The 12&U suits will last a season, sometimes more because they actually have seams. As soon as you see threads or it gets stretchy, then it is done.

The 13&over suits - 12 wears total. Sometimes less because the fabric stretches. They do not last.

Our experience with the vanquisher is that it lasted much longer than the more expensive tech suits. It doesn’t provide the same benefits, but it also doesn’t stretch out as fast.

my kids usually wear tech suit for one season, then it will move to backup if it still fits the following season

General rule of thumb is 12 total sessions. So if they do prelims/finals at a 3 day meet, that's 6 right there.

How many wears would one expect to get out of a lower-end tech suit before it starts losing whatever marginal benefit it might provide? I'm talking a boy's jammer like the Arena Powerskin or Speedo Vanquisher in the $100 range (regular price) and standard meet usage (wearing the same suit for 3 events/day and 2 days/meet). We're not looking at the high end of $300-400 because my DS is not an elite swimmer and I can't justify spending that much money. I know a suit is not going to make or break his swimming at that level, but I'm willing to spend a little bit more over, say, an Aquablade especially with some Black Friday deals.