Cee on Costume Set Lending and Renting.

Some of you would think that I am a selfish when I don't lend my costume and props just to anyone. You know? I don't actually care if you think that way. I mean, I have my reasons and I shall write everything here.

Costume set renting is some sort of an agreement between the owner and another person. The owner would lend a costume set in exchange for money. I actually tried this a couple of times and I think I won't be doing it again.

Actually, at first I would just let people borrow costumes for free. I am not selfish. I wanna help potential cosplayers start "cosplaying". I did this a lot of times until, well, a few things happened.

People would return my costumes in an unlikely state: damaged and torn. Traces of modification can be seen, like visible stitch marks and the likes. Worse, sometimes I would chase this borrowers for NOT returning the costume as soon as they're done with it. I mean, what are they up to? Stealing it?

No borrowing anymore.
coz they are precious to me and I won't allow any more damages to these babies.

Costumes: I admit, I have a collection of costume sets, props, boots and clothes. Yes. I do. Cosplay is my hobby, my BELOVED hobby. Every set is precious to me, since I witnessed each of their progress. From the fabric to the actual finished costume. I am always hands-on in the creation of each cosplay costumes. My mom supports my hobby full-time. She would help me financially, when my allowance won't cover everything, in a cosplay work-in-progress.

Wigs: As I have wrote on a previous post on wigs, I own a few branded wigs myself and they are a little expensive for a student like me. I do have a part-time job but my income only covers my photography hobby, not cosplay. So everything I spend in my wigs are from my own allowance. I would save for a long time just to have enough to purchase a wig online.


I stopped costume rentals because...
They complain that it's WAAAY EXPENSIVE.


I'm not really into generating income from costume rentals. I imposed this rental fees to make people feel how important these costumes are.
At first I would set the rental rate when people would ask for it, and they would complain that it's expensive.


If someone would borrow an entire set from me, I would entrust someone that's worth about 2500Php or above (That's like 60USD). And my rental fee rate won't even cover HALF of the costume set and I don't even ask for assurance fee (I am that trusting. -.-) so if somebody would run away with my costume, well, it's a goner. 

ALL OF MY COSTUMES ARE HIGH QUALITY AND ACCURATE, so my rates are reasonable.
Take for example, my school uniform sets. Details and the color are accurate. Pleats, embroidery are based from the actual character photos.

Another is my Ichigo costume set has an imitation of a real "hakama". It's not just a pair of pajamas, like a lot of cosplayers have when they cosplay characters wearing kimonos.

In conclusion, 
...only a few selected friends can borrow my costumes and wigs: those that I can trust fully, those that are part of my inner circle. I'm sorry but it pains me when I see my beloved costumes damaged in any way. These are like my kids, and I don't want anything to happen to them.

So if I declined you request to borrow or rent, think first before declaring it to the whole world that I am selfish. This is my opinion.

An alternative would be...
I can help you in creating your cosplay costume. If you'll ask nicely, I can help you in choosing fabrics, online shopping on wigs and even transacting with tailors and seamstresses on the creation of your costumes. I don't ask for any fee or whatnot. I just want to help other cosplayers in achieving a perfect cosplay. And maybe, in this way, you would feel how I feel on letting others borrow or rent my costumes.