09/27/2010
Options for Selling Your Wedding Dress
[email protected], can we talk? Get real. Be honest. Talk to anyone who has been married more than a few days, and ask her how she treasure her wedding dress. It is perfect for the perfect day and then has limited use, other than to consume space .... a lot of space ... in your closet, attic or under the bed.
So what is a girl to do? Price it to sell and turn it into cash. There is also the pleasure of knowing that it will make some bride tingle with excitement. Imagine her looking as beautiful as you did on your wedding day.
Craigslist is an excellent way to sell your dress if you with to sell it locally. The service is free, and you can't beat free. The only downside is that your audience is limited to a local search. There may be someone searching for a Maggie Sattero dress in your community just like yours, but she needs a dress 4 sizes larger than yours.
eBay offers an alternative to selling your dress locally. eBay can provide national exposure, and you are very likely to connect with a buyer. The downside is the cost. eBay has basically three (3) fees for a seller, the Insertion Fees, the Final Value Fees and PayPal fees. The insertion fee for a $1,000 dress is only $4.00. If you wish to set a reserve price, that is another $4.00. There are a variety of other fees for things such as Featured Listings, etc, that can run as much as $74.95 per item. We are ignoring them for this analysis. The final value fee would be $91.50 (12.00% of the initial $50.00, plus 9.00% of the remaining closing value balance). Many bridal gown sellers do not realize that eBay's fees vary by category. Clothing is one of the higher fee categories. See http://pages.eBay.com/help/sell/fees.html
eBay encourages its sellers and buyers to use PayPal, which can be an additional seller fee of $29.30.
In summary, your $1,000 sale will net you only $871.20.
Gross Sales Price $1,000
Insertion Fee
Reserve Price Fee
Additional services not calculated
Final Value Fee
PayPal fees
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Net to You $871.20
Wow, eBay charges 13% in fees to sell your dress.
The alternative is a high-traffic niche bridal classified site like WeddingDressMarket.com. Your listing is free for 45 days, and you don't even need a credit card or PayPal account to list a dress. You can cancel at any time, even during the free 45-day listing period.
The choice is clear.
Craiglist.org - Free, but only local
eBay.com - National, but fees of approximately 13%
WeddingDressMarket.com, national coverage and free for 45 days
If you have not registered yet, you may register here.
Once you have registered you may add, edit and delete your listings here.
[email protected], if you have any listing questions, you may always contact us at [email protected]
When you list an item on eBay, you're charged an insertion fee. If the item sells, you're also charged a final value fee. The basic cost of selling an item is the insertion fee plus the final value fee.
