Quote - What proportion of those who model human figures are women, I wonder?

i really dont think this is it.

why should someone put the same amount (or more) work into a male figure when they know that the most they can shoot for is 1/5th the sales of a comparable female figure?

and this is the answer to all of the weekly Poser forum threads such as:

'Why arent there more nurse shoes in the marketplace?'

'Why is there so much slutwear?'

'Why are the characters in the marketplace idealized? Why arent there more chubby and out of shape characters?'

the simple answer to these and similar questions is because thats what people want. Merchants dont set the trends in the MP - customers do.

Also, the vocal minority who post in these forums represent ~1% of the customer base. Even if every single person who weighed in in a thread asking for nursing flats, muumuus or Peruvian train conductor outfits in the forums actually bought the item when a merchant made it (and they DONT:  when its crunch time its usually 'oh that looks exactly like what i wanted, i added it to my wishlist' or 'ooooh pretty!! ill buy that next month'), its still not even a fraction of the customer base. 

Perhaps in time Renderosity can add some sortof pre-order/wishlist feature where customers can start a request thread for an item and people can click to pre-order. this will give merchants a much clearer idea of how much interest there is and whether its worth it or not to make that item. 

its hard enough starting out as a merchant. you have the decision of catering to the mainstream and swimming upstream against thousands of other merchants doing the same.... or you can swim in a smaller pond and carve out a niche for yourself catering to the alternative 'request' markets, but risk spending weeks making something and experiencing pitiful sales when the people who requested it dont follow through and actually buy it.

making a finished product involves a lot of work. even many people who dabble in 3D dont understand this:  theres many a step between something you model in a 3D app and a finished, packaged, tested and polished product ready for the marketplace.  unless they are independantly wealthy or retired, most merchants - unless theyre attempting to carve out a niche for themselves - cannot afford to spend that much time on a product that will only interest less than a tenth of the market.  if they really want niche products, then customers can help by actually following through and buying - not just wishlisting or complimenting - these products when theyre actually made.