iStock Pricing Now Uses Real Dollars for Stock Photo Purchases

iStockphoto has long used a “credit” payment system that lets you buy images and other stock files with credits instead of dollars.

Until recently, the only option available for purchasing stock files at iStockphoto has been to purchase credits and then purchase the files with those purchased credits. Additionally, the actual dollar value of a credit may be different depending on how many credits you purchase in bulk.  For those who buy lots of images on a frequent basis, the bulk purchase of credits makes sense.  However, those who only occasionally purchase stock images or other files encounter problems with understanding the credit-to-dollar value of files, as well as the possibility of your credits expiring (it’s happened to me).

The new Shopping Cart Checkout at iStock now allows you to purchase stock images without having to first purchase iStock credits.  When you add a file to your shopping cart, you will see the price in dollars and not credits.

[via iStockphoto]