# Partial fursuit cost



## RadioactiveRedFox (Nov 26, 2012)

How much would a good partial fursuit with head, paws, tail and feet cost. I just want an estimate at this point, I'm not ready commission one yet.


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## Brazen (Nov 26, 2012)

I got the head for $40, the trick is to pick animals that nobody goes for in the fandom.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Nov 26, 2012)

Is it a fox by any chance, I probably should have specified the I want fox fursuit before.


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## Brazen (Nov 26, 2012)

RadioactiveRedFox said:


> Is it a fox by any chance, I probably should have specified the I want fox fursuit before.



No, you'd probably have to fork out more for that.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Nov 26, 2012)

Darn, thanks though


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## Validuz (Nov 29, 2012)

Oh wow. Really? The fursuiter i'm intrested in sells partials for about a 1000$ :X
But that's a really wellmade one with moving jaw and the whole shibbang! :3


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## jorinda (Dec 3, 2012)

It depends on the artist. You can get a partial for 250 $, or spend up to 2000 $.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Dec 3, 2012)

I wonder if the cheaper ones would be of good quality though. I might yet decide to try my hand at building my own fursuit given the cost issue and my impatience.


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## Teal (Dec 3, 2012)

I built my partial and it cost $100 and that was with cheap crappy fur used and every item used being onsale.


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## Trpdwarf (Dec 3, 2012)

RadioactiveRedFox said:


> I wonder if the cheaper ones would be of good quality though. I might yet decide to try my hand at building my own fursuit given the cost issue and my impatience.



I feel obligated to post here. The answer to your question is no. The cheaper ones tend to not be of good quality. For the past several years I have been behind the scenes running Anthrocon's Headless Zone. Basically this is a place for people to desuit, cool off, and hydrate. One of the things that we run in that room is a repair station. I spent half of my time this past Anthrocon repairing poorly put together suits that people commissioned from "cheap makers". They went with these people because their prices were significantly cheaper than many others. Now of course they are sad that they didn't go ahead and wait a few months and save the money to afford a more standard price. This has been a growing issue I see every year since I started. More and more people com in with brand new and already busted up suits because they choose to go with those who were the most "cheap".

That is not to say that people who don't charge much cannot offer good quality. All new makers start somewhere and some people do overcharge too much. However, currently as demand goes up, and the economy continues to struggle there has been an over-saturation of "New makers" offering "low prices". People think they are getting a deal but really,often they are getting scammed. These people are "Cheap" for a reason. So the caution is there, if you go with someone who is "cheap" do your research and look at their examples. See if you can find other past customers and talk to them.

EDITed multiple times because I really want to impress the seriousness of going cheap. I hate seeing people scammed.


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## Fallowfox (Dec 3, 2012)

I suppose it's the age old mantra, if a deal sounds too good to be true...it probably is.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Dec 3, 2012)

Trpdwarf said:


> I feel obligated to post here. The answer to your question is no. The cheaper ones tend to not be of good quality. For the past several years I have been behind the scenes running Anthrocon's Headless Zone. Basically this is a place for people to desuit, cool off, and hydrate. One of the things that we run in that room is a repair station. I spent half of my time this past Anthrocon repairing poorly put together suits that people commissioned from "cheap makers". They went with these people because their prices were significantly cheaper than many others. Now of course they are sad that they didn't go ahead and wait a few months and save the money to afford a more standard price. This has been a growing issue I see every year since I started. More and more people com in with brand new and already busted up suits because they choose to go with those who were the most "cheap".
> 
> That is not to say that people who don't charge much cannot offer good quality. All new makers start somewhere and some people do overcharge too much. However, currently as demand goes up, and the economy continues to struggle there has been an over-saturation of "New makers" offering "low prices". People think they are getting a deal but really,often they are getting scammed. These people are "Cheap" for a reason. So the caution is there, if you go with someone who is "cheap" do your research and look at their examples. See if you can find other past customers and talk to them.



That's what I figured the case would be. That's why I didn't really even consider going with the cheap option, quality is always worth the extra money. Now I am aware that if I decide to build my own it probably wont compare with high quality ones but at least I'll be in control of how well built it is.


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## Trpdwarf (Dec 3, 2012)

RadioactiveRedFox said:


> That's what I figured the case would be. That's why I didn't really even consider going with the cheap option, quality is always worth the extra money. Now I am aware that if I decide to build my own it probably wont compare with high quality ones but at least I'll be in control of how well built it is.



That's a good thing. Cheaper is not better in the costume world. More people need to realize this.

Sometimes building it yourself really is the best way to go especially if you have the budget for it. When people build their own and end up happy with it usually they not only take the time to do research for good tutorials but the are also willing to do it a couple of times. If you really want your first or second time to work you find honest people willing to give constructive criticism and you take that criticism to heart so you can improve. Also budget properly. You can go completely cheap your first time to get a feel for it. I often suggest plastic mesh as a good beginner course. Get into the habit of shaping things like heads and sewing things like tails and hands out of cheap material.

Then spend your good budget on better materials so that if you graduate to something like the nylon hood based method you already got down the basics. Having your cheap run go through critique is always very useful.

EDIT: Honestly if you do commission I would budget between 400-500 for a starter budget. That is if you commission. Again I am assuming with natural fox colors, red, white, black or orange, white black. There are people out there that can give you good quality for that.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Dec 3, 2012)

Trpdwarf said:


> That's a good thing. Cheaper is not better in the costume world. More people need to realize this.
> 
> Sometimes building it yourself really is the best way to go especially if you have the budget for it. When people build their own and end up happy with it usually they not only take the time to do research for good tutorials but the are also willing to do it a couple of times. If you really want your first or second time to work you find honest people willing to give constructive criticism and you take that criticism to heart so you can improve. Also budget properly. You can go completely cheap your first time to get a feel for it. I often suggest plastic mesh as a good beginner course. Get into the habit of shaping things like heads and sewing things like tails and hands out of cheap material.
> 
> ...



Cheaper is often not better with anything.

I'll definitely keep that in mind should I decide to try to build it, better to learn with cheap materials than the good stuff.

$400-500 sounds better for my budget, any suggestions on who to go to?


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## Trpdwarf (Dec 3, 2012)

RadioactiveRedFox said:


> Cheaper is often not better with anything.
> 
> I'll definitely keep that in mind should I decide to try to build it, better to learn with cheap materials than the good stuff.
> 
> $400-500 sounds better for my budget, any suggestions on who to go to?



Depends really. Sometimes in some areas used is just as good as new and used is cheap. On topic though we do have a list of maker: http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/116265-List-of-fursuit-makers
You can stroll through there and do some look at prices. All the people in that list have examples and it's a matter of finding a person who is open and in your budget. Anyone though who is really really well known such as Artslave, Beastcub, Scribble-Fox, etc are likely to not be in your budget.

For what it is worth I would do something like a fox partial somewhere in that budget but a little higher (not much). Note me if the thought ever interests you. Slots are open for the beginning of the year.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Dec 3, 2012)

Trpdwarf said:


> Depends really. Sometimes in some areas used is just as good as new and used is cheap. On topic though we do have a list of maker: http://forums.furaffinity.net/threads/116265-List-of-fursuit-makers
> You can stroll through there and do some look at prices. All the people in that list have examples and it's a matter of finding a person who is open and in your budget. Anyone though who is really really well known such as Artslave, Beastcub, Scribble-Fox, etc are likely to not be in your budget.
> 
> For what it is worth I would do something like a fox partial somewhere in that budget but a little higher (not much). Note me if the thought ever interests you. Slots are open for the beginning of the year.



Where can I see some of your work?


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## Deo (Dec 3, 2012)

New posters, meet Brazen. His "fursuit" is a SAW pig mask. So no, you can't have a cheap fursuit.

Most partials are around $400-700, considering the head alone is $300+.


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## Trpdwarf (Dec 3, 2012)

RadioactiveRedFox said:


> Where can I see some of your work?



On my FA. If you look under my avatar there is a paw.  Click that paw and it will take you to my FA page. Also remember we have a lot of tutorials in our stickies so be sure to check them out if you decide to look into possibly making it yourself.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Dec 3, 2012)

Trpdwarf said:


> On my FA. If you look under my avatar there is a paw.  Click that paw and it will take you to my FA page. Also remember we have a lot of tutorials in our stickies so be sure to check them out if you decide to look into possibly making it yourself.



So that's what that is for, now I feel stupid. I'll let you know if I decide to commission, hopefully it wont be to far in the future.


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## Dreaming (Dec 3, 2012)

From what I hear it costs US$300 average to make the head, so it depends on how much of a profit the artist is after really. A fox you're after? The materials and colors aren't that complex... you could be in luck =P


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## GreenManticore (Dec 5, 2012)

I've often wondered how some of the 'cheap' makers even manage to cover their costs.

I stumbled across someone offering to make someone a full suit with digi-padding for $600.

$600?  I'd probably struggle to make one for that, let alone covering the time taken.


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## Validuz (Dec 5, 2012)

Trpdwarf said:


> That's a good thing. Cheaper is not better in the costume world. More people need to realize this.



/thread  I've always been one to shovle forth a bit of extra coin to make sure what i get is actually good. I'd much rather painfully save up to something really amazing. Than to take what i got and buy something 'now!'.


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## RadioactiveRedFox (Dec 5, 2012)

Validuz said:


> /thread  I've always been one to shovle forth a bit of extra coin to make sure what i get is actually good. I'd much rather painfully save up to something really amazing. Than to take what i got and buy something 'now!'.



That makes two of us. Buying cheap crap often is more expensive in the end anyways because you end up spending all the money you saved and then some on constant repairs, so in other words quality is always worth the extra money, it looks better to.


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## Trpdwarf (Dec 5, 2012)

GreenManticore said:


> I've often wondered how some of the 'cheap' makers even manage to cover their costs.
> 
> I stumbled across someone offering to make someone a full suit with digi-padding for $600.
> 
> $600?  I'd probably struggle to make one for that, let alone covering the time taken.


The people who make suits for cheap are usually in one of two scenarios. One they are cutting corners really badly and using the absolute cheapest material and/or doing the absolute min amount of labor. This is how I found myself hand stitching popping seams because someone used weak thread, or a bad seam (or a bare min seam, or no reinforcing when needed). This is how I find myself trying to figure out how to fix fur glued over fur, seams glued and now pulling apart because hot glue is not how you put your seams together.

This is why so many brand new foot paws came into the place falling completely apart. This is why random holes start appearing all over people's heads. This is why eyes were collapsing on themselves due to being made out of paper. I could go on and on and on. Another scenario is that a person made a really well made personal suit that they spent a lot of time on and then thought that they were good enough to start making for others. This is where badly made suits come out of people experimenting with other people's money because they have yet to really do enough work to be consistent and really know what they doing and or they do it too fast.

But I think I beat the dead horse enough. If you want to get a suit, don't want to make it yourself, and don't want to pay an arm and a leg research research research. It makes me happy to see people popping up who realize this :3


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## Ozriel (Dec 5, 2012)

RadioactiveRedFox said:


> That makes two of us. Buying cheap crap often is more expensive in the end anyways because you end up spending all the money you saved and then some on constant repairs, so in other words quality is always worth the extra money, it looks better to.



Buying a fursuit in some ways is like buying a car. Cheaper vehicles need more work and effort going into it and may cost more in the long run to replacce certain parts or restore it fully.

At the same time, it doesn't mean that an expensive suit will be without flaws as well. There are a few known makers that have the same issues with their seams and things that a novice maker does on a regular basis. I won't name drop them out of consideration.


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## GreenManticore (Dec 6, 2012)

Fur glued to fur?

Glue used to hold seam?

Paper eyes?!

Eek. 

That being said, parts I've ordered from people have had similar problems, be it on a smaller scale. That was back in the naive days when I had no idea of the importance of researching your maker. Got a couple of pieces for a costume comparatively cheaply. One pair did not fit the wearer and tore up one side, the other had the claws fly off a few hours into a weekend event far from civilization without the expertise of someone to do repairs, or even any glue or a sewing kit, so my character spent much of the event walking around with their hands wrapped in tape and bandaids from my bag. 

In all fairness the maker was very apologetic and offered free repairs, I don't think it was intentionally cutting corners, but I think they just lacked experience and made some mistakes in construction. Still on the future if I wanted something constructed for me, I'd probably go with someone with a few well-received projects under their belt.


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## jorinda (Dec 7, 2012)

I don't mean to insult the person who made these, but as long as such fursuits can be used as commission examples...I keep wondering whether people care about quality at all, or if they just see "It has fur, it is cheap, so let's buy it". 









Yes, these are actually used to sell commissions on furbuy.


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## Ozriel (Dec 7, 2012)

People like that feed on the mentality that people will buy it because most are desperate for a suit.


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## GreenManticore (Dec 7, 2012)

Aesthetics aside, those both look on the verge of collapse.

I can understand that appearance-wise people may have different standards, but I don't think anyone wants a suit where the nose falls off halfway through an event.


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## Brazen (Dec 7, 2012)

Deo said:


> New posters, meet Brazen. His "fursuit" is a SAW pig mask. So no, you can't have a cheap fursuit.



And it's still better than 99% of the stuff made in the fandom.

You guys need to learn the value of mass-production, handcrafted goods have been beaten out by the assembly line a few centuries ago. I would be honestly interested in seeing someone decide to build a fursuit by negotiating with some Chinese factory that makes halloween costumes, no doubt they have enough scraps to put something together that looks better than what most furries wear. Would probably be cheaper too.

Or fuck, just buy a werewolf costume and paint it rainbow colours.


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## Toshabi (Dec 7, 2012)

Op, just be like every gamer fur, go to a good will store, buy a blue/red ugly suit and pants, carve face holes in a beanie, slap your (actually, just search for a better fox furry picture on fa) characters face on a piece of cardboard, tie it around your face and say you're a spy. That should cost you less than 20 bucks while giving you the same effect of having a murrsuit, since everyone will just make pretend that ur actually wearing one of those vile things.


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