MicrostockGroup

This is how I would do it (in Imaginationland...)

If I were iStock and I actually get individual customers that throw $20,000 at me to buy images then I should call this a celebration and reward both buyer and contributors.

Give the buyer the credits mentioned BUT put a cap on how low the commission per credit can go, say $0.75 or $0.85 something like that. Sure it it's not as profitable for IS but just the fact that a quick, single sale puts 20k in their pocket should have some effect (positive that is... for contributors...).

Maybe I'm just getting delirious.

Agreed - I have to think you'd be buying a subscription long before buying $20K worth of credits.  For 75% of the price you can get a 1 year sub plan that lets you download over 40,000 credits worth over a year.  In other words, it is kind of false advertising as hopefully no one would be foolish enough to actually buy that plan!  Nice that they expire after a year, too!  I would be very concerned, though, if they claim the cheapest credit price is $0.95 but people are seeing royalties based on half that value...

It is kind of like how on DT they give maximum numbers in their table for royalty payouts, but it is based on a $1.25 credit value (which you get when you buy the 8 credit pack).  It would be a foolish buyer indeed that would buy seven 8-credit packs to buy a 50 credit print license, rather than buy a 52 credit pack for a 20% discount...  At least on DT I have never seen a case where I received royalties that seemed to indicate an original purchase price lower than available on their 'buy credits' page - and I frequently see royalties that indicate the buyer did actually pay $1.25 a credit!

I just clicked on the link in your post and it took me to the thread: Vetta Extended License.
Ah, it's been moved from the Help forum to the Vetta forum, which non-exclusives can't access. Sorry.
Someone posted that he had an Vetta Extended License / 150 credits and got $36 for it and was questioning if that was right.
I have to say, these extended license %age cuts make a surprisingly huge difference. And presumably there must be a lot more discounted credits than before. Looking at this years EL amounts compared to those sold in previous years is really depressing. :-(

There you go.

I ran some numbers a while back in response to a question about newbie expectations and I think I came up with about 10 cents an hour for people just getting started. If you run your numbers you may find that flipping burgers does pay a lot more.

thesentinel: nope; its a 125credits unlimited reproduction/print run EL

Washington Minimum Wage 2011 - $8.67

April, 21 x 8 x 8.67 =  $1456,56

No surprise there.