Top 5 Websites to Buy a Secondhand Wedding Dress/Gown

You will have a lifetime of memories and photographs in your wedding dress, but after the big day, it gets put away forever.  Why pay a fortune for a new dress when there is a huge market for secondhand dresses?  I bought a handmade gown at a consignment shop for $75.00.  I did spent extra on cleaning and fittings, but I’ll take that over hundreds, even thousands more for a new gown that is worn once.  I highly recommend buying a secondhand gown to save some money.

Here are 5 websites to find a bargain wedding gown secondhand:

1. Facebook Marketplace – this is by far, the best option for shopping online for a secondhand dress if the seller is local.  It’s also a fast process.  No waiting for your dress to get here.  You contact the seller, make arrangements to meet and pay – all within a few hours.  I recommend meeting at the police station to be safe.  I just typed in Wedding Gown in the Marketplace Search and well over 100 options appeared  – all within 10 miles from me.  This is because I belong to a lot of local resale groups.  The more groups you belong to, the more options you will have.  There are many wedding related re-sale groups.

Here are some:
Bride To Bride Recycle
Wedding Yard Sale – Buy/Sell/Trade
Used Wedding Decorations, Items, etc
Yard Sale Weddings New England

2.  PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com – this site boasts over 20,000 wedding dresses and that is accurate.  My test search pulled up 23,622 options.  Many of the dresses are still pretty pricey for a Budget Bride, but there are many that are not.  If you are not crazy about going into a GoodWill or a Consignment Shop to do your gown browsing, this may be a good option for you.  While you may not find a $50 dress, you may find a beautiful designer one.  You can even narrow your search down by one or a few designers if you like their style. 

In regards to their return policy, it depends upon the particular seller’s listing.  Although, I did read this on their site: “Every seller sets her individual return policy. Please check the listing or inquire with the seller for details. Remember, when you pay with PayPal or Escrow.com you’ll always be able to return an item if it’s not exactly as described in the listing”. See the Help Page for more details.

3.  stillwhite – per the website, they are the “World’s largest preowned wedding dress marketplace“.  The website is very easy to navigate.  From the front page, you enter your size and price range.  Just to give an example, I chose the 12-14 size, max price of $1,000.  The results – 2,143 options.  The site suggests finding a local seller.  In your filters, arrow down and choose Near Me.  Although if you fall in love with a non-local one, you may be able to make arrangements with the seller.   Here is Stillwhite’s “Ultimate Peace of Mind“:  Although you’re unlikely to experience any issues purchasing from a seller, we understand that your wedding dress is special and your purchase needs to be protected. PayPal Buyer Protection will reimburse your purchase and shipping costs if you encounter any issues, for up to US$20,000. Check out the How It Works page for more info.

4.  BravoBride – this is a great site not only for dresses but for everything wedding related.  Also, keep this one in mind for after the big day to unload some stuff you aren’t keeping.  My search for dresses under $1000 yielded 808 results.  There is also a “Just Listed” menu option in case you are checking the site regularly.  The “Favorites List” after setting up a My BravoBride account comes in handy, too.  All payment arrangements are made with the seller.  BravoBride suggests using an online payment service to protect your purchase.  Visit the FAQ page for more info.

5.  eBay – last but not least.  Since the late 90s, eBay has been at the forefront of enabling users to buy and sell used items.  Over the years, they have fine-tuned the layout and options.  My test search for “wedding dress” showed 329,562 results.  That is overwhelming. 

However, you need to think about this.  What would be the worst-case scenario if you bought a dress on eBay?  Answer:  you don’t like it or it doesn’t fit.  That is why you need to click on the “Free Returns” search filter on the lower left side of the options to prevent this hassle (scroll way down).  With this checked, it brought my results down to just under 5,000 (fewer results, but peace of mind).  You can then choose your other options – size, style, etc. (just always make sure the Free Returns option is selected).

Happy Hunting!