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Answerman - Why Are Anime Conventions So Expensive?

IMO the bigger conventions are pretty much worthless to go to as most seem to (Speaking for the British con scene) have been hijacked by Nintendo or what ever the latest bloody game related thing.

This may or may not be an option for people, but I highly recommend actually volunteering at the conventions themselves. Volunteering means that they give you free admission so that's already saving you the cost of entering. If you're willing to dedicate a few hours of your time for the volunteer work, you're still given plenty of leftover time to walk around the floor, go to booths/panels, buy stuff,

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You don't know how much those younger attendees saved up, for how long, or what their priorities are.

This last part here was the biggest highlight to me in the whole article and reiterates the importance of planning ahead in advance, which I like very much.

I gotta ask this: Do the people running these conventions even grasp the concept of what an "anime" convention is supposed to be about?

Like Justin said, I'm surprised costs haven't gone up more at my local convention. However, I have noticed that registration has changed so that the cheaper pre-registration deadline is much earlier than it used to be. Some of that, I'm sure, is to save the staff the trouble of dealing with a rush of paperwork and payments too close to the convention, but the added price of "at-the-door" registration can't hurt. They've also gone to a system where your per-registration cost goes up between certain dates, so you have to commit pretty early to save on the registration.

I'd like to point out that compared to similar events in the business world Anime conventions are actually surprisingly cheap.

I travel to many conventions on business, usually related to either manufacturing/machining, or the plastics industry. Like an Anime con they rent space in major hotels or convention centers. The admission fees are easily as high, if not higher, than my experience with attending anime cons.

This may or may not be an option for people, but I highly recommend actually volunteering at the conventions themselves. Volunteering means that they give you free admission so that's already saving you the cost of entering. If you're willing to dedicate a few hours of your time for the volunteer work, you're still given plenty of leftover time to walk around the floor, go to booths/panels, buy stuff, etc.

I've volunteered at Pittsburgh's Tekkoshocon twice already and plan on doing so a third time when it comes back next year. They even gave me a free second pass that I could give to someone, which I did. The work itself really isn't that difficult. Hours are flexible and you can choose where you want to be stationed. Give it a shot. It can actually be pretty fun at times too.

Very interesting. I had the opposite experience here in the US. Going to a mid-size con (A-Kon), I was disappointed that the dealer's room was half American comic books and one-quarter video games. I think there were a lot of sci-fi toys too. (not that I have anything against any of that, but what are they doing at an Anime con?). The guest list featured a handful of little-known American comic artists and the American dub voice actors for minor characters. Who wants to see any of that? Fast forward to Anime Expo. The guest list is over two dozen people flown in from Japan. Very important, big-name artists, directors, voice talent. Dealers room is 99% Anime goods. Totally different.

^ Maybe some people don't like to shop online.


Reading some of the comments here, I gotta ask this: Do the people running these conventions even grasp the concept of what an "anime" convention is supposed to be about? It's theme is supposed to be the nitty gritty: Anime and Manga. Not random western produced stuff like "Halo" or "Futurama"(Really? In an anime convention?).

Well, at least the local conventions I go here in the state I live in are about anime and they are not half bad for local conventions.

What does confuse me, is how I've seen some people go to a con, plan to be there for more than a few hours (going to be there for the full day/weekend), and only bring less than $50 total (if even that). Bonus points if they spend all of that money within that first hour. But if someone wants to do that, I won't stop them.
(I'm not talking about someone that is on a budget, literally can't bring more money for important reasons, young teenager on limited funds, ect.)

Um that must be an American convention thing, I've never heard of a UK con letting you in for free for gophering/volunteering they have to pay full price too. Amecon has had discounts for former panel hosts for their next Ame for a few years now but I have never heard of registration being free for Gophers. That being said I can't speak for all UK conventions either.

My theory is that they do understand that, but it can be hard to assemble a panel of dealers (or guests) that are 100% anime-related, so they take the easier route and pick a few kinda-sorta-related guests as well. Or, due to budgetary concerns they go with the lower-hanging-fruit. It's much easier (and cheaper) to get the American dub actor for Shinji Ikari than it is to bring over Anno himself.

And the flipside happens too: I have attended many a "comic con" where you find plenty of sports cards, CCGs, Star Trek & Star Wars stuff, toys, video games, role playing stuff (D&D, etc.), and yes, even Anime goods too.

While I would agree it's easier to get Spike Spencer than Hideaki Anno,

And as a dub person, I'm more interested in the English-language voice actors anyway.

yurihellsing wrote:

IMO the bigger conventions are pretty much worthless to go to as most seem to (Speaking for the British con scene) have been hijacked by Nintendo or what ever the latest bloody game related thing.

May I ask which cons do you mean, I've personally never bothered with MCM Expo because people have warned me it's basically one big dealers room and, well I can’t be bothered to drag myself to London or Birmingham for that.

Um that must be an American convention thing, I've never heard of a UK con letting you in for free for gophering/volunteering they have to pay full price too.

Hotel/Lodging and Food/Drink are probably more expensive then both the cost of admission and the Dealers/Artist Alley expenditures combined..
Where the con takes place can make these costs rise dramatically.. As an example.. My last venture to Otakon was 2012.. Hotel costs alone where 2x the costs of AX2012 mostly because of location and what the going rates are geographically.