Sell your wedding dress? Yep — here’s how …

You're divorced (or the engagement got called off). What do you do? Sell your wedding dress?!

After all, it's not like you're going to wear it again! (Though single mom Kaytlin said she dyed hers red and made it into a cocktail dress!)

The big mistake I see women make when it comes to items from their marriage is what I am now dubbing the marriage hoarder mentality. 

That means that you hoard items from a time long gone: clothes, jewelry and household goods that represent a dream and a plan (marriage) that didn't work out.

No matter how you feel about your marriage and ex, no matter if you are at peace with your journey, BFF with your ex, still licking your divorce wounds, or in the middle of a hot, steaming mess of a break up, sooner or later you must purge the items that represent that period.

Yes, sell your wedding dress. My No. 1 recommendation is to sell on StillWhite, a marketplace where you post and sell your wedding dress, which will fetch up to 80% of the retail price. Just pay $18/ month — no commission or additional fees. Get started selling that damn dress with StillWhite!

Plus, simple living is one of the most joyful ways to live. The less you have, the less house you need to store it.

The less clutter you need to clean and organize. The less mental clutter to navigate.

And more time and money and energy to create a life that makes you happy. A new life.

What to do with old wedding dress after divorce

There are any number of ways to sell or get rid of or cleanse or declutter your wedding dress and bridal apparel after the breakup of divorce:

• Sell it for cash
• Consignment
• Donate
• Burn in a ceremonial cleansing bonfire

Why and how to downsize after divorce

Why get rid of your wedding dress

1. It gets rid of physical clutter
2. It gets rid of emotional clutter

This is what Candice shared in the Millionaires Single Moms Facebook group:

“I thought about it, was approached with a few requests, but at the end of the day, I just didn’t want to wonder if someone else in that beautiful gown would end up with the same emotions I went through in a terrible marriage. So one day, after years of having it in my closet (and another expensive legal hassle with my ex), I threw it in the garbage can and never felt better. It was very cathartic, emotionally empowering and I felt surprisingly free of guilt or remorse. That might not be for everyone, but it was for me.”

3. You can sell it, and make some money, and feel good.

Said, Carrie:

“Sold mine after we separated. I knew the sales girl at the shop and she told me that the bride who bought it cried when she put it on. It made me feel really good that such a beautiful dress made someone else happy.”

4. You can donate it, and feel good + get a tax write-off

Related: Sell Tiffany Jewelry (and make extra cash)

Sell your wedding dress

Here are some places to sell your wedding dress …

Online marketplaces are great since they market to a global audience, you have the greatest chance of selling your pretty dress, as well as getting the best price. Here are some of my favorite places to sell wedding dresses online:

StillWhite

Featured in the New York Times, Vogue, and by Oprah, StillWhite is a very simple platform that connects people selling bridal and wedding gowns, bridesmaid dresses, related accessories and more, with people want to buy gently used and like-new items. The process is simple to sell on StillWhite:

1. Go to StillWhite.com and create an account.
2. Chose your subscription plan.
3. Post picture and a description of your dress. A calculator helps you set your price.
4. Chat privately with interested sellers, and make the sale. Get paid. BOOM.

Should you sell your engagement ring? Yes, here's how …

Nearly Newlywed

The Nearly Newlywed site just sells previously owned wedding dresses, which makes it an obvious choice.

The site is beautifully designed, and easy to navigate.

Sellers pay a $25 listing price, and earn 60% of the sales price, and Nearly Newlywed markets and will sell your dress, and handles all the customer service.

Thredup

Thredup is a huge marketplace for resale and vintage clothes.

They do not have a wedding dress category, per se, but if your dress is closer to a cocktail style, or happens not to be white or ivory (I love when brides chose colorful dresses! Why not … I mean, you're not a goddamned virgin!), then Thredup is a great option.

For items priced $300 and higher, the seller gets 90% of the price. Not bad.

The trick with Thredup is that they are very picky about quality, condition and style.

Read our Thredup review post for more details.

The company has an A+ Better Business Bureau rating.

PreOwned WeddingDresses.com

This site ranks high on Google and only charges a $25 flat fee for listing your dress (as well as $5 for bridesmaids, mother-of-bride and flower girl dresses, if you have those to sell, too).

The downside is that listing, photographs and customer service are on you.

Borrowing Magnolia

Borrowing Magnolia allows users to buy and sell pre-owned wedding dresses. While some other sites also list other types of items in addition to dresses, Borrowing Magnolia is only interested in dresses. 

Sellers must pay $25 to list their dress, though there are occasionally promotions that lower this price. The website does not charge a commission when your dress sells, which means you get to keep 100% of your listing price. 

The company has a 4+ star review on WeddingWire.

Once Wed

Once Wed is an online marketplace for wedding dresses and accessories. The site is beautifully designed and fully transparent in how the process of buying or selling a dress works, so you can rest assured that you are getting a fair deal. 

What’s unique about Once Wed is that, while many of the other sites in this list only accept dresses for listing, Once Wed accepts:

• Wedding dresses
• Bridesmaid dresses
• Mother’s dresses
• Flower girl dresses
• Other wedding accessories

Sellers pay a $19.95 listing fee to list a wedding dress, and $5 to list any other item. Once Wed has a nearly perfect score on WeddingWire, but does not have a profile with the BBB.

SellMyWeddingDress.org

Like the other websites on this list, Sell My Wedding Dress is an online platform that lets you buy and sell used wedding dresses. The site also accepts listings for bridesmaid dresses, wedding party attire, and other accessories. 

In selling your dress, you can create a basic listing for free, or pay $29 for a premium listing. While it’s totally possible to sell your dress using just the free listing, the premium listing comes with additional support from the site that the basic listing does not include. This includes the ability to run up to 25 ads on the site (instead of the standard 10), as well as a showcase listing and featured listing, which can increase the chances of your dress selling more quickly.

While popular, the website’s design is a bit dated and can be clunky to navigate. The company does not have a profile on WeddingWire or the Better Business Bureau.

Stillwhite

Stillwhite is another extremely popular listing platform for selling your wedding dress. Since inception, the visually stunning and easy-to-use site claims to have facilitated more than $41 million in sales.

Standard listings cost $20 and allow you to include up to four photos of your dress, while a premium listing costs $30 and allows you to include up to eight photos, along with other features that can help your dress sell more quickly. There is no commission.

As of October 2020, Stillwhite boasts more than 16,700 5-star reviews on the site and more than 50,000 active listings, showcasing its popularity. Stillwhite also has a score of 4.9 out of 5 stars on WeddingWire. 

Tradesy

Whereas most of the other websites in this list focus purely on wedding dresses and other wedding-related apparel, Tradesy is different in that you can use the platform to sell any designer clothing, bags, accessories, or other items. In this way, it is similar to Thredup.

When it comes to their wedding category specifically, Thredup allows you to list and sell:

• Wedding dresses
• Bridesmaid dresses
• Mother’s dresses
• Bridal Jewelry
• Bridal veils, shoes, and other accessories
• Wedding decorations
• Groom’s and groomsmen’s apparel
• and more

Because the site focuses on designer items (such as dresses by Vera Wang, Maggie Sottero, BHLDN, Watters, etc.), it can be a good fit for you if you are looking to unload a designer dress.

While it’s free to list your items on Tradesy, they do charge a commission: 19.8% on items over $50, and a flat fee of $7.50 for items under $50. This is rather steep compared to the other options in our list.

Though Tradesy is popular, the Better Business Bureau gives the company an “F” score. This is due to the fact that there have been more than 320 complaints filed against the business, with the company taking no actions to respond or address the complaints. The company also currently has 62 one-star reviews detailing complaints about issues ranging from return policy to payment issues. 

Weddingbee 

Weddingbee is a content site for brides and grooms in the process of planning their wedding. The site also offers a classifieds section that allows users to list their used wedding items, including dresses. 

Listing your item in Weddingbee classifieds is completely free—there is no listing fee or commission. While the site is simple, it has proven popular, with hundreds of items currently for sale in the classifieds section.  

Local consignment or thrift shop.

This might be handy, but you are limited to the price that the store or local shoppers will pay. Also, consignment can be a PIA. Said Stephanie, in Millionaire Single Moms group on Facebook:

“I sold mine for profit at a local dress shop. Emotionally I cried for a day when they sent me the check for it….then I thought about it and I would totally wear a different dress if I got married again anyway, and I would suggest my daughter wear a different dress too…so all good.”

Garage sale

Said single mom Darby:

“I had it vacuum packed for years but sold it at a garage sale when I realized: A) I had sons, so they're probably not going to want to wear it; and B) someone could get a gorgeous dress for next to nothing. A girl bought it for  $100 and it was a designer dress. She was thrilled and so was I. Win-win. No emotions whatsoever. It's a dress.”

11 steps to a rich life as a single mom

Where to donate your wedding dress

Angel Gown Program 

This nationwide program creates hand-sewn burial gowns for infants who have died in the NICU, typically from donated wedding gowns. That is what Amy did:

“I donated mine to an organization that turned it into burial dresses for babies that didn’t survive childbirth. It was my way of turning it into a positive.”

Wish Upon a Wedding 

This national organization provides weddings for terminally ill patients of all sexual orientations.

Brides Across America

This cool org has donated more than 12,000 dresses to couples serving in the military or armed forces, and helps them plan their special day.

Local thrift shop, including Goodwill or Salvation Army

Fun fact: I gave my dress, a white fitted Ellie Tahari evening dress bought at Lord & Taylor off the rack, to my local favorite charity thrift shop.

Zero fucks given, good or bad.

Find your local Goodwill and Salvation Army locations

FAQ selling your wedding dress online

Q: How much will I get for my dress? How much do wedding dresses resell for?

A: Probably not a lot. Of course if the dress is a designer label, a popular style, and sold on a popular site like Nearly Newly Wed, the price will be higher.

For example, on Nearly Newly Wed, a pretty lace, open back fitted David Fielden gown is listed for $2,400, or 20% off the $3,000 retail price.

If you were to sell that, you would make $1,440, minus the $25 listing fee.

Other, lesser-known brands, and less popular styles would garner more.

Q: Shouldn't I save my dress for my daughter?

No. You daughter will not want to wear your dress — it will be out of style by that time, and clothes are only getting more and more affordable.

Plus, your dress represents a marriage that ended.

Take a picture, and show your kids the dress, and the rest of your wedding.

Then, get rid of that bad mojo, and model simple living, forgiveness, moving on and financial savvy!

Single mom inspiration:

Get inspired! Dr. Susan O'Malley entered medical school at 35, unmarried and 6 months pregnant. Hear how she did it:

With her thick New York accent, this lifelong underachiever, secretary with no more than a high school diploma, set out at age 30 to become a physician.

She did it.

In this interview, I interview this amazing, charming woman who did not let her age, marital or family status or the zillions of naysayers hold her back from her mid-life dream of medicine.

Dr. Susan O'Malley shares about:

• How she got over her low-self image to preserver through rejection from every medical school in the country, and eventual acceptance
• Romantic disappointments
• Powering through one of the most rigorous academic paths as a single mom of a newborn to become an emergency room physician.
• Her eventual move to cosmetic medicine and entrepreneurship with the opening of Sonas Med Spa in Connecticut
• The power of physical beauty
• Dating as a single mother
• What she does with her money
• Her daily schedule while in medical school while raising her tiny son

Listen to her gush about the 15-year romance with her husband (hear what she said when I asked how the sex was after all those years, and now in her 60s).