RecycledBride

Buying FAQ

Becoming a Buyer

Anybody can browse on Recycled Bride, but you’ll need to sign up for a free account to contact sellers and buy their items. Sign-up is quick and easy.

No. Recycled Bride is a free service for buyers and sellers.

Your Account is a control panel for all of the things you can do on Recycled Bride. Use it to store your favorites, set your e-mail alert preferences and update your personal information. If you want to sell anything on Recycled Bride, you’ll also use your Account to create and manage ads.

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Buying Items

You can buy anything wedding-related. That includes sought-after designer wedding dresses, bridal jewelry, bridesmaids dresses, shoes, decorations, ceremony items. You can even buy wedding gifts in our Registry Redux category.

No. Most of the items on Recycled Bride are once-worn or once-used, but some of our sellers list their unused wedding items. And a few of our sellers are vendors who sell new items. Each individual ad should specify whether the item is new or used.

Finding the perfect wedding dress, shoes, accessories and more online is easy with the Recycled Bride Buying Guides. You’ll find all of the information you need to make smart purchases on Recycled Bride. Make sure a wedding dress will fit you, learn how to disinfect a pair of gently used shoes, get ideas for outfitting your bridesmaids in fabulous recycled gowns, and discover the value of preowned wedding bands and engagement rings.

“Street size” is just your regular clothing size. If you normally wear a size 6, then your street size is a size 6.

All of our ads for dresses include two sizes—the seller’s “street size,” and the size on the label of the dress. Wedding dress and bridesmaids gown manufacturers don’t use standardized sizing, so the size on a dress label is often misleading. Use the seller’s street size to determine if a dress will fit you. See Recycled Bride’s Wedding Dress Buying Guide or our Bridesmaids Dress Buying Guide for more information about finding a recycled dress that’s a perfect fit.

There are tons of great bargains on Recycled Bride. Sellers often determine their pricing according to the following guidelines:

• New, unworn items with tags or in original boxes are usually discounted 20%-30% off retail prices.
• Once-used items in good condition can normally fetch 50% of their original retail price.
• Damaged and older items are typically listed at 60%-80% off their original price.

We recommend that you research the value of items you’re interested in buying. Confirm the item’s original retail price and current condition to help you decide what you’re willing to pay.

Every item page has a Contact Seller button that leads to a Contact Seller form. Fill out the form, and we’ll forward your message directly to the seller.

Give the seller up to a week to respond to your inquiry, then try again. If the seller still doesn’t respond, please send us an e-mail about it, and we’ll try to contact the seller on your behalf.

No. You and the seller make all payment and shipping arrangements on your own. See our Buying Tips for safe and easy transaction guidelines.

It’s important to use safe transaction practices when buying or selling online. See our Buying Tips for more information, and only buy from sellers who agree to use safe transaction practices.

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Buying Tips

You can offer to purchase an item for less then the seller’s asking price. Many sellers will bargain, or will lower their price if they don’t receive interest from other buyers.

Terms of Sale are the seller’s rules for the sale of their item. The seller’s terms of sale should tell you whether they will accept returns, who is expected to pay for packing and shipping, and what forms of payment the seller will accept. It’s important to clearly agree upon the Terms of Sale before sending payment to a seller.

It’s up to you and the seller to decide who pays for packing and shipping. More importantly, you should insist that your item be professionally packed if it’s delicate. Make sure that it’s insured for its full value, and that the seller uses a reputable shipping company that provides online tracking like FedEx, UPS or Express Mail from the USPS. A tracking number will confirm shipment and receipt of your package for both you and the seller. If the seller has agreed to accept returns, you should decide in advance who will pay for return shipping. Repack and return ship the item according to the above guidelines.

For large purchases, we recommend using a secure third-party escrow site like Escrow.com. Escrow.com charges a fee, but offers the best protection for both buyers and sellers by collecting, holding and disbursing funds according to your agreed-upon instructions. Escrow.com protects you with a simple, 5-step transaction process:

• Buyer and seller agree to Terms
• Buyer pays Escrow.com, where funds are temporarily and securely held
• Seller ships merchandise
• Buyer accepts the merchandise and goes to Escrow.com to release the payment
• Escrow.com pays the seller

You can also use PayPal. Paypal is a secure site and will never share your banking information. In the event of a dispute, Paypal has its own free Dispute Resolution Center.

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We recommend using only very reputable escrow companies like Escrow.com. If a seller suggests another escrow service, it could be a scam. Just because an escrow company has a website, it doesn’t mean they’re legit.

We don’t recommend mailing a check or money order to a seller. If you don’t receive the item, you’ll have no recourse. These forms of payment are best reserved for local transactions made in person.

While it’s very rare to encounter a fraudulent seller on Recycled Bride, it could happen. Here are some red flags to watch out for:

• A seller who requests payment via Moneygram or Western Union.
• A seller who asks you to make a bank or wire transfer.

Recycled Bride cannot guarantee the honesty of everybody who uses our site, but we do investigate scams. Any member who violates our Terms of Service is banned from the site. Please Report Fraud.

Still Need Help?

If we didn’t answer your question here, please contact us and we’ll do our best to help you.

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