My Online Startup Progress Thread - Video Game Costume Store

[brycer9]

Hello, Fastlaners!

After a few start-up attempts, with some failures and some successes, this is my first legit business. I have done all the premeditative work such as registering my business, obtaining my sellers permit, deciding on a website design (bigcommerce), identifying ways I can add value, and establishing a business plan. The target market is cosplayers which are people who dress up as popular anime/video game characters and meet up at conventions

Now this is my plan: I am combining my love of video games with the need for realistic cosplay costumes. My goal is to provide the utmost realistic and high quality costumes available, and provide every imaginable accessory. (Costumes, weapons, wigs, body paint, color contacts) you name it. If the character possesses a certain trait or item, I will make sure to provide it as an optional purchase. I will also make my best effort to provide accurate product photos on human models (even 3d views), detailed descriptions, and excellent customer service. I am not just going to follow suit with the rest of the industry; I won't settle for anything less than #1

As I make significant progress, I will document it in this thread. Constructive criticism is highly appreciated since I don't have much business experience at all. My next goal is to contact as many manufacturers as possible and thin them out until I'm left with the cream of the crop.

Edit: Here's my finished website!: http://www.cosplaygamer.com/

 

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[brycer9]

Hey guys! I have just bought a domain and opened my bigcommerce storefront. I also used photoshop to put together some possible designs for my website: http://i.imgur.com/Gf0dUZK.jpg What do you guys think? Any favorites?

 

[liite]

Personally the Link and Zelda and the Vincent below it look the most professional and are very decent Cosplay costumes. I would go with something like that as opposed to a digital representation of your costumes.

The Spartan cosplay outfits can look incredible. How do you plan on adding value? Will this be a completely tailored look per indiviual? Almost like having a suit custom made? I can't seea reason for this not to work if done correctly. The only thing I can think of is that part of the cosplay is creating your own from scratch. Professional cosplay costumes can cost $1000s.

The plus side, you could hire some rather attractive females, suit them up (or not as the case may be) and have them advertise. Jessica Nigri I'm looking at you...

 

[brycer9]

Personally the Link and Zelda and the Vincent below it look the most professional and are very decent Cosplay costumes. I would go with something like that as opposed to a digital representation of your costumes.

The Spartan cosplay outfits can look incredible. How do you plan on adding value? Will this be a completely tailored look per indiviual? Almost like having a suit custom made? I can't seea reason for this not to work if done correctly. The only thing I can think of is that part of the cosplay is creating your own from scratch. Professional cosplay costumes can cost $1000s.

The plus side, you could hire some rather attractive females, suit them up (or not as the case may be) and have them advertise. Jessica Nigri I'm looking at you...

Thank you very much for your suggestions, they have been noted! In my first post (second paragraph) I list the ways that I will add value. Eventually, when I fine-tune my inventory, my unique selling proposition will be "We carry the most realistic costumes you can find" basically I want to place an emphasis on quality and detail of the costumes, providing all accesories for optional purchase, and having accurate photos and information as to make the buyers experience easier. Having the costumes tailor-made for each individual sounds great but it depends on what my distributors will be willing to do. I will make sure to ask them!

 

[Eskil]

Sounds you're hitting the ground running and taking action shortly after joining the forum.

I'm sure the margins can be quite good in this niche. Have you tried to gather any pre-sale leads or followers to establish interest? If you can build a reputable brand among gamers, I think you could be onto something. And obviously, conventions like ComiCon and others are packed with costume-wearing fans every year.

 

[brycer9]

Sounds you're hitting the ground running and taking action shortly after joining the forum.

I'm sure the margins can be quite good in this niche. Have you tried to gather any pre-sale leads or followers to establish interest? If you can build a reputable brand among gamers, I think you could be onto something. And obviously, conventions like ComiCon and others are packed with costume-wearing fans every year.

I appreciate the encouragement, Eskil. I have not gathered any followers or pre-sale leads yet but I'm not quite sure what that means. I thought of going to cosplay conventions, but didn't think of ComiCon. another good idea! Once I get my site up and running, I figure I'm going to go to as much local conventions as possible and advertise/hand out flyers while being sure to wear one of my best-looking costumes. I'm also gonna post regularly on cosplay forums using a signature

 

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[brycer9]

I finished the design! and added some sample products (which you cant buy) check it out http://cosplaygamer.com

The reason I didn't use the other suggested designs was because it was hard to read the shipping policies. if you guys have any suggestions let me know. Today I am going to contact manufacturers and inquire about dropshipping.

 

[jon.a]

Way to stuff your link

I finished the design! and added some sample products (which you cant buy) check it out Cosplay Gamer Buy Realistic Video Game Character Costumes for Cosplaying

The reason I didn't use the other suggested designs was because it was hard to read the shipping policies. if you guys have any suggestions let me know. Today I am going to contact manufacturers and inquire about dropshipping.

 

[Eskil]

Way to stuff your link

Yeah it would look like that, but it's actually his .html page title, and the forum here automatically will grab the <title> tag from pages linked and put that as the anchor.

 

[Eskil]

The reason I didn't use the other suggested designs was because it was hard to read the shipping policies. if you guys have any suggestions let me know.

Good to see you're taking action here, so don't take my advice below as nothing but well-meant criticism to help you..

- Your logo covers the face of the main background image.
- Your USP is in red text on green background, which makes it hard to read. It is also outside of a centered 1024 pixel wide screen, which means someone on a device/screen with that size would not see it. I would move it more into the main screen, change the font color to brighter, and maybe slightly bigger
- Change the font size and color of your prices under each product. Kind of hard on the eye to read at a glance.
- The categories to the left could stand out a little more as well. Maybe place tinted (lighter) color block behind them

Maybe you can have one larger, eye-catching image on the front page as well (maybe a few rotating in a slider), along with a prominent headline and some bulletpoints - describing why YOUR site is really THE best to buy quality costumes from. Let visitors know why you are different than the other cosplay stores.

Keep it up!

 

[brighterside]

Will you have an affiliate marketing plan for your venture? I was very heavy into gaming and I'm creating game related blog that I might want to help advertise with. I can probably even tell you which games will be perfect for your market.

 

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[brycer9]

Thank you for the suggestions Eskil. I am getting to work on that stuff right now. What do you think so far? http://cosplaygamer.com/

I would definitely be interested in affiliate marketing, I haven't made a plan for it yet. That sounds great!

 

[DeletedUser2]

I like the name
Cosplay me

 

[brycer9]

Made a few tweaks/centered the logo and usp and added a new picture to the slideshow. The only tough thing I've encountered so far is communicating with these overseas costume wholesalers..

Edit: Got my first literate wholesaler to let me use his costume pictures/descriptions! Waiting on him to send me the rest of the pictures and then I will upload the products to my site and make them available for purchase. It's about time that I'm fully functional!!!

 

[brycer9]

Wow! Originally it was my goal to start from scratch and get the website FULLY-functional in 10 days but I did it in 3 days instead.

As you can see, I got a bunch of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts costumes. For now I'm gonna be working on adding more products to my store since I got 4 distributors to give me the go-ahead. Next step is testing my market to see what they like!

I would love some criticism on the website! http://www.cosplaygamer.com

 

[Eskil]

Wow! Originally it was my goal to start from scratch and get the website FULLY-functional in 10 days but I did it in 3 days instead.

As you can see, I got a bunch of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts costumes. For now I'm gonna be working on adding more products to my store since I got 4 distributors to give me the go-ahead. Next step is testing my market to see what they like!

I would love some criticism on the website! Cosplay Gamer Buy Realistic Video Game Character Costumes for Cosplaying

It's getting better, although I think you still need to fix the background image. On a large screen, the logo, USP, and background image gets shifted off center and looks odd.

Try using this bit of code in your CSS to center the image:

body{
background-image:url("images/your-background-image.jpg");
background-position:top center;
background-attachment:fixed; 
background-repeat:no-repeat; 
}

Also - take the logo out of the background and make it a separate image in the header.
I'm also not sold on the color scheme you have, but that could just be me - and perhaps it works for your target demographic.

Keep up the good work though..

 

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[brycer9]

Definitely will do Eskil. Thanks again!! I thought of a good idea to gain some attention, I'm gonna go to a big cosplay convention or major event with nothing but my penis costume on and a big flag in my hand that says COSPLAYGAMER.COM

 

[brycer9]

....

 

[infinitus]

What a great idea

I would definitely join forces with all the related businesses, especially the trade shows. You can always joint-venture with an existing exhibitor and share in the profits, if you cant afford the hefty booth hire fee. There is always a way with joint-ventures just think of what benefits you have to offer the other party and realize there is always a payoff for others to be invested in your success

 

[Skys]

What a great idea

I would definitely join forces with all the related businesses, especially the trade shows. You can always joint-venture with an existing exhibitor and share in the profits, if you cant afford the hefty booth hire fee. There is always a way with joint-ventures just think of what benefits you have to offer the other party and realize there is always a payoff for others to be invested in your success

You sir, are flaming hardcore.

 

[brighterside]

Hey Bryce.

Just because you made your website in 3 days you should keep working on making it more presentable. So far getting it up and running is the first step so thats good.

Now for what I think your site needs. I'm a game fanatic and I've made money with games on the Internet. So hopefully I don't come off as someone who is arrogant.

First things first, I really think you should have a set for World of Warcraft (WoW). If you corner that market for making WoW characters into customs you will be very, very successful. WoW players play that game 24/7 and they like to mimic their characters and sometimes dress like them in real life. I had a GF who pasted pictures of her nightelf on her album and so forth. She treated it like it was her pet. Thus there is a huge, huge market for customs from WoW.

WoW is also the most popular game in the world. I believe when I was playing WoW more than 10 million worldwide was hooked onto that game. I mean it when I said hooked. It is that addicting and many people's lives have been ruined because of it.

Well their pain is your gain. If you are known to be the only one that makes WoW customs or dominate in that niche, you will make a killing. Especially, during Blizzcom. Blizzcom is a gaming convention which centers around games from Blizzard (Blizz for short). It happens during November and hundreds of thousands of people go to that event wanting to find out the latest from Blizz. Its like all the Mac fanatics going to Macworld to learn what Apple is up to these days. Blizzcom is filled with WoW fanatics.

These WoW gamers also have money. Some of them actually are motivated to work so that they can pay for their WoW addiction. Weird isn't it?

In the game of WoW there are two factions: Alliance and Horde. Alliance has races such as Nightelf, Human, Dwarf, Pandaren, Dranei, etc (sorry if I missed one). Horde has Orc, Undead, Troll, Goblin, Pandaren, Bloodelf.

Do I search on Google on WoW races and you will see how they look. If you can fashion your customs to look like those, and when come to Blizzcom in November, be prepared for an tidal wave of customers knocking on your website. That is if you do your marketing correctly.

I'll personal message you on what I think can help you with your website and how you can market to the WoW nation. Anyways, just my advice. But I can assure you there is a market for what I mentioned. A good friend of mines didn't want to go to Blizzcom in 2011 because he didn't have a custom of his favorite character on WoW and didn't want to go looking like a human. That is the type of market you'll be dealing with if you decide on making WoW customs.

 

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[brycer9]

Hey Bryce.

Just because you made your website in 3 days you should keep working on making it more presentable. So far getting it up and running is the first step so thats good.

Now for what I think your site needs. I'm a game fanatic and I've made money with games on the Internet. So hopefully I don't come off as someone who is arrogant.

First things first, I really think you should have a set for World of Warcraft (WoW). If you corner that market for making WoW characters into customs you will be very, very successful. WoW players play that game 24/7 and they like to mimic their characters and sometimes dress like them in real life. I had a GF who pasted pictures of her nightelf on her album and so forth. She treated it like it was her pet. Thus there is a huge, huge market for customs from WoW.

WoW is also the most popular game in the world. I believe when I was playing WoW more than 10 million worldwide was hooked onto that game. I mean it when I said hooked. It is that addicting and many people's lives have been ruined because of it.

Well their pain is your gain. If you are known to be the only one that makes WoW customs or dominate in that niche, you will make a killing. Especially, during Blizzcom. Blizzcom is a gaming convention which centers around games from Blizzard (Blizz for short). It happens during November and hundreds of thousands of people go to that event wanting to find out the latest from Blizz. Its like all the Mac fanatics going to Macworld to learn what Apple is up to these days. Blizzcom is filled with WoW fanatics.

These WoW gamers also have money. Some of them actually are motivated to work so that they can pay for their WoW addiction. Weird isn't it?

In the game of WoW there are two factions: Alliance and Horde. Alliance has races such as Nightelf, Human, Dwarf, Pandaren, Dranei, etc (sorry if I missed one). Horde has Orc, Undead, Troll, Goblin, Pandaren, Bloodelf.

Do I search on Google on WoW races and you will see how they look. If you can fashion your customs to look like those, and when come to Blizzcom in November, be prepared for an tidal wave of customers knocking on your website. That is if you do your marketing correctly.

I'll personal message you on what I think can help you with your website and how you can market to the WoW nation. Anyways, just my advice. But I can assure you there is a market for what I mentioned. A good friend of mines didn't want to go to Blizzcom in 2011 because he didn't have a custom of his favorite character on WoW and didn't want to go looking like a human. That is the type of market you'll be dealing with if you decide on making WoW customs.

I couldn't agree more brighterside! Thanks for your honest opinion. I haven't found any so far but I am definitely on the lookout for WoW costumes!

 

[Eskil]

I couldn't agree more brighterside! Thanks for your honest opinion. I haven't found any so far but I am definitely on the lookout for WoW costumes!

If they don't exist - how about you look into a licensing deal with Blizzard? Check out the book "One Simple Idea" by Stephen Key if you haven't. There are probably lots of games that you could get costumes made for if they don't exist, and you could get exclusive licensing deals with the game inellectual propery owners. Would be perfect for a site like yours.. AND...you would be the only one selling them!

 

[brycer9]

If they don't exist - how about you look into a licensing deal with Blizzard? Check out the book "One Simple Idea" by Stephen Key if you haven't. There are probably lots of games that you could get costumes made for if they don't exist, and you could get exclusive licensing deals with the game inellectual propery owners. Would be perfect for a site like yours.. AND...you would be the only one selling them!

Thats another great one Eskil! and your code worked out wonderfully!! THANK YOU!! and yes I've read the book. man this idea is really manifesting itself now Thanks so much for the help guys, I got alot of things to do.

I just recently spent some time with my close family and now I will really be able to get to work with no distractions (yay for being unemployed). So expect really big things coming from Cosplay Gamer in the near future! I'm gonna keep adding value to the site until we're better than the best in the industry

 

[brycer9]

Update: I added a bunch of different costumes to my inventory, up to 12 categories now totaling 70 products

I'm just about ready to start advertising but I could use some experienced people's opinions on any of the following

-Should I pay for a professional web designer? If so, who can I trust to design a high-converting website?
-Are there any advertising techniques you would recommend starting off?
-Is there anything I should change on my site or improve?

Again, this is the first time that I've launched a business online. I could really use the help from people who have done it before.

If you would like to talk one on one you can open up a live chat on my website

cosplaygamer.com

 

[brycer9]

Researching now, still would like some tips if you'd be so kind.

 

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[Eskil]

-Should I pay for a professional web designer? If so, who can I trust to design a high-converting website?

Depends a bit on your budget. If you're running a tight ship right now, you can look for decent/affordable bigcommerce themes out there. You can find great designers in any price range on Odesk and Elance but that's not to say a good designer always knows how to create a well converting theme or design. 99designs.com is another option, but you will be looking at around $200 I believe.

If you can spend $100-$500, I have some connections I can recommend for designwork.

-Are there any advertising techniques you would recommend starting off?

Free/low-cost; Start posting on forums and blogs about your site and products. Look for coupons for Facebook Ads and start testing some ads targeting certain games and age groups there.

A bit more money: Test out Google Adwords, both with search and display - and if you do, use Product Listing Ads and have all your products to Merchant Center.

-Is there anything I should change on my site or improve?

I think I would work on the left sidebar menu for one. It looks a bit generic and plain. Spice it up a little with 'boxed' buttons that maybe change color over them when you mouse over. (Someone on Fiverr can fix that for you quick). I am still also not so sold on all green coloring but again that could be just me.

 

[brycer9]

Depends a bit on your budget. If you're running a tight ship right now, you can look for decent/affordable bigcommerce themes out there. You can find great designers in any price range on Odesk and Elance but that's not to say a good designer always knows how to create a well converting theme or design. 99designs.com is another option, but you will be looking at around $200 I believe.

If you can spend $100-$500, I have some connections I can recommend for designwork.


Free/low-cost; Start posting on forums and blogs about your site and products. Look for coupons for Facebook Ads and start testing some ads targeting certain games and age groups there.

A bit more money: Test out Google Adwords, both with search and display - and if you do, use Product Listing Ads and have all your products to Merchant Center.


I think I would work on the left sidebar menu for one. It looks a bit generic and plain. Spice it up a little with 'boxed' buttons that maybe change color over them when you mouse over. (Someone on Fiverr can fix that for you quick). I am still also not so sold on all green coloring but again that could be just me.

Eskil to the rescue again! thanks for this and for the reputation, i gave you some too for your valuable advice

I am definitely interested in your recommendations for designwork. $500 is reasonable to spend on the site if it will mean better results. Then again if you know cheaper designers that will get the job done I would be interested in them as well.

Okay, I am gonna start testing with facebook ads and posting on cosplay/video game forums now. I have just installed a tracker on my site so I can see where my traffic is coming from. Google Adwords and SEO will be my next challenges and then from then on I will test the various advertising methods I found from researching online. I expect to be experimenting like a mad scientist for the next few weeks or even months

Your sidebar comment is noted. I do not know how how to change the text to buttons nor do I know how to code, I will see if bigcommerce can help me out with where to put the code.

I can't thank you enough Eskil, you have helped me at times when no one else would. If you ever need a favor or even my opinion on something let me know!

 

[Stu_Hefner]

-Are there any advertising techniques you would recommend starting off?

Agree with Eskil.

Also depending on your budget you can try finding related websites on BuySellAds and do media buys. I've found some good bargains on BSA in the past, lots of targeted impressions for relatively cheap.

 

[brycer9]

Agree with Eskil.

Also depending on your budget you can try finding related websites on BuySellAds and do media buys. I've found some good bargains on BSA in the past, lots of targeted impressions for relatively cheap.

Thanks for the tip Stu. I'll look into that site