Is bigstockphoto.com legit?

75
/ 100
Mostly Safe
Industry: Stock Media

Bigstockphoto.com appears to be a mostly safe platform for stock photography, largely due to its long history and robust technical setup. However, potential users should be aware of the inaccessible website at the moment and some missing transparency and legal information that would solidify its trustworthiness.

Stock Media average: 74/100 · based on 31 sites

Checked: April 18, 2026 at 11:28 AM UTC · Refresh

Is bigstockphoto.com a scam? Here's what we found.

Security 90/100

The security posture is strong with a current SSL certificate from a reputable issuer, modern TLS 1.3 encryption, and a clean bill of health from Google Web Risk. This indicates a well-maintained and secure connection for users.

Identity 95/100

With over two decades of operation, Bigstockphoto.com demonstrates a well-established and persistent online identity. Its domain is registered through MarkMonitor, a common choice for large, reputable brands, securing its presence for years to come.

Reputation 90/100

This site benefits from a significant global traffic ranking and a clean record on DNS blacklists, suggesting it's a known and generally unproblematic entity in the online space. Its long domain age further strengthens its reputable standing.

Transparency 60/100

Transparency is a weak point, as the absence of easily found contact information and social media links makes it harder for customers to reach out or see their community engagement. This can be a red flag for users seeking assurance or assistance.

Compliance 70/100

The lack of either a privacy policy or terms of service is a significant compliance gap. For a content platform, clear legal guidelines are essential for user rights and data handling, and their absence raises questions about their commitment to legal standards.

Infrastructure 65/100

While DNS and email authentication are robust, the critical issue is the current HTTP 403 error preventing access to the website. This severe operational problem overshadows otherwise solid technical foundations like its AWS server infrastructure.

Signals Detected

[+]
Tranco Rank: Rank #26293

This site has moderate global traffic

[?]
Structured Data: None found

No structured data markup found

[?]
Trustpilot: No Trustpilot profile

This business has no Trustpilot presence — not unusual for smaller or newer companies

[+]
Domain Age: 21 years, 2 months

Domain created 2004-05-30T01:30:11Z (21 years, 2 months ago)

[?]
Registrar: MarkMonitor Inc.

Registered through MarkMonitor Inc.

[+]
Domain Expiry: 2027-12-02T04:59:59Z

Expires in 592 days

[+]
DNSSEC: unsigned

DNSSEC status from WHOIS

[?]
Certificate Transparency: Unable to check

crt.sh returned status 429

[?]
Branding: Basic

Site has a favicon but no social sharing metadata

[?]
Server: CloudFront

Web server: CloudFront

[+]
Google Web Risk: Clean

No threats detected by Google Web Risk

[+]
SSL Certificate: Valid

Valid certificate, expires in 251 days

[?]
Certificate Issuer: Amazon

Certificate issued by Amazon

[+]
TLS Version: TLS 1.3

Connection uses TLS 1.3

[+]
DNS Blacklists: Clean

Not found on any DNS blacklists

[+]
robots.txt: Present

robots.txt has 462 directives and references a sitemap

[+]
DNS Resolution: 2 IP(s)

Resolves to: 76.223.35.209, 13.248.178.125

[+]
Email (MX Records): 8 record(s)

Mail servers: aspmx.l.google.com., alt1.aspmx.l.google.com., alt2.aspmx.l.google.com., aspmx2.googlemail.com., aspmx4.googlemail.com., aspmx5.googlemail.com., aspmx3.googlemail.com., fw1.bigstockphoto.com.

[+]
SPF Record: Present

Domain has SPF email authentication configured

[+]
DMARC Record: Present

Domain has DMARC email authentication configured

[+]
Name Servers: 4 server(s)

DNS providers: ns-1086.awsdns-07.org., ns-1698.awsdns-20.co.uk., ns-315.awsdns-39.com., ns-852.awsdns-42.net.

[?]
Sitemap: Not found

No sitemap found — common for smaller sites

[~]
Website Status: HTTP 403

Website returned status 403

[~]
Contact Info: Not found

No obvious contact information found on homepage

[~]
Legal Pages: Partial

Website is missing either privacy policy or terms of service

[~]
Social Media Presence: None found

No social media links found on homepage

[?]
Web Archive: Unable to check

Could not query Wayback Machine

[?]
Page Load Time: 1035ms

Average page load time

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When evaluating a stock photography marketplace like Bigstockphoto.com, buyers and sellers need to assess more than just the image quality; they need to trust the platform itself. This site has a very long operational history, dating back over 21 years, which is a significant indicator of stability and legitimacy in the digital world. Established platforms like this typically have overcome many initial hurdles and built a user base over time. However, a critical concern right now is the 'HTTP 403 Forbidden' error when trying to access the site. This means the website is currently inaccessible, and while it could be a temporary issue, it's a major barrier to use and raises questions about immediate operational reliability. Beyond this, for any service handling content licensing and personal data, the absence of clearly defined privacy policies or terms of service is a notable gap. Most reputable marketplaces prominently display these legal documents. While the underlying technical infrastructure, including robust security and email authentication, is strong, these access and transparency issues mean users should proceed with caution until they are resolved. A leading stock photo site should offer seamless access and clear user agreements.