The amazing A.J. (yes, that A.J.) writes:
I think I’m finally ready to sell my wedding dress. I think. I don’t feel a need to clutter up stuff with a dress I’ll never wear again. And I highly doubt my daughter(s) would want to wear it. It’ll probably be very out of style by then…
So I was wondering, what is the best way to sell my dress? Is Craigslist fine, or would a consignment shop have a better return? What is a proper price to ask for it? I was thinking half of what I paid, not counting alterations and cleaning. Is that too much? Anything else I should consider?
Great question! I was lucky in that I had a vehicle through which I could safely donate my dress on short notice — the family church — which meant I didn’t have to haul it all the way from Florida to Mass or worry about selling it. I just took it off after the reception ended and left it on my gram’s couch for her to deal with. I’ll probably never find out who it went to (the whole left-hand, right-hand thing) but I can be sure it went to someone who really needed it.
But getting back to the question at hand…there are so many ways to sell one’s dress nowadays. Once upon a time, Craigslist, eBay, neighborhood consignment shops, and the local classifieds would have been your only options, but in recent years, a bunch of interesting bridal consignment web sites have sprung up. These include:
- Preownedweddingdresses.com ($25 listing fee)
- Bride-to-Bride Boutique ($5.00 listing fee)
- Sellyourweddingdress.com ($59.99 to list until gown sells)
- I Do Now I Don’t (5% transaction fee)
- Encore Bridal (gowns<3 yrs old valued at $2k or more only; 40-60% commission)
Personally, I’d try Craigslist first because it’s free, you’ll avoid shipping hassles, and the brides-to-be interested in the dress can actually come try it on. The downside is letting people into your house and the inevitable wafflers that Criaglist attracts. Using a local consignment shop lets you avoid shipping without having to let people into your house, but the shop will take a cut of the eventual sale price. Online consignment shops’ fees will vary, but remember you’ll also need to think about setting a shipping price and boxing up your gown for transport. The one option I wouldn’t recommend is eBay, because secondhand wedding gowns seldom sell for more than $50 unless they are very, very upscale.
Speaking of price, let me say that the price A.J. has suggested would make most bargain hunting brides happy. As long as the dress is clean and in good condition, half price for a frock worn just once is a great deal, but that’s no guarantee that someone will buy it. When selling a gown, consider half-price (or slightly less than that if the gown has been discontinued for six months or more) your starting point, and don’t be afraid to lower it slightly if you’re not getting any bites.
Ultimately, the price your dress will eventually fetch depends less on where you list it than it does on other factors. If you do list a frock online, be as specific in your description as possible. Include things like the manufacturer or designer, dress name or model number, exact color, cut and style, fabrics and embellishments, train length, current measurements of the dress — if it was altered, original size is now moot — and any problems like snags, tears, or stains. Upload plenty of clear, well-lit pics from all angles, and add a link to the dress on the designer’s web site if it’s still in production.
More information makes you, the seller, seem legit, leading potential buyers to put their trust in your descriptions. If you do end up needing to ship your dress, look around for a box that’s about 30 inches long and 6 inches deep. Boxes of those particular dimensions aren’t always easy to find, however, so you can also use a large USPS or UPS shipping box, which will be about 24 inches by 24 inches by 24 inches. Yes, it’s overkill, but no one wants to receive a squished up gown, even if they intend to have it pressed later on.
Good luck!
have you considered indiebride? http://www.indiebride.com has a section called “trousseau” where you can post your wedding dress for $10, although a lot of brides make some informal offers in the forums for more specific styles 🙂 and for canadian brides, there’s http://www.frugalbride.com, which my friend lisa swears by. she was able to sell not only her dress, but her jewellery and various wedding doodads there (like the candy bar she had at the reception)! it does require that you register with a non-web-based email address, though, so it might not work for everyone.
Another great free source is the classified ads at weddingbee. Built in audience. You do have to sign up, but they don’t sell your info, and it’s a fun blog to read anyway.
Oncewed.com. Free to list. It’s a great resource.
One thing I’d like to add: photos will show the dress much better if it’s on (at least) a dress form, and better, a human body. All dresses look shapeless on a hanger. Also, take close-ups of any detailing like lace, beading, embroidery cut-work or ribbon-work.
Depending on your dress style, and the chances that you think you might need a formal dress in the future, you could always re-purpose the dress for yourself. Have a seamstress hem the dress to a length that works for you, be it simply removing the train, or my favorite, knee length. I think that poofy wedding dresses hemmed to knee-length gives a wonderful vintage 50’s look. Then, to further de-wedding-fy the dress, dye it a color. Use RIT and my favorite container, a large cooler.
I’ve worn my wedding dress a few times after giving it this treatment.
another idea besides selling it is to donate it to Goodwill, as the post today (Nov. 26, 2009) talks about. at our stores, we sell some dresses that come in on the rack year-round, some go to the Halloween merchandise and some are sold in our annual bridal showcase. donating your dress means you get a tax write-off and you know it’s going to support someone who needs help getting a job (if you donate to Goodwill).
Thanks for giving us more info on what happens to dresses donated to the Goodwill, Kristen! I’m a big fan of Goodwill in general, as it allows me to avoid throwing perfectly good (but unwanted) stuff away, and I’ve found some awesome stuff for my home at Goodwill over the years.
Hi there. Not totally agree with you, but you just gave me an idea for a new eBook regarding \”Manolo for the Brides\”. It is related to where can i buy discontinued candy. Thanks.
Oh, for pete’s sake. Will the Stephy Garmola bot never quit?! At this point it’s written an eEncyclopedia from all of the eBook ideas it allegedly got here.
Sorry about the bot messages, everyone. The fact is, though, that this site typically gets at least a couple hundred spam messages every day, most of which never make it past the spam catcher. I don’t know why it’s letting this particular run of messages through, but I guarantee that there are far more annoying and offensive things that you’ve never seen.
Also, if we can figure out a way to keep these particular messages from coming through, we’ll absolutely do it.
Once again, I apologize for the annoyance.
Sorry, Twistie — I didn’t mean that as a criticism, I know it’s almost impossible to catch all the spam! I was snarking on the bot, not the site. It’s actually pretty funny to see the same broken English eBook proposal popping up on random posts over and over again.
One other note on Toni’s suggestion to repurpose a dress: RIT dye, while great stuff for cotton, will not work well on all fabrics. Polyester (even in a blend) does not take RIT, and silk will take it and promptly bleed it out again. Polyester is almost impossible to dye at home, and for silk, you want to use a procion or acid dye. Dharma Trading is an excellent resource for dyes and instructions.
great for the environment!
It can cost a couple of hundred dollars to clean a wedding dress. A potential buyer may be intending to have the dress professionally cleaned. If that’s the case then they may not find 1/2 price as appealing as they’ll be adding on cleaning costs on top of that.