^^^Perhaps $0.38 takes a bit of work but I think anyone should be able to get $500 of sales if they want to.  It might take a bit of time for those that can't spend many hours a week doing this but at least it's there for anyone that wants it.  And they do sell more than $0.25 subs, there's PPD and EL's, so your numbers are all wrong.

lol I agree with the characterization that someone who works at it can make more images, and thus more money. My efforts are towards Editorial RM on Alamy, that's where this thread started. My first full year at Alamy I decided to have 1000 images on sale. Got them in for review by the deadline. This year I decided that I would go for quality over quantity, limiting myself to best shots instead of a collection of redundant OK shots.

When I have something small or I'm playing with some technique, or have an idea, then it's likely to go to micro. That doesn't mean it's suitable for micro or a good seller. I could have a thousand CrapStock" shots on Micro and why? I don't shoot models, I don't shoot marketable concepts or pictures that tell a story, and that's what goo micro does. ELs have dried up this year. Maybe the buyers are wise to my game?

You have 4000 on SS and 10 on Alamy. I have 1400 on Alamy and 200 something on SS or IS. Of course we'll have different results. We are going in different directions.

Ever go fishing? Use a small bait, you'll catch many small fish. Use a large bait, and you might not catch anything at all for days or weeks... but if you do, it's going to be a big one!

One sale at Alamy equals one year on SS for me. I hope that explains why I work harder at Alamy than plugging away for quarters like a donkey with a carrot dangling in front of my nose. 30,000 sales to earn the 38 cents a download level? It seems a little far out to me. And some days I don't think that working for hours to get 38c a download is a good use of my time. But that's just me. The successful micro shooters have worked long and hard to build up their income levels into a steady flow of sales.

I have a day job. Six months out of the year I work weekends too. Some other weekends I'm shooting events editorial, some I'm shooting on contract for an agent or club. Micro is fifth on the list for me. For some people it's first. You are correct, I don't have a great amount of time for Micro and I don't put a great amount of effort into it. Ten micro shots in a good month is about the limit.

10-11 hour days, on a race weekend, is about average and it takes a heck of a lot of time to cull and edit those. Then when I'm done I might have 20-30 keepers... maybe. That's an entire weekend. One magazine editor says "send us your ten best from the event".

Honestly I don't think that you should assume that others can shoot 20 acceptable micro images a week for four years, like you have. That's a bit of time and dedication. Not like someone can snap their fingers and have 4000 images on SS! Likewise dropping 1000 images onto Alamy was much easier for me (with the old 48MB file size, manually adding keywords to each image as well) than it is for some other people. It all has to do with motivation and chosen direction.

I really like getting an Alamy $80 commission, much more than turning on the computer in the morning and seeing that someone in the UK just bought one of my shots for a quarter or I just got another $1.40 on IS! Sure it doesn't happen as often, but at least I feel like I'm getting a fair value for my efforts.