How it all began
During his student years, Mykola was passionate about anime. He was also attracted to cosplay culture, which was quite developed abroad. To find like-minded people, the young man started looking for various events where people with similar interests gathered. That’s how he attended his first cosplay festival held in Dnipro.
“I came to the first festival, then the second, and the third. I met and communicated with many interesting people. But if you want to be part of the scene, you need to make a costume. A person in a costume is much more interesting than one without it. That’s how I started creating costumes. That was 15 years ago. Since then, our community has grown and dispersed. Many already have children, their own businesses, but I still keep in touch with some.”
In search of himself, by the age of 25, Mykola had tried 9 professions and changed 15 jobs. Eventually, he decided to start his own business. At first, he forged roses from metal, then opened a body art studio.
“Besides that, there were other startups—so-called trial niches. None of them worked out because certain nuances arose that the business couldn’t handle. But the fourth niche for me was exactly costumes. I sold them through VKontakte, then moved to Etsy. And for eight years, my company has been growing and developing, although it was incredibly difficult at the start.”
Mykola had no connections or acquaintances. He would go around the city from theater to theater, meet directors, and offer them costume orders. With those who performed the work reasonably well, he negotiated cooperation.
“At that time, I didn’t own my own workshop. I had to work with intermediaries and contact many sewing ateliers. Cosplay costumes usually have non-standard cuts. They are difficult to develop and sew, especially if they consist of many different parts. This is not like dresses or trousers. Take, for example, costumes from video games, like Mage or Necromancer. Yes, this clothing is very beautiful, but it’s impossible to wear; it’s completely impractical. That’s why I kept changing seamstresses. They simply didn’t understand how to create something like that, as they had never sewn such before. Eventually, prolonged searches led me to real masters who understood what needed to be done with just half a word.”
Orders increased each time. Eventually, he had to hire an assistant to oversee shipments, package goods, and ensure all details were in place. Sometimes, it reached absurd levels. For example, at the theater, two people were handling one costume: one cast the mold, the other polished it and glued it. Then, the first master, for personal reasons or due to a communication breakdown, couldn’t pass the product to the colleague.
“I had to go to the theater, climb to the fourth floor to pick up the piece, then go down to the first floor to hand it over to another craftsman. That’s how work was organized.”
Another problem with theaters was that products up to three meters long did not require much precision, unlike cosplay costumes, where every detail matters.
“In cosplay, each product must 100% reflect the original. If we speak of a sword with runes, it must have runes. Quality is always our top priority, so we often go the extra mile. For example, the computer game ‘Witcher’ features a character Yenifer, whose costume has tin buttons. We couldn’t find such buttons anywhere, so we made them ourselves: molded from plasticine, made a silicone mold, and then cast from tin. As a result, we got exactly the same buttons as Yenifer’s, with the same pattern and texture.”
This approach is not suitable for theater. For them, a cross is a cross, a circle is a circle. All of this was developed over years: their eyes, vision, mentality. With such masters, it was necessary to constantly control every detail. Additionally, there was a big management problem—sometimes, one costume had to be assembled by running from one end of the district to another. After a year of such work, Mykola finally decided to open his own workshop.
Etsy Shop
The trial niche turned into a viable business. Now, after eight years, the team employs 25 people. Recently, the workshop moved to a new premises of 214 m². The company grows by 25% annually in revenue. However, steady development is constantly hindered by quite serious crises.
The first crisis was due to the store’s closure over copyright violations. Mykola had not properly studied Etsy’s rules at that time. He opened a new store, but after six months, the marketplace linked it to a banned account, and the new store was closed again.
“Marketplace policies are very demanding and meticulous about this. In Ukraine, they tend to be more lenient: they might warn or at worst issue a fine. Etsy has a very strict policy; mistakes are not tolerated. If you get blacklisted, it’s practically impossible to get out of it.”
Before opening the third store, the entrepreneur approached it more seriously: studied the rules, bought a new laptop, registered an account under a friend’s name, and did everything possible to avoid similarities with previous stores.
The next crisis occurred when Mykola tried to implement horizontal management in his team. He wanted to provide comfortable conditions for employees, but it turned out that people were not ready for such changes—no one wanted to take responsibility.
Then a more unpleasant incident happened. Before Halloween, part of the team that Mykola had worked with for a long time united, took equipment and materials from the workshop, and opened a complete copy of his store on Etsy.
“They took tools, technologies, but didn’t take the mindset—that’s the root of everything. It felt like they thought, now we cut down this tree, plant it with ourselves, and it will grow here. No, it doesn’t work that way. But precisely because of this incident, I started to understand my value as a manager. The important thing is not only the product you offer your audience but also the mindset, methodology, and everything else that promotes this product.”
After updating the team, the business developed successfully until the start of the coronavirus pandemic. The company, which focused on individual orders, tried making masks, but their cost price was exorbitant.
To save the business, Mykola involved all marketing contacts: sent newsletters, improved SEO, redistributed expenses. The team drafted a plan to stretch out salary payments, but instead of being sent home, people were given more work, including cleaning or minor repairs, to prevent depression and apathy.
After February 24
Not long after the pandemic partially recovered, full-scale invasion began. The first month, the team was idle. Financial reserves were running out. Eventually, Mykola suggested resuming production. By then, Ukrposhta was operating, and there was an opportunity to send orders through Poland.
“The situation with the war is difficult primarily morally. You need to hold on yourself but also support the team. There were almost no logistical issues. To avoid misunderstandings, we wrote a letter to each client in advance, explaining that there was a war in the country… The clients—true enthusiasts—supported us and stayed with us.”
Now, the Castle Emerald shop has almost returned to normal operation. The main sources of income are festivals (including Comic-Con in the USA, where over a million people participate annually), events dedicated to “Star Wars,” and Halloween. Even the Disney studio, when filming new movies, invites Castle Emerald clients to join the crowd work thanks to the high quality of their costumes.
Western Bid
Initially, the entrepreneur used services from another company, but their high percentage fee was eating up most of the earnings. So, it was decided to switch to Western Bid.
“We are grateful to Western Bid for their stability. There was a period when another company offered us a good percentage… But later, they started having problems, as we learned from our clients. They didn’t even inform us that the system was down. So, we returned to Western Bid and have not conducted such experiments again. I lost trust in a company that does not take responsibility for its actions and is not willing to help its clients.”
Mykola notes that in case of problems with Western Bid or UPS, everything is resolved through dialogue. The parties discuss the issue and understand at what stage its resolution stands. For the entrepreneur, this is a sign that the company values its clients.
Conclusion about Western Bid
The story of the Castle Emerald workshop proves that Western Bid is a model of stability for Ukrainian business:
- Responsibility and transparency: Unlike competitors, the company always maintains an open dialogue and does not leave the seller alone with technical issues.
- Reliability in the long term: Stable work over the years makes Western Bid a safe choice for large teams with high turnover.
- Customer focus: Willingness to listen and resolve logistics issues (like with UPS) confirms that the interests of the customers are a priority.