My earnings there have collapsed.

I'm getting 25 cents per download, and very few downloads at that.  I don't bother to upload there any more.

Yes ploink, I'm on the "bridge".  And despite thousands of images that have gone across the bridge, my earnings level is approximately what it was in my second month on BS, back in early 2005.

.. is the ridiculous RPD that makes it worthless for me to upload to them anymore!... My overall revenues did not go up year on year, and, to add insult to injury, the RPD has fallen flat on its face.  Cant understand, what kind of a strategy is that!!?! 

I argued a bit via e-mail when they introduced subscriptions last year, but as they wouldn't offer an opt-out (and I was not part of the bridge) I voted with my feet and left BigStock last March.

When SS was a new agency, they were very careful as the collection grew and they increased prices. After a price increase they watched what happened for a month or two and then set the new contributor rates. They needed to be sure that they could still make money given buyer behavior and a large part of what makes subscription pricing/royalty payments work for agencies is that buyers don't use their full download allowance.

I think they wanted to experiment with BigStock but didn't want to take any risks with being out of pocket in case buyers used a ton more of their allowance when buying at the lower BigStock prices. So they produced this insane royalty schedule - some wit contacted them to ask if BigStock had had 50,000 downloads a year total, let alone from any one contributor!

The only think I'm tentatively hopeful about is that this toxic rate schedule has not yet migrated to Shutterstock proper.

I think Paul's experience speaks volumes - BS was brand new in 2005 and to reduce earnings to those levels isn't what I'd call a win

There are a few things there that annoy me - undercutting SS subs is one, paying non bridge people less than bridge people, not answering e-mails about rates, or answering them I assume wrongly (when I asked about where it said never getting less than .50 for a download) - maybe that was SS's lie though. They are owned by the same people though.

Sales numbers are going up, but earnings only barely.

Those same things annoy me despite my earnings going up there dramatically. The way the tiers are arranged make little sense, but everyone should have to live with it instead of a privileged few who have bridge and get to opt out.

Well, as one of the "privileged few" on Bridge, sounds like you are doing better than I am if your sales are going up.  My sales have eroded the last few months on BigStock.   

I used to have my art on BS recently had them reopen my acc to get my tax papers, and thought hmm maybe I'll reactivate my vectors till I saw they price them at $3.00 "vector format" and I would get 30% ouch,