Recently, I was asked to provide a list of some of the best agencies that license footage. I provided the following list and recommended that the videographer try to put the same clips with multiple agencies, non-exclusively, in order to maximize sales.
Pond 5
https://www.pond5.com/
Shutterstock
https://www.shutterstock.com/
AdobeStock
https://stock.adobe.com/
iStock
https://www.istockphoto.com/
Dissolve
https://dissolve.com/
Storyblocks
https://www.storyblocks.com/
She responded, “I have contacted a few of the companies that you have suggested but they have all offer discounted bundles in place. I’m very weary of this, as one of our agents went this route and we literally got cents for our premium clips. Do you know any agents that work with Rights Managed clips or no bundle discounts? Maybe production companies?
I responded: For all practical purposes there aren’t any major agencies left that don't dramatically discount most sales. There are a few small agencies that still try to hold the line on pricing, but they don't sell much of anything.
The simple fact is that there is so much "good" discounted material available that there is no reason for anyone to go to agencies who are charging more. If you do find an agent who will promise to never discount your work and always charge reasonable prices, I would bet that you will never earn enough to cover your costs of uploading the clips let alone covering the costs of actually producing them.
My suggestion to everyone is that if they want to try to earn a little money from the clips, they have already produced put them with the agents I recommended. If that isn't enough then spend your time trying to find customers who will pay you to shoot assignments and forget about wasting your time producing stock. It is no longer a profitable business for image creators.