Instagram's 100 million users could soon earn money from the images they post on the Web site using its popular photo sharing app.

InstaStock Images, a Los Angeles, California, startup will launch in August 2013 to serve as the first stock photography marketplace exclusively for Instagram photos.

"We wanted to create a way for Instagram users to be able to share in the success of the platform by making money from their pictures. Sometimes an extra hundred dollars here or there can really make a difference in someone's life. We just believe it's the perfect way to monetize the love that Instagram fans have for the app," InstaStock Images founder and Chief Executive Officer Laneia Moore said in a statement.

By using InstaStock Images, Instagram users could upload images from their Instagram accounts and set a price tag for their pictures. But most of the images to be sold on the site will be royalty-free since the buyers purchase a license which grants them unlimited creative use of the royalty-free image.

Instagram said that while average content creator could earn 25 cents on other stock photography sites, users of InstaStock Images could earn thrice the amount due to the 40/60 split of the sales with InstaStock Images. Forty per cent would go to InstaStock while the 60 per cent would be kept by the photo owner.

With 100 million members and more than 7 million daily visitors, Instagram users are assured of sufficient online traffic for their images.

"By working together with InstaStock Images, Instagram users can harness the power of Instagram and begin making money from their passions," the statement added.

On proof of the growing Instagram influence is this photo posted by basketball star Kobe Bryant.

According to Mashable, when he posted the image in Instagram, the photo got 121,000 likes and over 13,000 comments from his 610,000 Instagram followers. When he posted the Instagram link to his Twitter account where he has 2.1 million followers, the picture was retweeted 12,500 times and made favourite 5,300 times.

Of course, both Web sites pale in comparison to Facebook where Bryant also posted the same image and it got 450,000 likes from his 16 million fans.

Similarly, popular soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo uses both social media and posts duplicate images. A picture of his signature shoe from Nike at Instagram receive 113,000 likes out of 750,000 followers, while on Twitter, the same photo got 5,400 retweets and 3,100 favourites from his 17.5 million followers.

Mashable explained the different numbers to liking being a passive action compared to retweeting. It also pointed to Instagram's removal of support for Twitter cards as having some impact on sports fans not clicking through links between the two social media sites.