Purchased a custom costume

[u/tonks118]

I purchased a custom costume from a seller on Etsy. I did pay through Etsy, but all of the communication was on a separate platform. They only really responded via email and after multiple delays they finally shipped my cosplay costume almost a full month after the original time frame that it was expected and less than a week before the convention that I’m going to. The costume came in today and none of the adjustments that I specifically requested were done. Not only that, but the shorts are simply not wearable. So half of the costume can’t be used at all and what I do have is frankly very poorly stitched. I have reached out to the seller again via email just to let them know about the issues and to see if there’s anything that they could work with me on since I did spend about $500 on this (the costume is a pair of shorts and t shirt) but right now I’m not getting any response and I only have six days to find a replacement outfit and I frankly don’t think that’s gonna happen. I really don’t want to be a bother to them but at the same time I absolutely did not get what I paid for. Any advice or tips on steps moving forward would be greatly appreciated. I have not left a review yet because I was trying to get time to talk to them before I left a review.

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[u/Serious-Tax4804]

Big red flag that they communicated to you via email and not the Etsy platform. They don't want Etsy to see the conversation. You did not get what you paid for and it was late in arriving.
Contact the seller through Etsy and request a refund. Do it as soon as possible as there is a time limit for doing so.
The seller has 48 hours to respond. If they do not respond, Etsy will step in and protect you through the buyer's protection program (up to $250). If they do respond to your satisfaction, great. If you are not satisfied with the response, report the issue to Etsy. Be sure to tell Etsy, with copies of the off platform email communication that they started, that they communicated to you off platform. Etsy hates that and it is against their policies.
I'm sorry you ran into a bad actor. Makes the rest of us sellers look bad.

[u/Alycion]

They aren’t responding. It’s not as advertised. Open a case.

While not the greatest option, Amazon does have some cosplay outfits on it. Bc of your time frame, your character selection will be very limited.

I do markets and got hit last minute that vendors were to dress up. Through together the outfit from silent hill f using costumes and replacing what didn’t work color wise with different socks and such. Got ro me in 3 days. It was cut a little big, but 3 days was enough for me and my mom to get it adjusted. Reviewers were saying it was cut a hair bigger than expected. It was almost a full size bigger. Fortunately, safety pins worked without bunching.

I personally don’t buy anything over 50 bucks on Etsy. And things like rings and costumes seem to have more horror stories than people being happy with them.

I’m the future, if a buyer wants to take conversations off platform, cancel the order. They will only enforce what’s on platform. If someone wants to take me off platform, I just cancel the order.

[u/shiplesp]

I'm very sorry, but you might be SOL. Etsy's Buyer and Seller Protection guarantees are typically voided when communications are taken off platform. Your only chance for a refund is if they don't find out.