I agree in many ways, but foremost, no one is holding our feet to the fire and we are not shackled to the cameras and computers, being forced to work. People choose to do this, and they can just as easily choose to quit.

I celebrated my first MicroStock sale by having an 8x10 printed of that photo. So I made 25 cents and paid $2.00 at Walgreen's. After three months, I think the photo has finally paid for itself.

The camera was my old 10D and an L lens, so lets say another $2500 in expense. All I have to do is sell that photo 999 more times.

Celebrating making 25c is like jumping for joy, when I find a penny on the sidewalk. It's not worth the energy. But I'm one of those people who still bends over to pick it up.

I do like SS and the sales volume. I suspect the volume of sales for subscriptions, is a direct reflection of their pricing. If they charged more, we'd get more per photo sold, but we'd sell less, so possibly no gain.

Here's where I'm headed. I know that people work hard and the standards for stock are high. But if all the agencies suddenly upped the prices to $10 and we got $2.50 a photo, would the volume drop off to 1/10th of what it is now?

This is just photos. I know some designers and asked them. They said it's a matter of time vs cost. If they can go search IS and find what they need in five minutes, say a background, instead of having to do the work them self, it's more efficient and saves money.

Meanwhile the only way it works is if the price war ends and the agencies all raise their pricing to match the actual value of the photos. That value is how much the buyer perceives it will save them to not take the photo themselves, or pay a designer to make the background or whatever the artwork/photo would cost, if it wasn't available from a Micro.

Also it takes the photographers to make a stand and demand fail pay for their efforts, instead of selling out for a dollar, which is more realistic than claiming 25 cents or 30 cents.

My way of dealing with the feeling of being underpaid, was to move into RM photos and let the small micro collection languish on it's own. I'm going to continue to feed SS, which at least produces some measurable return, without having to have 1000 photos. If I have the time, I may toss the other sites a bone now and then.

That's my answer. Others may have a different idea of the best personal plan. People with large portfolio's and time and investment, will get the rewards for their extra effort. People who use models and have a nice collection on IS may choose to be exclusive. People who shoot a limited number of interesting, unusual photos will sell their products as well.

I'm working from the perspective of a small portfolio and little spare time.

As for the 1% serious, it might be double that. It could be 2%?

__________________