#creature suits

We’re also changing the way we handle slots and work on commissions. This will apply to everyone interested in working with us in the future, so we would recommend reading further if you’d ever like to commission us!

Up until this point, CFStudios has made roughly two fullsuits a month, with scheduled work months per project that are contracted into each slot. We operated with hard monthly due dates to give customers some peace of mind that their projects had an end in sight. This works great in theory, but in practice, so much time has been lost in communication limbo – people have jobs after all, you can’t be on your phone 24/7 – that we will be changing this model. We have also greatly improved the quality of our product and continue to do so more rapidly than we book slots, so many of our slots and contracted due dates don’t account for the extra time our increased quality takes to produce. We don’t want to rush anyone’s projects and feel this is the best solution!

For all future commissions placed with us, we will be using a batch model and giving completion estimates rather than working on one costume at a time with a hard due date. Starting with a second planned opening in January of 2019, we plan to open 3-4 times a year.  During each opening we will accept applications for one week, and we plan to take 2-3 fullsuit slots, 1-2 partial, piece, weapon / armor, or fantasy costume slots, and 2-3 small order slots. Pre-designed adoptable slots will be included in these numbers, and will be offered up as guaranteed acceptance slots alongside custom orders. These orders will be worked on nebulously throughout the next 3-4 months. That way if one person needs a few days to think about a decision, we can work on another person’s costume and not lose any time. We have some pretty extreme response time requirements in our current model, and we think this change will help alleviate some pressure on the customer’s end. 

Halfway through our current batch we will open for the next batch’s slots. Unfortunately this does mean that we can no longer take long-term payment plans, and clients will need to make all their payments within 1.5-2 months of slot acceptance (if they didn’t pay upfront.) The good news is we’re hoping that with this new business model it won’t make a difference! If you want to commission us but need a payment plan, put those payments into a savings account and contact us during one of our slot openings. We will be opening 3-4 times a year for the foreseeable future so there’s no reason you couldn’t still get a slot! We would like to be more inclusive to those who need longer payment plans and are currently considering options that allow for a few of them a year while still fitting with our new business model. We will update everyone accordingly if we find a way for this to work, but for now you should plan to have to pay in full.

When a batch is finished, everyone should have gotten their photoshoots and will have their costumes in the mail. Ideally we will be finishing orders before the end of a batch, but we wanted to transition to more open-ended due dates in case of emergencies, slow communication, or in case we need to alter or fix something. Each batch will also have a premade suit or new inventory experiment attached to it; we really like making premades for you guys but don’t have any time with our current business model! We also don’t have time to experiment with new items (like kigus, stickers, new plushies, new construction methods or suit offerings, etc.) and are hoping this change will allow us some time to continue to improve.

All of our current contracted slots (now through March of 2019) will remain unaffected by this change, and will have their slots worked on according to our old business model. If this doesn’t end up working out for us we’ll definitely consider going back to the way things were, but for now it’s something we’d really like to try. Since this model has not been implemented yet there are still lots of things that will come down to trial and error, so we ask you to bear with us in the meantime! These changes will not go into effect until January of 2019; we are beginning our batch model with our June slots, but will be taking a six month opening hiatus to shorten our queue and will not be working on them until April 2019 due to previously contracted commissions. Our current queue length is actually the reason we’re only taking two slots; we desperately want to shorten it and hate that some people have to wait over a year for their costumes, so we’re taking as few slots as possible until our queue is at a reliable 6-8 months.

Finally, to support this batch model, keep up with inflation, and address our growing quality and skill levels, we have recently raised our prices. Our website’s price guide has been updated as well; we would recommend checking it out! We are back open for quotes and these quotes will be good through our June application opening. You will still need to submit an application form to be considered, but your quote should not have changed (unless we find something new to offer and you want on board!) And as always, $30+ patrons will get first access to our adoptable slots and premade auctions when we open for them!