Hello, it’s been a while! Unfortunately, we’re coming back under less than ideal circumstances.
Our Etsy shop, our main source of income, has been recently suspended due to copyright claims. At the behest of our supporters, we have started a Gofundme to help keep the lights on.
If you don’t know us, we're a small woman owned and operated, LGBT-friendly costuming company that has been cosplaying together for a decade and providing resin kits, patterns, textiles and other accessories to the community since 2013. We’re based in Toronto, Canada.
To date, we have shipped more than 26,000 kits, prints, files and other resources for cosplayers. This business is our livelihood and came to fruition through hard work and effort. Everything we make is from scratch, with our own hands and our own machines, in small quantities, to order. Our digital files are all made in-house, individually, using no official assets. We are not a factory mass-producing wholesale goods, nor do we dropship other people's products. We are a committed little business that has loved being on Etsy, and truly believe we are the very artists that Etsy should want to platform –– our goods are handmade, unique, and often the only resource of their kind!
We work hard for our high ratings, but agents operating on behalf of certain companies occasionally send take-downs, and then do not reply to us when we try to work it out with them. It's complicated, but the reality is that we're creating projects in the realm of transformative work and are by no means taking away profit from the creators of these properties, as our cosplay kits are one-of-a-kind creations with no official analogue.
We also feel very strongly that cosplay is an incredible form of free advertising for companies producing video games, anime, tv shows and movies. Cosplayers put in a tremendous amount of labour, time and money to make their costumes, which they wear and display all over conventions, the internet and social media. We know from experience that companies enjoy and engage with the fruits of this labour; the very companies that inspire us to create kits sometimes hire us (and other cosplayers) themselves to represent their media after having seen our store! We've had the distinct pleasure of working for media companies large and small, and they know what we make and allow us to keep the rights to our files and associated assets. These companies also regularly post on social media with cosplayers using our work. However, Etsy does not know who or what companies choose to allow the sale of fan art and goods. To them, a report is a report, even if it is erroneous or mistaken.
This has been a crushing blow to us as a small business. We're a very month-to-month, low-profit business after we pay the bills and our team. Currently, Dangerous Ladies employs eight staff members and operates from a rented studio space. Both our staff and our space are an integral part of our business and allow us to be able to operate at our current capacity, providing cosplay resources to creators all around the world. Without support, we will have to scale back dramatically, if not close entirely.
While we work to appeal with Etsy, we realize that there is a chance we may not see our platform flourish there again, so we are working diligently to bring you our new website, and welcome you to visit our Storenvy in the meantime.
We started this Gofundme Although orders are very important to us right now, we understand that some of you may not have the need to order a kit, print, or fabric at the moment, but still wish to support us through this trying time.
For this, we want to say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.
Sincerely, the Dangerous Ladies Jenn, Christine, Shazz, Aubree, Nicole, Gabi, Syd, and Jules <3
Can I see more of what you do?
Of course! While our Etsy is down, you can visit us on Storenvy or subscribe to our newsletter. You can also find us on Twitter and Instagram!
