r/irishdance • u/Ok-Web-1798 • 27d ago
Selling a dress question.
How do you come up with a price to sell a dress?
We have a dress that we had made last year that we are going to sell... Not sure what to ask for it.
Details: U7-8, John Carey, Bespoke, Full crystal package, Worn once, Less than a year old, Perfect condition, Unaltered, etc. I have a few people interested in it....
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u/MidwestMama2020 26d ago
Be careful not to be too ambitious with your asking price. The buyer doesn't care how much you paid for the dress new. They are buying used because they can't afford or aren't willing to spend as much for a dress. You may have paid a lot, but the design was your dancer's taste and preference. Your dancer has worn and sweat in the dress and it is not new.
Expect haggling. I've seen dresses listed way too high with the seller getting few inquiries. If you go too high to begin with, a lot of people will look elsewhere as they think even with haggling, you are still going to insist on more than they are willing to pay.
Keep in mind the features and age of your dress. John Carey and others will do what you want with the dress design, but if your dress is too unique or slightly outdated, teachers may not approve the dress for their dancers and the parents will be forced to keep looking.
My observation is that any used dress priced over $1500.00 is going to be a hard sell and this is for an immaculate dress. Your call!
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u/Irish_Tradition_412 26d ago
However much you paid for it, make it more than that. However, factors such as how long the dress was worn For example, newer dresses = higher price and vice versa. Dress brands also play a significant role in pricing. Also if your dress is not in style anymore it will sell for a lower price.
I will give you several examples (we are assuming all 3 dresses are in style):
if I have a 3 month old Gavin that I bought for 3,000. I would make the sell it for just above the og price point 3,500.
If I have dress from a smaller company and that I bought 2 years ago for 1,500 dollars. Sell it for somewhere in the 2,000’s.
If I had a 2yr old Gavin that I bought for 3,000, since it is ‘old’ lower the price to 2,500. (this is cheap for Gavin’s)
*** If you get no takers lower the price, but be patient before you do this!
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u/Kimber4k 20d ago
Why r u selling used dresses for higher then what u paid?
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u/Irish_Tradition_412 19d ago
My mom and sister have always sold the dresses, but personally if it’s in good condition and name brand I would sell it for a little higher. This way you can make more money.
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u/Miserable-Frosting50 27d ago
I have sold three JC dresses. They sold quickly when I sold them for about 1/2 what I paid. All three we sold were John Carey full crystal package. The first one was used to us and the next two were custom bespoke. The smaller the dress the smaller the market and anyone purchasing will grow out of it quickly. Our first two dresses lasted way less than a year because of growing. Worn once is so tough! Good luck!! :-)