Saber Forum

Hello everyone,
Some time ago I made an Obi-Wan costume. Overall successful, based on the positive reviews I received.
Unfortunately, a machine wash made it ... slightly pink for the tabard, it spoils the Jedi effect.
I wanted to replace the tabard, so I turned to the net, and I fell on it

The link is https://www.cosmanles.com/star-wars-jedi-knight-obi-wan-kenobi-cosplay-costume-with-cloak.html

Do you know this site? Serious? Quality?
Thanks in advance !!

That seems pretty cheap for a whole costume of good quality. So just keep in mind, you get what you pay for. Also that ships using DHL which usually means its coming from China or somewhere similar.

But other then just now looking I know nothing of that website.

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This is the most reviews that I found for the site

https://m.facebook.com/pg/cosmanles/reviews/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=1

Yes,but I don't have enough money to buy a new one ,and this online store seems acceptable .what will happen if it comes from China or some where similar?something about the quality,or the shipping?

Thanks a lot for helping me with this problem,it is amazing that you found such a review website .It does help me a lot in judge this store and make decision.But I still want ask your opinion about this store after seeing these reviews.

I have never heard of that site from before. But the reviews do look good from the link that was posted.

The reviews look good and their product looks of good quality from the pictures; however, judging from the fact that I only see reviews on their Facebook page and nothing in Google or any other sites, makes me wonder.  Now, it can be that they use Facebook as a platform to promote their product but it makes me on the fence a bit.  I do notice that their Facebook page is pretty active so there's that

Yes,and this is also why I choose this store and ask for help.Do you think I should browse more online store or make decision immediately.

So you judge the quality of their product from the reviews?Actually,I pay more attention to the picture from the consumers.I am little confused if there is nothing in Google,how could they promote their products,from Facebook only？That sounds like a new store.wow,I am still more puzzle.

You can never judge just by photos, they could use photos from anywhere. It's easy to use other people's photos.

Just keep in mind like I said earlier in the thread, you get what you pay for. So don't expect something that looks like a million bucks for a few dollars.

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Unfortunately this is almost universally true.  That's not to say that there aren't deals to be had but, in my experience, the quality of the product is commensurate with the cost.

If you're interested in cosplay (and I imagine you are  ;)), try Etsy. There are some good vendors with reasonable prices.

I don’t judge any place by reviews since no ma Yet how a company want to rectify a bad experience, there are customers who just aren’t satisfied.  I look at the lack of reviews especially if they market themselves as being the best or been around for some time. In the same breath, I also keep in mind that maybe they may cater to our of country customers or are out of country themselves.  I don’t go by pictures since pictures versus what you receive can differ.


I agree, saving a few bucks can often times cost more since you may have to find a new supplier and repurchase another higher quality one.  It’s not hard to pull photos from someone else and make it your own.


Agreed. Finding good deals that are cost effective and good quality is the luck of the draw and far and few in between.  Watt has great and reputable sellers that can be costly but going back to what Tx said, you do get what you paid for. Do it right the first time so you won’t have to do it again.

Hello all, first a small bit about me. I'm in cyber intelligence, so researching etc is my specialty I do it every day. I've spent longer than I should have researching this company and this is what I have determined. Take this as you will, the site is only a year old as of a few days ago. The reviews almost all of them are fake if you can find them. Most of the reviewers only left a review for this site and no other some only a month after the site launched. They are located in China, this means the goal in most cases is to saturate social media as seen by their Facebook and Instagram accounts selling items at a large discount. Get as many people to buy them and once the negitive reviews start landing on sites they can't edit they change names and do it again.


Know that any facebook admin can delete bad reviews also know the majority of the items have zero comments besides a few bot accounts yet they have tons of followers. Followers, likes and reviews can all be bought keep this in mind. For instance as a joke and to prove a point I went on the dark web and bought my buddy 10,000 followers on Instagram. Cost 12 bucks. I'll let you know if I find out more but I recommend checking Etsy and pay a bit more for better quality.

Also another practice of Chinese online companies is to offset the cost by selling your info, including credit card, phone, address and whatever they collect from you. Plus because the shipping takes awhile or they us US drop shippers returns are impossible.

 

A little more I found out then I'm done stay away from this company. They pay for good reviews https://m.cosmanles.com/win-cosmanles-coupon-rewards

All you have to do is leave an awesome review on many of the sites they link and you get free cash at their store. Good companies don't have to pay for reviews, and while this practice is common the fact that they have so little reviews and they straight up pay people to review should be enough to say forget this jazz. I also found a few other stores they are linked to selling other stolen unlicensed IP. also, their site has no terms of service I could find so the odds are high they just sell your info and then never respond to you if they ship anything.

Hopefully you all learned the following from my research

Everything online can be faked
Everything online can be faked
Everything online can be faked

And in regards to Facebook remember if your not the consumer your the product. All Facebook reviews can be controlled and I once did a 3 month study of Facebook product ads and over 90% were scam sites only a few months old.

Oh and don't trust reviews unless their are 1,000s and you can at least validate some as real people. Companies have learned if you put two items one costing a few bucks more with 5 stars and the other a few bucks less with 3 stars consumers will buy the one with 5 stars damn near every time.

And last but not least don't trust me either you don't know me I could be lying about all of this. I'm not but I could be, in this day and age finding the truth online is a serious endever and most only do enough research to prove themselves right then move on. Stay safe out their guys and clearly you can tell I'm missing the research work, I've been on Vacation for a week now and can't wait to dive back in lol.

 

Thanks for the research, Madness!  Hope you enjoyed your vacation and glad that you're back!  -1 for the great find!

I couldn't agree any more.I once heard a saying,Pie never falls out of the sky.

WOW,you are amazing , compare to the quality of costumes in this store, I am more interested in how do you know this info.It always appear in films and fictions.

I use various methods, mainly using open search tools like Google and cross referencing posts etc. It's normally easy to spot fake reviews if you just scratch the surface a bit. I'd be happy to teach you guys some basics like using whois and other validation method to validate website integrity. The knowledge about China and it's business practices comes from months of research into shady advertisements on Facebook and just working in the field of Intel. Let me know if you have any questions I'm happy to answer what I can.

I would love to learn about the basics!

Sure, an easy way to validate a website is you can check out https://whois.icann.org/en put in the URL and it will tell you when the site was created. When it was last updated etc their location if not hidden, this is normally a good indicator. Sure there are new companies but one that is offering too good to be true deals and is only a few months old is most likely a scam.

This website will validate some of the reviews on yelp, amazon and other sites to tell you if they are good or not. It's not perfect but it's a good indicator again https://www.fakespot.com/.

This site is a site that checks IP and Domain reputation, so you can see if this is linked to any shady business https://www.talosintelligence.com/reputation_center

This site is helpful when lookup up one off websites like the one we are discussing https://resellerratings.com/ most the reviews tend to be legitish but again it's a good indicator of shady business.

The last is a simple google search, businesses with only facebook reviews can't be trusted because can request those reviews edited or they can just pay for more positive reviews. Also keep this in mind, when you see a positive review with little context or if you click on that reviewer and this is the only business they have reviews it's most likely fake. Ask yourself how many times have you gone out of you way to leave a positive review, you are either the person who does this for all sellers or no sellers. There is no middle ground, let me know if you guys have any other questions..

I've been playing around with those sites and it's awesome!  Thanks Madness!  Point for you!

Thank you a lot for your introduction,it is helpful .Point for you !!!
I first consider to ask you for advice each time before I purchase things from online stores in the future.Haha,just for joking.But now I believe I could judge them by myself after your guide.
Have you ever been cheated by online stores?
Some big brands nowadays,also sell some thing with low quality ,and they also delete bad reviews .Some people are selective in the goods they got.It seems that they only be satisfied with things made by themselves.However,the truth is that are not able to.
These days ,Made in China is here and there,do they always treat business with such practice?It is amazing.

Not all the Chinese businesses operate this way but the Chinese government makes it very easy to do so. And as an American you have little recourse. And no I've never been scammed, my job requires me to understand these threats I'm also trained as a social engineer and ethical hacker so it's kinda the you can't con a con thing. Granted I'm paid to use my skills to increase the security of my company.

I'll tell you a story one time someone tried to scam me online, I bought a razor. It was say 180 bucks or so the guy was trying to buy time and waste enough time that PayPal would release his funds. Well using his email and a few tools I have access to I was able to get his real name. And other personal details. I gave it a week or two and saw the scam going down.

So I sent an email and used his real name, and then details from his Facebook account showing his wife was out of town.. I can't remember what the details were but it was some like this.

Hey real name,

I'll be in Tennessee next week right around real address. I know your wife is out of town but it looks like your still home. If I don't have my item or refund by then I'll just come by and snag it next week.

The razor showed up the following day and it was overnighted lol. People feel the internet gives them the ability to be anonymous but it does not. And when you expose them then tend to fold pretty quick lol.

Please let me know if you need help validating a site I don't mind taking the time if you need help. Let me know.

It seems hacker is far away from my life.But after reading your message I could totally understand that ethical hacker is different from what we usually hear about. Also,with such  a skill you can avoid yourself from be cheated,and that sounds really nice.Sometimes it also seems like a thief want to get some money from the police.
Here,It remind me of a TVplay Black Mirror one of its episode called 'Shut up and dance'.Yes ,We can easily see people always play with their smartphone and laptop instead of interact face to face.But your phone know all of your things ,they know where you go ,what you like and your passwords.

I totally say go for a Twin Roses set or Khloe's Custom Clothing. Her Obi-wan costumes look amazing and comes with ROBE not BATHROBE like okay, lol. Probably a bit more expensive than what you're willing to do but way better quality and trusted American places too and ship super quick and actually uses paypal as well. Trust me on those two =] I have costume sets from both places and love the feel of them. Look up my "Classic Jedi Zren Tobas" thread in the costumes, its my main Twin Roses set but with a Jedi Robe America dark brown robe and belt I found on Etsy. If a site such as that seems way too fishy/too good to be true just at first glance for you then don't bother with it. Twin Roses also does a Ben Kenobi A New Hope set as well. Do like a mash up of eras, Ben Kenobi tabbards :P

wow,It seems that you are advertising here. Khloe's Custom Clothing will cost me too much.I can not afford.After hearing what Madness said ,it is hard for me to believe things from Internet.

You're learning, but twin roses has been around awhile and has a solid rep. I agree the prices can be high but quality is great. I recommend finding someone on Etsy or a friend that sews. It's not a hard see for when a novice semstress. Another option, get a prepaid credit card and have it sent to your work address, sadly if it is a scam no recourse but at least you don't have to worry.