Looking for the best places to sell a wedding dress? If you want to sell your wedding dress online or near you, you have options! As wedding costs continue to rise, an easy way to make some extra money back is by selling your wedding dress. With the average wedding dress in the U.S. costing…
Looking for the best places to sell a wedding dress? If you want to sell your wedding dress online or near you, you have options!
As wedding costs continue to rise, an easy way to make some extra money back is by selling your wedding dress. With the average wedding dress in the U.S. costing a bride $1,800, selling your dress to recoup some money back makes sense.
If you’re looking to sell your wedding dress, you’ve come to the right place.
In today’s article, I’ll teach you:
- How to sell your wedding dress
- Where you can sell your wedding dress
- If it’s better to sell your dress online or in person
- Tips for getting the most money for your wedding dress
Recommended reading: How To Sell An Engagement Ring For The Most Money
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Why you should sell your used wedding dress
There are many reasons to part ways with your wedding dress including:
- Recovering a portion of your wedding costs, which can be put toward a vacation or financial goals
- Environmental benefits as this reduces waste and encourages reuse of things already made
- Helping another bride afford a beautiful gown
- Declutter your home and free up space
For many people, your wedding dress just sits in a closet for years. Instead, you may be able to free up some space and make some extra money by selling your wedding dress.
Are used wedding dresses worth anything?
Used wedding dresses are worth some cash, especially if your wedding gown is expensive and made of high-quality materials and craftsmanship.
Wedding dresses are often made to retain their beauty and integrity. Since these dresses are only worn once, brides see these dresses as a cheaper gown option.
Is your wedding dress from a well-known designer like Vera Wang, Oscar de la Renta, Monique Lhuillier, or Carolina Herrera? If so, your dress likely holds substantial resale value. These designer dresses are highly desired by brides who dream of a designer gown on a budget.
But, affordable dresses are worth something too! People buy used wedding dresses all the time, whether they are $50 or $5,000.
This is a great way to sell your stuff for cash!
Best Places To Sell A Wedding Dress
Here’s a list of the 10 best places to sell your wedding dress.
Recommended reading: 16 Best Places To Sell Clothes For Cash
1. Poshmark
Poshmark is a website for buying and selling secondhand items in the clothing, home decor, and beauty space. This online platform has a large customer base, helping you reach someone looking for wedding dresses.
Listing items on Poshmark is incredibly easy and convenient and can be done directly from your phone. Write a clear and descriptive title like ‘Vera Wang Lace Dress Size 8’ and a detailed description including things like brand, size, condition, details, and price. You can use relevant tags like “wedding dress” and the designer’s name to help the dress get seen by more people.
Poshmark provides a prepaid shipping label once the item is sold, and it’s your responsibility to properly package the dress so it gets to the buyer in excellent condition.
Selling on Poshmark does have fees since you are using their platform. For sales under $15, Poshmark takes a flat commission rate of $2.95. For sales over $15, you keep 80% of your sale and Poshmark’s commission is 20%.
2. eBay
Posting your wedding dress on eBay works similarly to Poshmark and you’ll reach international buyers. With eBay, you can choose to list your dress as an auction or at a fixed “Buy It Now” price. There’s also an option to accept offers which allows you to negotiate.
If you want extra help selling your wedding dress, you can promote your listings on eBay for an extra cost which will help your dress appear higher in search results.
eBay charges a fee when your item sells. For clothing, the fee is 12.9% of the total sale amount, including shipping, plus $0.30 per order. If you sell an item over $7,500, the final value fee is 12.9% of the first $7,500 total sale amount, plus 2.35% of the portion of the sale over $7,5000.
3. Still White
Still White is the world’s largest online marketplace for wedding dresses. They’ve sold over $97,000,000 in wedding dresses, making it one of the best places to sell your dress.
This is a great place to sell your wedding dress since brides are actively coming to this site to look for their dresses. Still White operates globally, meaning your dress can reach a large audience, helping you sell your wedding dress faster.
If you’re wondering how much you can potentially get for your wedding dress, Still White’s sell page has an estimate section where you put the designer, year, and condition of the dress, and get an idea for how much you can make.
For example, I entered my sister’s wedding dress into their estimator, and it said she could earn around $700 from her dress. Her dress is exactly 10 years old, too!
Still White charges a one-time listing fee of $20 and a premium option of $30, which includes added features like a featured listing. They do not take a commission on top of the listing fee. This platform also allows you to upload videos of the dress, which helps a buyer on the fence make a purchase quicker.
4. Nearly Newlywed
Nearly Newlywed is an online marketplace for selling new, sample, and used wedding dresses. This is a site where brides can come to find great deals and discounted prices on gowns.
To sell your gown on Nearly Newlywed, you submit your wedding dress through an online form. You’ll share details like the designer, size, condition, and photos of your wedding dress.
The Nearly Newlywed team reviews your submission to ensure it meets their criteria for dresses on their website. The listing fee for sellers is typically $20 with a 30%-40% commission fee once the dress is sold. This is much higher than other platforms, so keep this in mind. Nearly Newlywed also has a minimum list price of $375.
5. Vestiaire Collective
Vestiaire Collective is an online platform that specializes in buying and selling pre-owned luxury items. This platform has experts on staff to authenticate items so people know they’re getting the real thing. So, if your wedding dress is from a well-known designer, this may be the place to sell your dress.
This is how Vestiaire Collective works: You get started by taking pictures of your wedding dress, listing it, and they’ll recommend a price for you. Vestiaire Collective gives you a prepaid shipping label for you and is known to have the lowest selling fees on over 4,000 brands. This platform will find buyers for you and alert buyers to your item. Sales are final so you don’t have to worry about anyone returning your wedding dress.
6. Wedding Bee
Wedding Bee is a website primarily for wedding planning and inspiration. The platform has forums, articles, photo galleries, and vendor listings to get inspiration for your wedding. You can hear from other brides who already got married and learn DIY tips, ideas, vendor lists, and discussions on wedding-related topics.
While there’s not a specific part of the website for selling your wedding dress, you can browse forums to see if people are looking for used wedding dresses. You can share links to your wedding dress for people who are interested in buying a gown at a reduced price.
7. Craigslist
If you want to sell your wedding dress locally, Craigslist is a good option. Craigslist makes it easy to reach local buyers and sell to people in your city. This limits your pool of targeted buyers, but can potentially lead to a faster sale if you’re in wedding season and people are actively looking for a dress.
Selling on Craigslist is easy. It’s important to take high-quality, well-lit pictures of your wedding dress and even include pictures from your wedding day. Write a detailed description of your wedding dress including condition, size, designer, and any special features of the dress.
Make sure to meet the buyer in a public, well-lit, and safe location like a police station parking lot, mall, or coffee shop. Tell a friend you’re meeting a potential buyer and keep your friend or family member updated on how it’s going.
8. Local consignment shop
If you want a more hands-off approach and want someone else to handle the sale of your wedding dress, I recommend going to a local consignment shop near you.
Consignment shops handle the entire sale process for you, from marketing your dress to answering questions from potential buyers. Some consignment shops even specialize in selling preowned wedding dresses, so they can provide guidance on selling price and what to do to sell your wedding dress quickly.
Keep in mind that consignment shops do take a percentage of the profit since they are doing most of the hard work. However, this might not matter to you if you don’t want to spend time working on selling the dress. Working with a consignment store is also a great option if you’re trying to declutter space in your home and don’t want to communicate with buyers.
9. Preownedweddingdresses.com
Preownedweddingdresses.com is an online platform that sells new, used, and sample wedding dresses. To list your wedding dress on Preownedweddingdresses.com, there is a $25 one-time listing fee and they take 20% of the gross sale price. Free shipping and insurance are included and there’s a seller protection program as well. Besides wedding dresses, you can also sell your jewelry and other bridal accessories.
This online platform has bridal experts on staff to help you throughout the selling process. They’ll walk you step by step through listing your wedding dress, the actual sale, and the shipping process. Their experts also act as a mediator between you and the customer if any issues arise with your buyer.
10. Facebook Marketplace
Facebook Marketplace is a helpful online platform for selling and buying all kinds of things, including wedding dresses. You can reach people locally and all over the country, and you probably already have a Facebook account anyway, so it’s easy to start using.
When listing your wedding dress on Facebook Marketplace, make sure to include plenty of details in the description as this will help when people are searching for your dress. Add keywords to the description such as the designer of the dress, dress size, and any other special details to the dress like lace, open back, etc.
There can be scams on Facebook Marketplace, so take a few steps to protect yourself. Avoid wire transfers or prepaid credit cards and opt for safer payment methods like PayPal. Meet in a safe location that is well-lit and public. Trust your instincts. If something doesn’t feel right with the potential buyer, move on and find someone else to buy your wedding dress.
FAQ: Best Places To Sell Wedding Dresses
Below are answers to common questions about the best places to sell wedding dresses.
What is the best way to sell a wedding dress?
There are things you can do to help sell your wedding dress quickly and get the most money.
Use online marketplaces specifically geared to selling used wedding dresses. This includes sites like preownedweddingdresses.com and stillwhite.com. These sites are set up and ready for new brides looking for used dresses, and past brides looking to sell their dresses. You’ll get a targeted audience looking for used wedding dresses unlike Facebook Marketplace and Posh.
Take high-quality photos of your dress from multiple angles. Make sure to include close-ups of any fine details like lace, embroidery, or beading. It’s also a good idea to include photos of your wedding day wearing the dress, so potential buyers can see what it looks like on a body instead of a hanger. Provide measurements and respond to inquiries about your dress quickly.
Will a pawn shop buy my wedding dress?
Some pawn shops may buy your wedding dress, but this isn’t all that common. Pawn shops typically focus on items with larger resale markets like electronics, jewelry, and tools. Also, pawn shops have to make a profit so you might get significantly less than what you’d get on a used wedding dress site that resells dresses.
Can I sell my wedding dress to David’s Bridal?
David’s Bridal focuses on selling new inventory and does not sell used dresses. However, there is a Facebook group called David’s Bridal Resale with over 30,000 members. This group is specifically for reselling David’s Bridal items.
What is the best place to sell a wedding dress near me?
The best place to sell your wedding dress depends on where you live and your preferences. Generally, selling your wedding dress online will offer the most money. While local shops can provide a hands-on approach, online platforms like stillwhite.com and preownedweddingdresses.com are reaching people who want to buy used dresses.
Is it better to sell a used wedding dress in person or online?
Selling a wedding dress in person vs. online has its pros and cons. Selling online has benefits like a larger audience actively looking for a wedding dress with detailed listings and communication tools set up to get the sale done quickly.
Selling in person has benefits like cash payment, which can be nice if you want to avoid using online platforms and shipping logistics.
How long does it take to sell a used wedding dress?
The timeframe for selling a wedding dress depends on who designed your dress, the style, condition, price, and the platform you’re selling the dress. For some people, it takes just a few weeks to sell a wedding dress, whereas for others it might take a few months.
Dresses from well-known and sought-after designers like Vera Wang tend to sell faster, especially if the gown is in excellent condition. Keep in mind that factors like wedding season and demand play a role in how long it takes to sell a wedding dress. This is why it doesn’t hurt to post your wedding dress on multiple online platforms and in-person stores.
Best Places To Sell Wedding Dresses – Summary
I hope you enjoyed this article on the best places to sell a used wedding dress.
Selling your wedding dress has a ton of benefits including recouping wedding costs, helping the environment by producing less stuff, and helping a bride get a beautiful gown on a budget.
If you have a wedding gown sitting in the closet gathering dust, then you may want to try selling it for cash.
Many of the sites listed above aren’t a hassle to use, and many even have a commission rate.
Are you interested in selling your wedding dress?
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