How to Sell Your Wedding Dress
Refurbished Dresses
What is a refurbished dress? Typically, after the wedding ceremony, a wife might not see a need in keeping the dress, or is in need of cash, and will take steps of refurbishing, or repairing, the dress into its original state, but it would sell at a lower price than a designer dress from a store for multiple reasons; One for being already worn and used and the other for being of an older style than more recently styled dresses in stores.
Buying and selling refurbished dresses can be beneficial to everyone, from the seller and buyer, and those refurbishing the dress. By selling a refurbished dress, you can earn some extra cash on the side. Meanwhile, a bride-to-be can save money on her ceremony by saving money on a refurbished dress.Tailors and dry cleaners benefit from the service, making a profit from repairs and cleaning. And the environment benefits as well, keeping more clothing from ending up in a landfill.
And on top of these benefits, refurbished dresses usually come at a discount price from what most retail stores will sell; a great deal for a bride-to-be or to earn some extra cash afterwards, and give someone else the day of their dreams. But the big ticket is: how to sell a previously owned wedding dress?
Condition
Firstly, it’s important to check the condition of the dress. After a long night of festivities, it’s quite possible that stains, small tears or loose seems can appear in the fabric. And to get the most out of your previously owned dress, the better the conditioning is, the better the dress will sell.
With stains in a wedding gown, it's important to be gentle while cleaning it, because of the delicate fabrics and possible lace or sequin designs. Always check the label tag for the care instructions, or seek out a local dry cleaner to do the job properly with minimal risk of damage. A freshening up clean and ironing will help bring back the dress to its former beauty by cleaning any possible stains and brightening the iconic white color.
After a good cleaning, next comes updating the condition of your dress. If your dress has any missing pieces of fabric, lace, or sequins, tears or rips, or loose seems, it’s important you seek the help of a local tailor who is accustomed to fixing dresses. That way, any repairs can be done properly and increase the quality and value of the dress being refurbished.
Where to sell
Next comes the question of where to sell your special dress, and for the best price.
The simplest and most straightforward way to do is to simply ask at the store that sold it to you.
Most retailers who sell second-hand are often through online interactions, while other bridal stores may buy dresses in person. For the best experience, it would be preferable to list the dress online and with a price brought a trusted retailer.
There are many sites online to sell your wedding dress through.
Poshmark
https://poshmark.com/
Poshmark is a free and simple to use app/website that you can sell your used clothes on. Users can sell and buy almost anything, including wedding dresses. As an added bonus, the buyer pays for the shipping, but this good news is balanced by the fact that Poshmark has a 20% commission rate. Bear that in mind when deciding on a selling price.
Wedding Bee
Weddingbee.com
Wedding Bee is a website for brides (and grooms) planning their special day. There are sections on planning, trading ideas and, yes, buying and selling wedding items. It’s a great place for brides on a budget to find some great pieces. It’s free to join and list your wedding dress on Wedding Bee and it even includes a a handy Wedding Dress Value Calculator to help you make an estimate.
Sell My Wedding Dress
Sellmyweddingdress.org
Once Wed is a wedding blog that covers everything wedding related, and allows you to buy and sell whatever you may need, including wedding dresses. To submit yours for sae, you need to include a photo and some information like size, colour and brand in your ad.
The submission then goes through the approval process and typically goes live within 2 days, unless there is an issue.
There is no fee, but you and your buyer deal with each other directly, including make sure you receive payment.
Pricing
Deciding on a price can be hard. Some of the sites mentioned above do include price calculators, but there are other options to help you estimate a selling price. The most straightforward way would be to directly contact a tailor and get a quote from them. However, that may not be ideal, and there are other online calculators available. Three of the best can be accessed at Preownedweddingdresses.com, Stillwhite and BudgetBridalworld. You need to include information like the designer, size, how often the dress was worn and whether or not it has been cleaned. Comparing the prices from a few different sites can help you get a clear idea of how much the dress is worth.
Conclusion
Overall, the whole selling experience can be quite simple, even for first timers, and are beneficial to everyone. By helping a bride to be save some cash, you, the seller, can earn back some cash yourself by selling your dress. And whether you’re buying a dress for a special occasion or to give someone else the same special feeling, selling and refurbishing your old wedding dress is always a positive.
