What Picfair does

Picfair Limited is a London-based, privately held photography ecommerce platform founded in 2013 that enables individual photographers and hobbyists to create customizable online stores for selling prints and digital downloads to a global customer base. The company operates a two-sided marketplace: photographers upload images, set their own prices, and select from public or password-protected albums, while Picfair handles the end-to-end fulfilment chain including print-on-demand production, global shipping, image licensing, watermarking, and payment processing. The platform offers a freemium entry tier (up to 20 images) plus a paid subscription, Picfair Plus, priced at £14 per month or £140 per year (approximately $9.99–$11.99 per month), which removes marketplace commission, lifts upload limits to 10,000 images, enables custom domain connection, removes Picfair branding, and bundles a two-month Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan. Picfair also operates Focus, an editorial sub-brand publishing photography guides, tutorials, and selling advice that functions as a top-of-funnel content engine. The company distributes via a self-serve, product-led model on its own website, supported by organic social presence across X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and by earned media in outlets such as Amateur Photographer, The Guardian, Creative Boom, and PetaPixel. Reported platform scale is 500,000+ photographers; Picfair Limited is registered in England and Wales (company number 08474521), operates with a 1–10 person team, and has raised approximately $3.16M in total disclosed funding across institutional rounds (Miroma Ventures, Force Over Mass Capital, Claverley Group, D5 Capital, Venrex, KM Capital) and multiple retail Crowdcube campaigns.

Name

Picfair

Legal name

Picfair Limited

Website

https://picfair.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Picfair is a London-based photography ecommerce marketplace founded in 2013 that lets over 500,000 individual photographers create customizable stores to sell prints and digital downloads, with Picfair handling global print production, shipping, licensing, and payments. Revenue comes from Picfair Plus subscriptions and a 20% commission on non-Plus sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Stock Photography Marketplace

NAICS

Commercial Photography (541922), Photographic Services (54192), Photofinishing Laboratories (except One-Hour) (812921)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Services-Photofinishing Laboratories (7384)

akta.pro primary industry

Photography & Photo Production (BPAFAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Photography & Still Production (Stills, Product, Lifestyle) (MPAAAMAI)

Keywords

• Stock photography marketplace
• Photography ecommerce platform
• Image licensing platform
• Photographer store builder
• Print-on-demand photography

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Picfair Plus Subscription: Monthly and annual subscription plans providing enhanced features including unlimited uploads (up to 10,000), domain connection, custom watermarks, social media links, and priority support. Annual plan offers 2 months free.
2. Commission on Image Sales: Picfair charges 20% commission on image license fees. The editorial licence agreement states 'This includes payment processing fees and Picfair's 20% commission.' Photographers receive the full price they set for their images.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Picfair operates a web-based photography ecommerce marketplace that enables photographers to build customizable online stores for selling image prints and digital downloads. The platform handles end-to-end fulfillment including print production, global shipping, image licensing, payment processing, and image protection, with a freemium model and a paid Picfair Plus subscription tier that removes commission and unlocks advanced store features.

Product overview

Picfair is a photography ecommerce platform consisting of a core web-based store builder (Picfair) and a premium subscription tier (Picfair Plus). Photographers can build customizable stores to sell prints and digital downloads, with Picfair handling production, shipping, licensing, and payments globally. The platform offers three image licensing tiers—Editorial & Personal, Commercial, and Advertising—catering to different buyer use cases. An educational resource hub called Focus provides photography guides and tutorials. The free plan allows up to 20 images and basic customization, while Picfair Plus unlocks unlimited uploads (up to 10,000), custom domain connection, 0% commission, and Adobe Creative Cloud benefits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Picfair Plus: Premium subscription tier offering unlimited uploads (up to 10,000 images), custom domain connection, social media links, accelerated image moderation, and 0% commission on all image sales. Includes two months complimentary Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan.
• Focus

Products and services

• Picfair (Core Photography Store Platform) Web-based photography ecommerce platform that enables individual photographers to create customizable online stores, upload images, showcase public and private albums, and sell photos as prints and digital downloads globally, with Picfair handling print production, shipping, licensing, image protection, and payments.
• Picfair Plus Subscription Premium subscription tier for active photographers offering up to 10,000 image uploads, custom domain connection, social media link integration, personal links, accelerated image moderation, custom watermarks, full-screen slideshows, zero commission on image sales, complimentary Adobe Creative Cloud Photography plan, and priority customer service, available in monthly and annual billing.
• Focus by Picfair Educational resource hub providing articles, guides, tips, and tutorials written by photography experts to help photographers sell and grow their photography business, covering topics such as selling photos online, photo editing, photography by subject, and beginner guides.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 500,000 photographers use the platform

Named customers6 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature6 records

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Shutterstock: One of the largest stock photography and footage licensing marketplaces, with a contributor network, three-tier licensing, and a subscription API. Direct competitor for Picfair's editorial, commercial, and advertising image licensing use cases.
• Getty Images: Dominant stock photography and editorial imagery marketplace with enterprise licensing relationships and a contributor (iStock/Getty) program. Competes head-on with Picfair for commercial and editorial image buyers.
• Adobe Stock: Adobe's stock image and video marketplace, integrated directly with Creative Cloud workflows — overlapping with Picfair's licensing model and directly competitive with its Adobe Creative Cloud bundle offer.
• Alamy: Long-tail stock photography marketplace with a global contributor base and editorial/commercial licensing. Closely comparable to Picfair in being a contributor-first image licensing platform outside the Getty/Shutterstock orbit.
• 500px: Photography community and licensing marketplace that lets photographers sell and license images. Closely aligned to Picfair in audience (photographers) and product (licensable catalog with global distribution).
• SmugMug: Photographer-focused platform offering customizable portfolio stores with print fulfillment and digital downloads — near-identical core product to Picfair's photography ecommerce proposition.
• PhotoShelter: Portfolio, ecommerce and print-fulfillment platform for professional photographers with private client galleries — directly comparable to Picfair Plus's custom domain, private albums, and print-on-demand features.
• Stocksy: Artist-owned cooperative stock photography marketplace that sells licenses for commercial and editorial use. Competes with Picfair on the same creator-first stock image proposition.
• EyeEm: Mobile-first photography community with a curated image marketplace and licensing program. Comparable to Picfair in combining a photographer community with image licensing commerce.

Emerging players

• Foap: Mobile app enabling photographers to sell and license images, including brand missions. Overlaps with Picfair's amateur photographer use case and licensing marketplace, though more app-led and brand-brief focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/picfair
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCnPBil-IW5jkcLoDFTPPKIQ
• Facebookfacebook.com/PicfairImages
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/picfair
• Instagraminstagram.com/picfair
• TikToktiktok.com/@picfair

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds8 records

Investors7 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Picfair