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The Best Places to Sell your Wedding Dress Online in the UK
We know how special your wedding dress is. As a reminder of your special day, doesn’t it break your heart thinking of it gathering dust in your closet? Why not let another bride grace her wedding with your designer wedding dress.
Deciding whether to sell your wedding dress is a personal decision. If you choose to sell your designer wedding dress, it’s a good idea to sell on a popular marketplace. This way, you can quickly sell the dress and even recoup more than half the original price.
Keep reading to know where to sell your wedding dress in the UK.
eBay UK
eBay is one of the most popular marketplaces in the world. Worldwide, eBay has more than 182 million users. More than 70% of eBay traffic comes from the US, while 1.69% comes from the UK. By selling your wedding dress on eBay in the UK, you’ll have access to over 24 million active buyers.
There is no listing fee. eBay allows you to list up to 20 items a month for free. To sell your preloved designer wedding dress, visit the eBay UK website, sign up and list your wedding dress.
To attract buyers, provide key information about your dress such as:
- Colour
- Designer
- Style
- Size
- Sleeve style
- Neckline
- Material and more
You can also include the original price and date it was initially purchased in the item description. Don’t forget to take clear photos, price your item competitively and offer free delivery (if possible).
Stillwhite
Stillwhite is an online marketplace for used, pre-owned and second-hand wedding dresses. With over 51,782 wedding dresses on sale and over $47 million sold, Stillwhite is the best choice to sell your designer wedding dress.
Selling on Stillwhite takes three steps. Head to the Stillwhite website, click ‘Sell Now’ and use the calculator to find out what you could earn. Click ‘Get Started’ and select one of the following packages:
- Standard – £17
- Premium – £27
Click ‘Start Selling’ fill out the form, upload your photos, add a description, price then click ‘Submit Listing’ Your listing will go live in an hour. You can chat with buyers privately and get paid via secure payment online.
Poshmark
Poshmark is a vibrant community composed of millions of sellers. As a social commerce marketplace, Poshmark sells over 90,000 brands of every size. To sell your wedding dress, sign up for a Poshmark account. You can sign up using your email, Google or Facebook.
Take clear photos of your wedding dress and upload them to your Poshmark closet. Add a description, size, measurements, designer and price. Share your listing with your network of shoppers to discover. The more the shares, the more the sales.
If you make a sale, Poshmark proves a pre-paid label for shipping. You’ll receive payment once your item gets delivered. All orders ship via USPS priority mail. For a better experience, download the Poshmark app.
Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange
Sell your dress with Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange and make money. Located on the Moat Farm in Framlingham, the bridal barn stocks over thousands of preloved wedding dresses. Before selling your dress, it has to meet the following criteria.
- Must be less than 5 years old
- Original designer dresses only
- In perfect condition with no stains, tears or marks
- In protective carrier
- Dry cleaned
To sell your wedding dress, you must agree to the selling price with the bridal barn. Upon sale, Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange takes 50% commission and passes the balance to you. They will market your dress by featuring it on their website and inform you via email when your dress sells. Expect payment within 7 days.
If your dress remains unsold for six months, Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange can extend the arrangement or you can take it back to sell elsewhere. To learn more, visit Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange.
Depop
Depop is a fashion marketplace with a global community buying and connecting to make fashion more diverse and inclusive. On Depop, there is no listing fee. You only have to pay 10% when your item sells. To sell your wedding dress, download the Depop app.
You can download the app from Google Play Store and Apple App Store. Launch the app, and sign up. It only takes less than a minute. Create your listing, add item description, photos and set the price.
If your item sells, you’ll receive payment after shipping. Depop has a dedicated seller team that can help you learn the basics and even mentor you to become a top seller.
Once Wed
Join thousands of sellers on Once Wed to sell your wedding dress fast. Thanks to Google Ranking and a strong social media presence, your listing is usually seen by thousands of buyers each month. Once Wed has over 40,000 wedding dresses listed. Their fraud protection system monitors suspicious listing, messages and payment activity.
To sell your wedding dress, follow this link. Select the wedding dresses package that goes for $19.95. This is a one-time fee per dress. There is no renewal fee, and your listing never expires. Click ‘Sell Now’ fill out the form, and create your listing. You can promote your listing on social media through Once Wed listings.
Bridal Reloved
Bridal Reloved is a chain of boutiques that specialise in pre-owned designer wedding dresses. With a large customer reach, you can sell your wedding dress with little effort. There are two ways to sell your dress:
- Online via Bridal Reloved classified section for a fee of £25
- In-store for a commission
To sell your dress, follow this link. Fill in the form and submit your enquiry. Alternatively, you can find the nearest Bridal Reloved store to sell your wedding dress.
Sell My Wedding Dress
Earn money from selling your wedding dress on Sell My Wedding Dress. To sell your dress on Sell My Wedding Dress, you must register as a Sell My Wedding Dress seller. As a registered user, you can sign in, click ‘Post Advert’ and complete the form.
Bride2Bride
Want to sell your wedding dress or gown quickly? Bride2Bride has over 50,000 registered users and gets thousands of visitors every month. As such, you can be sure that your wedding dress will get a buyer with little effort.
Selling your dress on the UK’s wedding dress marketplace is easy. Head to the Bride2Bride website, click ‘Sell My Dress’ and select a plan. There are three pricing packages…
- Standard – £14
- Premium – £20
- Business – £199
Once you buy a package, fill the form to register for an account. Add item description and upload clear photos of your dress. When you make a sale, you’ll receive an email and payment after shipping the wedding dress.
Easy Weddings
List your preloved wedding dress on Easy Weddings and make money. For just a £19.95 one time fee, you can sell your wedding dress with little effort. Getting started as a seller on Easy Weddings is easy. Just sign up, and create your listing.
Easy Weddings allows you to upload unlimited photos of your wedding dress, add item description and contact details. When a buyer enquiries about your dress online, you’ll receive an email. You can also view all enquiries about your dress from your Easy Weddings dashboard.
Download the Easy Weddings app to your Android or iOS device for a mobile experience.
Weddalia
Turn your wedding dress into cash at Weddalia. Weddalia helps you recover up to 75% of the original buying price. To list your dress on Weddalia, there is a £12.90 one time listing fee.
Weddalia will list your wedding dress within 24 hours after payment, and the listing is always included in the Advanced Search. To sell your wedding dress, register as a Weddalia seller. Fill out the form, login, and create your listing. Weddalia allows you to upload up to 7 photos and a free description of 3000 characters.
It also allows you to share your listing on social media – Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
Rock My Wedding
Rock My Wedding is your one-stop-shop for preloved wedding dresses. To start selling, you need a Rock My Wedding account. It’s free to sign up. Head to the Rock My Wedding website, click ‘Start Selling’ and fill out the form.
To list your wedding dress, you only need to pay a one-time fee of £10. Rock My Wedding does not take any commission, but 10% of every listing fee gets donated to Trees For Life. Create your listing and start chatting with buyers. Every transaction is always encrypted using PayPal’s encryption technology.
Chilham Bridal
Ready to part with your wedding dress? You can sell your wedding dress at Chilham Bridal. All you need to do is complete the online form at the bottom of the Chilham Bridal website. Attach at least one photo of your wedding dress.
Chilham Bridal team will research your dress based on the information you provide. If approved, the team will email you to confirm they can take the dress. In the email, they’ll include a recommended selling price and commission rate.
If you’re happy with the offer, reply to Chilham Bridal, and they will arrange a date for you to bring the dress. Chilham Bridal will draw a contract and email it to you, plus their terms to read over. Print the contract, sign and bring it with you when dropping the dress. If your dress sells, Chilham Bridal will transfer the sale amount to your bank account.
Preloved
Place a free ad on Preloved and make money. It’s a fast, free and fun way to sell your wedding dress. To place your ad, visit the Preloved site, click ‘Place Advert’ select private ad. Search for a category such as wedding dress. Add a photo, item description, size, colour and your asking price.
Check to confirm that the private ad is not made in the course of the business. Click “Next” and complete the registration process. You can choose to receive responses via Preloved’s messaging service or by phone.
Tips on How to Sell Your Wedding Dress
Here are tips on how to sell your wedding dress.
1. Sell at the Right Time
The most popular time for engagements is the holidays. This means brides start shopping for wedding dresses and accessories right away. In some cases, they do so within 2 to 4 months of getting engaged. If you’ve a wedding dress to sell, you need to sell at the right time.
In this case, create your listing in January. Newly engaged brides will be shopping for budget-friendly wedding dresses in boutiques or online. This means the chances of selling your wedding dress and accessories is high.
To sell your wedding dress fast, make sure it’s not more than three years old. By doing so, you’ll catch brides looking for that specific design.
2. Sell for the Right Price
There are several ways to price your preloved wedding dress. If your wedding dress is less than three years old and you never wore it, charge 75% of the retail price. If the wedding dress is less than three years old and you wore it once, charge 50% of the original buying price.
You can knock off 10% to 20% if the dress is more than three years old. Your vintage wedding dress is more likely to sell at the original retail price, especially if you choose to sell at a bridal barn or high-end boutique. But if you choose to sell it on eBay, you might want to reduce the price. This will attract buyers fast.
3. Have Your Dress Professionally Clean
Have your dress professionally cleaned right away after your wedding. During your wedding, the bottom of your wedding dress takes the beating. For example, as you walk down the aisle or when spinning around on the dance floor.
If you plan on selling your dress after your wedding, have it professionally cleaned. This will help to get the blemishes off your dress. If your dress gets cleaned right away, it will look beautiful and attract buyers immediately.
4. Take Good Photographs
If you want to sell your wedding dress fast, take good photographs. You don’t need an expensive DSLR camera. A smartphone with a 20MP+ camera plus natural light and a fuss-free background will do. You need to take a couple of full-length photos. Take one full-length photo of the front, side and back of the dress.
It’s always good if the bride-to-be sees the dress on someone else. You can ask a friend to take photos of you in the wedding dress. Alternatively, your friend can model the dress for you or use one of your wedding day photos.
Remember, when taking photos, do not zoom in. Instead, move closer to the subject. Clean the lens on your phone with a lint-free cloth. Select a large resolution for your photos and a location with natural light.
5. Give a Detailed Description
Detailed descriptions address the target audience personally and directly. When you write the description, you ask and answer questions your target audience have. It’s important to choose words your ideal buyers use.
For example, give the correct name of the designer, the dress number, size, style, and material. It would help if you also gave accurate measurements, how many times you wore the dress and the dry cleaning instructions. Keywords are crucial, especially if you’ll be sharing your listing on social media. Remember, people start searching for information on search engines or social media.
If you use the right keywords, your listing will be at the top of the search results.
6. Give an Honest Description
Besides giving a detailed description of your wedding dress, you’ve got to be honest about your listing. Does the wedding dress have any tears, marks, or stains? If there are, it’s important to mention them from the beginning or include a phot of the stain, tear or fading.
Honesty will not affect your selling prospects. For example, your wedding dress may have a light stain caused by spilt drinks or holes at the hem. This may attract a bride looking for a dress they can shorten. Failure to be honest will lead to issues with the transactions such as returns and refunds.
Final Thoughts
Nowadays, it’s easy to know the resale value of a wedding dress. Marketplaces such as Stillwhite have a calculator that can help you see what you could earn. Besides using the calculator, you can browse the marketplaces and compare past and current sales to price your wedding dress.
This enables you to stay competitive. The more you competitively price your dress, the quicker it sells. Pricing your preloved wedding dress too high will result in your dress sitting untouched for a long time. To sell your dress faster, share your listing on social media.
Frequently Asked Questions
In this section we answer your questions about selling second hand wedding dresses in the UK.
How much can I expect to get back when I sell my wedding dress?
Typically, if the dress is less than three years old and in excellent condition, you can expect to charge around 50% to 75% of its original price. Factors include its brand, style, condition, and how you market it.
How soon should I sell my dress after the wedding?
It’s recommended to list your dress soon after your wedding, ideally within a year or two, to ensure it remains in contemporary style and demand. Also, have it professionally cleaned immediately after your wedding to keep it in pristine condition.
Which platform is best to sell a wedding dress?
It depends on your preference. Platforms like eBay UK and Stillwhite offer a vast audience, while boutique services like Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange or Chilham Bridal may provide a more personalised experience. Research and choose the platform that aligns best with your goals and comfort level.
Do I need to pay to list my dress on these platforms?
Some platforms, like eBay UK, allow you to list a certain number of items for free each month, while others, such as Stillwhite or Once Wed, require a one-time listing fee. Always check the platform’s terms before listing.
How can I increase the chances of selling my dress quickly?
Ensure your dress is professionally cleaned, take high-quality photos, provide a detailed and honest description, price it appropriately, and consider listing it during peak engagement seasons like January.
What if my dress doesn’t sell on one platform?
If your dress remains unsold, consider relisting it on another platform, adjusting the price, or enhancing the listing’s photos and description. Some services like Suffolk Wedding Dress Exchange allow you to retrieve your dress if it doesn’t sell within a certain timeframe.
Do I have to ship my dress to the buyer?
In most online platforms, yes, you will be responsible for shipping your dress to the buyer. Platforms like Poshmark provide pre-paid shipping labels, making the process easier. Always ensure your dress is packed securely to prevent damage during transit.
Can I sell wedding accessories along with my dress?
Absolutely! Many platforms allow you to list accessories such as veils, tiaras, or shoes alongside your dress, potentially increasing your earnings and making your listing more attractive to buyers.
How do I ensure I’m not scammed when selling my dress?
Stick to trusted platforms that offer secure payment methods. For instance, Stillwhite allows for secure online payments, and Once Wed monitors suspicious listing and payment activities. Always be cautious, and if a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is.