Can you buy stock photos and use it for you own profit? Is that o.k?

Don't take this answer as absolute.. but I "think" it is fine to do whatever you want with the photo after you have bought it. That is the whole purpose of buying it. If you were unable to use it in anyway you see fit, what would be the point of buying it... or of a stock agency selling it? How could a stock agency say something like..."we will sell you any photo we have, but you are not allowed to use it in any project or ad". Stock photo sites sell photos to ad agencies and companies all the time. These companies certainly use these photos in ads and such to make profit.

So my answer is yes, you have bought it from a stock agency that sells photos for the express purpose of others to use them.

steve

Here's what their site had to say:

For clarity, you may not use the Content in products for resale, license or other distribution, unless (i) the proposed use is allowable under an Extended License which is available for the Content; or (ii) if the original Content has been fundamentally modified or transformed sufficiently that it constitutes an original work entitling the author or artist to copyright protection under applicable law, and where the primary value of such transformed or derivative work is not recognizable as the Content nor is the Content capable of being downloaded, extracted or accessed by a third party as a stand-alone file (satisfaction of these conditions will constitute the work as a “Permitted Derivative Work” for the purposes of this Agreement). For example, you cannot superficially modify the Content, print it on a t-shirt, mug, poster, template or other item, and sell it to others for consumption, reproduction or re-sale. These uses will not be permitted as or constitute Permitted Derivative Works. If there is any doubt that a work is a Permitted Derivative Work, you should either obtain an Extended License or contact iStockphoto’s Client Relations for guidance. Any use of the Content that is not a Permitted Use shall constitute infringement of copyright.

To contact them and ask if your specific photo is able to be sold, since you have purchased it, e-mail here: service@istockphoto.com

You are correct you could sell 500 shares at 20 which result in 10000 total sales price. Total profit would be 10000-500 so it would equal 9500 a very nice profit, not that easy to get especially without waiting a while but good if you can get it. Just because the 52 week low and high is 1.00 and 20.00 doesn't mean it will get down to 1.00 in a while in order for you to buy it at that price and if it does get down there it might not be the kind of stock you want to get because might have a going concern issue at that point.

I would check the fine print of the site from which you purchased the photo. It may be considered copyright infringement.