Sue, I think you misuderstand. It is not the subscription download payment.
its the dollars per download of all types of licenses combined.
When you wrote:
"all talk of 0,25 cents at shutterstock is
not applicable."
I thought you meant that even newbies got more than 25c for a sub sale.
It's an odd argument you used. When indies post about their ridiculously low commissions they sometimes get at iStock (for an XS file, mind) the fact that I averaged $6.80 per sale last week, with no ELs, or V/A sales, is totally irrelevant to their experience.
I certainly wouldn't say, "all talk of 9c (or whatever) dls is not applicable"