How best to sell a wedding dress?

[surfgirl]

Married ladies...If any of you has sold your wedding gown, what method was most successful for you? Ebay, CraigsList, PreOwned, etc.? I''m looking for what avenue was most successful for you. Thanks!

 

[lucyloo]

Hi Surfgirl

I sold my wedding gown and veil through a bridal consignment shop. It was connected with a designer consignment shop in my town (same owner, same building, just a separate area)and they sold both rather quickly. It helps to have a designer in demand (mine was Jim Hjelm) but my veil was custom so no label.
I dropped it off, they mailed me a check. I believe they paid me 50% or 60%.

Hope that helps. At the time, I really debated if I was doing the right thing. I was afraid I would regret not keeping it later. It was a space issue, not a money issue. I held on to it for 2-3 years, then took it over. I have not regretted selling it.

Good Luck!

 

[neatfreak]

Surf, is this for you? If so, I don't think it's worth it. Non-mainstream designer dresses don't seem to be going for much, especially if they were cheap to begin with...might just not be worth the hassle for the $50-100 you might make...

BUT that being said, I would try ebay and preowned. I've had luck there myself with my *cough* dress mistakes before I found THE dress.

 

[surfgirl]

Thanks ladies...I might look into the consignment avenue first since they''d get more traffic. neat, yes this is for me and I''d rather get a little money back than have it sit in my closet. I thought about having it taken up into a cocktail length dress and wearing it with the lace bolero but Mr.SG says the dress served its purpose and do I really want to wear it again? I think I''d rather have a little money...

neat, did you find success through both ebay and preowned or just one of them?

 

[Blenheim]

I had mine listed on preowned for months and it didn't sell. I know that Sweetpea successfully sold her first dress there, so it does work for some people. I think that it took her a couple of months -- maybe she'll chime in.

Craigslist just got me scam emails.

I finally sold on ebay, the second time I listed it there. In retrospect, I wish that I had started there -- their listing fees are less than preowned's are, and I like the fact that the auctions have clearly defined endings.

Also, I think that part of the reason why it did take several months for me was that I didn't want to just sell it for $50-100. I eventually got just under 50% of the original price, which I'm happy with.


ETA: With both preowned and ebay, I got emails that were transparent advertisements from "brides" and "mothers of the bride" who told me that they had more luck selling their dresses with some other specific sites that they recommended. My attitude was that if I didn't hear of the site while planning my wedding, it wasn't worth listing my dress there.

 

[MustangGal]

I was a 4 dress bride (ebay shopping), and I also picked up a Kenneth Pool gown on super-duper clearence that I sold, so I have some experience.

I sold 2 dresses to a consignment store. They oriiginally took 3 of them, but said they had no traffic with 1 and gave it back to me. I got what I paid for them, about $150 each for dresses that retailed for $500-$600, so not the best return.

I sold that third dress on ebay, it was a bit out of style and only went for $50. I paid $80 for it, so not too bad of a loss.

The dress I actually wore was a Mori Lee. I held onto it for 5 years, and sold it on preowned for $175 after about 6 months being listed. It was a smaple before I bought it, so I got a good deal, and it was probably 7 years old by the time I sold it, so not too bad.

The Kenneth Pool I sold on ebay a few months back for about $500, which is only 10% of the retail, so not the best if I had paid that much. Lucky for me I stole it for $70

So to sum it all up; if the consignment store will take it, you might get a good return there. If not then ebay is faster than preowned. On ebay the key is good pictures and details, and also being an average size helps.

 

[surfgirl]

Thanks for the additional comments! I''ve heard not so great things about Preowned, and I''m tired of paying to re list on Ebay...so I think before I do Ebay I''ll explore the consignment shop idea...For those that went via a consignment shop, was it a general clothing shop or a bridal shop that sold pre-owned as well?

 

[mrssalvo]

I didn''t sell my wedding dress. it''s nicely boxed away for my daughters who will probably be taller than me and won''t want to wear it anyway when the time comes. (i have thought of doing trash the dress though....) but, if i were going to sell, I would try the store i bought it from. Does the place you purchased it from have a consignment section? If not, I think finding a bridal store that does would be my first choice. regular consigment stores do sell wedding dresses but it might sit in one of those a lot longer. ebay could always be an option too, especially if you''re realistic on how much you really can get for it.

 

[MustangGal]

I consigned mine at a bridal-only store. Try the phone book, there might be one in your area. I found one here in Phoenix when I was looking to help a friend sell a dress.

 

[erica k]

i ended up with two wedding dresses. my first one was from a local boutique in boston, i.e., not a recognizable designer name. i sold it on preowned after 16 months of waiting. i paid $2200 and sold it for $500 (never worn, unaltered).

if i were you, i would go with consignment. if that doesn''t work, maybe donate it? there must be places that accept gently worn wedding dresses. at least it could go to a worth cause.

 

[LaurenThePartier]

Ohhhhh, Trash it!

I was thinking of listing my dress on Ebay with this pic, just for fun, to see what I could get for it.

Think it''ll go quickly?

 

[ringster]

SG - erika k''s suggestion about donating your dress reminded me of this cause i heard about.

Brides against breast cancer
http://bridesagainstbreastcancer.org/

they have an event in your neck of the woods in Feb

http://pepmembers.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=437

 

[surfgirl]

Thanks for the TDS idea and donating...I dont think my dress would be that dramatic for a TDS session as it didn''t have any train so I''m not sure it would be really dramatic enough for that, though I love the idea! Donating...I''ll have to look into that too. Thanks!

 

[sputat]

I plan to donate my dress. Check out bridalgarden.org (all proceeds benefit education for NY kids).