I have been doing microstock for 2.5 years but never saw an increase of our royalties to cover inflation. In some countries employers have to pay 2% more every year to cover the loss of income because of inflation. Food prices go up etc. Do the agencies increase our royalties every few years or not at all? We can't just get 33 cents per image now and 33 cents in 10 years.

I doubt we will be seeing any increases anytime soon....its all about supply and demand. As long as people keep submitting payments won't go up. If there comes a point that they are not getting enough quality submissions it might change...no reason to think that might happen in the near future.

That's sort of insane...

In the first few years shutterstock would increase commissions periodically.
And we are insane, I can vouch for every one of me 

What about the contributors who have been doing microstock for 10 years or more. Have you ever seen an increase? That's sort of insane not to get an increase. In 10 years we will get the same money per image while even minimum wages go up to cover inflation.

On iS, there was a decrease for many suppliers, and a lack of promised increases for many more when they changed from 'lifetime sales' to 'annual targets', and split the media, so instead of a lifetime accumulated total, it was an annual target per medium separately. That was after quite an effort to get people supplying more then one medium. At at least one lypse, those who supplied stills only were loaned video equipment, given rudimentary training and heavily encouraged to get into video. Whether that was malice aforethought or just 'right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing', I couldn't possibly say.

Alamy also dropped our commission from 60% to 50%. And prices are shooting down there presumably as a result of Micros.

Which is in turn completely negated by increases in food, accomodation, taxes, insurance, fuel,  healthcare, service fees, and so on.

And don't forget about the Kenyon gyro you would have needed to get anything usable from a chopper. I still have one of those somewhere. I totally agree, technological advancements have lowered fixed costs in some areas but at the same time have opened the floodgates in terms of accessability to so many more people. Great for democratization of an entire industry, not so great for individual pricing though.

I have been doing microstock for 2.5 years but never saw an increase of our royalties to cover inflation. In some countries employers have to pay 2% more every year to cover the loss of income because of inflation. Food prices go up etc. Do the agencies increase our royalties every few years or not at all? We can't just get 33 cents per image now and 33 cents in 10 years.

If you are concerned with inflation, you should bring it up with your government, next election.
The market is only reacting to the "cash" dumped or borrowed by governments to cover up for failed policies. No private company has the obligation to compensate for inflation. If they do it, it is to keep the workforce engaged and stay competitive on the labor market.
Therefore our royalties will only be raised when agencies will realise that their contributors are leaving or production is slowing down. It is clearly not the case, these days.

I don't have to bring anything up with my government. In my country it's the law, made by the government, that the employers have to increase salary by 2% every year. Otherwise people would get poorer and poorer every year because of inflation and rising costs of everything.

Well if you're employed then you're already benefiting from that 2% increase a year. Happy days! If you aren't employed, then you just need to get employed... and then you can benefit from that 2% increase a year. Happy days!

It isn't about me. I just simply wanted to know if we ever get an increase in royalties because everybody charges more each year for food for example or train tickets..... Would make sense if we also increase what we get paid per image. My husband commented that this is a slave job we are doing.

It is*, but so long as happy bunnies continue willingly* to upload, nothing will change.
*except that we choose to do it.