Here’s Where to Sell Your Used Wedding Dresses

Nearly every bride dreams of the day when she can walk down the aisle in a dress that looks as if it were made just for her. But what happens when your big day has come and gone, and you’ve gotten all of your picture-perfect memories? For some, the dress goes into storage in the hopes that a daughter might decide to wear it. For others, it goes into a shadow box to be displayed, a recurring sweet memory. 

Some people, though, opt to be economical; wedding dresses are a significant investment! Suppose you want to get back a little bit of that money for honeymoon plans, a new home fund, or a nest egg to start growing your family. In that case, you should consider the option of reselling your wedding dress. 

Here are some of the best places to get the most bang for your wedding dress.

Wedding Dress Markets with No Listing Fee

If you need cash and can’t afford to play the game of dividends from investments, then these sites are a good match for you. They all have free options for listing your wedding dress and getting a solid return on the money you spent in the first place.

• Wedding Bee. Wedding Bee has no set listing fee or commission. They work in the classified ad format, so It’s as simple as sign up, list, and sell! They also have built-in buyer messaging so that you can settle shipping and payment methods on-site, as well as a blog with real wedding stories to read and a responsive support team to help answer any questions you might have.
• Sheep Buy. SheepBuy is an online marketplace where sellers post their items for sale and get paid via PayPal. They have a free package, and if you’d like to sell more, plans start from $2.99 and up. What makes SheepBuy so unique is that they don’t charge a selling fee or any hidden fees on any item sold. This makes them the perfect choice to sell your dress and avoid the hassle of commissions and fees 
• Sell My Wedding Dress. The aptly-named Sell My Wedding Dress runs on classified ads again (a popular format for resale websites). They offer a basic listing for free, which lets you have ten ads and ten images, and a premium listing for $27.97 with 25 ads and ten images. Their listings never expire, and they offer multiple upgrade options for between $5 and $19 that up the exposure for your ad.
• Wedding Recycle. Wedding Recycle lets you sell not only dresses and accessories, but any wedding items you no longer need, including tableware and party favors. They collect a 4% fee on sales, but your account and listings are completely free. They also give you the option of selling locally so that you can meet your buyer directly. You are responsible for shipping, however.
• ONBB. ONBB, which stands for Old New Borrowed Blue, is an iPhone marketplace that specializes in wedding dresses and accessories, which was started by an event planner with nearly a decade in the industry. They take no listing fee, and have a tiered system for commissions, starting at $8.95 for an item under $50, and 10-20% on items over $50. They also offer prepaid shipping labels, making it quicker and easier to send off your dress to its new home when it’s been bought.
• Poshmark. As one of the most popular resale sites on the internet right now, Poshmark is an excellent place to list if you have accessories to sell with your dress. For all sales over $15, they charge a 20% commission fee (under $15 is a flat $2.95 fee), which includes a prepaid shipping label and free pickup. It’s a simple, low-cost, low-hassle solution, all from the palm of your hand with their free-to-download app.
• Tradesy. Tradesy takes a 19.8% commission fee on all sales over $50. They also offer services like a price suggestion calculator, a user-friendly listing system, and affordable shipping options. This is another excellent multipurpose sales platform, that, while it doesn’t specialize in wedding items, does offer a great place to sell off accessories you don’t need and an easy-to-use program to get your money back. According to their website, they can help you sell up to 25% faster than on leading competitors.

Wedding Dress Markets with Low Listing Fees

If you’re willing and able to dish out a little bit of extra cash, these sites can offer you wider audiences to pull potential buyers from, as well as covering some of the muss and fuss associated with online selling. These sites make sure you get your money’s worth with added features that make shipping, customer service, and even ad design much simpler and easier.

• Once Wed. Once Wed is an excellent place not only to sell your wedding dress but let any of your bridesmaids sell their dresses as well! Once Wed has a one-time $19.95 listing fee for wedding dresses and a $5 fee for any other dresses and accessories. They also offer private messaging between sellers and buyers and a fraud protection program to keep you and your buyer safe.
• SmartBride Boutique. SmartBride Boutique is another classifieds-style website, which lets your list for free, and takes no commission fees. They do offer a premium account for $4.95 per month, which includes access to more exposure for your listing as well as simple analytics. They also have a critique service, available for $14.95, which can give you valuable advice about how to improve your listing for the best possible result.
• Wore It Once. Wore It Once has a $20 listing fee. They also have a listing template that you fill out when you put an item up for sale that takes the stress out of putting in a perfect listing while also allowing room for a custom description in case you want to mention something they didn’t think of. This is another good site for selling bridesmaid dresses as well. On top of that, your listings never expire, so you can be sure that your dress is up and available for sale until you land a buyer.
• Still White. Formerly Bravo Bride, Still White is the world’s largest wedding dress resale marketplace, meaning that their shoppers tend to know that they’re getting quality items for solid prices. Your listing will be credible and reliable, and with their easy-to-use system, you can chat directly with your potential buyers for even easier sales with low risk. Still White has a one-time $20 fee for a basic listing, which bumps up to $30 for a premium listing. They do require you to ship your dress to the buyer yourself and don’t have a return policy.
• PreOwnedWeddingDresses. PreOwnedWeddingDresses has a one-time listing fee of $25 and doesn’t charge commission. They also have an on-site pricing calculator so that you know you’re getting a fair price back on your dress, which is built into their easy-to-use listing template.
• Nearly Newly Wed. Nearly Newly Wed is fantastic if you don’t want to deal with any of the fuss of listing and customer communications. For a fee of $25, they’ll cover promotion (through excellent affiliated sites like The Knot), customer service, insurance, and shipping. Then, once your dress sells, they’ll send you a check for 60% of the final sale price.

Selling Your Wedding Dress Locally

If you don’t want to go the online route for selling your wedding dress, you could always try the local market. To sell your dress locally, there are a few options to consider. 

If you happen to have someone in your circle of friends who is getting married, you can offer to sell them your dress directly. This means that you don’t have to go through any third-parties to get cash-in-hand, which means no fees or shipping to worry about. It also means that you might get to see your dress in action again, this time from the audience!

If, however, you’re not lucky enough to have a friend willing to buy your dress, you can also try putting your dress up for sale in local stores. You should call or email your local bridal stores directly, and talk to them about their resale policy to see if it fits your needs. 

Make sure to contact multiple boutiques if there’s more than one near you, as well as general consignment stores, to make sure that you are making the best selling decision for yourself, whether that’s looking for someone to take care of everything and hand you a check or a place that will let you be more hands-on with the selling process. 

Although most consignment stores and bridal shops won’t pay you cash upfront for your dress, you can have them hold the dress in house and take a commission on the agreed-upon price. Selling locally means that you have the option to negotiate and get to know your buyer directly.

You can also list your dress in local marketplace groups online, such as Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. This is slightly riskier because they offer less protection from fraudulent buyers, but again, they give you the benefit of being able to meet your buyer in-person to work out details. You have more control over the price and description of your dress. Still, you have to do all of the promotion, pricing, packing, shipping, customer service, and actual collection of payment on your own.

What to Include in Your Dress’s Listing

Okay, you’ve decided on a venue to sell your wedding dress on or in; now what? This is the time to consider how your listing itself should look to draw in buyers and make your sale. You want to make your dress look as good to them as it does to you.

First, it’s a good idea to get your dress professionally cleaned. That way, it’s in mint condition for your buyers. You can find services that specialize in wedding dress cleaning online, like The Knot, which offers a cleaning package for $230, or you can ask your local dry cleaner for recommendations. You should also make sure you store your dress properly while it’s waiting to be sold. Keep it in a cool, dry environment, hung up fully off of the ground, preferably in a garment bag to protect against dust and shelf wear.

Next, you need to consider what goes on your listing page. This should include high-quality, well-lit, and clear pictures of the dress from multiple angles. Brides.com recommends that you include photos from your wedding, which are almost always professionally done anyway. 

These pictures should be a mix of both modeled (either by you or on a dress form) and on the hanger shots. That way, your buyers can get a good sense of what the dress will look like in person if they’re not able to try before they buy. You should also be sure to include practical design details, such as the dress’s size (with a reference of measurements if possible), cut, and age. 

Last but not least, your listing should include a description that details where and when it was bought, and the retail price so that your buyers can see the discount (this is optional, but if you’re selling it at a steep discount, or if you bought the dress on sale yourself, it can be a big drawing point). 

Although it might seem counterintuitive, a brief mention of any potential flaws (loose stitching, sticky zipper, stains, etc.) will help your buyers know exactly what to expect when it gets to them. It also makes it less likely you’ll get a complaint from a disappointed buyer, which can be a huge headache depending on your venue’s return policy.

How Much to Sell Your Dress For

Once all of the details and descriptions are sorted out for your listing, it’s time to get down to the most important detail: how much exactly should you be selling your lightly used dress for?

In a guide to all things dress-selling from Today, they recommend starting at 50% of the retail value of the dress if it is less than two and a half years old and in excellent condition. They also mention that designers with household names like Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier can be listed much higher, at 60% to 70% of their original price. 

This means that, with a commission fee of 20% or less, you would be looking to have back in your bank account anywhere from around 40% to more than 50% of the money you originally spent. If you choose to sell on one of the free sites mentioned above, you could get back as much as 70% of your investment or more! It all depends on choosing the right marketplace and starting point price for your dress.

You should be clear in your ad whether or not you are open to negotiations on the price. If you are, you should decide on a base price you are willing to settle for, and the ideal price you would like to get, listing your dress at the ideal price. That way, you and your buyer have room to come to an agreement that benefits both of you. 

If you’re unsure how to go about negotiating without stumbling, or if you’re uncomfortable with the idea of coming across as rude, you can read this article from Inc.com to learn some new strategies.

Click here to learn where to sell bridesmaid dresses.

Saying Goodbye to the Dress

After all, is said and done, it’s probably still hard to let go of the dress you spent so much time and money on, that was picked exactly because it was perfect for you. It’s a bittersweet goodbye, and that’s perfectly fine. Remember, though, that a dress is, in the end, just a dress. You’ll always have the good memories you made when you wore it, and the pictures that show it off.

Besides, it’s a wonderful feeling to know that the dress that could have been collecting dust somewhere in your storage is making someone else feel just as beautiful as you did. That way, you’re not only getting your money back but getting a sense that you’ve done something good for someone else in the process, which can make it all worthwhile.

Now, what to do with the cash you have in the bank? That’s entirely up to you. Let the fun part begin!

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