Wedding Is there a trick to selling a dress?

[EricaR]

Since so many of you have been successful in selling your dresses, I was hoping you might have a few tricks up your sleeves. So far I''ve posted mine on craigslist and Once Wed. Should I try eBay? I know that the fees are pretty steep - have you had luck there? Any other sites I should try?

What did you include in your description? I''ve been including TONS of pictures, but maybe there is such a thing as too many?

Help!

 

[Rhea]

Patience.

It took me about 6 months to sell a brand new dress with tags still on - at a bit over half price. You have to find a person who not only likes the dress, but trusts your description, is comfortable buying online, thinks it's worth it to take a chance on the dress to save money, and is the same size that you are.

Try listing it on any wedding sites that allow you to sell, such as theknot or partypop, and also craigslist, and preownedweddingdresses (or something similar if you can pay the $25 fee). I'd save ebay for a last resort, the fees are high, the listing period is short, and many people are looking for a major discount.

 

[MustangGal]

I agree with Addy. I sold my original wedding dress on preownedweddingdresses, and it took several months, but I got a fair price for it. I''ve also sold dresses on ebay that I needed to get rid of, they go fast, but I now have 2 non-paying bidders, and they didn''t sell for much.

Good luck!

 

[neatfreak]

Patience is a good word of advice! I sold one on ebay and one on preownedweddingdresses.com.

I hate to say it, but it also depends on what you have. A designer dress will sell much more easily than a dress from David''s....

 

[Independent Gal]

What NF said is right.

Another variable is how much you want for it. Obviously, people will jump on a bargain a lot faster. Sometimes I see brides asking for just a few hundred dollars less than retail on a 5K gown and I always think ''geez, given the extra risks involved, who would buy it at that price?'' I think a fair price for second hand designer goods in excellent condition is half to 2/3''s of original retail. If something is priced at more than that, I won''t even consider it.

If you sell on ebay, starting the bidding low attracts interest and also lowers the fees (which I really didn''t find to be THAT high). In one case I actually made a 30% profit. Totally inadvertantly! I swear I didn''t mean to! I started the bidding much lower than what I paid (on sale) but a lot of people were interested. In the other case, I got back about half what I paid.

 

[EricaR]

The dress in question is a Melissa Sweet from Fall 2005. It retailed for $5000 and I''m only asking $1500. That seems to be in line with older Melissa Sweet dresses, so I don''t know if pricing in my issue...

I am not being patient, that is for sure!

 

[hthip]

EricaR - I love your MS dress, if I were taller and didn''t already have a dress I would totally buy yours. I think the problem with your dress is that it''s hard to find a sample to try on, so potential buyers really don''t know if that dress will work on their body type.


BTW - Did you go up to the bay area to do more dress shopping yet?

 

[calidaisy]

it's too bad you're selling your dress.
i think it's such a pretty dress!

btw, would the fact that you're asking for more than what you paid be a problem?
when i was selling my PoB dress i purchased online, some people inquired about my purchasing price. then again, there were people who asked for all the paperwork involved (certificate of authenticity, original receipt from PoB store, etc)--and the dress was listed/ sold for $149! and it was so low because i didn't have any of that nor did i want to produce any. (i think the dress originally retails for ~$4000 and it's still on their website).

anyway, i agree with NF and IG.
i think it all depends on the price and how patient you are.

also, if you don't want to compromise the price ... offer more buyer protection such as return policy.

 

[EricaR]

I''m really just hoping to get out of it what I paid. I priced it a bit higher than that because I wanted to leave room for negotiation. I''ve purchased many things online and I almost always negotiate so I figured others would be doing the same.

 

[Rhea]

Being discontinued is a great point! I found a Monique L''Huillier dress on preownedweddingdresses that I''ve always loved at a good price. I tried to find a store that carried it so I could try before I bought but couldn''t find any place. I know when selling my dress I had several interested parties ask me where they might be able to try it on. I did allow returns for this reason, I wanted people to feel comfortable.

I think leaving a bit of room for bargaining is a good idea, but you probably will lose at least a bit on the dress by the time you have any fees such as paypal.

 

[AllieLuv83]

Can you send a link to the dress? I want to see it!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 7/9/2008 9:56:45 PM
Author: EricaR
I'm really just hoping to get out of it what I paid. I priced it a bit higher than that because I wanted to leave room for negotiation. I've purchased many things online and I almost always negotiate so I figured others would be doing the same.

People want cheap. I would personally just put the lowest price you are willing to take and leave it at that. Many people don't like to negotiate and won't even ask IMO. I had my second dress priced higher (on Preownedweddingdresses) thinking people would negotiate, and they didn't. As soon as I lowered the price a bit to what I was willing to accept I had a LOT more interest, a few people tried to negotiate, but the price was more than fair, so it sold pretty easily after that!

 

[neatfreak]

Date: 7/9/2008 9:46:00 PM
Author: calidaisy

btw, would the fact that you''re asking for more than what you paid be a problem?

when i was selling my PoB dress i purchased online, some people inquired about my purchasing price. then again, there were people who asked for all the paperwork involved (certificate of authenticity, original receipt from PoB store, etc)--and the dress was listed/ sold for $149! and it was so low because i didn''t have any of that nor did i want to produce any. (i think the dress originally retails for ~$4000 and it''s still on their website).

Yes, this is a problem for many buyers I think. Most people don''t want to think they are paying more than you paid for it, and seem to want to pay a lot LESS than what you paid. So if you refuse to provide this information on an expensive dress, some people might think something shady is going on. Especially since almost everyone keeps documentation on such an expensive purchase, if you claim you paid $1000 for something and can''t produce documentation, people then might think you are lying about the price, then once that doubt is introduced they think "what ELSE is being lied about".

Best to be honest about price paid, and provide documentation when you have it.

 

[HaloAngel]

Hi!
This thread came at a great time! I just listed my Melissa Sweet Lia on OnceWed.com & have gotten a lot of interest so far even though there is another Lia on there. I think the trick is that mine is 1/3 of the retail price, it is a designer gown, & highly sought after. Since you have the same situation happening you shouldn''t have a problem, especially if it is priced well. Another key is making sure your pictures are clear & detailed. When I was looking at dresses, I wouldn''t even bother with listings that had crappy pictures.
Good luck to both of us!

 

[AllieLuv83]

Did you say on Once Wed that you paid $3000 for the dress? Hmmm I feel like it might be priced a bit high!

 

[appletini]

I sold two and my friend sold hers on preownedweddingdresses...took about a month for my first one, two months for my second one. My friends tooks long to sell but hers was a Reem Acra so she was asking a lot of $$$ for it.