MicrostockGroup

I am with Racephoto in this discussion.

Minimum (legal) wage in Brazil is about US$250.  What doesnt mean people can really make a living out of it, especially one with photography skills and equipment.  And photo equipment is very expensive here - about 80-100% more expensive than in the USA.  So it is not someone who is ok with the minimum wage that will become a photographer.

Yes, exactly.

I live in Croatia...

I need min 1500 $ per month to live, for normal middle class... But solo...
Double it if  you have a family...

Living things  are more expensive, much more than in EU or USA...

I haven´t read the whole thread.

Not many jobs keep paying you after you quit.  That´s a positive thing about this.

Or monthly payment for car insurance (my friend is paying $530 a month for his car Toyota Camry)

Kone

People with $300 salary don't have a car. They don't have photo equipment neither. So, as Madelaide  said - they don't become photographers. And to get back to the topic - people from third world countries, or however you call the ones with $300 or less salary, are not your competition.

You need a car to be a photographer? I must have missed that chapter in all these photo books and magazines I thought I'd read.
 H*ck, there goes my 'planning for the future' in one fell swoop. (Step one: get early retirement; Step two: sell the car ... ) 

No Dook, no one is trying to make a fun of you. I am just saying that as a photographer, who already has photo equipment, you can make living out of microstock in a country where people can survive whole month on $300. This has nothing with competition. It's simply a fact.

I was responding to ShadySue, not you guys. No big deal, no one is hurt .

I would say: the topic is wrong or the constributions. The author asked if "he" can make a living out of microstock.

Which author? The OP in this thread was opening discussion about a linked article asking if "you" (in general) can now make a living out of microstock. The discussion has taken up various aspects leading from that article. With a bit of 'thread drift'.

so, let me ask: can I make a living from selling used cars, can I make a living out of selling insurances, can I make a living out of selling everything...maybe the question should be...can i make me a living?

As allways there's one answer, you can...if you want, if you try and if you agree to learn, fight, struggle, stand up and target. Selling insurances is easier for one who have talent on this. But some haven't the choise.

I'd like to add a few thoughts from a relative newbie, Ive been doing this since march last year so pretty much 12 months, I do both vectors and photography, the latter has been a huge huge learning curve. I live in London where the cost of living is high and I earn a good wage as a freelance designer and lecturer. I actually started stock after some of my students started asking about iStock and how to contribute and thought I'd have a go myself. What I'd say is that after a year I earn a third of my income from stock which isnt bad and above what I'd expected. In terms of earning a living I think that it is definitely possible even for a newbie living in London but its a few years work, however the biggest drawback for me is iStock, with there low upload limits and there very strict policy on vectors (it seems they want very detailed work largely, though photo acceptance i've found relatively easy) it would take a very long time to build a substantial saleable portfolio. Most of iStocks consistently big seller categories are simply not accepted, maps and globes and silhouettes would be a good example but there are many more, I should think for those who got in there earlier with the simpler stuff its a walk in the park! I think for those that have already established a larger portfolio on iStock things should be somewhat easier in terms of income as I know the RPI is great. Would love to hear from any iStockers who feel otherwise...

I appreciate my view is only based on a years work and I wasn't around when it appears some of you were earning much more, but I dont see things as negatively as many here and would actively encourage good photographers and illustrators to have a go, at the moment I spend about 8 hours a week on this as i have a young family and my normal work...

Jo