weddingdresscost.comBride-reported prices
All sections
Sample salesDiscountsDeposits & contractsTry at homeCharity shopsVintageVeilAccessoriesCleaning & preservationBy designerBy cityWhen to orderCourthouseRentingDamage & repairsBridesmaid dressesSales taxInsuranceDonatingCanadaUKAustralia

Sample sales, outlets and clearance · updated September 2026

Sample Sales and Ex-Display Gowns: 616 Prices

Buying a gown the shop already has is the largest single discount in this dataset. These 616 purchases run a median $800 against $1,900 for the same kind of dress ordered new, and 177 of them came in under $500.

The averages understate it. The deep end of this route is a £1,800 gown sold for £50 in a closing-down sale and a $7,000 gown for $150 at an annual clearance event.

$800median across 616 discounted purchases
$800median at a sample sale (307 purchases)
177of the purchases under $500
$1,900median for the same gown ordered new

What each discount route costs

Five routes sell the same gowns at different prices, and the cheapest is not the one brides think of first. Outlets and clearance racks run a median $500, below sample sales at $800.

RoutePurchasesMedianCheapest quarterLowestHighest
Outlets and clearance racks32$500under $300$75$1,700
Off the rack, in stock today187$600under $300$30$4,000
Sample sales and floor samples307$800under $450$50$10,000
Consignment and sample-resale shops60$800under $500$80$3,300
Trunk shows30$2,000under $1,500$100$8,600

A trunk show sits at the top because it is a discount on a full-price order rather than a clearance: the designer brings the collection, you order new, and the reduction is a few hundred rather than a few thousand. Everything below it is stock the shop wants gone, which is why the discount is deeper and the terms are harder.

How deep the markdowns go

The reductions brides report cluster in two places: a third to a half off in a routine sale, and something closer to a tenth of retail when a shop is clearing stock it cannot sell any other way.

  • David's Bridal store closings and sales in 2023 produced dresses at 65, 99-100, 160, 425-450 and 800 (down from 1,300); size options let some brides skip tailoring, but the chain would not quote alterations on an online order.
  • Discount levers seen: 10 percent off for buying on the appointment day, an extra 25 percent off samples during a White Friday sale, a refund to the sale price after purchase, and trunk-show pricing on new designs.
  • Sale mechanics at Anthropologie and BHLDN drive the biggest discounts here: an extra 40-50% off already reduced gowns took an $1100 dress to $345, and the sale racks carry gowns around $460. The deepest BHLDN gown markdowns are final sale.
  • When a designer discontinues a style, boutiques sell the sample stock through online outlets, and one bride puts sample gowns in excellent condition at roughly a sixth of retail, under 500 on StillWhite.
  • A stained, slightly holed designer sample was marked from $1,600 down to $837 at a Hawaii bridal shop, with alterations quoted at $450 and an optional corset back at $150.
  • Bridal salons give about 10 to 20 percent off samples; negotiating and calling stores across the country reached 50 percent on an older Lee Petra Grebenau style that other stores were selling for far more.
  • Sample and clearance routes here: a boutique sample sale with Allure and Justin Alexander gowns at about $1,000, an old boutique sample at $900 against a $3,000 ticket, a $1,200 outlet sample, and a DB gown marked down from $2,500 to $500.

The stock shops never advertise

Most of this route is not on a website. Shops hold ex-display and discontinued gowns in a stockroom, and the way brides found them was to ask.

  • Emailing bridal shops directly to ask what ex-display or ex-sample stock is sitting in their stockroom produced a £500 gown that had retailed near £1,000, cleaned and pressed before collection.
  • A former bridal shop employee says shops will sometimes sell you their floor sample outright and many small shops offer a same-day discount, because a bride who leaves without saying yes usually does not come back.
  • Sample and ex-sample gowns here sold for roughly a fifth to two thirds of list: $1,800 to $200, $1,200 to $400, $1,300 to $700, $2,800 to $700, $2,200 to $1,000, GBP 1,900 to GBP 800 and $1,200 to $740.
  • Used gowns sit unsold for a long time on marketplace listings, so there is rarely any real urgency; one bride notes an ex-sample discount saved her 1,200 and that the seller's motivation, not the buyer's, drives the pressure.
  • An ex-display gown went for 199 where an untried one of the same style would have been 1999, so accepting that other brides have worn it is the single biggest discount lever.
  • Ex-display and secondhand bridal shops (Bridal Reloved) sell gowns at about half full price, £800-900, with alterations around £100.

Two moves come up repeatedly and cost nothing. Email or call shops and ask what ex-sample or ex-display stock is sitting in the back, which produced a £500 gown that had retailed near £1,000, cleaned and pressed before collection. And when you love a floor sample, ask to buy that one rather than ordering it.

When the discounts happen

Bridal runs its own calendar, and knowing it turns a lucky find into a plan.

  • Needle & Thread discounts its bridesmaid range in the Black Friday sale, and colourways get discontinued, so the exact shade may not be repeatable later.
  • Bridal shops discount stock they want gone: a 2022 collection gown dropped from $1,700 to $600, a chain clearance event cut about 75%, and a boutique clearance rack held cancellations and samples all under $1,000 with the cheapest at $100.
  • Brides For A Cause runs an annual dress dash where every gown is 150, you get 30 minutes and three dresses in the room at a time; a 7,000 dress went for 150.
  • Sale mechanics at the low end: David's Bridal keeps a 99 dollar clearance rack and one shopper priced a full in-store style at about 180, while Janene's Bridal periodically runs a 100 dollar dress event and salons sell off floor samples at similar markdowns.
  • Waiting for Black Friday on Azazie was cited by a repeat customer as the timing that gets the price down.
  • Teuta Matoshi runs a Black Friday sale at 30% off with free shipping, and there are YouTube reviews of the brand.

What you take on in return

Every one of these routes trades price for something. The trade is the same in each case: you take the gown as it is, in the size it exists in, and usually without a way back.

  • Sample size try ons distort neckline placement. A sample that is too small rides high on the chest, so a plunging bodice looks far more modest at the appointment than it will in the ordered size, and no amount of alteration brings it back up.
  • Bridal sample sizing is its own trap: one bride's consultant kept pulling US 12 samples after she said she was a 14, so nothing would zip or pass her hips and she left the appointment empty-handed and demoralised.
  • David's floor samples are heavily used - makeup stains, crushed tulle and stretched mesh - so judge the dress by the style, not the try-on sample's condition.
  • BHFO is flagged as a final-sale outlet with no returns, so it is the wrong place to guess a size; TJ Maxx and Marshalls carry the same designer names and do take returns.
  • Sample sale stock is thin in any one size, which is what pushed the bride who asked into pulling an unexpected style off the rack in the first place.
  • Bridal consignment shops sell final sale: the asking bride's dress cannot be returned or exchanged, which is the whole constraint the discussion works around.

Sizing is the real limit rather than condition. Samples cluster in a narrow band, so a bride inside it has the whole rail and a bride outside it has a handful of gowns and a long alterations quote. Ask what a shop holds in your measurements before you book, and price the tailoring at the same time, because a sample two sizes out costs the most to fit. Job-by-job prices are on the alterations page.

What brides paid, cheapest to dearest

PaidShop or labelThe account
£5–5 pounds in 1977 for a tiny ex-display model that fit perfectly; sister-in-law worked at the shop; would have been hundreds
A$150–An ordinary formal dress from a designer outlet rather than a bridal gown; she suggests looking where school-formal dresses are sold
$250Stella York 6048Shop sample listed on eBay in the Moscato colourway; she had a saved search alert on the exact style and bought within a week of trying it on, only a few loose beads to fix
$370David's BridalClearance gown that felt well made; the 600 of alterations covered a bustle and steaming as well as fitting
C$499–499 at a closing shop's sample sale in 2024 for a gown originally 5000; alterations about 500; dry cleaning 300 because it was a floor sample
$500–Sample gown retailing 1500; 225 quote covers hem, bustle, cups and lining
$699Sue Ames Bridal OutletBudget was 1750; found a brand-new 2026 satin A-line off the rack at an outlet for 699 after 10-15 David's Bridal gowns felt flat
£800–Sample dress 800 GBP instead of 2000+ to order; the shop's 145 GBP veil found identical on Vinted for 25
$860–860 off the rack
C$960Rebecca IngramRefused to go over 1k and found her dream Rebecca Ingram at an outlet.
$1,000–First dress was free but a compromise; local bridal shop liquidation sold designer gowns under 1000 (upper bound recorded)
$1,360–Shop sold her the new, well-fitting sample at 15% off a 1600 tag; similar Kleinfeld gowns were 2500-3000+
$1,500–Sample sale gown about 1500 from 3400; 700 covered heavy hemming, straps, bust, bustle and steaming
$2,000–Wanted a few hundred for Etsy separates; bought a heavily discounted 2k sample-sale dress and plans to resell rather than keep it

Questions about sample sales and outlets

How much can you save at a wedding dress sample sale?

Sample and clearance gowns here run a median $800 against $1,900 for a made-to-order salon gown, and 177 of the 616 purchases came in under $500. The deep end goes much further than the median suggests: brides describe a £1,800 gown at £50 in a closing-down sale, a $7,000 gown at $150 at an annual clearance event, and stacked reductions taking an $1,100 dress to $345.

What is a sample sale wedding dress?

The gown brides have been trying on in the shop, or a style the designer has discontinued. It is sold as it is, in the size it was cut in, usually final sale. Larger sales run as one-day events with a waitlist and a timed appointment, and a shop clearing discontinued stock will sometimes sell you the floor sample outright on an ordinary day if you ask.

What size are wedding dress samples?

Bridal samples cluster in a narrow band, and brides who fit it have the run of the rail while everyone else has a handful of options. Sizing is the real limit on this route rather than price, and it is worth asking what a shop actually holds in your measurements before booking, because stock is thin in any one size.

Are sample sale dresses damaged?

Used rather than damaged, and the wear is predictable: makeup on the neckline, a hem that has been stepped on, crushed tulle, stretched mesh at the back. Most of it comes out with cleaning, which is why brides advise judging the style and the fabric at the try-on rather than the state of the sample. Budget for a clean on top of the price.

When do bridal shops discount?

On a calendar rather than a whim. Black Friday and its bridal variants, end-of-season clearance in winter and summer, annual clearance events, and the day a designer discontinues a style. The other timing is your own: a shop will often take something off for a decision made in the appointment, because a bride who leaves rarely comes back.

Can I rent a wedding dress instead of buying one?

the bride who asked listed renting as an option but nobody here had done it. Every answer steered instead to consignment, samples, resale sites or made-to-measure, which leave you free to alter the dress. One bride found a shop that rents gowns and even alters the rental and was thrilled; another rented her dream dress, found it slightly loose in the bust and now wishes she had bought a tailored dress.

How much does a custom-made wedding dress cost?

Custom ranged from 400-800 abroad (Eastern Europe, Argentina) and 420 made-to-measure in the US to 2,750-2,800 from US custom makers and 4,000-5,000 at custom bridal boutiques. Overseas custom from Vietnam or China came to under 1,000 for four dresses. Custom ranged from 150 made in China and 1050 made in Vietnam through Etsy ateliers at 850-1900, a Brooklyn designer under 4k, a 5500 custom that avoided any alteration bill, 7500 at Monica's Bridal and 7800 for a self-designed art-piece gown.

How much can I resell my wedding dress for?

Do not count on much: one bride got 300 back on a 950 dress after 1.5 years on eBay. A shop employee notes many StillWhite listings are priced above what the dress costs new, so realistic resale is a fraction of retail. Expect roughly half of what you paid at best. The brides, a longtime resale seller, thinks a barely-altered current-collection gown from a hot designer will fetch 50 to 60 percent, about $7,000 to $8,000 on a $15,000 dress. Others warn that most secondhand shoppers are working with about $1,000 and that anything above $2,000 is a slow sell.

Should I go wedding dress shopping alone?

The bride asked this mid-discussion and the answers favoured it. One bride did every appointment alone except two and prefers it that way; going alone was suggested specifically for the confirmation visit when you already have a frontrunner. Every bride who rebought went alone the second time and calls it the better decision. Bringing bridesmaids adds scheduling guilt and outside opinions, which is what pushed this bride into a gown she is unsure about.

where can I buy a wedding dress under $500

The routes that actually produced dresses here: ASOS at $150-250, David's Bridal clearance at $169-300, Anthropologie and BHLDN sales at $345, Lulus at $100, Revolve at $70 on Black Friday, Vow'd at $300, secondhand on Poshmark and Mercari at $120-300, consignment and resale shops at $200-450, and salon sample sales at $450. The routes brides actually used at that price were online labels (Azazie $150-450, Lulus $72-98, Baltic Born under $100, Selkie $175, Dessy $270), Etsy or AliExpress made-to-measure ($300-620), resale sites (StillWhite, Poshmark, eBay, Facebook Marketplace, $30-450) and donated-dress charity shops ($100-300). Bridal salons at full price were the one route almost nobody managed under $500.

How much do people actually spend on a wedding dress?

Across roughly 170 answers the biggest cluster is 1,200-2,500, a large second group paid under 600 (off the rack, samples, secondhand, non-bridal), and only a handful went 4,000-10,000; The Knot's average is about 1,900, which means many brides spend well below it. In this 26-answer poll the spread ran from a free vintage gown and a 100 dollar consignment find up to 4400 AUD for a custom couture ball gown, with the bulk of answers clustered between 700 and 1500 USD all in.

Where can I find a cheap wedding dress?

Sample sales delivered 150-1,300 gowns that retailed 800-3,000; StillWhite and eBay turned up 450-800 dresses (one 2,000 design for 495); Brides For A Cause sells every gown for 150 at its dress dash; David's Bridal off the rack ran 200-400; and Azazie, Lulus, SHEIN, Amazon and Ross dresses cost 20-100. Named routes with real purchases behind them: a chain bridal store at 50% off ($866 with veil and tax), a charity resale nonprofit ($300 for a new display gown), secondhand resale sites, bridal consignment shops, sample sales, and returnable try-at-home online brands.

where can I buy a secondhand wedding dress online

Poshmark, Mercari, StillWhite, Tradesy, preownedweddingdresses.com, Nearly Newlywed, Facebook Marketplace and Brides for a Cause on the West Coast. Reported prices were $120-375 for gowns retailing at ten times that. StillWhite also lets you search by location and message the seller to try the dress on in person. Named routes with real purchases behind them: StillWhite, Poshmark, Etsy vintage sellers, Facebook Marketplace, Goodwill's online store and dedicated resale boutiques. Prices reported ran from $100 to $550, against retails of $2,000 to £12,000.

Related on this site

Sources

Price reports on this page come from 184 public discussions where brides answered in their own words. Each comment that stated an amount became one row; notes are paraphrased, never quoted.

Discussions used on this page (184)