Advice needed about wedding dress

cha97michelle · 7 April 2006 at 10:42AM

Hi

I was looking for a bit of advice, and i think this might be the best board to get it.

I have a wedding dress that i want to

1) get dry cleaned
2) sell

I was thinking that there might be a hire shop that might want to take the dress off my hands. Has anyone any experience of doing this?

I also would appreciate tips on getting the thing dry cleaned, as i am expecting it to cost a bomb.

Any help at all would be appreciated as the space it is taking up is required for a baby. So the sooner i can get on with this the better.

Thanks,

Michelle

Sand_Man_2 · 7 April 2006 at 10:47AM

have you tried putting the wedding dress for sale in the local paper as most my friends have taken this option in the passed.

Hire Shops tend tend to get flooded (i think) with offers so you may not get the right price even if you are lucky to find a hire shop that is buying

Rachie_B · 7 April 2006 at 10:48AM

some dresses can be cleaned in a washing machine if you are feeling brave ! my friend washed hers (beaded etc) inside out on a low wash and it was fine

here specialist cleaners charge about £50 for cleaning and boxing it up in tissue etc

id try & sell on ebay first also advertise in local newspapers / newsagents windows, https://www.adtrader.co.uk https://www.preloved.com etc

if its a popular designer / make it should sell on ebay no problem if you dont overprice it

have a look and see what similar dresses are going for on there

good luck

MrsNurseyC · 7 April 2006 at 3:59PM

Hiya,
Do you think your dress *really* needs to be dry cleaned before being sold? Ie. is it still predominantly ivory/white, or is it grey?

I know this is a pre-requirement for some wedding dress agencies, as I looked into it myself through doing a few internet serches.
In the end, I decided to go it alone- pants to paying some commission fee, and paying extra for dry cleaning!!- and put my dress up for auction on ebay, clearly and honestly stating its condition: slight marks on the hem of the stain/chiffon train at the back. I was pretty pleased I managed to sell mine for a third of that I'd originally paid for it.
'Pre-loved' wedding dresses don't seem to fetch that much, so could the cost of dry cleaning not be passed on to the next young woman, who'd be thrilled at getting a fantastic gown at a fraction of the original cost?
I'm sure if the make, style and size of your wedding dress appeals to a potential buyer, the cost of dry cleaning it in addition, is still massive a saving on what they'd pay for it new in a bridal shop.
It also means if your dress doesn't sell, you haven't wasted money yourself on the dry cleaning bill.
Glood luck hun

Becles · 7 April 2006 at 4:25PM

My wedding dress was a bit grubby and smelt musty as it had been up the loft for ages. It was a meringue with loads of lace and frilly bits on. I carefully cut the stiching in the casing seams and took the hoops out of the skirt. It all went in the washing machine on a low temp delicates wash. When it was finished I took it out of the machine, carefully put the hoops back in and stiched the seams back up, then I left it to air dry on a coat hanger. The shower curtain rail was high enough for it to hang into the bath without creasing.

I sold it on ebay and the lady who bought it was thrilled to bits with it.

cha97michelle · 8 April 2006 at 1:32PM

MrsNurseyC wrote:

Hiya,
Do you think your dress *really* needs to be dry cleaned before being sold? Ie. is it still predominantly ivory/white, or is it grey? I know this is a pre-requirement for some wedding dress agencies, as I looked into it myself through doing a few internet serches.

I was hoping someone would say that. A tiny bit of mud - less than an inch on the underneath of the train. Otherwise spotless, as i carried it off the ground all day, and drank only light drinks so no danger of spillage.

I don't think i would dare wash it as there are quite a lot of layers and lots of beading on the bodice of the dress.

I just didn't know whether people would be turning their nose up at it. I paid £1300 for my dress. What sort of price do you think i should put it on ebay for?
I last looked into this in January, and dresses seemed to be selling for very little. Although, rather than letting it fester, i would like to sell it quickly.

Thanks for the help so far

Michelle

hlhassall · 8 April 2006 at 1:51PM

I sold my wedding dress on https://www.confetti.co.uk - you have lots of potential brides on the forums there everyday and there is one specifically to sell items.

Rachie_B · 8 April 2006 at 4:36PM

also try the for sale board on https://www.hitched.co.uk or you could try somewhere like https://www.1stcallforweddings.co.uk

£1300 is quite a lot ! dont expect to make even half of that back (on ebay anyway )TBH ,sadly

squibbs25 · 9 April 2006 at 8:44AM

quote<I sold my wedding dress on https://www.confetti.co.uk - you have lots of potential brides on the forums there everyday and there is one specifically to sell items.>quote

Hi just looked on confetti.co.uk as i also have a dress to sell, but i cant see anywhere that sells used dresses? could you point me in the right direction?
Thanks,
Squibbs

cha97michelle · 9 April 2006 at 9:16AM

I've just been looking at this. (confetti website)

There is a cafe section which has message boards where you can post things for sale.

Rachie_B · 10 April 2006 at 8:21AM

go here http://www.confetti.co.uk/cafe/message_board/sale/topics.asp?id=18 you will need to register to post a message if you arent a member already

Hope you sell it soon

Advice needed about wedding dress

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