Sometimes your dream wedding dress can be just a little bit out of reach when it comes to price. Buy today’s smart bride knows she can find her perfect gown for less, in the PreOwned market.
Since 2004, we’ve helped thousands of brides find their perfect dress at an affordable price! Buying online through our site or any other online option can be safe and secure if you follow our guidelines:
Guide for Safely Buying a Wedding Dress Online
We are a listing service, so for PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com you’ll deal directly with the seller for the transaction through our secure built-in inbox (making everything faster and less expensive).
There are a couple of ways you can protect yourself during a transaction:
- Use a Protected Payment Method
We recommend Paypal and have integrated it directly into our messaging inbox! The seller can invoice directly inside your conversation and you’ll be fully protected if your item doesn’t ship, arrives damaged, or arrives and isn’t exactly as described. Learn more here about safe payment methods. - Do Your Research
Make sure you know what that dress originally sold for and what it might be worth now (taking into consideration the age and condition). See an Inbal Dror for $2300? Berta Bridal for $2,000? If something in the back of your mind is telling you the price is just too good to be true, it most likely is. - Buy Within Your Size Range
It is important that you buy a dress within your size range. It is much easier to take a dress in a size or two than to try and let it out. Especially if the dress has already been altered; most manufacturers only leave 1/2-1″ of materials to allow for letting a dress out.If a dress does not fit when you receive it you will not be able to return it for a refund via PayPal unless the seller misrepresented the tag size or alterations done. - Look Up The Designer’s Sizing Chart
Every designer will fit differently – try to find the size chart for the dress you are buying to confirm if an unaltered version of the size you are looking to buy would fit, then consider the alterations the seller has done and determine if the dress will work for your body. - Get All of The Details!
- Ask Questions. Confirm the authenticity and condition of your item. Ask the seller lots of questions about its current condition, the size & alterations done, the color, and ask if they offer a return policy and HOW the return policy works.
- Ask for Pictures. SO IMPORTANT! You need to see the dress in its current condition as of today. An honest seller won’t mind – a scammer will make up a reason they can’t send you pictures of the item as it looks right now in their hands.
- Take Pictures of The Box and Your Item The Moment It Arrives
- When you receive the dress take pictures of you unpacking the box and of the dress’s front/back/fine details while you inspect it.
- Try it on! If you receive a dress that was not as described (damaged or different size/designer than listed etc) we recommend attempting to resolve it with the seller. If they are not willing to resolve it directly with you, you’ll want to navigate to the resolution center on PayPal to begin the process of getting a refund.
Check out our Tips for Buyers on How to Avoid Online Scams on Used Wedding Dresses to learn how you can spot the scammers and protect yourself.
At PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com, we love helping brides buy, sell and save. And we’re committed to helping them do it safely. Have a question? Reach out to our team anytime, and we’ll be happy to answer.
Happy wedding dress shopping!
