Buying a bridal gown can be a pretty hefty expense, but some brides are eschewing tradition and selling their used wedding dresses online instead of storing them for the next generation.

Dalia Rhodes from Austin, Texas, has no regrets about sending her wedding dress down the aisle twice. A year after she wed in 2015, 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 it for US$800, about half of what she originally paid.

Instead of holding on to wedding dresses for decades, many new brides are willing to swap them online for cash. Several websites cater to them, including Still White and PreownedWeddingDresses.com.

Other online marketplaces, such as eBay, Tradesy and Letgo, are filled with thousands of wedding dresses looking for a new bride.

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

She noted that began to change about a decade ago during the recession, when cash-strapped brides were looking for a deal, and now millennials, who seemingly are not as attached to material things as past generations, are putting their dresses up for sale.

“The money is worth more to them once the wedding is over than keeping a dress,” she explained.

But don’t expect to make quick cash. Not everyone wants a used gown, so it can take weeks or months to find a buyer who also happens to love the style and can fit into the dress.

Well-known designer names, such as Vera Wang and Monique Lhuillier, sell faster, and some brides list their dresses on multiple sites, hoping to reach as many brides-to-be as possible.

The sites typically let listings stay up for as long as needed, charging a one-time fee or taking a percentage when it is finally sold.

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

买婚纱花费相当高昂，但有些新娘却抛弃传统，将自己穿过的婚纱在网上出售，而不是留给下一代。

来自美国德克萨斯州奥斯汀市的达丽雅•罗德斯不后悔自己的婚纱被别人穿着再走一遍婚礼红毯。2015年婚后一年，她通过网络将婚纱卖给了一个陌生人。达丽雅通过Once Wed网站以800美元的价格卖掉了婚纱，大约是买入价的一半。她

说：“我希望另一个人也能开心地穿上这条美丽的裙子。”

现在许多新娘都愿意把穿过的婚纱在网上卖掉，而不是保存几十年。迎合这一需求的网站包括Still White和PreownedWeddingDresses。其他在线交易网站，如易趣、Tradesy和Letgo，都有数千件婚纱正在找寻新主人。服装饰品在线交易平台Tradesy的创始人和首席执行官特蕾西•迪农齐奥说，在2008年前，光是想要买二手婚纱这个想法就足以“令人惊骇”。她注意到，这个观念大约在十年前经济衰退时期开始改变，当时手头拮据的新娘开始寻找性价比高的婚纱，而现在的千禧一代对于物质的东西似乎也不像以前的人那么执着，她们开始出售自己的婚纱。她解释

道：“一旦婚礼结束，钱对她们而言比婚纱更有价值。”

但是别指望快速赚钱。不是每个人都想要别人穿过的婚纱，所以可能要过几星期或几个月才能找到一个正好喜欢这种风格又适合这件婚纱的买主。

像王薇薇和莫尼克•鲁里耶这样著名的大牌设计师的婚纱卖得快些，此外许多新娘会将自己的婚纱放在多家网站上，希望尽可能多的准新娘看到。成交之前交易网站通常会让婚纱一直保持上架状态，收取一次性费用或在婚纱卖掉之后收取提成。Once Wed网站的创始人艾米莉•纽曼说，她的网站上卖掉一件婚纱一般需要六个月时间，均价1600美元左右。 (Chinadaily.com.cn)

    Words to Learn 相关词汇

   【躲避】duǒbì eschew keep clear of or abstain from, shun, avoid

    【交换】jiāohuàn swap trade one thing for another