Pink bunny photo service

As a minor extension of my costume hire business, I have started advertising services of costumed characters in different poses. Below is such an example where I wear a pink bunny costume with extra padding just to give more character and hopefully a little bit more of a cuteness factor, as well as avoiding that the costume hangs so horribly. This can of course also be extended to have birthday messages or possibly marketing messages, etc.

The service through which I sell this service is very specific in regards to what is being offered, hence this particular service listed is the pink bunny. I have to limit it to generic characters due to copyright reasons.

Do various poses in a pink bunny costume

Starting with costume photo services on Fiverr

A while back, I have started offering costume photo services on Fiverr.com which can be expanded to be videos as well. These services are highly focussed on specific costumes and are more intended for either promotions or birthday wishes or similar things.

At the moment I only offer a pink bunny photo service just to see how this works out. The plan is to add a few more characters to the mix but avoiding any trademarked characters to avoid legal issues. Video will also come in time, but my internet connection needs an upgrade first. Basically anything that fits me of my collection is an option.

Getting ready for Halloween weekend

If this year is anything like the last year, then Halloween weekend will be crazy again. Due to several losses, security problems, thefts and other issues, my finance this year is limited what new costumes for Halloween concerns. The customs import duty of 40% does not help much either.

This year should go smoother due to wireless tablet PC and mobile phone for availability checking and reservations. My website has also date filters to show what is still available for selected dates so that the general public can get their answers quicker. This in turn will save me time to talk with everyone asking questions.

The big problem now is deciding what costumes to get based on requests and hoping that I pick the right sizes and hopefully they will get rented. Finance being the main issue and time is a secondary issue unless I wait much longer. The costume shops also have stock levels and also get busy which causes more delays.

What I will be wearing and where I will end up for Halloween parties this year is another matter. Last year I was about to put on a costume, then someone showed up who wanted exactly that one. In such cases, I let the paying customers have the first pick.

New availability date filters on website

A new date filter for the upcoming two Fridays and Saturdays has been added to the website above the pagination where costumes are displayed. Custom Halloween dates have been added as well. This is mostly to make it much easier to instantly see what is still available for the busy weekends since most people want costumes for Friday or Saturday.

This filter has also been added to the other costume categories to prevent having to select it again. There is of course a disable option.

Losses and price adjustments

Recently there have been too many losses in either costume parts or due to damages or parts never returned. This now finally resulted in a very long overdue price increase. Most costumes are now 150 Rand to rent instead of 100 Rand.

Another recent loss was a costume that came back with large white paint spots. It looks like oil based paint. The costume itself is red and black. Whatever I do except replacing the material will ruin the material even more if I try to get rid of the stains.

What is even more annoying is that people want super cheap prices when my prices are already too low and also much lower than competitors. Last month alone my costs in damages was around 3000 Rand which means I had to rent out thirty costumes that were 100 Rand each to rent if I do not count the washing expenses just to recover that money.

Photos of costume parts on website

Due to certain telephone calls and costume requests it is starting to become important to start showing photos of actual costume parts on my website. For example the chest and waist section of my Cleopatra costume needs actual photos shown. As I was busy getting things in order this weekend, I also took a few photos of costumes and parts, but did not yet put them all onto my website.

Many people make use of the internet these days and also do not have the time during the day due to work or distance to actually go to costume shops to rent something. Several people have mentioned so on the phone, in emails and verbally. These costume photos are especially important for people from other cities where there are no costume shops to rent from. What does not help is that so many people promise photos and do not bother sending.

Sizes do matter a lot when selecting a costume

A lot of people who come for costumes are not always sure what size will fit them. Most people are not models or super fit as used for packaging photos of the costumes. Some people also do not have generic body shapes or age and lifestyle has had their effects. In the end, once theme, availability, personal preference and sizes are applied, the number of costumes that are real options are rather limited.

Many people also prefer no masks and many women prefers skirts and dresses, even if they are at the time wearing trousers. The long suits are not at all popular with women and fit few and look good on even less.

The things that mascot character performers have to worry about

Mascot (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This is a "short" list to worry about and consider for those that show up as different characters or mascots at birthdays or sports events.

Not event specific:
1. Travel time to and from the venue when you do not live there.
2. Hiding the costume before and after the event to prevent breaking the character illusion.
3. Being able to get into and out of the costume before and after the event without anyone running into the dressing room or bathroom.
4. Storage of clothing or personal items while in costume.
5. Driving in costume is very often not an option, same with getting dressed in the car unless it is a van.

Event specific:
1. Not scaring children since that could have a very long lasting effect.
2. Being aware of your surroundings due to often being wider and taller as well as having less eyesight. Mascot costumes in particular have a size and eyesight problem. Washing lines are evil when they hang too low.
3. Heat while in the costume due to time duration.
4. Children becoming naughty once they get used to a character and they get bored of the event.
5. At birthdays in particular the children tend to follow when the mascot or character leaves to get undressed. This is a problem when being cornered somewhere and sweating a lot in the costume plus time pressure.

Dear clients, a few things you should know...

Dear clients

Below are a couple of interesting details that might or might not occur to some people, but they can be rather frustrating when being repeatedly on the receiving end on a daily basis over years:

1. Please do not assume opening hours: I have one sign on my yard wall and one sign on the gate and a dedicated page on my website with the opening hours.

2. Opening on weekdays in the evening after seven does not mean that I will be there at three in the afternoon or already at six. These opening hours are because I have a main job and costume are my second job.

3. If there are two of the same looking costumes listed on my website, that means that I only have two of them and not thirty just because you happen to need thirty on short notice.

4. Getting costumes either locally made or imported from overseas takes quite a bit of time and is expensive. There is also the issue of getting different sizes which is costly, especially if something is hardly ever requested.

5. The refundable deposit is because some people do not look after costumes and cause damages and lose parts. The deposit of 200 Rand is actually too low due to damages, same with the renting fees.

6. Having to repeat the exact same answer three times on the phone just because you are confusing yourself is not fun.

7. Just because a costume fits and looks good on other people does not mean it will fit you.

8. Packaging photos are sometimes a bit incorrect. Actual photos give you an idea how a costume looks on someone, but it still might not work out well for you.

9. If you promise to send me lots of photos, please do so. Many people want to see how a costume actually looks on someone.

10. My costumes are not the super expensive collectors edition type.

11. Try not to wear costumes that you know will be a bit too tight or too small for you. I end up with stretch related damages and eventually have to pay for repairs and replacement costs. This just happens to usually make a costume not look too good.

12. Asking me five times for the same costume that I do not have will not make it magically available in your size.

13. If someone has a reservation/booking for a date that you want it for, then you are too late and have to pick something else.

14. Collecting a day early is often not an option due to other costume reservations.

15. Please use the search on my website and look at the different costume theme pages before you ask me. You might get lucky and see actual photos.

16. I do have days on which I get home after seven from work. My website states that as well. Unfortunately that is the way it is.

17. Trying to get me to rush to be home on time for costume collection and you being an hour or two late is not nice, especially not when you then suddenly take days to return the costume again.

18. The reservation form is not the enquiry form.

19. Just asking to keep a costume for you and then not showing up and no contact details does not work since many people ask that and it becomes impossible to track phantoms like that over weeks. Just do a reservation if you really want something.

New website update news

The long overdue new version of my website has been receiving some improvements recently. There was a flaw in the date range search when narrowing down results for a date range to list only available costumes using the search filters. For this same purpose the themes navigation needs to get an overview page that is not a specific theme and not everything because of long loading times and duplicate content what search engines concerns. There is also the consideration of applying themes based on season.

Various changes and new costumes

Here are a couple of things to get off my mind:

Two of the three superman costumes were retired due to wear and tear reasons. Someone purchased the Wonder Woman costume which was actually also in need of replacement. Four out of eleven new costumes are still expected. They have to be collected at customs.

Due to repeat computer problems, working overtime and vacation, the new version of the website still has not gone live and this now really starts to bother me. The new site is more mobile device friendly. The site is basically ready, but it needs to be tested once more before going live.

January and February are usually quiet months which is good for availability but not good for trying to finance new costumes.

Due to popular demand, I will try to finance some more mascot style costumes. Prices are slowly being adjusted due to maintenance expenses.