I upload to 18 sites and have eyes set on two more. My thoughts are microstock success is _base_d on volume so I'll take it where I can!

Now the fundamental question is what do you people mean by slower sites. To me any site that earns less then 30 dollars a month on a portfolio of 100-150 photos is not worth wasting your time on. I upload to 3 most popular sites bringing me total revenue over 500 dollars monthly. Therefore it is good to spell out what you mean by saying "good", "decent" and "ok" site.

I submit to about 6 regularly. I have 5 others that have a portfolio of 100-150. If they start selling I'll finish uploading to them

This business is not a good one for hourly wage. But if you crazy anyway, why not make some money at it.

I went mad when I started and submitted everywhere but now I intend to stick with Istock and SS and remove from the others. Maybe it's just me but I've only had feelers at others.

I have a portfolio that is currently 500 images. There's such a difference between what I earn on the top two compared to the others. I focus my attention where the money comes from, though I take into account that if I spend less time on a site then of course it's going to bring me less revenue.

I agree with the other comments above. Microstock is a numbers game, and it has a poor hourly rate. For me the beautiful thing is that the income is passive. I haven't contributed anything for three months yet I'm still earning similar amounts.

All that being said, I'm currently investigating new sites. IS & SS are my 1 and 2 respectively, and DT & FL (FT) are my "second tier". The others, BSP & CSP, aren't worth my time. I'm watching their traffic stats on Alexa and listening in the forums. If they start moving their way up then I'll resume contributing.

The comments I don't agree with are those mentioning an 'explosion'. Take a look at the Alexa traffic stats for the top 6 websites. There hasn't been an explosion yet. All of these top sites have earned their turnover through concerted effort over time. I can't see what would make anyone think any microstock website would 'explode'. Even the industry as a whole isn't going to explode. It's not new, it's been around for at least a few years, depending on your source. If it was going to explode like other Web2.0 sites (digg, flickr, myspace) or other technologies (mp3, SMS, Skype) then it would surely have done so by now. Don't you think?

I would ask to other users what they think about uploading on newest sites...
It is true that sales will be lowest, but it can be different to have 100 photos in a 2 million photos agency or to have the same 100 photos in a 700.000 photos agency.
Why don't upload topselling picture even on smallest sites and then watch if they are worth the time to upload or not... probably most of this sites will be sold or will close but if they can manage to grow up being one of the first would be a vantage don't you think so?