Post # 1
Member
79 posts
Worker bee
Have any of you sold your/a wedding dress? I’m hoping to sell my wedding dress after my wedding and am wondering how easy it is.
My logic: Pay so much for a dress and then never wear it again/small budget. I had originally planned to spend less for a dress….but after retailers made me try on dresses that I didn’t learn the cost until AFTER I fell in love, I’ve realized it really does make a difference :S AND I also see it as if I can sell it to someone for less than cost, with the dress being in almost new condition, I can also help out someone with a budget constraint like myself! 🙂
How much do you sell your dress for after you’ve worn it at your wedding? (ex. If I spent $1, 600 on a dress could I get away with selling it for $1000 if it is undamaged/almost perfect? or is $800 max you would go/be willing to spend?)
Is it easy to find interested brides? What websites worked best for you?
Would you travel to see the dress before buying it?
Post # 3
Member
2490 posts
Buzzing bee
I sold mine from my first wedding. I sold it on Kijiji for around 40% of what I paid for it and it took around 7 months… it’s a super small size though so I think I would have had more interest if it was a more common size.
Post # 4
Member
454 posts
Helper bee
Commenting so I can find this thread later
Post # 5
Member
5001 posts
Bee Keeper
I bought a preowned dress- it retails for $5,600 and I bought it for $2,700. I’ve thought about selling it again, but I’m not sure I can part with it! I only was willing to get one in my city so I could see it and try it on, but a lot of people will buy it just from seeing pictures online if it’s a popular dress.
Post # 6
Member
1041 posts
Bumble bee
I bought a dress that I’ve been trying to sell for the past several MONTHS. I’ve listed it here, on ebay, and on tradesy. I am hoping (keeping fingers crossed) that it will sell today, but for a lot less than I paid. I’ve never even worn it and it had no alterations. I think alterations make it even harder for your dress to sell.
Post # 7
Member
79 posts
Worker bee
@Bazingau: Are you a small size or something? or is it a very different type of dress that women would be nervous to buy without trying on? This is the type of thing that worries me…I think I would have a size 8 which usually fits me…I don’t know how often size 8s come around 😛 I also have what the retailers have been calling “long armpits” so I’m worried about that coming into play…that would probably be my only alteration and I think that I would get cap sleeves added, but maybe see if they can be detachable to make it more “sell-able”.
Post # 8
Member
3417 posts
Sugar bee
- Wedding: September 2014 - Lodge
I sold mine on PreOwnedWeddingDress.com. I had dress regret with my first dress and sold it fairly quickly. I was fortunate that my dress was discontinued and another bride had fallen in love with it but wasn’t able to buy it before being discontinued.
Post as much about the dress as you can. I even googled things like the Style # if I didn’t know. I also posted pictures of the dress from the stock photos as well as on the hanger so potential buyers would know what it looked like “in person” as well as what it would look like on a bride. Un-altered dresses tend to sell better than dresses with alterations because not every bride is built the same.
Good luck!
Post # 9
Member
4439 posts
Honey bee
- Wedding: January 2013 - Harbourfront Grand Hall
Mines at a consignment shop right now because I tried to sell it for 3 months and finally wanted it out of the house and got sick of people messaging me but not being serious about it.
One actually said after 3 hours spent emailing back and forth — “Oh, I just realized it’s a size 10 and I need an 8!”
Post # 10
Member
753 posts
Busy bee
Personally I won’t take less than 50%, that’s just what I’ve decided for myself. I bought mine new from another bride, even though it was new the design was years old by the time I bought it so paid a thirs or less of the original price.
Post # 11
Member
1041 posts
Bumble bee
@indecisivebride89: Nope, not a weird size. It’s a street size 10; bridal size 14. And it was a Maggie Sottero with the label intact that was just discontinued last year. It is a little bigger than most wedding dresses, so maybe that’s why? Not sure because the dress is really pretty and really flattering. (Hence why I bought it in the first place.) I’m actually a lot smaller than that…2-3 sizes too big for me…which was one of the reasons why I decided not to keep it.
Post # 12
Member
2 posts
Wannabee
I have been trying to sell mine but not had much luck yet. Its a shame that they go for less then 50% of the original price because the price has to be really low for it to even be considered, as you can now buy brand new dresses online for half of what i had paid. If I had checked online before the wedding i would have saved myself alot of money and probably brought a dress much cheaper then buying it from a bridal boutique shop.
Post # 13
Member
1004 posts
Bumble bee
selling a dress is difficult, but depending on what style it is as well as designer etc, that will depend on how it goes to some degree.
I sold the first dress I purcahsed after rescheduling our wedding (last Sept to now this June) and really realizing it felt more prom dress to me than wedding gown.
I had it for sale for almost 4 months…and nothing but spammers ( had it listed on here and on craigslist). The original price was $620+tax, I had it listed for $400. Its a size 10 but fits a street size 6 or 8 (and 10 or 4 with alterations). I had zero hits until about 3-4 weeks ago all of the sudden I had 3 in one week. First one wanted to see it, and when I offered to bring it TO HER to try it on she said well Ill call you back next week, excuse excuse. LOL
The second girl wanted to try it on asap and we made arrangements, she tried it on abd bought it on the spot. I got what I had it listed for ($350) and she didn’t balk at the price. The third girl was a back up in case #2 didn’t bite but I never got that far.
Pricing In My Humble Opinion is everything, even massive expensive designer gowns sell for much less than retail. This sucks…but keep in mind if you have a gown that is somewhat in style/popular, I think you can expect to get 15-20% more than an average run of the mill gown if that makes sense. Mine was a Davinci for reference, not one of the bigger names in dresses, but that dress was seriously gorgeous…I hated seeing it go ironically lol but in the end it wasn’t how I wanted to look on the big day.
Hope This Helps 🙂
ETA: I am also selling the dress I’m wearing in 41 days after tha fact…It is a San Patrick, so I know It might be easier to sell on preownedweddress site versus the davinci because of the designer name, sad but true.
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