Step 1: General Guidelines

The price of a wedding dress depends on a variety of factors including

• retail price
• condition
• the number of times it’s been worn
• date of purchase
• cleanliness

There are no hard-and-fast rules when it comes to determining the value of your dress, but in general you should expect to receive at least 20% less than retail value for unworn dresses, and at least 30% less for a dress you have worn.

Once worn, designer dresses tend to have a higher resale value than non-designer dresses and are more likely to fall in the 20%-30% range, whereas non-designer dresses tend to receive roughly 50% of retail value. It is extremely unlikely that you will be able to resell any dress for full retail value, regardless of its condition.

Keep this information in mind as you are beginning to calculate the value of your dress.

Step 2: Timing

The best time to sell your wedding dress is within 2 ½ years of purchase. Fashion trends change in a flash, and keeping within this time frame will ensure that the style of your dress is mostly consistent with the popular styles of the year you are selling it. Otherwise, you may have to lower the price of your dress a significant amount.

That being said, dresses from the 1990s or earlier now classify as vintage. If you are selling a vintage gown, you may be able to sell the dress at much closer to retail value; especially if it is stylistically representative of fashion trends during the time it was made. Don’t be afraid to sell older wedding dresses: they may fetch a lot more than you expect!

Step 3: Check Online for Retail Price

We highly recommend you do an internet search for your dress before determining the price. As we said before, it is extremely unlikely that you will be sell any kind of wedding dress for retail value. This includes the price at which you purchased the dress, and the price it is currently. In the time that has passed between the day you purchased your dress and the day you plan to resell it, it is possible the dress has gone on sale, or that the price has been otherwise lowered.

If your dress is priced higher than identical dresses, you will most likely be unable to sell it. Remember: what keeps your dress competitive with other, identical dresses is the lowered price. This becomes especially important if a bride could potentially purchase a brand new gown for the same price or lower.

Step 5: Get a Second Opinion

Before you advertise your wedding dress, we recommend getting a second opinion. The easiest way for you to do this would be to use the price calculator at PreOwnedWeddingDress.com. Although this website charges users a fee for listing wedding dresses, the calculator is free, and can give you a ballpark estimate of the price for your wedding dress without creating an account. Using the calculator is no substitute for manual pricing, but it will help ensure that you are on the right track while gaging your price.

Additionally, remember that the pricing of your wedding dress is an ongoing process. Value is more subjective than it is objective. You may need to adjust the price of your gown once it is listed to accommodate the perspective of your potential buyers.  

If you have any other questions about resale, check out our blog, or feel free to reach out to us at info@bravobride.com. Happy selling!