MicrostockGroup

Very close to my conclusions. The key will be, as you say,  the "little or nothing to produce" approach. Very high-volume commercially aware producers only. Those who think that microstock will somehow reward the edgy creative efforts are dead wrong. The costs in time and effort will overwhelm the returns. The only way I can see otherwise is for highly specialized content with much higher contributor commissions. Do I dare say macro or some morph of it?

HELLO! YES! EXACTLY!

I'd be very happy with micro at $1.00 a download, minimum. Instead they keep dropping the prices and commissions and we're getting tossed spare change like beggars on the street with a tin cup.
 

Why even shoot? I'd probably make more money just selling my props on ebay than bothering to shoot them for microstock. 

LOL! You are sure right on that. Last few posts make a lot of sense and mirror my thoughts exactly.

But then you can do a series of "Big Box Retailer Greeter" shots.  Just be sure to remove all the logos.


In a vew years, all microstock will be produced in China, in a small city that does nothing but shoot stock. They'll photograph every object that's produced in a Chinese factory, i.e. everything that exists in the world.  Their children will be surgically altered at birth to become good-looking models of every ethnicity, and taught to smile radiantly.  An entire street of kitchens will produce every dish known to man, to be photographed and discarded.  The photographers will work 60 hour weeks for the eqivalent of $5. 

LOL ain't that the truth....the use to be "Made in the USA" store Walmart is all "Made in China" now......

And what comes after selling my props on ebay?
In this order: camera bags, flash and studio lighting setups, tripods, shutter releases, light meter, white cards, Canon battery recharger, spare batteries, compact disk flash cards, closeup attachment, closeup filters, macro lenses, telephoto lenses, Photoshop plug-ins and third party programs, inkjet paper and canvases, extra 220 ml ink cartridges, Epson 9800 printer, 50 mm lens, CS5 suite, Eizo monitor, Apple deskpro computer and keyboard, complete micro-stock portfolio, and password to Microstockgroup.  This is sounding a lot like a plan.

I round up sime really nice gals, they get hq pictures of themselves for free if they sign MR, and I try to get laid. That way it's worth shooting for microcrap. If don't get laid at all, I stop, coz that is just unsustainable : ) Or maybe I should drop my DSLR, seems like it's becoming a loosers icon as I read here, and just pimp them, I dunno, we'll see. I was also thinking maybe it's easier to mug people disguised as photographer.

what % of your sales XXXL makes nowadays?

Molka, it's easier to get mugged when you're disguised as a photographer; it's easier to mug people when you're disguised as a stock photography agency. If you want to start mugging people yourself, you need to upgrade to a different class of shooter.