Buying dress second hand?

[mainemomof2]

Have any of you bought your dress 2nd hand? I have the "Fire your Wedding Planner" subscription and it suggests ebay to purchase dresses.

This site should sell dresses (lol)

Anyhow, have any of you done this?


Danielle

 

[brgirl]

Yes! I got my dress on ebay! It is by Diamond Bride and is a discontinued 2004-2005 style and the company is no longer in business (or used to be a division of Dessy - not quite sure).

The dress was only $100, and from what I''ve found on the internet went for at least $1000 back in the day (it''s made of silk satin and alencon lace). It needs alterations, and those should run about $150 at most.

My sister also got her dress on ebay, but hers was a Watters dress she had already tried on at a store. She got it for $400 less than the cheapest store. It was from a 2-dress bride.

I think what I did was a little more risky, (not having seen the dress in person ever) but I figured $100 was all i''d lose if it was terrible - and I could probably resell it and get it back!

So if you find a dress in a store that you love, you should totally look on ebay. Or http://www.preownedweddingdresses.com
There are also girls selling their dresses on theknot message boards.

Hope that helps!

 

[robbie3982]

I got my dress on ebay! It was from a bridal shop with an ebay store though. Someone had ordered it and paid the deposit, but changed her mind and never even tried it on when it came in, so it was really brand new. I highly recommend going this route if you know exactly what you want. I''d tried my dress on in person before buying it.

I also sold my first dress (I was a 2 dress bride) on ebay. It was brand new too and I''d gotten a good deal on it and sold it for even less than I''d paid because I just wanted to get rid of it and get something back. There are definitely good deals to be had.

 

[dtnyc]

I was a 2 dress bride (I bought 2 dresses at different sample sales) and I sold the dress that I didn't wear on craigslist. I tried it on at the sale and never put it back on. I sold it for what I paid for it which was thousands less than retail, it was a one of a kind Christos gown that would have sold for more than 2500 and I got for under 500.

I would check craigslist in your area as well as Ebay.

Also be very careful if you do end up buying through ebay- there was just something on Oprah yesterday about this woman getting scammed over a wedding dress on ebay.

 

[neatfreak]

Just this weekened I made arrangements to buy a dress off of preownedweddingdresses.com.

I figured it was such a good deal if it didn''t work out for me I could just sell it.

 

[ladykemma]

i bought my dress used from a friend of my sister.

my sister called after her friends wedding and said this dress is your sze, it''s a designer dress- come over now.

so i did. it fit. i bought it. the only alterations were it had to be lifted at the shoulders.

then i sold it for what i paid for it after the wedding. i heard that dress made its way around the texas medical center on fannin street where we all worked.

 

[mainemomof2]

Wow! Thank you for all of the comments! After reading this, I ended up buying the dress that I my eye on, on ebay. I am in the same situation as the first person to reply. I have never tried this dress on, but I paid $110, including shipping, so if it doesn''t work at all...I will just re-ebay it! My aunt can do alterations so that is really helpful. I will let you all know how it works out when I get it in the mail

P.S. What exactly is a two dress bride?

Danielle

 

[rainbowtrout]

A two dress bride is a) someone you hope not to be b) someone who bought one dress, decided it wouldn''t work, and bought another

 

[robbie3982]

It could also be c) someone who has a ceremony dress and a different reception dress.

I was b

 

[labbielove]

mmm.... I think I''m a)
cuz I was engaged once years ago, and cancelled the wedding
so now I have a gorgeous (in it''s own way) but hopelessly out of style wedding gown that I can''t figure out what to do with

but in a few months I''ll get to wear dress #2, when I marry the man of my dreams!

speaking of which, i gotta get rid of dress #1, it feels weird having it in the house- I will probably bring to salvation army but it makes me a little sad. i don''t think I can manage selling it on ebay, I will probably donate it and take the tax break.

 

[olyelr]

I bought a used dress off of Craigslist. It was beautiful on my day (2/14/07) and I only paid $40. It was amazing value and it all depends on your budget but I am so glad that I found the dress I did.

You just never know what you are going to find if you look!

 

[dtnyc]

Date: 4/15/2007 9:49:00 PM
Author: labbielove
mmm.... I think I''m a)
cuz I was engaged once years ago, and cancelled the wedding
so now I have a gorgeous (in it''s own way) but hopelessly out of style wedding gown that I can''t figure out what to do with

but in a few months I''ll get to wear dress #2, when I marry the man of my dreams!

speaking of which, i gotta get rid of dress #1, it feels weird having it in the house- I will probably bring to salvation army but it makes me a little sad. i don''t think I can manage selling it on ebay, I will probably donate it and take the tax break.

Labbie-
Give craigslist a try- it''s free and it can''t hurt-

If you do dontate try finding a wedding dress specific charity (like the bridal garden in NYC or Making Memories Brides against Breast Cancer) because those types of charities will definitely know what to do w/ the dresses and probably give you the best value for tax purposes (IRS is seriously cracking down on charitable donations and the values of used goods- new rule in effect for ''07 need a specific receipt for ALL donations not just those over $250.)

Good luck!