I plan on getting a suit eventually, but I will definitely not be spending anywhere close to $10,000 or more. Suits are already a fairly uncommon luxury item at the $3,000 price point. That is a lot of money for the vast majority of furries. I don't think there are a ton of furries out there who can afford to spend much more than that, and even at that price I get the feeling that most are doing some kind of "financing."
I agree that this is a question of supply and demand, but demand will taper off significantly as the price climbs past the "few thousand dollars" point. It is notable in the article that the person who spent $13,500 on this suit already has 2 others and plans to get even another one! They indicated that they didn't think MFY would make a bunny suit up to their standards... FOR $13,500!!!! I have to assume that the person is very wealthy or at least moderately wealthy and ok with throwing around a lot of money on such luxuries. But the main reason why it is notable that the winner already has a few other suits is that this is more of an indication of a passionate base of relatively few cash-heavy customers (compared to the overall furry population) who are essentially "collectors," kind of analogous to collectors of fine art. These types of auctions are kind of a way for those cash-heavy customers to assign value to the art.
It may be that there is some similar intrinsic value to fursuits where they could be sold/traded on the free market like fine art. I know of at least a few friends who have bought other's fursuits because they felt there was some value to it. However, "fine art" is not a business in the same way that selling products and services is a business. Normal businesses flourish because they have simple, predictable pricing structures and a massive base of customers who generally believe they are getting a good deal. Indeed, most of the most successful furry artists I know (not accounting for Patreon, which I think is its own beast) are artists who have a relatively modest pricing structure and enormous bases of customers. There are of course a few exceptions, i.e. artists who charge very high prices and still get regular business. However, again, I think the more we move in that direction, we are getting more toward that "fine art" category, where the customer base is shrinking down to the "collector" level. At that level, the number of successful artists will also taper off because there are only so many collectors to go around.
At the end of the day, I say kudos to MFY for making such an amazing sale. However, I do not think that level of pricing or anything too much above the $3,000 level is sustainable for the general furry population. I think suitmaking will become more profitable as makers invent new ways of making the suits faster, not by prices going up via auctions.
I plan on getting a suit eventually, but I will definitely not be spending anywhere close to $10,000 or more. Suits are already a fairly uncommon luxury item at the $3,000 price point. That is a lot of money for the vast majority of furries. I don't think there are a ton of furries out there who can afford to spend much more than that, and even at that price I get the feeling that most are doing some kind of "financing."
I agree that this is a question of supply and demand, but demand will taper off significantly as the price climbs past the "few thousand dollars" point. It is notable in the article that the person who spent $13,500 on this suit already has 2 others and plans to get even another one! They indicated that they didn't think MFY would make a bunny suit up to their standards... FOR $13,500!!!! I have to assume that the person is very wealthy or at least moderately wealthy and ok with throwing around a lot of money on such luxuries. But the main reason why it is notable that the winner already has a few other suits is that this is more of an indication of a passionate base of relatively few cash-heavy customers (compared to the overall furry population) who are essentially "collectors," kind of analogous to collectors of fine art. These types of auctions are kind of a way for those cash-heavy customers to assign value to the art.
It may be that there is some similar intrinsic value to fursuits where they could be sold/traded on the free market like fine art. I know of at least a few friends who have bought other's fursuits because they felt there was some value to it. However, "fine art" is not a business in the same way that selling products and services is a business. Normal businesses flourish because they have simple, predictable pricing structures and a massive base of customers who generally believe they are getting a good deal. Indeed, most of the most successful furry artists I know (not accounting for Patreon, which I think is its own beast) are artists who have a relatively modest pricing structure and enormous bases of customers. There are of course a few exceptions, i.e. artists who charge very high prices and still get regular business. However, again, I think the more we move in that direction, we are getting more toward that "fine art" category, where the customer base is shrinking down to the "collector" level. At that level, the number of successful artists will also taper off because there are only so many collectors to go around.
At the end of the day, I say kudos to MFY for making such an amazing sale. However, I do not think that level of pricing or anything too much above the $3,000 level is sustainable for the general furry population. I think suitmaking will become more profitable as makers invent new ways of making the suits faster, not by prices going up via auctions.