The internet has had some impact on spending sure, but people tend to be willing to spend despite all this. Especially if what they see is not something on the web. However, it has made it so that people can directly contact the artist and bid on things without the necessity of a physical art show providing direct competition to them. Also on internet auctions: they may get more higher bids as to be at a convention a prospective bidder would have to pay money to go in, most often spend money on a hotel, travel, an expenditure which when covering it alone can run you 500 dollars easily, that's not including food. These expenditures naturally cause lower bids at con art shows then ones where the person is bidding on the web. You should see how crazy expensive those Your Character Here's get...
I hope the bad economy can be blamed, because then that's an outside for we wouldn't have to worry about, however looking at the results of the recent Mario Marathon Charity makes me question that aspect as this year they only got 60% of what they did in the prior 2 years (2013 60K, 2012 112K, 2011 112K) this is despite the fact the media likes to say we're [America's] improving. For the Americans, Payroll taxes increased, which though I got a .25 cent per hour raise this year, I'm making the same as I did last year because of the tax increase. Those who weren't fortunate to receive a raise are working with less. While I feel the rich may be equally charitable to the poor, there are more poor. That's the same with this fandom. Big spenders are still around spending as much as they used to. It's the poorer of us I feel having to cut back all the more as they spent themselves out and can't recover as fast as those with more.
Age certainly can have an impact when they're in college and so forth. I certainly stayed out of going to conventions while I was in school and didn't have job stability. To say they aren't interested I think is a falsity, if they won the lottery I'm sure they'd hop on it. However on that we do live in an age where people collect digital libraries instead of physical ones which could have some impact. If the student loan interest goes up, then you're going to see this problem get a lot worse.
The imaginative nature of furry fans can also be an impact. I can imagine worlds, character, and entertain myself in a room with blank walls. Not saying I could survive solitary confinement, but I'd be better off then most and probably last a bit longer. "Things" and grabbing things of stature are typically for cultural individuals. This fandom does have a few. However, more and more I'm seeing people in this "to heck with the Jone's" mentality... where the game library you have is not a measure of your nerd peen. Where someone can like something without being the biggest, or first. "Being the first" is still a heavy driver of the gaming industry, however it died for me long ago as no matter how skilled I was someone will have experienced what I did already, so why not wait til it comes down in price?
Of those that have the culture to want stuff, it's even trickier to market with the diversity of desires. Some just want pictures of their own selves (which odds are won't be in an art auction), some just want pictures of their favorite characters (MLP, Sonic, Pokemon, etc), some just want pictures of a particular species (dragons, foxes, kangaroos, etc)... it's rare you have one that wants just good art for good art's sake.
Is it a better time to be a furry consumer then a furry artist? Certainly.
My speculation is on other factors:
The internet has had some impact on spending sure, but people tend to be willing to spend despite all this. Especially if what they see is not something on the web. However, it has made it so that people can directly contact the artist and bid on things without the necessity of a physical art show providing direct competition to them. Also on internet auctions: they may get more higher bids as to be at a convention a prospective bidder would have to pay money to go in, most often spend money on a hotel, travel, an expenditure which when covering it alone can run you 500 dollars easily, that's not including food. These expenditures naturally cause lower bids at con art shows then ones where the person is bidding on the web. You should see how crazy expensive those Your Character Here's get...
I hope the bad economy can be blamed, because then that's an outside for we wouldn't have to worry about, however looking at the results of the recent Mario Marathon Charity makes me question that aspect as this year they only got 60% of what they did in the prior 2 years (2013 60K, 2012 112K, 2011 112K) this is despite the fact the media likes to say we're [America's] improving. For the Americans, Payroll taxes increased, which though I got a .25 cent per hour raise this year, I'm making the same as I did last year because of the tax increase. Those who weren't fortunate to receive a raise are working with less. While I feel the rich may be equally charitable to the poor, there are more poor. That's the same with this fandom. Big spenders are still around spending as much as they used to. It's the poorer of us I feel having to cut back all the more as they spent themselves out and can't recover as fast as those with more.
Age certainly can have an impact when they're in college and so forth. I certainly stayed out of going to conventions while I was in school and didn't have job stability. To say they aren't interested I think is a falsity, if they won the lottery I'm sure they'd hop on it. However on that we do live in an age where people collect digital libraries instead of physical ones which could have some impact. If the student loan interest goes up, then you're going to see this problem get a lot worse.
The imaginative nature of furry fans can also be an impact. I can imagine worlds, character, and entertain myself in a room with blank walls. Not saying I could survive solitary confinement, but I'd be better off then most and probably last a bit longer. "Things" and grabbing things of stature are typically for cultural individuals. This fandom does have a few. However, more and more I'm seeing people in this "to heck with the Jone's" mentality... where the game library you have is not a measure of your nerd peen. Where someone can like something without being the biggest, or first. "Being the first" is still a heavy driver of the gaming industry, however it died for me long ago as no matter how skilled I was someone will have experienced what I did already, so why not wait til it comes down in price?
Of those that have the culture to want stuff, it's even trickier to market with the diversity of desires. Some just want pictures of their own selves (which odds are won't be in an art auction), some just want pictures of their favorite characters (MLP, Sonic, Pokemon, etc), some just want pictures of a particular species (dragons, foxes, kangaroos, etc)... it's rare you have one that wants just good art for good art's sake.
Is it a better time to be a furry consumer then a furry artist? Certainly.