In recent years, there has been a growing interest among vendors, convention organizers, and those marketing products to furries in the spending habits of furries. In light of this, we asked participants to estimate how much money they had spent in the past 12 months on a number of different furry-related categories1. The results are provided below in US dollars, both as average and median values. Given that the data were skewed by a small number of participants who had spent significantly more money than most furries, both the mean (average) and median (“middle value”, unaffected by extreme scores) values are displayed.
In the last 12 months, how much money have you spent on furry…
| Item | Mean | Median |
| Physical art / commissions | $113.46 | $16.50 |
| Digital art / commissions | $175.11 | $40.00 |
| Erotic content | $78.00 | $0.00 |
| Online sponsor pages
(e.g., Patreon) |
$55.48 | $0.00 |
| Conventions | $1007.30 | $540.00 |
| Paraphernalia (e.g., ears, tails) | $440.91 | $50.00 |
An important caveat when interpreting these responses is that they were taken from participants who were attending a furry convention. As such, it is conceivable that they have a greater amount of expendable income (or are more willing to spend money on furry-related activities) than non-convention-going furries, or responses were weighted toward in-person spending opportunities.
It is also worth noting that furries spend considerably more money on digital artwork than on physical artwork, a trend consistent with anecdotal evidence provided by artists during artist-themed focus groups in previous studies. When looking both at median and mean values, it would seem that most of the money furries spend on artwork does not appear to be on erotic-themed content. It also seems that most furries do not commonly use subscription services such as Patreon to support artists, although an exclusively online study conducted later showed higher levels of support through this platform (see below). Finally, it seems that conventions and furry-related paraphernalia make up the bulk of furry purchases – hardly surprising given the expenses associated with both traveling to a convention and with big-ticket items like fursuits.
In a broader, international online study of furry spending patterns, participants were asked to estimate their lifetime spending on furry-related content across sixteen categories, reporting both their total expenditures and the most they’d spent on a single purchase from that category. For each category we calculated the median (middle value), the mean (average), the mean score excluding participants who had never made a purchase in that category, and the percentage of participants who had made a purchase in a given category. All values were converted to $USD before the analysis was conducted.
Participants in an online survey2 were asked about the frequency with which they made furry-related purchases that they regretted, shouldn’t have made, or which led to financial problems, showing that, overall, furries did not regret their furry-related purchases:
Digital and traditional art commissions make up one of the largest categories of furry-related purchases,3 with most furries commissioning art a total of 6-10 times or more.
Most commonly, these are purchases furries make for themselves; 85% of furries say they always or usually commission furry content for themselves, while about 5% say they always or usually commission furry content for another person. 38.3% of furries say they rarely or never consult with others for suggestions when looking to commission an artist; in contrast, only 13.9% of furries say they frequently or always consult with others before looking to commission an artist. The majority of commissions are negotiated online, although a large number of commissions are still made in person.
| Communication Channel/Site: | % Using for Commissions: |
| Furaffinity | 51.1% |
| 47.8% | |
| In Person/Conventions | 36.6% |
| Other Website | 26.5% |
| Patreon | 9.7% |
| DeviantArt | 9.3% |
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