5 Ways to make money as a Cosplayer
OnlyFans Cosplayers have a wide range of opportunities to monetize their hobby, and thanks to the internet era, much more options were added to the table! You will find 5 Ways to make money as a Cosplayer in this article. But in Hubite, there’s much more!
In our blog, you will find that we created another article on How to earn money as a Cosplayer, where we go into much detail about the industry and how to start your own Cosplay business.
But don’t forget to complete the read with our awesome Cosplayer e-book, where all of your doubts about being a Cosplayer will be solved, and you will have all the tools to start earning money as a Cosplayer right away.
How much can a Cosplayer make?
Each Cosplay business we are about to show you have a good potential to give you profit since they have great demand and are not that complex to realize.
However, to help you understand the reality of this industry at the moment, we would like to show you an investigation about it.
According to Allied Market Research, the global Cosplay industry in 2020 was valued at $4.62 billion and is expected to hit $23 billion by 2030. Needless to say that this is fantastic news! Because it means that it will not slow down any time soon, and you are not too late to jump into the bus.
Just keep in mind that the potential of each business varies. You can read more about the Cosplay business in this article. If we had to pick one from the easiest to monetize to the hardest:
We would say that subscription-based platforms and opening your own shop are the most likable to give you the most profit in the shortest amount of time. While being a panelist or guest at a convention would be the hardest one.
We will explain much more about these in the rest of the article.
Traditional ways to earn money
These are the methods that have given money to cosplayers all over since Cosplay started to be a thing. We wanted to separate them from the “new era” ones because the path to success with them is a little bit different.
It will require an extra effort to be present at most conventions and meetings possible, making it relatively harder for some.
- Signing up for Cosplay Contests.
This must be the most common event in conventions, from the smallest ones to the largest. In these contests, a jury will judge the craftsmanship of the Cosplay and give points accordingly.
Cosplay competitions are always there, with plenty of contestants showing off their work to earn first place. And what happens to the first place? They get compensated with a monetary prize.
To be honest, this prize, in most cases, is not that significant. It might only cover the costs of the actual Cosplay sometimes, but if you pride yourself on your skills for creating costumes, you might want to sign up for larger competitions that will give you juicier prizes!
Even if this comes out like a side hustle to you, it is a great way to make some cash while just exhibiting your creation.
2. Making paid appearances at conventions.
Being so famous that you get money only for signing photos or judging Cosplay competitions is a dream for many cosplayers, but we must warn you, this might be the most complicated way to do so.
First of all, you need to build your presence at conventions, which means that before getting recognized, you must work your way up there and have your own community cheering you behind.
This alone is challenging, but you will have different monetization options if you manage to do it. As we mentioned, you could be a guest, which means that your sole appearance at the convention will be rewarded.
It might also include being a judge at a contest, as we mentioned, or signing prints or photos. And then you have the booth cosplayers, who get paid to attend them since many people will gather in booths with famous (or not so famous) cosplayers.
3. Sell your photos, prints, and merchandise.
And the last option is one of the most common ways Cosplayers make money. Fans love prints, posters, and anything their favorite cosplayer has to offer.
It seems like conventions tend to excite people into a buying mindset, so you can take advantage of that excitement by having your own booth.
Some other items you can think about if you want to sell more merchandise would be calendars, t-shirts, sweaters, mugs, and even notebooks. Possibilities are endless; just try not to order tons of stock if you are not sure yet.
If people would love to get their hands on everything you are selling, it is best to start small and slowly get there.
New era methods to earn money
- Join a subscription-based platform
These are so popular right now. Subscription-based platforms have given a lot of control over Content Creators since they don’t need to be invited to any convention or sign a contract with a store to profit from their charm and charisma.
The only third party required will be the platform you decide to use!
Luckily for you, there are enough platforms for you to try, and if you are interested in creating adult content, we will show you how to create your OnlyFans account and give you plenty of tips to start your journey.
If that is not your case, remember Patreon or Ko-Fi are also great options. We highly recommend you to try One Master Link, too, because it has a feature that allows you to sell PPV and share all of your links in one place, making monetization easier.
2. Create a channel for entertainment or educational purposes
Another prominent aspect of this internet era is that you can find information about pretty much anything and a whole community around it.
In the Cosplay world, you can see Creators doing so many different things that it is safe to assure that everything will work if you are in Cosplay.
From gameplays to watching anime live and teaching people how you created that Misa Amane dress, there will always be something to share and an audience that will love to hear it.
In this case, we suggest using YouTube or Twitch. Twitch has some great monetization features that allow making A LOT of money in a single live session, and YouTube is the most widely spread platform between the two, where people will be more likely to find you.
There are more ways for you to earn money cosplaying. If you want to check them out, take a look at our infography 5 ways to make a money as a Cosplayer. You will get some of the best online methods to make a living from your Cosplays.
How to make your Cosplay business work
After you pick your type of Cosplay business or some combination of ways, you will only be left with creating a marketing strategy that allows people to find you. Luckily, that is where socials are the most powerful because they will provide you with a channel widely spread to promote your business for free.
To help you understand them, we have developed many OnlyFans platform guides focused on teaching you how to take advantage of the most important social media platforms and find people interested in you there. You can also find our ebook: How to make money as a Cosplayer.