The cosplay economy is one that has a far reaching impact because it encompasses many aspects of the study of cosplay and its impact globally.  The study of the cosplay economy involves economics of course, as well the use (and interactions on) social media, and fandom. 

The cosplay economy is built on fandoms.  The fandoms come from the fandom of the properties and the personal fandoms that form around individual cosplayers, cosplay groups, photographers/videographers, and by extension the events that have featured cosplayers, whether these be conventions, nightlife, and other types of events.  Furthermore, this applies to the growing rise in sponsored cosplayers, who become a form of celebrity endorsers for the products, along with the individual items that are sold through storefronts such as Storenvy, Bigcartel, Etsy, and so on.  (This is before the various commissions offered.)

Sponsored cosplay has been on the rise.  It has gone from cosplay-interest companies such as wig stores to content providers such as game and comics companies. Because of the fandom of these cosplayers their products are given a higher profile and more notoriety than if they were not.  In cases such as “Lollipop Chainsaw,” it solidified the cosplay career of Jessica Nigri.  In the case of Yaya Han having her own comic from “Lion Forge” increased the profile of the “Lion Forge” comics brand and gave Yaya another piece in an expanding multimedia empire. There are plenty of examples and it is increasing.

Individual cosplayers have not been the only ones to benefit because as the popularity of cosplayers there have been an increase in the number of small media as well larger budget shows such as “Call to Cosplay” on the Crunchyroll platform and “Heroes of Cosplay” on the Syfy cable network.  These shows have also had a large impact on the cosplay economy.

With cosplay being televised in a mostly positive fashion, it increased the influence and acceptance of cosplay. However, it also had a negative impact on the photographers whose images were used without permission or compensation by the show and network. In addition, the show’s producers and network did not attempt to pay for images being used instead attempted to get complete usage free in the contracts that they used.  (I was contacted for the use of my images for “Heroes of Cosplay” and have the contract itself.) For the individual cosplayers it has also provided them with another reason for them to be booked as reality show celebrities at the aforementioned events, and highly increased their profile. Cosplay being televised in a mostly positive fashion, it increased the influence and acceptance of cosplay. However, it also had a negative impact on the photographers whose images were used without permission or compensation by the show and network.

In addition, the show’s producers and network did not attempt to pay for images being used instead attempted to get complete usage free in the contracts that they used.  (I was contacted for the use of my images for “Heroes of Cosplay” and have the contract itself.) For the individual cosplayers it has also provided them with another reason for them to be booked as reality show celebrities at the aforementioned events, and highly increased their profile.

There is also the rise of the 18+ cosplay economy, mostly meaning cosplay and adult content, such as softcore imagery to full hardcore pornography.  These come from individual fans, to small producers/networks, to some of the larger adult studios.  These have all the same concepts as the non-18+ cosplay economy with the addition various 18+ content that is also sold through the same and additional storefronts such as Clips4Sale, and the membership networks for their personal and/or network websites.  There are also an increasing amount of models who work in the 18+ cosplay economy.  In addition there is the concept of “donation sets” which money is transferred through PayPal for sets of photos, not actual prints, the digital files. Or for buying various items off of Amazon wishlists.  (The wishlists also exist for the non-18+ cosplay economy but in these cases, physical items are usually sent.)

With few exceptions, almost all the cosplay economy is based of profits from works that are usually owned by usually larger corporations such as Marvel, DC, and various gaming and anime companies. This is a very big discussion topic.