This might be a little bit controversial through the eyes of someone who is not a vendor and attends comic conventions. It is true that the mass majority of turn out to these shows are people wielding highly intricate costumes that they have either made or purchased. These costumes have become a staple of these conventions and are undoubtably amazing to look at. However, in my experience working as a vendor at different conventions the past few years, I have a theory that these cosplayers are going to be the death of the comic selling market.

Let me first state that I am not knocking this art form. It’s a beautiful form of expression and fandom. I do not discount the countless hours that are invested in creation of these costumes nor the detail embedded into every stitch. They are indeed beautiful. My grievance however is that the more that people spend on dressing up, the less that they spend at the actual show.
Tickets for these shows are not cheap. They are limited upon release and they only go up in price from independent dealers. Add to the cost the prices of intricate costumes and you’re looking at almost $500-$1000 worth of expenses before even walking into a convention center. That’s a pretty high price to pay regardless of who you are. A lot of these people then in turn end up waltzing around the show floor mindlessly for hours serving as camera candy. Let me state that it costs an outrageous amount of money to be able to vend on the show floor. After speaking to many different vendors the consensus is about the same, every year we work it’s becoming harder and harder to break even.
I had one little girl dressed up as Inara from Joss Wheadon’s Firefly this year approach the booth. She told me that she had never read a comic book before and wanted a good place to start. I pointed her in the direction of an Avengers comic in attempts to introduce a slough of characters that she would be familiar with. We sat and talked for about 30 minutes and she ended up purchasing the comic and went about her way. She was the only one, out of four days. It’s getting worse and worse every year. When kids in costumes come browse through dollar boxes and can’t purchase dollar comics I think we know we have a problem. In five years this will no longer be considered a trade show. When did comic conventions become costume contests?