I wanted to keep it more financially orientated, even though it is not the main value of Hive imo.
Not for me, at the moment at least. If it were, I would go and deliver ads for €5 per hour (after taxes) with getting cardio as the main motive and the money as a way to maximize the value of my time - and buy HIVE for it. That would actually be a better way for me to maximize my investment in HIVE.
How much commissioned work can you get
Not much, I guess. But then again, if I did not enjoy photography, I wouldn't take a single shot.
and how much time spent getting it? I know people say "I don't get out of bed for less than--- " but I don't see them out of bed much :)
I got the offer by just posting what I normally post to a local Facebook group. I could do that in a matter of minutes on top of my Hive posting routine. I don't enjoy posting to the Facebook group as much as I enjoy posting to Hive, however, because I don't want to support Facebook.
However, this is precisely my point - your numbers (in the first paragraph) are looking at it from the immediate moment - not the future. This is how many people look at Hive, but if they aren't able/willing to put that couple of dollars in themselves, then posting for it is worth it, if they think that the future 100x or whatever is possible.
You're forgetting there's a third option. In any first world country, it would actually be illegal or against collective labor agreements to pay as little as even someone who is probably in the top 5% is paid her hour for posting to Hive. From a purely financial standpoint, I should take up a second job and invest that money in HIVE.
From a purely financial point of view, it is completely senseless to do what I'm doing. But I'm not doing it for financial reasons but for enjoyment.
Only in a place like rural Pakistan or something is what the average Hive author earning of any substance. For them, the money is lucrative whether it is invested in HIVE or not.
"The significance of the $2.8 I'm looking at is not mainly in the money but the votes that signify recognition."
Until that 2.80 is worth 280. At that point, that is very much worth it and there will be people who have out-earned paid professionals.
If I had spent that time cleaning toilets and earned at least ten times as much, it would be worth $2800.
But.... are you willing? I have brought this up many times in the past (I have a post earlyish 2017 on this I think). Often when people complain about the rewards, the don't have one job, let alone are willing to take a second. Then, once working - how many are willing to convert into Hive?
It is a similar argument for "if I had bought BTC at 1 dollar" - how many would have actually held?
I once got paid several hundred dollars an hour for modelling work - if only I could work 20 hours a week as a model for the last 20 years ;D
Same as a above - you should - but will you?
I am yet to meet many educated Finns willing to clean toilets - even as a second job. People fight for more responsibility for a 5-10% pay increase, yet a couple of night shifts at McDonald's or stacking shelves at Prisma a week would get them not only more, but would be easy and responsibility free.
The point here is looking at posting to Hive from a purely financial point of view. Again, I enjoy posting to Hive. This is why I'm willing to accept an extremely low hourly pay by my local standards. Because I wouldn't enjoy cleaning toilets one bit, I wouldn't do it as a second job if it wasn't quite well paid or if I didn't have a job at all and I was forced to.