Brides tap the internet to resell their gowns

Dalia Rhodes’ wedding dress went down the aisle twice: Once at her wedding in 2015 and again a year later — after she sold her gown to a stranger online.

“I just wanted someone else to enjoy a pretty dress,” said Rhodes, who used the website Once Wed to sell the gown for $800, about half of what she paid for it.

Instead of keeping wedding dresses for decades, many recent brides are peddling them online for cash. Several websites cater to them, including Preowned WeddingDresses.com and Still White. Other online marketplaces — including eBay, Tradesy and Letgo — also list thousands of wedding gowns.

Just the idea of buying a used wedding dress was “horrifying” before 2008, said Tracy DiNunzio, founder of online clothing and accessories marketplace Tradesy.

That sentiment began to change about a decade ago during the recession, when cash-strapped brides-to-be were looking for a deal.

Now, she said, millennials — who seemingly are less attached to material things than previous generations — are selling their dresses.

Not everyone wants a used gown, though, so finding a buyer who both loves the style and can fit in the dress can take weeks or months.

Some brides list their dresses on multiple sites, hoping to reach as many brides-to-be as possible. And the sites typically let listings stay up indefinitely, charging a one-time fee or taking a cut when a dress sells.

Rhodes listed her dress free on Once Wed and sold it in four months. To prevent damage during shipping, the resident of Austin, Texas, wrapped the dress in “6 pounds of Bubble Wrap.”

The buyer, Heidi Cundari of Thunder Bay, Canada, said she searched a few sites before she fell for Rhodes’ tulle and organza gown.

“It seemed wasteful to spend thousands of dollars on a dress for one day,” she said.

Dresses listed on Once Wed, said site founder Emily Newman, take about six months to sell and go for an average of $1,600.