So that you’ve spent a fortune in your wedding ceremony gown. Now what?
Let’s begin with a staggering truth that will come as unsurprising to anybody who has gotten married: The common value for a wedding dress in 2021 was $1,800, in response to The Knot.
And lest you assume that top prices imply fewer persons are sporting conventional wedding ceremony attire, the reply to that’s positively not. A whopping 99% of female-identifying survey respondents in The Knot’s wedding ceremony research stated they wore a gown for his or her wedding ceremony.
However for these of us who’re budget-conscious and notice {that a} wedding ceremony gown is each a good looking memento and certain one thing that can sit in our closet untouched for years, there must be a greater approach. Positive, a marriage gown, like a automobile, possible loses some worth as soon as it walks off the lot—or on this case, the bridal retailer.
There may be a substitute for recoup no less than a part of the funding: We’ve got 10 locations the place you may promote your wedding ceremony gown.
10 Locations The place You Can Promote Your Marriage ceremony Costume On-line
We discovered 10 locations the place you may promote your wedding ceremony gown on-line:
- PreownedWeddingDresses.com
- Tradesy
- Stillwhite
- Practically Newlywed
- BravoBride
- Promote My Marriage ceremony Costume
- As soon as Wed
- Poshmark
- Queenly
- Social media
1. PreownedWeddingDresses.com
PreownedWeddingDresses.com is a good software for patrons and sellers who need easy accessibility to a group of classic or pre-loved wedding ceremony attire. The itemizing service is on-line solely, which means there’s no bodily location. Nevertheless,it does supply customers a sophisticated search possibility that permits them to go looking by zip code or metropolis in the event that they need to decide up an merchandise regionally.
The positioning is greatest for brides who’re promoting attire after 2005 and keep in mind the style name, quantity and designer of their gown. For many who do not know, contemplate calling the shop you bought from or listing the gown as “different” and title it primarily based on its descriptors, like its sleeve size and materials.
PreownedWeddingDresses.com costs a one-time $25 itemizing charge with no renewal. Sellers listing their merchandise on the service, and brides can message the vendor internally for questions on sizing, type and extra. The whole worth, together with transport, promoting worth and phrases, is as much as the client and vendor. PayPal is built-in into the messaging system for a safe checkout.
Though you may hope for a fast sale, try to be ready to attend. Whereas the positioning notes that some gross sales occur in as fast as 24 hours, the typical promote time is 70 days.
2. Tradesy
Not like PreownedWeddingDresses.com, Tradesy is a luxurious and designer resale platform that sells every part from Louis Vuitton baggage to classic Helmut Lang. Marriage ceremony attire merely make up one in every of their classes, so this can be a good web site for somebody who has a gown that can stand out.
The weddings web page lists attire as costly as $17,000 from designers like Ines Di Santo, Vera Wang Bridal and Pallas. However don’t fret—there are additionally $56 listings from David’s Bridal.
Fairly than charging an inventory charge, Tradesy works on fee. Itemizing your merchandise is free and as straightforward as a couple of clicks in your cellphone. Marriage ceremony gown sellers should ship gadgets on their very own, requiring them to buy monitoring, insurance coverage and even signature required upon supply for something over $500, in response to Tradesy. Assuming your gown is listed for greater than $50, the positioning will deduct a 19.8% fee charge, roughly $99 off of a $500 gown, for instance. You may then obtain the remainder of your cash via PayPal, ACH switch or a debit card.
Objects within the wedding category fall into the “ultimate sale” class and can’t be returned.
3. Stillwhite
Like PreownedWeddingDresses.com, Stillwhite is a web site that focuses particularly on promoting wedding ceremony attire. The retail platform has a helpful tool to allow you to set your worth with regards to promoting your outdated gown. Simply enter the retail worth, the date you bought your gown and its situation, and the positioning will auto-populate with a instructed worth.
A 2021 $4,000 Vera Wang gown that’s used and cleaned would go for $2,600, in response to Stillwhite, the identical worth that PreownedWeddingDresses.com estimated.
Additionally like PreownedWeddingDresses.com, Stillwhite has a one-time charge moderately than a fee. Pay a $25 normal one-time charge to listing 4 images that can stay on the positioning till your piece has offered. In case you select to pay a $35 premium charge, you’ll get a spot on the homepage gallery, improved search consequence and as much as eight images and a video of your gown.
The positioning has built-in fraud detection and privateness safety. Sellers can get their cash through PayPal, which often has a 2.6% to 2.9% transaction charge, however will be transferred straight into your checking account.
4. Practically Newlywed
Nearly Newlywed is one other on-line itemizing service (or as they are saying, boutique) for wedding ceremony attire. However this web site distinguishes itself by providing white-glove concierge service.
Sellers should first create an account and pay a $19.99 one-time itemizing charge. After inputting gown particulars and images, Practically Newlywed communicates with patrons and handles advertising and marketing. When your gown is offered, the positioning will ship you a pay as you go and insured transport label that you will want to make use of to ship your gown to its new residence. All informed, you’ll get 70% of the whole worth through PayPal. Practically Newlywed takes 30% fee.
5. BravoBride
BravoBride allow you to sell more than your dress—contemplate hawking your sneakers, your veil, your wedding ceremony favors or something that’s readily available out of your wedding ceremony that you simply simply don’t really want anymore.
BravoBride has one particular attribute to assist it stand out amongst its opponents: Most gadgets are free to listing and promote, aside from bridal robes, which incur a $9.95 charge. You may also pay $9.95 to have an merchandise featured or $4.95 to focus on it, which could find yourself being useful down the road.
The positioning could be very hands-off with regards to the precise transaction. Bravo Bride permits the client and vendor to find out the phrases of the transaction and the way the vendor will get paid. They suggest utilizing Escrow.com for any transaction over $100.
6. SellMyWeddingDress.org
SellMyWeddingDress.org stands out as a result of it’s free to register and free to listing your merchandise. You’re entitled to 10 free images in your itemizing and 10 energetic advertisements.
However you even have the option to pay premium pricing and get higher play on the positioning. Pay $29 for a marriage gown itemizing and also you’ll get 25 energetic advertisements and a featured itemizing.
Whereas SellMyWeddingDress.org could also be cheap, it lacks sure protections. The positioning doesn’t clarify how the fee course of works for the vendor and doesn’t supply refunds.
7. As soon as Wed
Like most bridal resale websites, Once Wed was began to present second-hand wedding ceremony attire a second residence. It’s now become a web site with roughly 3 million guests a yr and a each day social attain of 400,000 followers, so your gown is certain to succeed in some eyes.
As soon as Wed costs a $19.95 one-time itemizing charge, in line with different opponents, for itemizing your new or used gown. (That dips to a $5 charge if you happen to’re solely promoting an adjunct or bridal get together gown.) brides can message you straight via an inside messaging system. The positioning doesn’t handle payment, however they suggest PayPal or Escrow.com to make sure a protected transaction.
Just lately offered attire vary from a $500 Marchesa gown to a $4,000 customized wedding ceremony gown.
8. Poshmark
Like Tradesy, Poshmark is a classic resale web site that doesn’t focus on wedding ceremony attire. That may both work in your favor—you’ll get an even bigger viewers—or towards it—there can be fewer individuals wanting particularly for wedding ceremony attire.
What Poshmark can supply is a tried-and-true neighborhood and a enterprise mannequin that’s been examined many occasions over. Like most of the different websites, it really works by having you listing your merchandise, share it, talk with patrons and in the end promote it. Assuming your gown is greater than $15, Poshmark costs a fee of 20% of your sale.
When you’ve made a sale on Poshmark, the positioning sends you a pay as you go, pre-addressed label to ship your gown. When the client has obtained your merchandise, your redeemable cash will present up in your Poshmark account inside three days of supply. You may then select to receive that money via a verify or a deposit on to your checking account.
9. Queenly
Queenly is an attention-grabbing in-between of a marriage gown web site and a secondhand clothes retailer. They concentrate on formalwear, which means not simply wedding ceremony attire but additionally for a promenade or a quinceañera.
Promoting on Queenly is commission-based. The positioning retains 20% of your sale. You add images and write an inventory they usually’ll ship you a pay as you go transport label when you’ve a purchaser. (That also means it’s a must to take it to the put up workplace your self.)
Sellers receives a commission after the client receives the merchandise and has confirmed its situation. Objects over $500 should first be despatched to Queenly headquarters to be inspected for high quality management. The excellent news is which you could obtain your earnings straight through PayPal, Venmo or ACH switch.
10. Social Media
Social media websites like Instagram or Fb Market are maybe the perfect and worst technique to promote a marriage gown. You received’t should pay a fee or itemizing charge however you’ll definitely have fewer protections. In case you’re fortunate, you’ll promote your gown to a good friend who beloved it after they noticed it on you!
The primary problem of those two boards is monitoring your posts and answering any questions. Once you put collectively a put up on Market or Instagram, images are key. Assemble your greatest photos and provides all the data essential for a possible purchaser—for instance, any alterations, points with the situation and measurements. Typically, native patrons pay in money for his or her gadgets and meet up in particular person. In case you’re planning to ship, ensure you safe a fee methodology forward of time.
How A lot Can I Make Promoting My Marriage ceremony Costume?
In case you’re prepping on your wedding ceremony and already considering this can be a path you need to pursue, keep in mind that time is of the essence. Like all garments, gown types go out and in of style, so the nearer to your wedding ceremony date that you simply promote your gown, the extra possible you might be that it’s in demand.
A superb guideline is selling no later than two years after your wedding ceremony date.
If you wish to get a greater sense of how a lot you may really earn off of your wedding ceremony gown, check out PreownedWeddingDress.com’s value calculator. No matter methodology you utilize to really promote your gown, this software is a useful barometer of what you may be capable to earn.
Dry clear your robe earlier than you promote it. It’s a small factor you are able to do to get probably the most worth potential on your resale.
The situation of the gown and the designer are maybe an important elements. In case you splurged on a Vera Wang or Monique Lhuillier robe, you then may be capable to make again a bigger share of what you spent.
There could also be many feelings tied up in your large day and the gown you obtain for it, however strive to consider promoting your gown as giving one other particular person the chance to expertise the identical type of happiness you had. And you need to use the cash you make off the gown to present you a monetary carry in your new wedded life.
Author Elizabeth Djinis is a contributor to The FinanceGrabber, usually writing about promoting items on-line via social platforms. Her work has appeared in Teen Vogue, Smithsonian Journal and the Tampa Bay Instances.