Terms of Service

Effective Date: July 30, 2026

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your use of emerald-castle.net (the "Website") and any purchase you make through our Shopify store. By using the Website or placing an order, you agree to these Terms.

1. Who We Are

The Website is jointly operated by two related but legally distinct entities:

Educational content. The informational and educational content on the Website, including our blog, articles, and free educational materials, is published by GROMADSKA ORHANIZATSIIA "Smarahdove Misto" (ГРОМАДСЬКА ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯ «Смарагдове місто»), a Ukrainian public organization, registered in Ukraine, official English name "Emerald City" ("EC", "the Organization"). The Organization does not sell any products and does not enter into any sales contract with you.

The store. The online store — including all custom-made costumes, props, and accessories, order processing, payment, shipping, and returns — is operated by Individual Entrepreneur Mykola Pastushenko (ФОП Пастушенко Микола Вікторович), Ukrainian taxpayer ID (ІПН) 3220812159 ("the Seller"). If you place an order, your contract of sale is with the Seller, not the Organization.

Both the Organization and the Seller trade under the shared name "Castle Emerald" and operate from the same physical address (see Section 17). Where these Terms refer to "we", "our", or "us", the applicable entity is the Organization for anything relating to educational or informational content, and the Seller for anything relating to orders, payment, shipping, or returns, as clarified throughout these Terms.

The Organization is a Ukrainian public organization publishing educational content about costume production and creative manufacturing; it does not sell anything. The store is a separate commercial activity operated by the Seller on the same domain, and proceeds from the store support the Organization’s educational mission.

2. Eligibility

The store, operated by the Seller, is intended for adult customers only. By placing an order, you confirm that you are at least 18 years old and legally able to enter into a binding contract, provide your own measurements and photographs, and make payment. We do not knowingly sell to or contract with minors. The Seller does not accept orders from, or knowingly contract with, individuals under the age of 18. If the Seller becomes aware that an order was placed by a minor, the Seller may cancel that order and, where payment has been made, refund the amount paid.

3. Nature of Our Products

Please read this section carefully before ordering.

Our products are handmade and, in most cases, made-to-order; each order is individually manufactured by the Seller’s workshop.

Colors and materials may vary slightly from product photos due to monitor display settings, dye lots, and material availability at the time of production.

Our products are intended for cosplay, costume events, film and photography production, conventions, performances, and collectors.

Our products are not children’s products, not personal protective equipment, and not certified safety equipment. Prop weapons are decorative cosplay imitations only and are not designed, tested, or certified for combat, self-defense, or any protective use.

4. Custom Orders and Production Process

Individual (bespoke) costumes

For newly designed, one-of-a-kind costumes, the Seller agrees all customization requests with you before production begins. Once production has started, up to 3 minor revisions or 1 major revision are included free of charge. Any further revisions remain possible but are provided at an additional cost, calculated to cover the additional materials and/or workshop time required.

Serial (in-stock listing) costumes

Where you order a costume already offered as a standard product with no additional customization requests, the Seller manufactures it to the workshop’s established standard for that item and consistent with the listing image. If you request customization, the Seller agrees all such requests with you before production begins; once production has started, further revisions remain possible at an additional cost calculated as described above.

If the Seller is unable to manufacture a costume exactly as shown in its listing image — for example, because matching fabric is no longer available, or because the costuming standard the item is based on (such as those maintained by the 501st Legion or Rebel Legion) has since changed — the Seller will contact you in advance to agree on any resulting changes before production continues.

Individual Pieces and Accessories

You are not required to order a complete costume. If you only need a specific piece, accessory, or prop rather than a full set, contact the Seller with the details, and an individual listing will be created for that item, produced according to the same custom-order process described in this Section.

Measurements

Because production is individually tailored, the Seller contacts every customer directly before production begins to confirm the measurements production will be based on. Production does not start until this has been confirmed. You are responsible for the accuracy of the measurements you provide; see our Refund Policy for how measurement errors are handled.

Non-Responsive Customers

If the Seller is unable to reach you to confirm measurements or other details necessary to begin or continue production, the Seller will attempt to contact you periodically for up to 12 months from the first attempt. If the Seller does not hear from you within that period, your order will be paused ("project freeze") until you provide the required information.

If you return with the required measurements after your order has been frozen, the Seller will proceed with production at the originally agreed price, unless the cost of materials has increased significantly since your order was placed, in which case the Seller will inform you of any resulting price adjustment before resuming production. You may accept the adjusted price, or cancel the order in accordance with Section 7.

5. Customer-Supplied Reference Materials

You may provide reference photographs, artwork, screenshots, or design notes to help the Seller produce your order. By submitting reference materials, you confirm that you have the right to use and share them with the Seller for this purpose. The Seller uses reference materials solely to complete your order and is not responsible for verifying the origin of any reference material you provide or for any third-party intellectual property claim arising from your use of it. You agree to indemnify the Seller against any third-party claim, loss, or cost incurred as a result of your lack of the necessary rights to use or share reference materials you provide.

Many of our costumes are inspired by characters and designs from films, games, and other copyrighted works. Unless expressly stated otherwise, the Seller is not officially licensed by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the rights holders of any such characters or designs, and our products are unofficial, fan-made items intended for personal cosplay, performance, and collection use.

6. Payment

Orders are paid in full in advance, unless the Seller separately agrees to an installment arrangement with you. See our Secure Payments page for details on payment methods, currency, and payment security.

7. Order Cancellation

You may cancel your order free of charge at any time before the Seller has purchased materials for it and/or begun production. Once production has started, the amount you have already paid — whether paid in full or as a deposit under an agreed installment plan — is non-refundable, reflecting the materials and workshop time already committed to your order. See our Refund Policy for how returns and refunds are handled after your order is delivered.

8. Production Timelines

Estimated production time, and whether a Rush Order option is available for a given item, are stated on the individual product listing. See our Shipping Policy for full details on production and shipping timelines.

9. Intellectual Property

All educational content, articles, photographs, and materials published on the Website by the Organization (other than customer-supplied reference materials) remain the property of the Organization (GROMADSKA ORHANIZATSIIA "Smarahdove Misto" / Emerald City) or its licensors, unless stated otherwise, and may not be reproduced without permission. Product photographs, listings, and store content published by the Seller remain the property of the Seller or its licensors.

You retain ownership of any reference materials you provide. By submitting them, you grant the Seller a license to use them solely to produce your order, and, where you separately authorize it, the Organization and/or the Seller may use them for educational or promotional purposes as described in our Privacy Policy.

10. Acceptable Use of the Website

When using the Website, you agree not to:

• use the Website for any unlawful purpose or in a way that infringes the rights of others;

• attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Website, our systems, or other users’ accounts;

• scrape, harvest, or systematically extract content or data from the Website without our permission;

• upload or transmit malicious code or content that could damage or disrupt the Website.

11. Educational Content

Educational and informational content published by the Organization is provided for general informational purposes about costume production, materials, and creative manufacturing. It does not constitute professional, technical, or safety advice, and the Organization makes no warranty as to its completeness or applicability to your specific project.

12. Limitation of Liability

This Section applies to the Seller’s liability in connection with orders placed through the store. To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Seller’s total liability to you arising out of or in connection with an order is limited to the amount you paid for that order. The Seller is not liable for indirect, incidental, or consequential losses, including loss of enjoyment of an event, arising from a delayed, damaged, or otherwise imperfect product, except where such liability cannot be excluded under applicable law. This limitation does not affect the Seller’s separate commitments to remake, repair, replace, or reship your order at its own cost where it is responsible for doing so under our Refund Policy or Shipping Policy.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

13. Force Majeure

Neither the Organization nor the Seller is liable for delays or failures to perform caused by events beyond their reasonable control, including but not limited to war, martial law, military action, power or utility outages, natural disasters, pandemics, government restrictions, or carrier disruptions. Given that the Seller’s workshop is located in Ukraine, production timelines may be affected by war-related disruptions, including power outages; the Seller will inform you of any significant impact on your order as soon as reasonably possible.

14. How These Policies Work Together

Together with our Privacy Policy, Cookie Policy, Shipping Policy, Refund Policy, and Secure Payments page, these Terms form the entire agreement between you and us regarding your use of the Website and any order you place. Our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy apply jointly to the Organization and the Seller, as they describe how the Website as a whole handles personal data and cookies. Our Refund Policy, Shipping Policy, and Secure Payments page apply specifically to the Seller’s commercial activity. The governing law and dispute resolution provisions in Section 15 below apply to our relationship as a whole, including matters arising under any of these other policies, unless a specific policy states otherwise for a particular issue.

References to "business days" throughout these policies mean Monday to Friday, excluding public holidays in Ukraine.

15. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

These Terms are governed by the laws of Ukraine, without prejudice to any mandatory consumer protection rights you may have under the law of your country of residence. We encourage you to contact us first to resolve any dispute informally. Any dispute that cannot be resolved informally will be subject to the courts of Ukraine, except where applicable law entitles you, as a consumer, to bring proceedings before the courts of your own country of residence instead.

16. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time to reflect changes in our services, legal requirements, or business practices. The latest version will always be published on this page together with the effective date.

17. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us:

For educational content and the blog (the Organization):

Legal entity: ГРОМАДСЬКА ОРГАНІЗАЦІЯ «Смарагдове місто» (ГО «Смарагдове місто»)
Official English name: "Emerald City" ("EC")
Director: Mykola Pastushenko (Пастушенко Микола Вікторович)
Address: 49008, Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Dnipro, Chechelivskyi District, Robocha St., Bldg. 164-A, Apt. 73
Email: manager@castleemerald.org

For orders, payment, shipping, and returns (the Seller):

Legal entity: Individual Entrepreneur Mykola Pastushenko (ФОП Пастушенко Микола Вікторович)
Taxpayer ID (ІПН): 3220812159
Address: 49008, Ukraine, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Dnipro, Chechelivskyi District, Robocha St., Bldg. 164-A, Apt. 73
Email: manager@castleemerald.org