I constantly recommend saving your custom made cosplay patterns for a number of different reasons. First of all, you never know when you may need to use it again if it’s a more generic template. Secondly, you can share them with friends or sell them to generate some extra money back into cosplaying. This can create a pretty steady passive income as well. So you have templates and you’re ready to share them? You might be wondering, where can I sell my cosplay patterns? There’s so many options and platforms you can make them available on. The following are ones I recommend personally.
Keep in mind you can use multiple options at once to truly diversify your store to be available to more audiences. Keep in mind the work that comes with managing multiple stores though.
Selling Cosplay Patterns on a Website
If you have a personal website, you can set up a store front for your patterns. Whether you use WordPress, Wix or Squarespace, you can set up ecommerce options on a site. They’re a little bit more difficult to set up than other platforms since it’ll require external plugins and such, but it gives you the most customization. Meaning you can optimize the store accordingly to also be searched for organically. Plus it lets you house every thing in one website. Depending on what plugins you use and how you collect payments, you might even earn a bigger cut than on other platforms. Different sites all take different percentage cuts of your sales for using their platforms. It’s important to research and compare those percentages ahead of time. If you don’t wish to use an ecommerce plugin you can still create a shop page and have products link to external platforms they’re sold on. So regardless the website option is a good one to use.
Selling Cosplay Patterns on Ko-Fi
Ko-Fi is a great site for creators looking to further their monetization. Ko-Fi has the ability to offer subscriptions, one off tips, a store with digital and physical items and take commissions. It’s incredibly versatile to host video content, posts or even blog style content as well. You can completely customize your page to fit the needs you have. As for selling cosplay patterns on Ko-Fi, you’ll rely pretty heavily on the store option and the ability to list digital products. That way it’ll collect payments and provide shoppers with the downloadable digital files. All you have to do is upload and list the product and promote the store.
Selling Cosplay Patterns on Etsy
Etsy can be similar in the sense of how easy it is to list digital products. However they do charge a listing fee and definitely take greater percentages than platforms like Ko-Fi. The reason one may decide to go with Etsy over Ko-Fi or a website is because Etsy is already a popular shopping site and could make it easier for your product to get discovered. So you have to assess what’s more important, a platform taking a smaller cut or getting your stuff on more popular platforms.
Selling Cosplay Patterns on Gumroad
This is not a site I have personally used but I see many members of the cosplay community utilize it for things like prints even. I wanted to make sure I noted it as an option but unfortunately I don’t have much information on it to offer. Be sure to consult with other cosplayers who have used it with questions before setting up shop.