New Resale Platform Addresses Demand For Secondhand Wedding Gowns

A bridal retailer with 15 stores across the country – anna be’ bridal boutiques and a&be’ bridal shops – has partnered with resale tech company Archive to create an online option for brides shopping for a pre-owned wedding gown, or looking to sell their wedding dress after their big day.

Demand for secondhand wedding dresses is being driven by several factors, including the desire for designer looks at pre-owned prices, at a time when tariff pressures are pushing up gown prices.

Emily Gittins, CEO and Co-Founder of Archive, which powers resale platforms used by more than 50 global brands, said there has been a noticeable shift in acceptance of secondhand wedding gowns.

Falling in Love With Secondhand

“In general, the stigma around buying secondhand has diminished so much in the last five to 10 years, where it feels cooler and more interesting to wear secondhand than new clothing,” Gittin said in an interview. That trend now is accelerating in the bridal category, she said.

“Of course, some people want a new dress, but the proportion of people who are open to secondhand feels like it is really growing, for a variety of reasons, “ Gittins said. ”Sustainability is one of them, but also price sensitivity and wanting to have access to premium designers that are maybe out of budget full-price, but in budget secondhand.”

Secondhand dresses also let brides avoid what can be months-long waits for new dress orders. “You can get dresses faster on the secondhand market versus having to wait for something to be custom-made if you buy new,” Gittins said.

Curated, branded bridal resale

The offerings on Onceloved include both a curated selection of sample gowns featuring the designer brands found in anna be’ bridal boutique stores and a&be’ bridal shops and individual, peer-to-peer listings from brides looking to sell their dresses. Prospective brides can also post messages about particular dresses and brands they are searching for.

Consumers who visit the anna be’ and a&be’ websites see a resale link that directs them to the Onceloved dresses, which is how Archive’s branded resale platforms typically operate – showing customers both new and pre-owned options when they visit a brand’s retail site.

“The goal,” Gittins said, “is to actually make the new and used buying experiences more intertwined.”

“As secondhand shopping and resale becomes more and more prevalent, we’re seeing people want to shop more interchangeably between new and used and have the ability to sell if they buy something new and have that be one holistic experience with the brand,” she said.

While wedding dresses are showing up on other resale sites in growing numbers, Onceloved, as a branded resale site dedicated to wedding dresses offers a more focused shopping experience, Gittins said.

“People definitely are selling wedding dresses on Poshmark, eBay, even ThredUp, but its relatively difficult to find exactly want you’re looking for in such a broad marketplace,” she said.

Retailer Says Brides Are Seeking Secondhand Options

Anna Walsh, CEO and founder of anna be’ and a&be’ said her company reached out to Archive for help creating a resale platform after two previous attempts to do resale faltered.

“It’s long been something that we wanted to provide to our customers for a number of reasons”, Walsh said. “We know that some of our brides are looking for sustainable options – whether it’s on the buy side or sell side – and want to turn what can be a single-time purchase into an option that has a longer life,” she said.

“We also know not every bride has the budget for the wedding dress of their dreams,” Walsh said. “Resale provides a more affordable option, or the option to recoup some of the cost.”

The Anna Be’ bridal brand was founded in 2006, and its sister brand a&be’ was founded in 2014. The company operates three anna be’ locations, 10 a&be’ locations and has two co-branded stores called a&be x anna be’

The Onceloved resale platform launched August 21 andWalsh said the site is getting a good response. “We had a really strong open rate to our announcement email, indicating that there is interest, and in the first weekend have had multiple listings from past brides,” she said. “We’re excited to continue to get data on if there are specific styles or price points that brides are searching for so we can continue to add the right inventory.”