Expert Survival Tip: Reselling Your Bridesmaid Or Wedding Dress
Spend half your rent - or a whole month’s worth - on a bridesmaid dress you’ll only wear once?
With this summer’s wedding season coming to a close Survive Wedding Season enlisted Judy Meggs, owner of The Green Hanger Shop, to help teach you bridesmaids - and brides - how to best recoup some of your wedding-related expenses!
From Judy:
You always hear that you will be able to wear that bridesmaids dress again, but the truth is you probably won’t. Then there are the cute dresses you wore to weddings that you no longer want, but hate to toss out. Realizing this after both of my daughters were married, I founded The Green Hanger Shop to give brides and their friends a place to buy and sell this special kind of attire.
While it’s becoming more popular for brides to sell their wedding gowns after the big day, bridesmaids and wedding guests underestimate the demand for their dresses on the preowned market. Summer is not called wedding ‘season’ without reason, and guests struggle with the expense of attending multiple weddings and shower events.
Need help surviving wedding season?
Take a long look at those dresses you have worn to weddings and showers. You will be surprised at how well they will sell. And Maids, I am always finding bridesmaids looking to buy used dresses in watermelon, apple, honeydew, and all the other colors and fruits of the rainbow.
Whether you are the bride, the bridesmaid, or the guest, here are some things to keep in mind when reselling your dresses:
- Don’t let dresses get old before their time because they were stuck in the back of a closet and forgotten. While bridesmaids are usually eager to sell, a newlywed bride may have trouble letting go. But remember it’s important to list the dress while it is still a current style and buyers are able to compare the pre-owned dress price with its retail price.
- The dress needs to be cleaned - professionally if necessary - as soon after its use as possible.
- If it’s a wedding gown, don’t preserve it. It is expensive and creates lots of waste with extra boxes and tissue paper.
- To advertise your dress, use a reputable online listing service like The Green Hanger Shop that specializes in weddings. It attracts traffic that is specifically looking for wedding attire and understands the value of the gowns and dresses. It also makes shopping easier with search tools instead of ‘stacking’ the ads by posting date.
- How do you set a fair price? The seller can reasonably expect 50-60 % off their purchase price if it is relatively new, let’s say worn only once or twice. And if you still have the receipt, you might get more. The same is true for all the accessories that go along with weddings, especially shoes and jewelry.
The lesson here is simple. YES! That dress can be worn again! It’s kinder to your pocketbook, your closet, and our dear Mother Earth.
Photo by Kim Graham Photography.
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Have a great wedding survival tip to share with the Survive Wedding Season community? Email your tips to solutions@surviveweddingseason.com.
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About the Author
I love making a difference. It’s why I enjoyed teaching for over thirty years. It didn’t take me long in my ‘retirement’ to realize that I was young enough to start another career. When I thought about what made me happy, I immediately thought of how much fun I had helping my daughters, Julianne and Catherine, plan their weddings. As the mother of these beautiful brides, I learned a lot about the wedding industry firsthand. We put tremendous effort and expense into every dress that made an appearance at the weddings and their events. So did our families and guests. It just didn’t seem right to let those garments hang in the closet when someone else could use them. Had I not learned anything with my students about how our actions impact our environment? With my wonderful husband, Wally, the technology half of this pair, The Green Hanger Shop was created. Our mission is to help everyone involved in a wedding save money and give new life to attire that is too good to be used only once. And it’s the green thing to do, too. I love my new career. I am making a difference!
Tags: Bridal Resale, Choosing A Bridesmaid Dress, Green Hanger Shop, How To Survive Wedding Season On A Budget, Reselling A Bridesmaid Dress
September 16th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Great Blog post. I am going to bookmark and read more often. I love the Blog template
September 17th, 2009 at 1:53 am
Great advice Judy! We definitely suggest the same tips at http://www.smartbrideboutique.com. When you’re listing your dress it would also be a good idea to mention if any alterations have been made in which case the dress would be a different size than on the label. It’s very important that your description and pictures of the dress are informative and show it off well or else users won’t be attracted to your ad.
Setting an appropriate price is also important. Although you may want to make back almost the same amount of what you paid, it’s very difficult to do with a used dress, even if it looks brand new. Like Judy mentioned, you should only expect to make back about half of what you paid.
Selling your old bridesmaids or bridal gowns is definitely a great idea and a good way to save room in your closet! Best of luck savvy brides!
September 17th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
So helpful! I’ve been looking for places to shop on a budget. Thank you Survive Wedding Season!
September 27th, 2009 at 7:20 am
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October 9th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
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May 20th, 2010 at 3:10 pm
What better wayt o save money then buying a used gown, thanks for your useful post.