How do TS porn studios make money despite rampant piracy?

[grkm]

-demand for TS porn is relatively small
-subscription fees for most TS porn studios are cheap
-piracy is rampant

So how do you even make money if you're running a TS porn studio with these challenges? Just curious, I hope I'm not breaking any rules with this post.

[filghy2]

Probably the cost of production is low enough that you don't need huge sales to make a profit. Grooby and a few other producers keep making new trans porn, so there must be enough consumers willing to pay for it.

Grooby Steven may have answered similar questions is his 'ask me anything' thread. I'm not sure how regularly he monitors this forum now that participation has fallen so low.

[GroobySteven]

Bit of a strange question - and the answer - both filled with incorrect information.

Whole demand for TS porn is relatively small, there aren't many studios catering to it and those who do buy, tend to stay members (within our ecosystem at least) for a long time. Membership fees are not cheap - we charge $45 a month on most sites which is more than most cis porn sites, but we do deliver more updates than most paysites, the long term options get significantly cheaper (per month) as it helps us budget. Piracy is much lower than it ever was, especially with most of the big tube sites cleaning up their acts over the last few years. Sure, if you really want to search out the free content, and don't care on the quality then you'll find it, but those who want to the most up to date scenes, delivered multiple times a week, and who don't have the time and energy to go searching for it, know that if they're a member of one of our sites, not only are they getting new content regularly, but the whole back catalogue is available.
It's not easy to make money - but it isn't for any porn studios - we spend a fortune on productions/shoots, and then have lots of other bills in hosting, software, billing, and everything that goes with running a business, but running a good business with good content, and making sure you are maximising your income via licensing, reselling (through places like ManyVids, or Faphouse) brings the income up. We also repackage content for those who don't mind older content (Tgirlsex.xxx, bobs-tgirls.com, transgasm.com) or release it as scenes (GroobyOD.com).

I've no idea where you get the notion 'the cost of production' is low enough. It's not. We spend well over $1.5M a year on content production. The margins are slim, but we run an honest and ethical business which keeps many of the girls working, and lowering the amount of shoots we do a year, would affect the overall ecosystem that we need to keep bringing new models in, and keep the paying members happy.

@grkm - which sites have you paid for?

[steviedresses]

Thanks for honest answer and delivering a great product.

For those who have never ran a business.... it's tough. Extremely tough. The rewards can be great but you have to work your ass of and watch every frigging penny.

Thanks again GroobySteven.

[GroobySteven]

Thanks for honest answer and delivering a great product.

For those who have never ran a business.... it's tough. Extremely tough. The rewards can be great but you have to work your ass of and watch every frigging penny.

Thanks again GroobySteven.

Absolutely - anyone who runs any business knows the work that needs putting in, but if you love doing it then it's a passion. I love going to work. Last year (2025) was the toughest in our history though, mainly having to deal with all the new regulations coming in from age verification which meant we have to convert up to 30 years of tours, across 20 sites to safe for work, which was a huge amount of man hours (cost with no reward) and then the ongoing issue with banks/credit cards forcing the adult industry into what they want (more man hours wasted), that's the stuff I loathe to do.

Thankfully this year, we're more about building and getting the sites and the content improved (which we do as usual each year). With Grooby 30 by 30 (see on another thread), the Queer Prom, and working with Domino on a new DVD release, helping Blake get hers out, and everything else we do - but fun stuff (cost and reward).

We're lucky as a company as the foundations were built during different times. If we were trying to launch now, and try to find all these models to work with us it would be impossible. It's even hard to find fresh producers despite trying (how come we've never had an Aussie for years, we've been hunting in Europe/UK and East Coast of US.