I wouldn't say the likes are relevant, you can't control the people that remember to leave a like after buying or not
I would bet money that it's only a small portion of people that bought who actually leave a like
Look at mikomi, her free page is empty of likes on the ppvs but there is no way this gal earns amounts that "doesn't look like much"
If it wasn't sustainable, they wouldn't keep doing it
They only need a rotation of new people discovering their page to keep doing what they're doing. Why would they care about those complaining? It keeps paying, new people keeps paying. You're bored of it? Too bad I guess. That's the mentality for them
I miss the long HD video mikomi did, those at least had some higher quality and were worth something because of the production. This is what stood out in my personal opinion compared to the other cosplayers, regardless of going further. At last, it was interesting to see what she would try
Now I'm not sure why she hasn't released one in months though, but it's just sad