r/CosplayHelp • u/sierhua • Jul 16 '26
Buying CosplayLab Scam Alert: $200 garbage 9S cosplay
Sorry for taking up public space, but please take a minute to read this entire post. I’m writing this to warn you guys about an absolutely terrible cosplay shop so none of you waste your hard-earned cash like I did.
Okay, this post is just a friendly reminder. But honestly, seeing how some of you defend the sellers — fine, I hope every time you buy something, you have to play detective and still end up with crappy junk. Sellers should be honest, that's the bare minimum. And maybe the reason there are so many scammers is exactly because some people are always willing to cut sellers some slack. Sorry for saying that, but I've really had enough of certain people. Alright, moving on — here's the real point.
My wife and I ordered a YoRHa 9S cosplay set from cosplaylab.com, here’s the exact product link:
https://www.cosplaylab.com/products/yorha-9s-outfit-cosplay-costume?variant=f5debe02-a2e1-465c-b73d-d690b4a36f1a
The photos I attached are exactly how they advertise the costume. A friend of mine already owns the legitimate version of this outfit, so I knew what the real deal was supposed to look like, and I placed my order without a second thought.
I swear to god, I never expected the actual item to look nothing like the listing photos at all. The fabric they used is total garbage – super cheap, scratchy, feels like leftover trash material.
They advertise custom sizing to get a perfect tailored fit, but the costume they sent didn’t match my measurements even a little bit. I could barely squeeze myself into it. The shoulder sections are way too tight, it feels like I’m tied up with rope. One glove is noticeably bigger than the other, the matching shoulder bag accessory was missing entirely, there’s no collar piece either, and the whole outfit reeks of weird chemical fumes.
You might glance at fit pics and think “it doesn’t look that bad on you”, but your opinion will flip instantly once you hear how much I paid for this garbage: $200 USD. Yeah, two hundred bucks! For just a little extra money, I could’ve commissioned a well-made, authentic set from a reliable custom maker.
Here’s the worst part: I live in China, and I found the exact identical mass-produced costume on Pinduoduo (a huge Chinese shopping platform). It only costs around 80-88 RMB, which is roughly $11-$14 USD. So you see what’s going on here? This shop buys cheap factory bulk junk for pennies, then marks it up to an absurd price for insane profit margins. It’s straight-up disgusting and shameless. Who even does this kind of garbage scamming?
Do yourself a massive favor and stay far away from this store. Never buy anything from them. Their customer support is non-existent – they never reply to emails, their international phone number is fake, and if you manage to reach their Chinese contact number, they’ll just brush you off and ignore every complaint you have. Trust me, avoid them at all costs.
If this post helps you, share it with your cosplay friends. If you’ve already gotten scammed by them, contact your bank right away and file a fraud dispute for the transaction; they’ll walk you through the next steps to get your money back.
Thanks for sticking around and reading my whole rant. To the scammers running CosplayLab: get off the internet and stop ripping people off.
I think I need to clarify a few things here, because apparently some people are just plain dumb (excuse my strong words here). The first two pictures are side-by-side comparisons of me wearing the actual item versus CosplayLab's promo image. The discrepancy is glaringly obvious, isn't it? Just because I happen to look decent in it doesn't mean we can overlook the fact that it's nothing like what they advertised. The last picture is a screenshot from a Chinese shopping platform showing exactly what this costume actually costs. And let me make one thing crystal clear—I have absolutely zero interest in trashing a store, especially one from my own country. My sole purpose in making this post was to help you guys steer clear of these garbage shops and save your hard-earned money. If you genuinely think it's worth the price, then be my guest, that's your call. But at the very least, this cheap junk is definitely NOT worth $200.
52
u/Jeremiah__Jones Jul 16 '26
A commissioned one would easily be over 1k if not more. 200 is cheap.
6
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
That's true, but customization takes a lot of time, and the price isn't too bad for me. I just never expected them to sell low-quality, flawed garments at such high prices. If I had known, I would've just gone to a physical clothing store to get something custom-made.
17
u/Badly_Slay_63 Jul 16 '26
Unfortunately, for something this intricate. $200 is quite cheap. I know everyone's situation is different, but cosplay can be quite expensive. Even if you are making the costume yourself. It tends to just hash out to Quality or Affordable, and rarely is it both.
$200 is expensive. But by quality standards it is cheap.
-2
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
Unfortunately, the quality of this outfit is nowhere near worth $200. If it only sells for around 80 RMB in China, you should already know exactly what kind of fabric they're using. And like I said, the size is completely wrong — when I put it on, it doesn't even fit right, it just bunches up and looks awful. One glove is bigger than the other, and all the accessories are missing. And that's worth $200?
On top of that, the seller used pictures of a much better quality costume to trick people into buying.
Honestly, I've seen so many comments like yours. Are you really that willing to get scammed? Why do you defend the sellers so much?
12
u/Badly_Slay_63 Jul 16 '26
Oh, no. I would like to clarify that what happened to you is shitty. I just look at that photo and the price and know it won't come looking like that. I'm not trying to be mean to you either.
All I am really saying is the price does not match the quality of the product you thought you would get based on the photo. That product would cost way more than $200 for quality.
Still, you should not be getting scammed, and I hope the disputed charge goes well for you as what you received is unacceptable.
1
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
Alright, my bad for coming off so strong earlier. It's not just about me personally — it's about every single buyer out there. Sellers shouldn't be tricking people like this. Thanks for the good vibes, and I really hope I can get my refund soon.
14
u/Kokomicandy Jul 16 '26
The only brands you should be looking at for serious pricing is DokiDoki, Artistic Sprouts or Irelia H Store. They are all very well known for higher quality and you’ll get exactly what you paid for.
17
u/Silent_Detective5450 Jul 16 '26
not dokidoki* they’re reputable but they are a reseller that sells at a markup.
OP since you’re from china, please just order your cosplays on taobao. i have gotten many many good quality cosplays from taobao, you can look into brands like dragon essence, 1/3 delusion, cosplayfm, lardoo and miaowu.
12
u/stormgnnu Jul 16 '26
dokidoki’s markup is heavily exaggerated. if youre from the states you cant easily buy from taobao without a proxy. besides, the insane shipping costs for taobao will just end up costing the same amount.
-1
u/Kokomicandy Jul 16 '26
But anyway they are in China so they literally have the best options lol. For us in Canada it’s the ones I mentioned that are very reliable.
1
u/stormgnnu Jul 17 '26
Yeah i don’t disagree? I was literally defending doki doki and saying its one of the only option for americans.
-2
u/Kokomicandy Jul 16 '26
Yeah but the shipping is a lot more reliable. For us in Canada they deliver straight to your door and won’t leave it at your door if you don’t answer. Just so that the second time you’re more likely to get it. Thanks to them my packages don’t get stolen anymore :)
3
u/fuyumuru Jul 16 '26
Erm I’m from Canada and they just left my huge SR furina package at the door and idk about that
-1
u/Kokomicandy Jul 16 '26
Really? With uniuni?? 😟 never happened to me and I’ve been ordering from DokiDoki for a decade now. Ive got like 20 thousand dollars worth of Doki in my closet in total 😅 wonder now if it’s different based on province.
-4
u/greenyashiro Jul 16 '26
Proxies are easy and the shipping isn't THAT bad if you buy a few things at once.
The thing that you really won't like is tariffs
3
u/stormgnnu Jul 16 '26
ok so you proved my point with the tariff comment 😭 and i never said proxies arent easy? the shipping is just going to be extremely expensive and you wont even know how much itll be until it ships. kinda defeats the point of using a proxy.
0
u/greenyashiro Jul 16 '26
I paid $20 to ship myself a full tang dynasty hanfu set, including shoes 🤔
The point of a proxy is to communicate in a foreign language or buy geolocked stuff. It's probably still cheaper and better quality than certain stores lol
0
u/Kokomicandy Jul 16 '26
I know Doki is a reseller but for me in Canada their prices are far better than the other suppliers even on AliExpress.
-1
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
What you're saying about those items has already been discontinued for domestic sales in China, which is why I end up buying them overseas. Honestly, Chinese cosplay clothing quality isn't perfect, but at least the price reflects the quality.
-2
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
Mainly I really liked this outfit, but my friend's set totally blew me away—there's no way to buy this set in China, so I checked overseas websites and stumbled upon this store, only to find the actual product is nothing like the picture! I'm absolutely furious. I'll go check out the store you mentioned, thank you 🙏
12
u/Katrianadusk Jul 16 '26
I haven't used that site.. but I ordered a 2B costume off Etsy a couple of years ago ($150AUD) and it was the EXACT same material as what yours is made from and didn't fit lol. I was livid because, like yours, the advertised photos and materials were much different and they confirmed my custom size measurements. I noticed something was amiss when the seller had listed the item shipped from Australia, but the tracking # they gave me showed it as coming from China. Etsy refunded me. I hate scammers.
Side note: I recently bought 2 x N cosplays from Dokidoki for half the price, and the quality is amazing.. exactly as the photos show etc and correct measurements.
1
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1
u/SnooSuggestions4137 Jul 16 '26
Same exact experience here but for the 2B one on cosplaylab, didn’t fit properly in the slightest and the fabrics were definitely not it.
1
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
Did you manage to get your money back, my friend?
1
u/SnooSuggestions4137 Jul 16 '26
Sadly no, I wasn’t able to at all. This was a bit over a year ago now as well, so cosplaylab has seemed to do this for a while now.
1
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
Oh my goodness, you were totally scammed out of your money. I'm so sorry — I really feel for you. That's exactly why I made this post, to warn others so they don't end up like you and me. But obviously there are a bunch of defenders in the comments, and I honestly just don't get them
1
u/SnooSuggestions4137 Jul 16 '26
That’s initially why I did buy from them, cuz there were others in the subreddit defending them. I asked on a separate account in this subreddit before I bought but most people seemed fine with them. Turns out they are just terrible
1
u/sierhua Jul 16 '26
Don't worry, my post isn't going anywhere. I'm not afraid of any pressure. Gotta make sure they don't scam anyone else!
1
u/DetectiveMiku Jul 17 '26
There definitely is a difference here. I think that this is more of a "costume" than a "cosplay", like something you'd wear for Halloween. I disagree with their pricing, as $200 for an outfit mass produced is nuts.
A lot of sites do not tailor to match your size despite asking for it, as they will just find the size that fits closest to you and ship it. For tailored work of this complexity and higher quality it'd easily be $1000+ for their time.
If the fabric was oversized you could take it to a tailor to get it fitted, but considering how tight the fit around your shoulders was it wouldn't be worth the price or stress. At least you have a learning experience and could share with us this up charging website lol.
1
u/sierhua Jul 17 '26
Yeah, the outfit I got is pretty much completely useless. The only thing it’s good for is warning everyone else to stay away from this site. Oh well, what can you do? I'll just take it as a tuition fee for life lessons.
2
u/TurtlesNTurtles Jul 18 '26
It doesn't look terrible, but it surely isn't what was advertised. Definitely not worth $200. Probably a $50 outfit. I hate how easily people are getting away with this. Can't even trust that reviews are real anymore.
Just wanted to say this kind of stuff has been happening for forever. Back when eBay was still fairly new, I bought what looked like a gorgeous, well made, full outfit of Yuna from Final Fantasy X. Once I ordered it, they reached out and said the original costume maker didn't want to honor the sale for no reason, and that they would make me a new one. It still looked pretty good, but it wasn't what I had ordered. The materials were completely different, (like cotton instead of silk/silky material), and the skirt and obi were painted instead of embroidered. I can't remember what I paid for it, and even though I was disappointed, I went ahead and accepted what was made because I saw the work they put into it. A little later after I received it, I saw the exact same picture up by the same seller, so I assume it was a sort of scam.
(I still wore it for Halloween and to pick up my copy of Final Fantasy XII from Game Stop on day one! Picture is from 2006 and was definitely taken on a potato.)
1
u/sierhua Jul 18 '26
I can’t believe this was already happening that long ago. Ugh, these people are the absolute worst! That shop you bought from clearly had no idea how to make costumes—they just made up an excuse and gave you whatever they could get their hands on. I’m so annoyed for you.
Honestly, the outfit itself is terrible. I mean, I wore mine and it looked okay on me, but still—total junk. Girl, check my other post, I actually took photos of the real thing and it’s straight-up cheap trash.
And yours? Honestly it looks more like some mass-produced factory piece. If it weren’t for your face and figure carrying it, it wouldn’t even be worth looking at. These scammers make me so mad—when are they ever gonna learn to just be honest?
Hahaha, potato quality aside though, you actually look really pretty in it! It definitely doesn’t make you look bad at all.
69
u/hideandsee Jul 16 '26
Did you attempt to return it or file a charge back? It doesn’t look like the photos at all