When it comes to finding the best cosplay websites, it can truly be overwhelming.
Which sites are good or bad? How do you know if the costume photos are real? What if you order the wrong size; will you be able to get a new one without paying extra? What if you’re on a tight budget and want to afford cosplay without breaking your wallet?
Well, this article will answer all that!
AFFILIATE DISCLAIMER: I have some affiliate links in this article if you’re looking to wear any of these cosplays. If you’re buying from these sites, you’re also supporting me and my hobby so I appreciate it!
Click here to read the full disclosure policy.
What’s the best cosplay website? (TLDR)
On a tight budget for a casual cosplay? You’ll find websites such as EBay and AliExpress great for you, even though the quality can be hit or miss. If you have a bigger budget, then you’ll find reputable cosplay websites such as EZCosplay or RoleCosplay really good. And if you have a huge budget for something special, then commission sites like Etsy will get you a top notch cosplay!
In this complete guide, I will go through all the best cosplay websites and show you how to find the right costume stores for you. I go through each best cosplay websites and what they have to offer. Whether you’re willing to spend some cash on a nice cosplay, or looking for something for more budget-friendly, this article will help you find what you’re looking for.
Let’s get started!
Things to look for when buying a costume off any website
Regardless of your budget, you should keep in mind a few things before you decide to hit the BUY button on a cosplay website.
These tips will save you money and a lot of hassle down the road!
Have a general idea of your budget.
The first thing you should figure out is how much you’re willing to spend. Do you want to fork out hundreds of dollars on a custom-made costume? Do you want spend only $100-$200 on a new cosplay? Or are you broke and have very little to spend? Depending on your budget, you should stick to specific cosplay websites. I even have a section below for you guys super tight on money, just for you!
Make sure you know your size and measurements.
Before you buy a costume, I HIGHLY recommend you measure yourself to know your body stats. You don’t want to get the wrong size because not only will the costume not fit properly; you won’t be able to return the costume back for a refund if you picked the wrong size.
Get a friend or family member to measure out your body and write down your measurements. Save the measurements down on paper or on your computer for future reference; these numbers will be handy because every site has their own different sizes. But if you know your body measurements, it doesn’t matter because you’ll easily be able to pick the right size on any site. Knowing your body measurements is super handy!
Check the costume photos.
One big issue regarding cosplay websites is the abundance of fake costume photos. As you buy more costumes online, you’ll likely see that the actual costumes looks completely different from the photos you saw online. Either the website stole fake photos, or used lots of Photoshop to make it look prettier than real life. Oh well, it’s part of the experience. But one way to check is to do a reverse image search. That way, you’ll know if the website is using authentic photos or not.
Compare prices and materials.
Chances are, if you’re going for a popular cosplay, then you’ll see the same costume on different websites. For example, most of these sites are selling Nezuko from Demon Slayer because her outfit is (relatively) easy to make and she’s incredibly popular. So if you want to cosplay a well-known character, then you’ll have the opportunity to compare prices, materials and accessories. Ideally, you’ll find a website that offers the same costume that’s cheaper, uses better materials and has more accessories included with the cosplay (e.g. wig, necklace, gloves).
When you search for the costume, you can always do a Google search and click on the “Shopping” tab to see even more websites that sell the costume.
Check reviews when available.
It’s not always easy to find reviews for a particular costume, or at least ones that aren’t fake. But some sites such as UWOWO and eBay have lots of reviews from real customers and these can be really insightful in seeing if a costume is good quality or not.
The Good/Fast/Cheap rule.
There’s a saying that you can only pick these 2 out of the 3: good, fast, cheap. If it’s fast and cheap it won’t be good. If it’s fast and good, it won’t be cheap. And if it’s cheap and good, it won’t be fast.
This definitely applies when it comes to buying cosplays online. If you need a decent quality costume fast, expect to pay more for rush service. If you need good quality costume fast and cheap, it probably won’t be good. And if you need a cheap costume for good quality, it’ll take longer.
So try not to put off your cosplans to the last minute. That way you can save money on a decent costume without having to pay extra.
List of best cosplay websites
Before we begin, here are the categories I’ve listed:
- Based in: The location of the cosplay website office. Most of them are based in China, but some are from the United States and United Kingdom. Depending where you live, the shipping may work out better for you for some of these websites.
- Price range: The average price of cosplays on the site. Low = less than $100. Medium = $100-$200. High = over $200.
- Processing time: The amount of time it takes to go from ordering your costume to shipping it out. NOTE: I’ve decided to not include shipping information, because knowing when exactly your costume will arrive is never 100% accurate. There are many factors, including where you live, which companies you’re shipping with, and unforeseen events that can slow your delivery. To me, if you get your costume in less than a month, that’s pretty fast! Most costumes arrive within 1-2 months. If it takes longer than 2 months, then something is wrong and definitely needs to be checked.
- Plus size options: Having plus size costume options is important for a lot of cosplayers, so I’ve decided to include this information. Most costume stores on this list have larger size or custom-size options, while a few do not.
- Costume selection: Some cosplay websites have all different kinds of costume in a variety of genres, while others specialize only in a specific genre. Or they only make the popular characters at the moment. I’ll let you know in this category.
- Other benefits: Every cosplay website is different, and some have unique perks if you buy from them!
I created a nice chart summarizing all the different websites. If you want more detail for each website, scroll down below (NOTE: If you can’t see the chart on your mobile phone, you can download it here):
Budget-friendly Cosplay Websites
AliExpress
- Based in – China
- Price range – Low to Medium
- Refund/exchange policy – Refund within 15 days of receiving item
- Processing time – Varies between merchants
- Plus size options – Varies between merchants
- Costume selection – Anime, video games, Western cartoons, Halloween, Western videogames
- Other benefits – If you have any issues with your order, you can open a dispute with AliExpress to assist you
The Chinese version of Amazon in my opinion. You can get some great cosplay products off this site at amazing prices. So as long as you’re not con crunching, then AliExpress is a great site if you want to save money! However, you might not always find the costume you’re looking for; only the most popular characters are sold on AliExpress. And since there are a lot of different sellers, the quality can be hit or miss. Fortunately, the customer reviews are reliable, so you can tell which merchants are good or not.
eBay
- Based in – USA
- Price range – Low
- Refund/exchange policy – Refund/exchange only if something is wrong with item
- Processing time – Varies between merchants
- Plus size options – Varies between merchants
- Costume selection – All genres
- Other benefits – Cheapest option available but not always the best quality
One of the most budget-friendly cosplay websites of them all! If you plan to buy a costume from this site, to me it’s like playing the lottery. Sometimes you’ll get lucky and save tons of money on cosplay products because of the lower price. However, there are a lot of questionable merchants with questionable costume quality on top of even more questionable return/shipping policies. In my experience, I’ve gotten some good deals and also have been burned as well. If you’re looking for a low budget or casual cosplay, then it’s okay to take the risk with eBay. But I’d stay away if you’re looking to buy an expensive cosplay; it’s not worth taking the chance.
Taobao
- Based in – China
- Price range – Low
- Refund/exchange policy – From my experience, there is no refund or exchange unless they really screwed up your order. But it’s cheap anyways, so no big deal.
- Processing – Way too long
- Plus size options – Varies between merchants, but highly doubt it
- Costume selection – Based on my experience, I only found the most popular characters sold on Taobao. So as long as you’re not going for a niche or obscure character, you’ll find costumes from series like MHA or Demon Slayer.
- Other benefits – If you manage to go through the hassle of buying from Taobao, you’ll save a LOT of money!
OH TAOBAO. If you’ve been in the cosplay community long enough, I can guarantee you that one of your friend is living off Taobao’s dirt cheap prices. But because the website is not in English and requires you to find an agent to pick up and ship the actual costume to you, using Taobao can be a HUGE hassle. I made an entire article explaining my experience with them. In short, it took almost 4 months to get my Dabi cosplay that was the wrong size…that I couldn’t get refunded or exchanged. But on the plus side, it was only $30 CAD, so I didn’t care either way.
Basically, if you’re tight on money and don’t mind going through a somewhat annoying process, then you’ll love Taobao. Contrary to popular belief, you don’t really need to know Chinese; you can just use Google Translate on Chrome to translate. But if you’re the type of person who just wants to click “BUY” and be done with it, then skip Taobao altogether.
Medium Price Cosplay Websites
CosplayShopper
- Based in – USA
- Price range – Medium
- Refund/exchange policy – 7 days within receiving the costume, only if there’s an issue with the costume
- Shipping – 10-23 business days for shipping, up to 20 business days to process
- Plus size options – XXL and custom sizes available
- Costume selection – Anime, video games, Western cartoons, Halloween, Western videogames.
- Other benefits – They also sell a lot of different dresses, such as Lolita, French Maid and Police and Nurse outfits! And costumes for pets as well.
Haven’t bought from them yet. However, they are notably based in the United States. So if you live in North America, that is a huge advantage in terms of shipping!
EZCosplay
- Based in – China
- Price range – Medium
- Refund/exchange policy – 30 days to exchange or refund your costume, provided it hasn’t been worn or used.
- Shipping – 7-25 days for processing
- Plus size options – XXL and custom sizes available
- Costume selection – Anime, video games, Western cartoons, Halloween, Western videogames
- Other benefits – HUGE variety of cosplays. They do custom orders, so if you need a larger or smaller size than advertised, or you only need half the costume, EZCosplay can do that for you
A higher popular cosplay website, EZCosplay is personally one of my favorites! The quality is really good and the prices are relatively cheaper and reasonable. They have a large selection of cosplays and what’s nice is that they usually have the accessories/footwear to go with the costume, which saves you the hassle of having to find everything separately. You’re pretty much guaranteed to find the character you’re looking for. Highly recommend!
MicCostumes
- Based in – China
- Price range – Medium
- Refund/exchange policy – Refund available within 5 days of receiving item, as long as it’s unworn or used
- Processing time – Depends on if costume is already made, but if not then it can take up to 45 business days
- Plus size options – Only XL available
- Costume selection – Mostly Anime cosplays, but they carry popular video game series like Genshin and K/DA and some normie clothing as well
- Other benefits – I noticed they are carrying swimsuit editions of popular cosplays such as Demon Slayer!
One of the most popular cosplay websites out there. MicCostumes has a variety of costumes you can buy, all for a decent price. I myself purchased my Byleth cosplay from Mic, and it turned out great!
RoleCosplay
- Based in – China
- Price range – Medium
- Refund/exchange policy – 30 days to exchange or refund your costume, provided it hasn’t been worn or used. However, custom-made outfits cannot be returned or exchanged.
- Processing time – 5 days if the costume is already in stock. 25-30 days if the costume needs to be made.
- Plus size options – XXL available for some costumes
- Costume selection – All genres
- Other benefits – They always have costumes on sale, even for the most popular characters!
Another one of the best cosplay websites, RoleCosplay has some amazing deals on their costumes. When I usually compile my list of hot cosplay deals, this site by far has the best discounts out of all of them (including the popular K/DA cosplays for under $40: Ahri, Akali, Evelynn, Kaisa). The costume reviews are really good; most were positive and some were negative, which is a good sign that these reviews are honest and not shills. My only gripe is their costume selection isn’t as diverse as other websites.
UWOWO
- Based in – United Kingdom
- Price range – Medium
- Refund/exchange policy – Refund 15 days within receiving the item, exchange only allowed if item is defective
- Processing time – No information
- Plus size options – XL only available in some costumes
- Costume selection – Small selection of popular series
- Other benefits – There are tons of honest reviews from customers who actually bought from the site, with their photos!
I don’t have much experience with UWOWO, but I had to include them because of how popular they are! Some of my friends love their costume, so they deserve a mention. What I found nice was the variety of photo reviews from buyers who left positive reviews!
High-Price Cosplay Websites
Cosrea
- Based in – China/USA
- Price range – High
- Refund/exchange policy – 14 days for refund/exchange after receiving item
- Processing time – 7-15 days for in-store Costumes and Props, and 25-65 days for armored costumes/props
- Plus size options – 3XL and custom size options
- Costume selection – All genres
- Other benefits – Free Expedite shipping on orders over $100, special sizing and fitting for many cosplayers, including genderbend cosplays
Haven’t bought from them myself, but they sell high-quality cosplays. And they have free shipping on orders over $100!
Cosplay Station
- Based in – Canada (although costumes are actually made in China)
- Price range – High
- Refund/exchange policy – No refunds, exchange within 7 days of receiving costume
- Processing time – 1-2 weeks for costumes, 2-4 weeks for original wigs
- Plus size options – 2XL and custom sizes available
- Costume selection – All genres available
- Other benefits – Can pick up costume in Toronto for free!
I personally have met the owner of the website and she’s wonderful! I’ve gotten some awesome costumes made from these guys, including my Marth cosplay. Their prices are a little higher because they’re using more expensive material. If you live in Toronto, you can pick up your order at their location, which saves the hassle of shipping.
DokiDoki Cosplay
- Based in – China
- Price range – Medium to High
- Refund/exchange policy – 15 days refund of receiving item
- Processing time – 3-5 days for in-stock items, longer if costume is not
- Plus size options – XL only available
- Costume selection – Their selection is somewhat limited to the most popular Anime and video games at the moment
- Other benefits – If you don’t receive your costume within 3-4 months and lost in transit, you’ll receive a full refund!
To be honest, I’m not sure how long DokiDoki Cosplay has been around. But I do know they’ve been making a big splash in the cosplay costume market lately! Part of that reason is because they’ve been producing some amazing Genshin Impact cosplays. I myself ordered a Kaeya cosplay from them, and it turned out great. DokiDoki Cosplay’s costume selection is fairly limited, but they’re slowly branching out to other popular series such as SK8 the Infinity and Jujutsu Kaisen.
Etsy
- Based in – USA
- Price range – High
- Refund/exchange policy – Depends on merchants, but if your case isn’t resolved with the seller, you can ask Etsy to resolve and mediate the case
- Processing time – Varies between merchants
- Plus size options – Varies between merchants, but you’ll likely have custom-size options for plus size
- Costume selection – All genres
- Other benefits – Top quality products from independent merchants
Likely the highest quality site for cosplays; everything is handmade to order by real costume makers. Etsy is all about local and independent manufacturers, artists and crafters. If you’re looking for a specific cosplay costume, prop or accessory, then Etsy is a great website to check out. But by far it’s the most expensive. As I mention in the cosplay quotes post, costume commissioners aren’t extorting you for money; the high prices barely factor in the time, labour and material costs to make your costume. So if you want something specific or you’re willing to dish out a lot of money on an elaborate costume, check out Etsy. But if you want a more common and mass-produced costume (e.g. My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer), you’re better off saving your money elsewhere.
ProCosplay
- Based in – China/USA
- Price range – High
- Refund/exchange policy – 14 days for refund/exchange after receiving item
- Processing time – 7-15 days for in-store Costumes and Props, and 25-65 days for armored costumes/props
- Plus size options – 3XL and custom size options
- Costume selection – All genres
- Other benefits – Free Expedite shipping on orders over $100, special sizing and fitting for many cosplayers, including genderbend cosplays
Another prominent cosplay websites, ProCosplay sells a variety of cosplays. Their armor costumes are amazing!
Xcoser
- Based in – USA
- Price range – Medium to high (armored cosplays are definitely more)
- Refund/exchange policy – Refund within 7 days of receiving item.
- Processing time – No information available
- Plus size options – XXL and custom sizes available
- Costume selection – Anime, video games, Western cartoons, Halloween, Western videogames. But they seem to specialize in Western characters with armor!
- Other benefits – Free non-express shipping worldwide
I haven’t bought from Xcoser yet, but they sell a lot of Western cosplays. Their helmets for series such as Star Wars and Halo are awesome!
Okay, so these are all the best cosplay websites. Here are some other questions you may have.
Other questions you may have
Where can I buy high quality cosplay?
All these websites I listed are great places to buy a high quality cosplay. I did my research and made sure all these stores are reputable. With that said, I don’t feel there’s just one website that is the best. Again, it really depends what your budget is and what you’re looking for. The best thing to do is to browse these websites to find the particular cosplay you want, and compare them in terms of prices, costume design and the amount of accessories included. Fortunately in the cosplay world, we are blessed to have a variety of cosplay stores to choose from!
How can I get free cosplays?
If you’re really strapped on cash and can’t afford any of these best cosplay websites (including AliExpress and Taobao), then I have some options for you:
Borrow cosplays from a friend. If you have a couple of friends who are similar size to you, then ask if you can borrow their cosplays for a photoshoot or convention! As long as you take care of their costume and return the favour, then they’ll be more than happy to let you borrow it. I myself let my cosplay friends borrow my costumes all the time. 🙂
Become a sponsor for these cosplay websites. I myself don’t have much experience with this, but if you have a relatively large following on social media, you can apply to be a sponsor for these websites. In return for posting and advertising their cosplays on your accounts, you’ll get these costumes at a reduced price or free!
These options below aren’t free, but much cheaper than usual:
Facebook Buy/Sell/Trade groups. I talk about more in detail in my Used Cosplays post. But in short, cosplayers are always looking to sell their old or used cosplays in order to get money for new ones. I call this CosSwapping. So find a local cosplay group on Facebook, and you’ll find cosplayers who are selling their costumes at a huge discount. Great way to save money!
Check out the clearance section of these best cosplay websites. Sites such as EZCosplay and RoleCosplay have a bunch of older cosplays at a reduced price. The only downsides of clearance cosplays are that they’re generally older and less popular characters and you may not get the size you’re looking for. But nonetheless, a good option to save on cash.
Summary
Here are the best cosplay websites to buy from:
- AliExpress
- CosplayShopper
- CosplaySky
- Cosplay Station
- Cosrea
- DokiDoki Cosplay
- eBay
- Etsy
- EZCosplay
- MicCostumes
- RoleCosplay
- ProCosplay
- Taobao
- UWOWO
- Xcoser
And there you have it; all the details you need to know about the best cosplay websites! To me, this isn’t a finished article; I plan to update this post as more cosplay websites are added or changed.
If there are any new best cosplay websites I missed, please do email me or leave a comment below and I will take a look at it!
What’s your favourite website? Let me know in the comments below!
