I'm going to show my ignorance of a lot of things, but here goes...

I have a hosting account at hostgator that runs me $7.95/mo. This gives me the ability to host about a terrabyte in storage and many times that in transfer. I've got a paypal account and know how to create a paypal cart for my customers.

Since paypal takes their cut off the top, their charges are of no concern. The cost of hosting is close enough to minimal to be considered nothing.

The big question: Why are stores going broke? The cost of virtual real-estate is darn near nothing, and there is no inventory to house or ship. The only way I can see someone losing money is if they are taking the charges and not immediately paying the artists their cut. Put another way, this 8is as close to a no-overhead business as can be constructed.

If people are trying to make a living this way, that may be another story. In that case, you keep your day job until the store generates an income stream. My own suspicions is that VERY* few artists do this fulltime. I just don't see it being a living. For companies like Vanishing Point, who have a payroll to maintain, I see the problem. Perhaps this never has been something to do full time as the guys over at Poserworld have explained time and again.

I suspect a large portion of the problem is what people choose to offer in their stores. We've already had several posts about there being far too many faeries and other cutesie-poo cartoon characters in the mix. I'd actually pay $50 to see the sales figures for Near Me or Rosy Cheeks Lena for the last three months. Add in the knee-jerk reaction that when things get slow the temptation is to go with "sex sells" and a ton of slutwear gets rushed to market.

Now, at the risk of giving people far more info than they really want, I've never been a big fan of fetish wear of any kind. I think if you want a human being to be sexually alluring, you put them au natural, with a "come-hither' expression. At least that's what does it for me. The clothing are the props I need to get to that point... to flesh out the story. I'm talk that "real" clothing doesn't sell, but upon doing an inventory, that's what I've bought by and large. Yes, My girls have the full compliment of underwear, but I quit buying at three different styles of bras

What I can't get enough of is sets and scenery. I've spent a dollar on that stuff for every dime I've spent on clothing, and I've spent a young fortune on clothing.

So, back to the question... why would poser stores be closing in the bad economy. I would think this would be the kind of backroom business that you'd keep after, since it's all gravy. Have I missed something?