17. Getting Paid
17.6. How ?
There are mainly 3 ways to be paid :
17.6.1. By cheque
This is the old-fashion way. Sites try to minimize the use of checks as much as possible because it's a lot of extra work for them. They do this by setting the minimum payout amount for checks higher then for the electronic payment methods.
17.6.2. By Moneybookers
To be honest I don't really know Moneybookers that good. But I guess it's almost the same as paypal. Moneybookers do charge a small fee for transactions. And if I recall it correct, they work in more countries than Paypal.
If you have any experience with Moneybookers or know a good reason why to use them over Paypal, you can always contact me.
17.6.3. Paypal
The third way is by means of paypal.
I've been using paypal for all my online transactions already for a few years. And I have never had any trouble with them.
Some people don't like Paypal at all :o). If you want you can read about less satisfied customers at :
http://www.paypalsucks.com/ or
http://www.paypalwarning.com/
Interesting read :Click Here to read how you can earn 1% more by using moneybookers over Paypal
17.7. Minimum payout amount.
All sites have a minimum payout amount. This is the minimum amount you can aks a payment for. As long as you haven't reached this amount you can't get a payment.
For those having a large portfolio this isn't a problem. But for those having a small portfolio this could be something to keep in mind. Shutterstock for instance has a minimum payment amount of $75 through paypal if you never reach that number, you'll never get paid -> read : you've giving your image away for free.
Underneath a table with the different minimum payment amounts of some sites.
| |
Minimum payment amount in $$ |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Check |
|
100 |
300 |
100 |
- |
- |
Electronic
(paypal, moneybookers) |
|
100 |
75 |
100 |
50* |
30 |
* : You can request a payment a fotolia at any time. Under $50 they charge a $1 fee.
When you reach the minimum payout amount, don't order a payment right away. Because then you have to wait until you reach that amount again. In the mean time you can't get any payments.
Instead wait until you reach twice the minimum payment amount. Then order a payment for only the minimum payment amount. In that way you can always withdraw all of your earnings at any time you want.
17.8. Paying Taxes?
YES, you have to pay taxes on your profits.
Read the sentence above really good ... on your PROFITS. This mean that you don't have to pay taxes on your total income but only on the profits you made.
In order to know how much you earned you have to do a little bookkeeping. Write down all the expenses you made in order to take those stockimages and subtract them from your total earnings to know your profits and hence the number you have to pay taxes on.
17.8.1. Don't overdo it
But of course like everywhere, you can overdo it here to. Don't buy a sack of orange, shoot one image of an orange and deduct the price of the whole sack of your earnings.
This example maybe stupid but there are other things to look for. Let's say you've bought a new camera. You can deduct his full price from your earnings only if you use him solely for stockphotography !!! If you use him for other means too, you can only deduct a portion of it's price from your earnings.
Of course you could 'forget' to pay taxes. But keep in mind that if they 'catch you', it could be that you have to pay substantial amount in one time -> keep that in mind.
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