If you do not already have a free Pond5 account, you can sign up in a few steps:

• • 1. Go to the Pond5 website
  • 2. On the top right of the page, click Join Now
  • 3. You can then fill out your email address, choose a new username, password, and confirm the password

  Once you sign up, you will automatically be signed in, and we will send you a welcome email.

To become a seller on Pond5, you will first need to create a free Pond5 account.

To Start Selling:

• 1. Log in to your Pond5 account
• 2. Hover your cursor over your account avatar, prompting the drop-down menu
• 3. Click on Sell Your Media
• 4. Click on Sign Up Now
• 5. Click on Get Started
• 6. Enter the required information
• 7. Click Next when highlighted
• 8. Select the options that apply to you
• 9. Upload a copy of your ID for verification
• 10. Read through and agree to the Pond5 Contributor Agreement
• 11. If your ID upload is successful, a green check will appear and you will be able to click Submit
• 12. Check your email to confirm your email address
• 13. Open your verification email and click Verify Email
• 14. When the email is confirmed successfully, click Get Started to open your Uploads page.
• 15. Once your ID is verified, you will have access to submit your uploads for curator review

In order to completely verify Pond5 seller accounts, we do require our contributing artists to verify their identity for security. This is to protect all of our artists and their work. All information remains confidential and is kept internally.

Sellers must upload an image of their government-issued photo ID with a valid expiration date. Examples of accepted types of identification are a passport, driver license, or another government-issued ID card.

Here is the information we would like to see:

• Full name
• Photo
• Date of Birth
• Issue Date
• Expiration date

Note: Uploaded IDs must be JPG or PNG and cannot exceed 2MB.

Please ensure that the image of your ID is legible and clear. The name on your ID should match the name listed on your account. 

Note: You will not be able to start submitting files to curators if your ID has not been verified.

Submitting Your ID

• You can submit your ID while signing up to be a contributor

OR

• Log into your account > Hover cursor over account avatar  > Click on Uploads > Identification > Drag and drop ID or click Upload

If you have forgotten your login details, you can simply reset your password

• • 1. Please click on Sign In > Forgot Your Password > Send Reset Link
  • 2. From there, check your email inbox for the reset token

Please note that there is an 8-character minimum required for passwords.

You can edit and update your account details at any time from your Dashboard page.

• 1. Sign in to your account
• 2. Hover your cursor over the account avatar > click on Dashboard > Account > Contact Info & Payout Preferences
• 3. After entering your information, click Confirm.

If your clips contain elements which would classify them as Editorial, the curators will mark them accordingly. There is no need to mark clips yourself. If there is some special reason you need to keep your clip limited to Editorial use, you can include a Curator Note. Keep in mind, marking your clips Editorial will affect the licenses and sales opportunities.

Editorial Use Only usually applies to clips which feature candid shots of people who have not signed a model release. They can also apply to clips which include logos or other copyrighted design or images. For example, the lighting display on the Eiffel Tower is a copyrighted artwork and cannot be used in commercial projects without a property release – so footage of the Eiffel Tower at night would always be for Editorial Use Only.

Model and property releases are not uploaded the same way as your clips for sale. They get uploaded under the Releases tab on our on-site uploader, or into the Release folder via FTP.

You can find in-depth instructions here.

The templates option is a good alternative for editing and submitting a batch of similar clips at once. For example, if you have a large number of similar photos/clips from the same collection or photo/video shoot, you can create and apply the template to those files.

• • 1. Add all the information you want to apply: keywords, title, description
  • 2. Click Save
  • 3. Checkmark all relevant clips on your Uploads page
  • 4. Scroll down to Actions
  • 5. Select Apply Image Template

The Actions menu also allows you to select a batch of clips and apply other actions, like submitting your files for curation, batch editing, and applying releases.

If you have a large number of clips, there are two different ways to batch edit metadata: Batch Edit and Apply CSV.

Batch Edit: 

• • 1. On your My Uploads page, once your files are uploaded, checkmark all clips you wish to batch edit.
  • 2. Scroll down to the Actions Menu. There, you will be able to Batch Edit.

Apply CSV function:

Apply CSV is a powerful option to insert metadata such as titles, keywords, and prices in bulk, to several hundreds or thousands of your uploads at once! You can find more information here.

Once all of the information is added to your file, you can send it to our curators for review.

• 1. On your My Uploads page, select the files you want to submit for review.
• 2. At the bottom of the page, select Submit, then hit Execute.
• 3. You can also click Save and Submit for Review at the bottom of each Edit Item page.

The status of your upload will change to Pending for Review.

Please note that you need to have your ID verified before being able to submit your files for curation.

Your file is then added to our curator queue for review. Our review system sorts uploads by order of submission time and date. Please give our curators time to quickly and carefully review your uploads. Review times will vary depending on the type of file, and the number of submissions.

• • 1. Upload your files – make sure to check out our Upload Specifications
  • 2. Tag and price your files.
  • 3. Submit for review – this is the screening process, where the curator will check your files for quality. If they are rejected for any reason, you will receive an email explaining why. Otherwise, you will receive an email explaining that they have been approved and will be online.

You can also upload your files through FTP.

We’d be happy to guide you through uploading if you have issues with the process.

When your items are in Needs Edits status, it simply means you have not yet submitted them to a curator.

Once you’ve added the information to your file, you can send it to our curators to review.

• • 1. On your My Uploads page, select the files you want to submit for review.
  • 2. At the bottom of the page, select Submit and then click on Execute.
  • 3. You can also click Save and Submit for Review at the bottom of each Edit Item page.
  • 4. The status of your upload will change to Pending for Review.

If you do not see the Submit to curator option, it means you have not yet verified your account. For more information on the Needs Edits status check out this article.

You can remove files individually from your Uploads page by clicking on the trash can icon next to it.

If you need to batch remove files, please contact us with the list of ID numbers and we can remove them for you on our side. This is to ensure files are not accidentally removed.

Keywords are words that are used as an identifier or label for your media files. You can add up to 50 keywords to describe your uploaded file. These are extremely important, because they are the method by which buyers will find your content. So make sure they are as accurate and detailed as possible.

The better you tag your files with useful information, the easier it is for buyers to find and purchase them.

Tagging Your Files:

1. Sign into your account.
2. Hover cursor over account avatar and click on Uploads.
3. Click Edit next to the file that needs keywords.
4. Scroll down to Keywords.
5. Type in a keyword.
6. Click on the matching keyword in the list or hit Enter to add.
7. After adding all information for file confirm and click Save and Submit for Review.

Please keep in mind that once files are approved, they still need to be completely loaded in the database and indexed, which is a behind-the-scenes process. This may take a few hours to happen and in some cases up to a week for all the counters to be updated. Rest assured, this is just how the indexing/re-indexing works with multiple servers. Your files will appear in the search results once this process is complete.

Pond5 adheres to a comprehensive set of guidelines established by our Legal and Compliance teams that govern what content can be accepted into our marketplace. If you have had items returned or rejected by our curators, then those items do not meet our criteria for acceptance.

Please review our Contributor Guidelines and ensure that all submitted media conforms to both quality and legal standards. You will have received a message from our curators specifying what the issue is. Once corrected, feel free to re-submit your content for review.

Our Contributor Agreement states that you must be the owner of any content you upload to Pond5. As a result, we cannot accept content generated by AI to be uploaded and licensed by contributors in our marketplace. Learn more about our legal guidelines and read about the future of AI for Shutterstock and Pond5.

Wait times for curator review really depend on how many submissions we get, and since each file type has its own curation team, it can vary depending on what type of media you have submitted. 

To keep this process as fair as possible, files are always reviewed in the order they were received. We try to keep wait times down to a few business days.

Most buyers prefer that video clips do not contain audio. This is for several reasons – most importantly, buyers will often want to use audio from their own production. Secondly, some audio will require additional releases (for instance, if footage of a concert crowd contains copyrighted music). Other times, audio just isn’t necessary to warrant licensing along with the video. Some exceptions are made in the case of very high quality audio which is essential for the context of the clip.

Sometimes sales can be slow to start. Our library is massive and if you have a small portfolio to start out with, you can sometimes get lost. This is why self-promotion and accurate tagging is very important to get more views on your content.

To help, we would like to provide you with some nuggets of knowledge to help raise your exposure and ultimately, your revenue:

1. Buyers are always hungry for amazing content! If you have more high-quality content, absolutely continue uploading more of your files. Our customers seek high quality work, and the larger the collection, the more recognition you can have within our community.
2. For your clips to be easily found, accurate rich info in titles, descriptions and keywords are essential. How you title and keyword your work is very important. If you spam your keywords or titles, it will only hurt your visibility. So doing this in more detail, but ACCURATELY has a significant 60% SEO weight on the search results.
3. We always recommend that you promote your content, to up your exposure. You can create a Collection bin showcasing your work, and then simply copy the link, to add that to your website or social outlet. Here is a link to our Knowledge Base article explaining this: What are Collections?
4. Another option is to perhaps post the links of your items and distribute all over the internet. You can even add some of your clips to our “Free clip promotion”, for this will also help get your name out there. You can do this on the Edit page by choosing Make this item available for free clip promotions.

Rather than being paid upon request, our system will automatically pay out your balance on the 15th of every month, as long as your account balance is over the minimum of $25. To be sure this goes smoothly, visit your Payout Preferences. Make sure you have Enabled Payouts and that you have chosen a Payout Method.

You do not need to submit any tax information unless you are a US resident who has made over $600USD in a year, in which case we will ask for a W9 and provide you with a 1099 form.

You can find more information here.

Pond5 may extend discounts on content in our marketplace as part of targeted promotional campaigns or as volume discounts to high value customers. The purpose of these discounts is to increase the total revenue opportunity with existing customers and to attract new customers to the Pond5 community.

In accordance with our mission to be the most artist friendly media-marketplace in the world, we pledge to be judicious in offering any such discounts and, as always, Pond5 will share in the cost of any discounts. Our interests and those of our Contributors must always be aligned, and we will never waver from our commitment to do right by our contributors first and always.

The licenses we offer your buyers is very broad when it comes to distribution, so please keep this in mind when pricing your items.

You can review the different licenses here and  the license in its entirety here.

When a customer upgrades a license, they receive extra indemnification from us. That extra fee we collect from the upgraded license gets shared with you, which is why you may occasionally see higher than usual payouts for certain sales.

Our creative partner team may also negotiate custom licenses for certain clients. When this happens, you will be contacted by them to agree to any terms outside of the license on our site.

Pond5 Publishing is a free, optional administrative service that works with performing rights organizations (PROs) to collect performance royalties for music contributors whose work is featured in traditional public broadcasts (TV, film, broadcast commercials). Click here for more information and to sign up.

The age of mobile devices with high-quality cameras has made it easier than ever for anyone to capture footage of events as they unfold. Pond5 has seen the demand for this kind of Citizen Journalist footage with its recently launched Editorial collection under the filter “News & Archival,” and is actively seeking to add to it.

To include your content in this collection, follow the steps below:

1. 1.  Include code CITIZENP5BRIEF in your keywords
   2. Don’t forget to add any applicable conceptual keywords to the clips
   3. Send your content to curation
   4. Once your content is live, our collection team will track down your content.

For additional guidance on what to shoot, check out our Citizen Journalism creative brief.

The Pond5 Marquee collection includes premium quality footage available exclusively on Pond5. It is hand-curated by our creative team to appeal to the most high-end creative agencies, brands, and enterprise customers around the world.

Many artists are struggling with industry dynamics that commoditize and severely undercut the value of their work through low-value pricing deals. As a Pond5 contributor, you protect that value by setting your own prices and deciding which programs you participate in. Plus, as an exclusive video contributor, you’ll earn an increased 60% royalty on all sales.

We consider content exclusive if it is not uploaded to or available for sale on any other marketplace. You can still continue to use your Pond5 exclusive content for your own purposes and sell and promote it directly on your own personal sites and channels.

• All exclusive content will be prominently branded on search results so buyers can easily identify it. As the program gets underway, we will also enable users to filter for exclusive content.
• Our global sales organization will provide all buyers options to license both exclusive and non-exclusive content.
• Pond5 buyers will receive regular emails promoting curated collections of new exclusive content. We will also promote the artist, their work and inspiration via social media, our blog, and emails to our customers.
• Videos promoted on the home page, and in curated collections, social media and broader communications will be biased towards exclusive artists.

Just click the “Get Started” button to begin the process of setting up your portfolio as an exclusive artist.

You can still join the program today. We’ve built in a two-week buffer period to allow you to remove your content from other marketplaces. Be sure to select the grace period option when you sign up if this is the case.

Artists who choose to remain Non-Exclusive may continue to distribute on any other marketplace, while still controlling their prices on Pond5. You can also be assured that this will have no impact on your rank in the Pond5 search results.

All details relating to this program can be found in the updated Contributor Agreement here.

If you’re a participating artist, you can withdraw from the Pond5 Exclusivity Program by providing 6 months written notice for us to shift your account to a non-exclusive one. After that period, you can also opt back in at any time.

Misrepresentation of exclusive content is misleading and unfair to our buyers. This could lead to removal of your content and/or a return of your higher royalty payments.

Buyers place a premium on media that can’t be widely found. When you sell your videos exclusively on Pond5, you maximize the value of your work. To encourage filmmakers and video artists to work exclusively with Pond5, we are paying exclusive artists a higher revenue share and providing them with additional marketing support.

Only video contributors are eligible to join the Pond5 Exclusivity Program at this time. If you sell any other type of media through Pond5 (music, sound effects, AE templates, 3D models, etc.), you will still receive the same payout for your sales.

While the best way for you to preserve the value of your work and receive the most benefit is to become a Pond5 Exclusive Video Artist, if you wish to have only selected content (especially new content) listed exclusively with Pond5, you can do so by creating a new, separate account.

1. Go to the Sell Your Media page and click the “Sign Up Now” button to create your new account. Please note that you will have to use a different email than the one associated with your existing Pond5 account.
2. Next, go to the Exclusivity Program Landing page to enroll the new account into the program.