Frequently Asked Questions

Why do women sell their wedding dresses?
What are women looking for in a preowned wedding dress?
How often is your site updated?
What if the dress I want is not listed?
What happens if I cannot reach the seller of a gown I'm interested in?
How long does it take a gown to sell?
How many dresses are sold through PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com?
What does it cost to list a dress?
How long does it take for my listing to get posted?
Which wedding dress pictures should I submit with my listing?
How do I make more of my picture appear in the thumbnail/preview view?
How do I make changes to my listing?
What price reduction qualifies a listing to be featured on the New This Week page?
Should I offer a return policy?
How are the prices determined?
I have an interested buyer, now what?
Who do you recommend to clean my wedding dress?

Don't see your question answered here? Send it to us using our contact us form. Or visit our blog for more tips, information and stories about buying a selling a preowned wedding dress.

Why do women sell their wedding dresses?

According to a PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com on-site survey, the most popular reason women sell their gowns is to give someone else a chance to enjoy it. (14.3%). Other popular reasons are broken engagements (12.9%) a belief that it is not practical to keep it (10.6%) and being a two dress bride (9.5%).

What are women looking for in a preowned wedding dress?

According to our on site survey, 44% of buyers are looking for a specific dress (specific designer and style number). 22.5% are looking for a specific designer, 20.1% are looking for a style type (i.e. strapless) and 13.4% are looking for a specific price.

The most popular designer being sought is  Monique Lhuillier, followed closely by Maggie Sottero, Vera Wang, Amsale and Reem Acra.

The majority of women are looking to spend between $500 and $999 but over 10% having budgeted $2,000+

How often is your site updated?

PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com is updated multiple times a day. New listings and price reductions are featured on our New This Week page for 7 days. Additionally, gowns that have been sold are marked accordingly. All sold gowns are removed 14 days after being marked.

What if the dress I want is not listed?

New dresses are posted each week. You can join our mailing list, or subscribe to our New This Week page rss feed, to be notified of the size and designer of each new dress posted.

What happens if I cannot reach the seller of a gown I'm interested in?

If you've tried to reach a seller by email, but have not been able to contact her, please email us. We have additional contact information for each seller that we can use to help you reach her. Please include the listing number of the gown you are interested in.

How long does it take a gown to sell?

The length of time required for a gown to sell depends on the designer, style, price, age, condition and ultimately, if someone is looking for that style. The average selling time on the site is 70 days.

How many dresses are sold through www.PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com?

On average, 40% of the wedding dresses listed on our site have sold through our site.

What does it cost to list a dress?

Listings are $25 USD for 12 months. There is no charge for revisions to listings and no commission is charged on the sale price.

How long does it take for my listing to get posted?

Listings are posted multiple times each day, seven days a week. A confirmation email is sent when a listing is posted.

Which wedding dress pictures should I submit with my listing?

Ideal images include pictures of the front, back and detail of your dress on a person or mannequin. Images are posted at 800 pixels wide. For best quality, send images of this width, or larger. Images should be submitted in jpg or gif format. If you do not want your face in your dress pictures, crop the images before uploading them.

How do I make more of my picture appear in the thumbnail/preview view?

Images are cropped for the thumbnail/preview view that appears on search pages.  More of your image will appear in your thumbnail/preview view if your image is square.  The more rectangular (long and skinny) your image , the more that will be cropped in the thumbnail/preview. (The full image will be visible on your dress listing page.

How do I make changes to my listing?

By logging into their accounts, sellers can update most areas of their listing description and images. A few areas of the listing require contacting PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com for updating.

What price reduction qualifies a listing to be featured on the New This Week page?

Price reductions of $100 or more will place a listing on the New This Week page. Additionally, the gown will be marked "Reduced" on all thumbnail previews in search results.

Should I offer a return policy?

Offering a return policy is completely up to you, but we do recommend it, and here's why.  Buying a wedding dress is an emotional and financial decision.  It will make it easier for a woman (who has never met you) to buy it from you if she knows that she can return it if it really doesn't fit or really doesn't flatter.

If you are going to offer a return policy here is what we suggest:
1) Offer it for a finite period: The buyer should have to notify you within 24 hours and should have to ship it back within 48.
2) The buyer should be responsible for shipping  and insurance charges both ways.
3) Consider charging a "return fee" of 5-15% of your asking price.  This will encourage only serious buyers from taking advantage of your returns offer.

How are the prices determined?

Prices are set by the seller and are completely at his/her discretion. PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com does offer pricing suggestions to those interested.

I have an interested buyer, now what?

If a buyer has expressed interest in purchasing your gown, you need to both agree to the terms of the sale:

1) The agreed on selling price.
2) When and how payment will be made.
3) If a return policy is in effect or if the sale is final.
4) How the gown will be shipped and how much insurance will be purchased.

We strongly recommend the use of escrow.com for payment.  It is a secure payment method and offers protection for the buyer and seller.  Paypal is another option because it is a safe form of money transfer (but doesn't offer the same level of buyer and seller protection).

PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com does not get involved in any aspect of the transaction.  It is very important to clarify all of these details directly between the buyer and seller.

Additionally, we strongly advise that you do not ship your gown until full payment has been received.

Who do you recommend to clean my wedding dress?

PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com recommends the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists to clean and preserve your wedding dress.

The Association of Wedding Gown Specialists cleaners are represented  in over 500 cities (and offer a Courier Service if there is not a member near you).  Each member is certified to ensure your gown is cleaned to established museum care standards and preserved in archival-quality materials.  Over 70 manufacturers and designers (such as Priscilla of Boston, Romona Keveza, Augusta Jones, Matthew Christopher, and the list goes on) recommend the Association of Wedding Gown Specialists and sew AWGS care labels inside of their gowns.

The Association of Wedding Gown Specialists offers a written lifetime guarantee of their cleaning, and will even press your gown free of charge the next time it will be worn.