your listed photos are bought.
Before trying it, I looked at some photos that were selling within the app.
There were some amazing scenic shots, but surprisingly, there were also many ordinary lifestyle photos. Desks, breakfast, hands holding a smartphone, houseplants, coffee.
I started with a light heart, realizing this wasn't just a place for professional-looking photos.
Snapmart registration and initial settings for smartphone photo sales
Registration was completed entirely on my smartphone.
I installed the app, registered with my email address, and created a simple profile.
I used a name for my photos rather than my real name for the username.
I couldn't write a long profile description, so I just entered this.
I mainly take pictures of my daily dining table, remote work, and scenery while out for a walk.
It wasn't the case that I had to complete identity verification and bank account registration before making my first listing.
However, since it's necessary to receive earnings later, I went ahead and registered my bank account first.
Where I stumbled was how to handle photos that include people's faces or store logos.
On Snapmart, photos where people are clearly visible may require a model release. I was also concerned about building names, store names, and product logos.
I didn't want to get stuck with tedious checks from the start, so I narrowed it down to only photos without faces and photos where no logos were visible.
My own hands, my desk at home, food, the sky, plants. These are the kinds of things.
All the photos I listed at first were taken with a smartphone.
I didn't use a DSLR either. For editing, I just used the standard smartphone editor to brighten them up a little.
The settings I configured before listing were like this.
Set a profile name
Enter a profile bio
Register an account for receiving earnings
Turn on notifications
Set to not use location information for photos
Avoid photos where faces, logos, and store names are prominent
I'm glad I kept notifications on.
I was able to notice when they sold, and even that small reward made me genuinely happy.
Smartphone photos I listed on Snapmart and the titles I actually used
I listed 10 photos at first.
I didn't have the energy to list 100 photos all at once, so I started by choosing photos from my camera roll that seemed easy to use.
The photos I listed were geared toward lifestyle shots that could be used as stock material.
Rather than cute photos, I chose photos that would be easy to use for explanations.
These are the 10 photos I actually listed.
A desk with a white mug and a laptop
Breakfast toast and coffee
Hands holding a smartphone
Houseplants and a windowsill
Vegetables taken out of a shopping bag
A work-from-home scene with a notebook and pen
A book left half-read by the bed
Window glass on a rainy day
Blue sky and an apartment balcony
The kitchen in the evening
The one that sold was the first photo, the one of the desk.
I kept the title simple and easy to understand.
"Work-from-home desk with a white mug and a laptop"
I didn't make the title fancy; I included what was actually in the photo.
Since this is a place to be found through search, plain language seemed better here.
I added tags like this.
"Work from home"
"Remote work"
"Telework"
"Laptop"
"Computer"
"Work"
"Desk"
"Table"
"Coffee"
"Mug"
"Living"
"Lifestyle"
I added this short description to the photo's description field.
"A photo of a desk while working from home, with a white mug and a laptop placed on it. I think it's easy to use as stock imagery for blogs, work, daily life, and remote work."
In the description, I only wrote about what kind of situations users could use it for.
I didn't include anything about the day I took the photo or my own personal thoughts.
▶ On Snapmart, I felt more strongly that people find photos through titles and tags rather than the photos themselves.
I added tags to other photos in a similar way.
For example, for a breakfast photo: "Breakfast," "Toast," "Coffee," "Dining table," "Living," "Living alone," "Morning time."
For a sky photo: "Blue sky," "Sky," "Clouds," "Sunny," "Background," "Scenery."
Tagging is quietly time-consuming.
Uploading photos is fast, but properly adding tags to 10 photos really tired me out.
Things I was confused about regarding pricing for Snapmart smartphone photo sales
On Snapmart, I didn't enter the price myself when listing.
It's a system where you list within the app, and when it's purchased, the sales commission is added to your earnings.
My first sale was a photo that earned me a sales commission of 99 yen.
It was reflected in my sales management as a 'sales commission'.
At first, I vaguely thought I might get a few hundred yen if one photo sold.
In reality, it was 99 yen. It's not a huge amount.
However, I was genuinely happy that a photo that was worth 0 yen became 99 yen.
Unlike selling things from around the house at a flea market, the photo doesn't disappear from your possession.
The fact that the same photo could sell again was an interesting part of selling smartphone photos.
However, it's not like they sell as soon as you post them.
Nothing happened on the first or second day. No notifications. Sales remained at 0 yen.
In photo sales, there are no price negotiations like at a flea market.
I just had to leave them there quietly and wait for them to be bought.
The only things I could do while waiting were to add more photos and fix the tags.
7 days until the first earnings on Snapmart
The first day ended with registration and posting 10 photos.
I spent more time looking back through my camera roll.
For the first 10 photos I posted, I only chose photos without faces, without logos, and with a sense of daily life.
I didn't try anything too bold and stuck to things that seemed easy to use.
On the second day, I reviewed the photos I had posted.
When I searched for them myself, I found some photos with few tags. I hadn't included 'living alone' for my breakfast photo, so I added it.
On the third day, I posted 5 additional photos.
I wanted to increase the number of photos that looked like remote work, so I tidied up my desk a bit and took some shots.
By just removing unnecessary items, the retaken photos looked a bit more like stock material.
I removed things like charging cords, receipts, and visible brand names.
On the fourth and fifth days, nothing sold.
Even when I opened the app, sales were 0 yen. I got a little bored here.
On the sixth day, I fixed three titles.
I changed short titles like 'Morning Coffee' to 'Table with Breakfast Toast and Coffee'.
It seemed like including exactly what was in the photo would match search results better than abstract titles.
Past noon on the seventh day, I received a notification from Snapmart.
The screen said, 'Your photo has been purchased.'
The photo that sold was the remote work desk photo I posted first.
When I opened the sales management, the sales commission was 99 yen.
▶ On the seventh day, 99 yen was reflected in my Snapmart sales management. This was my first profit.
Looking at the amount alone, it's small.
But it was genuinely fun that a photo that had been sleeping on my smartphone was bought.
Things I Fixed for Snapmart Smartphone Photo Sales
Looking back at the first photos I uploaded, some were difficult to use.
I tried to make them look stylish, but it was hard to tell what the photos were supposed to show.
The photo that sold was just a picture of a regular desk.
A white mug, a laptop, and a notebook. It's a photo that can be used exactly as it looks.
There are three things I fixed.
The first is brightness.
I used smartphone editing to brighten up dark photos a little. If you increase the saturation too much, it looks unnatural, so I only adjusted the brightness slightly.
If you are using them as stock photos, they are easier to see if they aren't too dark.
The second is removing unnecessary text.
Product names, store names, laptop logos, and text on receipts. They were distracting when visible, so I made sure not to include them from the start.
The third is how to increase tags.
I included not just what was in the photo, but also the situations in which they might be used.
For example, with the desk photo, at first it was just "desk," "laptop," and "coffee."
Later, I added "working from home," "remote work," "work," "living," and "lifestyle."
Rather than stuffing too many tags, it felt safer to add words that truly matched the photo.
There are also things I stopped doing.
I didn't upload food photos that showed plates or paper napkins with store names on them. I also avoided street photos where people's faces were visible, even if they were small.
▶ At first, it was easier to start with photos that had no people, no logos, and were taken inside the house.
What I Learned from Selling Smartphone Photos on Snapmart
Selling smartphone photos on Snapmart doesn't mean you get money the moment you list them.
It took me 7 days, and only one photo sold.
However, it was easy to start because I could try it with zero initial costs.
All I needed was the smartphone photo and the time to enter the title and tags.
In terms of suitability, people who don't mind organizing the photos they've taken will find it easier to continue.
Conversely, I think it's tough for people who want a significant amount of money right away.
Even at 99 yen per photo, the notification that one had been bought made me happy.
The realization that someone had chosen my photo as a stock image was fresher than I expected.
If I were to upload more, I would increase the number of photos under the same theme.
For working from home, I'd include the whole desk, a close-up of hands, a notebook, coffee, a smartphone, and a window view. It seems easier to get noticed if there are several patterns for a similar theme.
On Snapmart, it was better to gradually stock easy-to-use photos rather than betting on just one.
If you are starting now, these are the types of photos that are easy to begin with for your first 10.
Work-from-home desk
Breakfast or coffee
Hands holding a smartphone
Notebook and pen
Houseplants
Sky or clouds
Vegetables bought at the store
Simple kitchen
Book being read
Laundry or daily necessities
When choosing photos, it is best to first check if there are any faces, logos, store names, or personal information included.
If you notice it later, you will have to delete the listing or retake the photo.
▶ My first 1 yen was the moment a photo of my desk that I listed on Snapmart sold, and 99 yen was reflected in my earnings.
This is not a story about making a lot of money.
However, because one photo that had been sleeping on my smartphone sold, it made me think about what I should take next.
Listing notes I actually used for Snapmart smartphone photo sales
Finally, I will leave the format I actually used as is.
If you are listing photos in the same genre, a normal message like this was fine.
Here is the title of the photo that sold.
"Work-from-home desk with a white mug and laptop"
Here is the description.
"This is a photo of a desk while working from home, with a white mug and laptop placed on it. I think it is easy to use as image material for blogs, work, lifestyle, and remote work."
Here are the tags I included.
"Work from home"
"Remote work"
"Telework"
"Laptop"
"PC"
"Work"
"Desk"
"Table"
"Coffee"
"Mug"
"Living"
"Lifestyle"
These are the only checks I perform every time before listing.
No faces are visible
Logos are not prominent
Store names or addresses are not readable
Not too dark
The subject of the photo is clear from the title
Around 10 tags are included
Usage scenarios are included in the description
The first photo that sold on Snapmart wasn't the most beautiful one, but the one with the clearest usage.
This is something I realized only after trying it out.
If you manage to reach your first earnings using these steps, please let me know in the comments!
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