Disease called Debt

A blog about getting out of debt

Would you sell your wedding dress?

sell your wedding dress

Me and my wedding dress… well the back of it anyway.

I’ve been on a bit of a selling craze lately to try to raise cash for paying off debts. I’ve tried my luck at a recent car boot sale and made around £70 profit which I was very pleased about!

I’ve not had a great deal of luck with selling on Ebay though and I may need to have a huge rant about that in a future post! Not only do the fees seem to be a lot more than what they used to be, but I can’t seem to actually sell anything for more than 99p at the moment!

The things I used to sell a lot of like baby clothes, toys, my old clothes or electronic gadgets for example, don’t really seem to be selling that well these days. Maybe it’s because everyone is on a budget? Or maybe my stuff is just extraordinarily old!

I’ve been racking my brains to think of what I can sell of any worth that I no longer use. After selling my wedding shoes which just about crippled me on that day and to be quite honest I was glad to see the back of them, yes, it has crossed my mind about selling my beloved wedding dress!

But I just don’t think I can do it…

I know I’ll never wear it again and it is gathering dust in my wardrobe and will probably end up with moth eaten holes in it, but I just can’t…

Firstly, my wonderful parents who are not well off actually gave me £600 to put towards the dress and came with me when I chose it. I wasn’t expecting anything from them at all but they insisted on helping me fund my wedding dress. It really meant a lot to me that they saved up to help me with something that I’d be dreaming about since I was around 6 years old! Seeing my Mum and Dad’s faces when I tried on my dress was just the highlight of wedding planning for me. It made their day and mine too!

Secondly, how much would I really get for it on Ebay anyway? This lace fishtail dress by Maggie Sottero cost £1200 and I’ve seen dresses like this go for £200-300 before on an Ebay auction. That’s a lot of money to me, but I just don’t think it’s enough to make me part with my wedding dress.

Thirdly, because I’m a procrastinator, I didn’t actually get my wedding dress dry cleaned after the big day. I really meant to, but we got pregnant with my daughter soon after and then I completely forgot about getting it done. For anyone who is getting married, you’d be surprised at how dirty your wedding dress can get! Particularly if you’re wearing a floor length dress. Just going outside for photos turns the underneath of the dress a different colour! Getting a wedding dress dry cleaned can cost up to £100 so that’s half the profit gone already. That’s even if it can be cleaned after all this time.

Fourthly, I just love the dress, it’s so special to me and reminds me of what a wonderful wedding we had with all our friends and family. Photos are obviously great but the real deal is the real deal. There is also the slight hope that my daughter might find a use it one day even if it means taking the dress apart to make into a shiny brand new one for her!

So back to the drawing board, I need to think of other things to sell of any worth!

Would you sell your wedding dress or not? What wouldn’t you be able to part with?

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Comments

    • 2

      debtfreeoneday says

      I think the only thing better than wearing the most beautiful wedding dress that we can’t part with, is wearing one that our Mothers or Grandmothers wore. Talk about wearing a little piece of history. How wonderful!

      Reply
  5. 9

    Eva @ Girl Counting Pennies says

    I get attached to things that have sentimental value and I don’t think I could sell my only wedding dress (that is if I ever get married). Especially, not when I paid a lot of money for it but will only get peanuts for selling it. I’d rather keep it and visit it in my closet from time to time 😉
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    • 10

      debtfreeoneday says

      I’m sure you will get married one day. 🙂 I was planning my wedding day since I was about 6 years old lol! I used to draw pictures of myself in a wedding dress! Sad I know and possibly a little crazy at the same time!

      Reply
    • 14

      debtfreeoneday says

      I said I wouldn’t spend much on the dress but even the cheapest wedding dress that I liked was around £800. I may have been a little choosy! But I wouldn’t have gone for it if my parents hadn’t kindly helped me out. 🙂

      Reply
  8. 15

    Done by Forty says

    I suppose if we were in a bind we might consider it, but we’d be selling every last thing of value before the wedding dress or wedding ring ever made it up to Ebay. The thing with selling sentimental items is that there’s no easy way to replace them. Commodities like old televisions or glasses or knicknacks…those can easily be replaced if you sell them and find you really wish you had it again.
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  9. 17

    E.M. says

    That is a tough question. There is a lot of sentimental value behind a wedding dress. I don’t have one as I am not married, but my mom kept hers. My grandma planned to keep hers, but sadly it was somehow lost when she made her last move to her current house. You did look at all the angles though – you wouldn’t be getting enough for it to be worth it to you, so at least you considered it! I don’t think I could possibly blame anyone for keeping their wedding dress.
    E.M. recently posted…The Pro’s and Con’s of a Basement ApartmentMy Profile

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  11. 21

    anna says

    Beautiful dress!!! I also have a Maggie Sottero dress in mind for mine, so hope it works out when I try it on. I think I would sell mine afterward (though at a sadly reduced cost) because I would love knowing that someone else who might be in a tougher financial situation than mine could make use out of it, but you’ve listed some very valid viewpoints. I say hang on it until you’re ready to part with it, even if it means holding on forever. 🙂
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  12. 23

    Taynia @ The Fiscal Flamingo says

    I couldn’t sell mine. Truth be told, I paid $60 for it on eBay. 12 years later – I don’t think it would even slide past my ankles. Ha. But when I peek at it in the back of my closet, it gives me the warm + fuzzies. It’s also not a traditional wedding dress (obviously for $60) so it doesn’t take up much room. I recently read a post over at Nest for Less where she sold her dress. She had some fantastic logic behind why she sold it and I agreed with her 100%. I guess it depends on the circumstances.
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    • 24

      debtfreeoneday says

      Thanks Taynia for stopping by! I also get the fuzzies when I see my dress hanging up at the back of the closet! I’ll check out Nest for Less to read her reasons for selling hers, it’s always good to get a different perspective. 🙂

      Reply

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