Aside from hormones/surgery, transitioning used to be almost free. Sometimes it was just the cost of materials and shipping, but often not.

The trans community has a long history of providing for and supporting each other to realise and express ourselves, because no one else was

In the 90s/00s there were trans support zines that were free, you just covered postage and materials. In the back were ads for people giving away binders they no longer needed or had extra of - all hand-sewn. I had a pair delivered for free, they were so happy to support me.

Local support groups would clothes swap, mascs and femmes would excitedly trade fashions/work attire, never haggle over making it an equal trade or police which type of trans got to wear specific clothing. Giving away makeup to people who actually wanted it? Priceless.

You used to be able to find how-to guides everywhere, on how to make your own binders, packers etc in the easiest way with the cheapest materials. I have an STP an older transmasc made for us out of medicine spoons, for free. I've instructed many how to do similar, for free.

You can still find the guides, but they're less prevalent now you can buy everything. Including underwear with built-in harnesses. Funny how transmascs who made these cheap and gave out this info for free got take-down notices from a certain brand that started making them one day

Support groups used to ban any advertising of ANY product, because that info can be found elsewhere and we're a group very vulnerable to being taken advantage of with products that claim to solve our dysphorias. Suddenly, we were a profitable market desperate to buy new promises.

A certain trans celeb once tried to post their dating site on one of these groups, doing the "don't you know who the fuck I am?!?" thing when their ad was repeatedly deleted. Their site would spam you with messages you had to pay to read and know who sent them, btw
. No refunds.

A local support group contacts a packer manufacturer directly to buy in bulk with a big special discount, and sells them to members at base cost so they don't have to pay huge markups at sex shops. 
Because they know how poor most of us are, often trying to save for surgery too.

Getting money for time/effort/materials making products that help community, so you can afford your transition/living expenses, not an issue!

But you wouldn't believe how my blood boils to see support groups/transition 'apps' now being monetised to this vulnerable group.

It flies in the face of trans culture and basic human decency to charge for things that we need, that already exist for free, and are now more widespread than ever. If you're thinking of buying anything trans-related, ask yourself the following:

1. Is a trans person making it?

2. Is the trans person making it for pure profit, or are they using this income to fund their own transition/livelihood?

3. Does the seller claim this is "the first" of its kind? If so they are lying, trans people have always been making whatever we need.

4. Have other trans people had shit experiences with the product/seller?

5. Are they very clear on what the product/service will and won't do/provide?

6. Is it a support group or mental health service that isn't professional 1-on-1 therapy? You can get this elsewhere for free.

If you have spare money, donate it to local support groups that provide clothes swaps/products for free/cheap, mental health hotlines that save lives for free often with volunteers, and individual trans people in need of funds to survive and live freely

Fuck people taking advantage of trans people's need to soothe dysphoria and find community. EXTRA fuck trans people using their trans identity to promote and get away with doing this to the most vulnerable in our community.