There’s nothing more pressure-filled during wedding planning for the bride than choosing her dress. I mean there’s a reason a whole slew of reality shows have come out capitalizing on that moment when a bride-to-be selects the dress that she’ll wear on her wedding day. Though it’s been nearly 5 years since my own wedding (sidenote holy crap time flies!) I still remember that pressure very clearly. I had originally set a pretty good budget (or so I thought) but learned that budgets can very quickly go out the window when shopping for a wedding dress. When deciding which dress to ultimately buy (and trying desperately to justify the price in my mind) I figured if I sold my dress after the wedding, it would help offset some of the upfront costs I had to make.
Apparently, this is a popular choice for many modern brides these days. When researching this option I found there are a wide array of websites and marketplaces dedicated to re-selling wedding dresses and other wedding-related items. And nowadays, there are more online places than ever to sell! Unfortunately for me, I was unsuccessful in selling my dress (so far), though I admit looking back I probably didn’t make as much of an effort as I should have. Don’t make my mistake! Here are my tips for selling your wedding dress and making the most bang for your buck:
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List your dress quickly.
Selling your dress within 2.5 years (max!) of your wedding is the best way to maximize the amount of money you’ll be able to earn from your dress. Some great places to start are: preownedweddingdresses.com, tradesy.com, Once Wed and StillWhite as well as the oldie but goodies, Craigslist and Ebay. I also recommend listing your dress on social media sites like Instagram and Facebook (while using and maximizing the right hashtags to ensure your post will be seen by its intended audience.) A long shot but you can also try all these new apps for selling items like Letgo, OfferUp and more. Basically, list that dress EVERYWHERE. The more places it’s posted, the bigger the likelihood of someone stumbling upon it and wanting to buy it.
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Get your dress professionally cleaned and preserved.
I think this step will sway buyers who might be on the fence. If they’re already buying a used dress, I think they’d prefer a clean one. Also, in case it takes you a little while to sell your dress, getting it preserved keeps it in perfect condition (and it’s already in a box ready to be shipped!)
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Research the dress designer you are selling and set a fair price.
This step is critical. Set your price too low and you miss out on potential profit, set it too high and risk not selling it at all. A professionally cleaned dress in good condition (i.e. no rips, tears, etc.) could be listed for 50 percent of purchase price (60-70 if your designer is very high end.) I think this was definitely my mistake, I was being a bit greedy and set a too high price point. Looking back, I think I should’ve posted my dress for a bit less, it might have increased my chances of sale.
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Provide excellent photos and descriptions.
I used the professional photos from my wedding to list my dress and I think this step is critical. Selling wedding dresses isn’t like selling used furniture on Craigslist, you can’t just slap on any old iPhone photo. Well you can, but this definitely doesn’t help your selling game. Put yourself in the shoes of a buyer, would you rather look at pretty, polished images and exciting descriptions than some bland intros? I sure would!
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Be aggressive!
This is also where I went wrong, I listed on a few sites and then never did anything ever again. Share your listings across your social media, spread the word! Instagram didn’t exist when I was selling my dress but nowadays there are so many more social marketplaces to sell your items. Make sure you renew your listings (they expire after a certain amount of time.) You can also refresh your listing with new pictures, descriptions every so often if the dress still isn’t getting any traction. Some resale sites even have options to promote your listing for a small price. Bottom line, keep at it!
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And last but not least, be ready to lower your price.
Sometimes, lowering your price point even a little bit will allow for an increase in potential buyers browsing your dress.
I hope you find these tips helpful and succeed in selling your used wedding dress. Like the saying goes, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” And though your wedding dress will certainly never be trash, the likelihood of wearing it again are slim to none, so why not make another bride (and your pocketbook!) happy by selling it?!
This is my beautiful dress by the way, which I’m still selling if anyone is interested! 🙂
Top photo via Unsplash, Bottom photos by Delbarr Moradi
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