Pond5 – Stock Video Footage Marketplace

Pond5 is a new NY-based startup that launched earlier this month. Pond5 is an online video marketplace for stock footage. Pond5 brings together people looking for stock footage and those seeking to sell their video footage library. I’ve used many stock image services and have reviewed online stock marketplace services including Mochila, but Pond5 is the first marketplace exclusively focused on online video.

Videos start at $5 for license and many include hi-def versions. Clips vary in length from 5-30 seconds and typically are available in AVI format. On the seller side, Pond5 takes 50% of any sales as their fee. The average video on Pond5 is priced between $20 and $40. More than 400 artists have added clips to Pond5 and if the artist doesn’t have a high-speed connection, clips can be mailed via the postal mail into Pond5 and they will add them to the portfolio.

Clips on Pond5 are licensed under a simple, industry-standard “royalty-free” license agreement, and can be used in virtually any production for a flat fee.

I spoke with Pond5 co-founder and CEO Tom Bennett this evening about the service and he said they have already completed a good number of sales and he also noted that they actually have a business model straight out of the gate. You know, something that many startups lack when they….start.

Pond5 also offers widgets for site publishers where you can earn a revshare on any sales made through the widget – think of it as an affiliate program. Here’s an example of an embeddable widget (note that I did not setup the revshare for this example).