Foap

What is Foap?

Foap is a stock photo site that gives amateur photographers the ability to sell their images to companies that want art to illustrate advertisements and brochures.

(This post may contain affiliate links. You can read our full affiliate policy here.)

Foap Review:

Foap enlists photographers — amateur and professional — to submit smart-phone photos for potential purchase by brands that want photos for their advertising campaigns. Most photos are purchased for $10.  Foap takes a 50% commission, so you get $5 from each sale.

Missions

The site also offers “missions,” where brands will request specific types of photos. There are two types of missions — regular and premium.

With regular missions, photographers are invited to submit photos that match the mission’s theme for the chance to get paid between $100 and $500 for the “winning” photo.  These missions typically include a branded product, which the brand will send you for free when you join the mission.

There is only one winner in regular missions. However, brands will sometimes buy additional non-winning photos for the regular $10 price. And some “exclusive missions” pay up to $60 for non-winning photos purchased after the contest is over.

But, while Foap’s terms are a little vague on this point, it’s likely that you lose the ability to resell a photo purchased in an exclusive mission elsewhere. And since you’re only getting half of the $60 payment, that’s not a giant premium for giving up your ability to resell that photo somewhere else.

Premium missions

The potential payouts are considerably higher — up to $2,000 — with “premium” missions. And there are multiple winners. Photos in premium missions also generally don’t include branded content.

But to get into a premium mission, you need Foap “coins.” There are two ways to get these coins. You can answer survey questions and/or watch advertisements to earn them. Or you can buy them for 2 – 5 cents per coin. Coins cannot be traded for cash, so if you buy them, don’t overdo it.

Foap Plus Badges

If you contribute a lot to this app, you might earn a “plus” badge. However, that’s only if Foap’s staff determines that your work is great. Badges are granted by Foap’s content team. They can’t be purchased or gained simply through persistence. If you earn this badge, you may be invited to participate in missions without having to pay Foap coins to join.

What we like

One of the nice aspects of Foap is that it engages amateur smart-phone photographers, who would otherwise have difficulty earning money for their photos. We also like the certainty of Foap’s set-price photo sales.

What we don’t like

That said, Foap’s customers all appear to be commercial enterprises that want to use your work for  commercial purposes. This is the type of use that normally demands a premium price, even with stock photo companies.

Recommendations

We are not sure that this site is worth your time if you’re a professional photographer. But if you’re an amateur looking for practice with some profit potential, go for it. You can sign up with Foap here.

However, as you gain skill and experience, also consider signing up with other stock photo sites, such as Shutterstock, Adobe Stock and iStock. You can sign up with Shutterstock here.

If you have particularly beautiful shots that could be made into beautiful puzzles, coffee mugs or other consumer items, also consider signing up with print-on-demand shops such as Society 6, RedBubble and FineArtAmerica.

What their users say: (from G2)

The best part about Foap is being able to connect with fellow photographers and the opportunity to be able to sell your own photos. But this isn’t a great way to make money, just a fun way. You may or may not make any actual money with this app.