Weddingbee boards

I have posted a few comments about this on some other threads, but decided to start a thread of my own on this topic because this is just such a great way to make basically free money for your wedding.  If any of you ladies have really long hair and are planning to do a post (or pre) wedding chop, you can sell your hair to make a lot of money.

Last march I sold my 28" long ponytail for $1,750 online.  That is enough money to pay for all catering costs except linens and cake at my wedding!  The person who bought it gives natural human hair extentions (which are expensive, and explains why my hair brought in so much money), but I also got offers from dollmakers, artists, and wigmakers.  I sold it on a website that I believe is called thehairtrader.com.  I have heard that that website is no longer in business, but there are other sites out there through which you can sell your hair (for example, hairwork.com or ebay). Doing a simple google search will bring up a number of similar results.

The base rate for hair is $10 an inch, but you can get a lot more depending on the thickness, length, color, and texture of your hair.  The thicker the hair, the more money you will get; the longer the hair the more money; the rarer the color (i.e., platinum blonde, red, and strawberry blonde are in higher demand) the more money; the rarer the texture, the more money (natural ringlets, stick-straight hair, etc.).  My ponytail was 4.25" around the thickest part, platinum blonde, and stick straight.

A warning though--if you regularly abuse your hair in the form of dying, perming, relaxing, daily straightening or blowdrying, or by smoking, you will have trouble selling your hair because it is damaged.  You may be able to still find a buyer--some artists like to use natural human hair in their work, and don't care as much about quality--but you will have a harder time.  Also, it should be noted that many "charities" (like locks of love) that take hair donations are actually scams that sell for profit or throw away most of the hair they receive.  Locks of love, for example, only gives about 2% of the hair it receives to children in need.

Hope this helps some of you get some extra cash for your weddings!!

@jo.lee:  Lol yeah, kinda like donating your blood haha!

@LatteLove:  2dBride's post says it all--but I got my information from http://www.squidoo.com/locksoflove.  When I decided I wanted to cut my hair, I did a lot of research on what to do with it after it had been cut.  I had been very suspicious about locks of love for a while, and articles like the one 2dBride posted and the one I listed above confirmed my suspicions.

I cut my hair before I got engaged, but yes, it did cross my mind that it might be a lot shorter than I wanted when FI and I got married--we'd been talking about getting married in 2011 for a while.  But it has done a fabulous recovery since the chop.  Last March it was chin-lenth, and now it is past my shoulders.  It has grown a full 6" and at this rate it will be 3" longer by the end of July, so at this point I'm not worried at all :)

Wow!! I cant believe you got that much for your hair!!! 

Interesting.

I plan on cutting 12 or so inches off the day after my wedding (can't wait!)

I usually (every 2 years) donate to "Angel Hair for Kids" http://www.acvf.ca/index.php/our-programs/angel-hair-for-kids/

But selling it isn't something I ever thought of. It's super beyond crazy super thick and they called to say how my ponytail is like receiving 2-3 in one!

Did some googling....

http://www.hairwork.com/Mar11_0-15%20inches.htm

woah! 

makes me wonder what uber-thick, naturally red hair goes for, haha ;) mama needs a new pair of shoes 

@slicey19: strangers would ask to buy my hair when I was a kid, too.. it was kinda creepy! 

I'm not sure about Wigs for Kids but would be interested. I've donated twice already, once to Locks of Love and did the Pantene Beautiful Lengths one. My hair grows super fast - this was all in the past 6 years and I'm good to go again.