just bought $7k worth of high end dresses...how to get rid of it?

Give Craigslist a shot. The price is right, nothing to lose.

Definitely agree with going to the eCommerce section here.

You can try building your own website through Salehoo and other places where eCommerce is the goal.

A regular website won't do. You need a site that will literally have PayPal buttons, images, templates, and many good ways to organize the dresses you are selling.

Since you don't have too much dresses of a single kind, you can really make your site original because you are only offering several or "one of a kind" for a single type of dress.

This can help create SCARCITY!

Craigslist. It is honestly better than ebay getting rid of things.

I would think that you do not want to sell them one buy one and would like to sell them all in one shot if the price is right! Right?

If so I would go to your local thrift stores in your area and try to work a deal with them. They will even do a consignment deal if you want. In other words take your dresses and sell them in their store and pay you when they sell.
So there is many options with a thrift store..

I will tell you one thing if I had them that they would be gone in a day without question.
So you should not have a problem unless you are asking too much ..

social media. have a designer dress party. supply wine. sell.

Great minds think alike! I called a very social girl I know in LA about hosting a wine party for the dresses as I know she's done it with jewelry before. Left a message for her. I'm thinking 10% of sales I'll give to her what do you think of that price point?

@ATAC - I was thinking of your idea as well. Approached one store but they want 50% of sale price not factoring what I paid so that's out. However another store called wasteland does deals so will be visiting them tomorrow. Ideally yes I'd like to sell the lot in one fell swoop.

When you say you'd have them gone in one day is that because of your area or you've done this a bunch of times or what? Expanding on this would be much appreciated

Surely they are worth more selling them single unless you really do need a quick sale.
A couple of years ago we promoted a dressmaker who made wedding gowns.to promote her dresses We had a mock wedding photoshoot of the bride and groom and we had bridesmaids handing out flyers and business cards........in a shopping mall!! Not sure about buying a 3k dress through an ecommerce store. Its a very personal thing when buying wedding dresses..and our lovely ladies do like to take their time choosing!

Ebay
Pinterest
Website
Craigslist
Instagram

Locally in la.. Then I'd suggest you open up something like a yard sale. What do you think?

Not so sure about a yard sale...who's bringing $500-$1000 to a yard sale?

I like the Pinterest and Instagram idea as I've never used them before so didn't think of that thanks!

Why did you buy them if you hadn't already thought of how you were going to sell them?

You should put your products up on an ecommerce site, then see how well you sell in about 1-6 months time. If your time spent is profitable, outsource your work buy more dresses and scale it up.

Cheers

High end consignment shop in the wealthier/chic part of town.

At an auction for charity? (A society pages kind of event.)

I'm not a lady either, lol, but I'd vote for models over manikins.
I had a lingerie shop client. Much warmer effect with models.

As for the charity auction event, I did some volunteer work for a Habitat for Humanity
fundraiser. We did not have dresses, though. What I mean by Society Pages event
is an event that would be covered in the Society Pages of the print newspaper (perhaps a blog or website now or neighborhood forum). Any way something the wealthy people in the area would be involved in. You could pick a likely charity, such as one for cancer or diabetes, or what you prefer and find out what they have planned and who organizes them. Figure out people in your area who organize these kind of events and see if you can do something for each other.

Another way would be for you to pick a charity and set up a fashion show/auction at a popular night club or other venue.

If you don't make a lot of money this way, you might meet some interesting people for your business (if you provide marketing/consulting services).

These would likely be individual sales versus selling the whole lot at one time.

Dan

Another idea would be to contact high end women's clothing stores - not consignment shops and see if they want to make a deal on some or all of your lot.

1. Ebay
2. Etsy
3. Your Facebook, Twitter ...
4. Tell your friends (Girls, ofcourse) , and it'll go viral soon.

This is an area I know very well as I have been in this industry for years.

Let me tell you what will not work

Consignment
Thrift stores (Seriously?)
Advertising to people in Beverly Hills (Seriously?)
Craigslist
etc

Bloomingdales stock is great but it also varies. Do you have popular brands or a lot of INC or other Macys private label? Who knows.

I would try the home party route. I would hook up with someone who is very well connected, maybe did home parties for another product and pay them 15-20% (10 is just too low). The other option is to have a boutique co-host a sale and give them a cut.

The last option is to try to sell to boutiques but the retail climate is tough and the one thing you have to keep in mind is if you have a job out, it's already out of season and for a store buyer, you are 18-24 months behind. Fashion is shown up to a year in advance (sometimes more) so by the time you get job out merchandise, the trend can be very very old to their eyes.

You will most likely not be able to sell this on Amazon because this is gray market and Amazon is cleaning up clothing and accessories sellers buying outside of normal distribution channels because of the risk of having counterfeit goods in their catalog. You would have to have UPCs on the products or get a UPC exemption, also your images would have to meet their quality guidelines (which are strict for clothing and accessories, Amazon is not eBay). All being told, you could be looking at over a month to get everything approved by Amazon and still not be able to sell the specific items you have. Amazon also has agreements with certain brands and you can't list them. Period.

I am an approved clothing and accessories seller on Amazon, so I say that from experience.

I get where you are. I started out selling on eBay and grew tired of that. I then moved into my own ecommerce site and did very well with it. I eventually got out of the off-price market, but am still in the apparel industry, I just don't buy off price anymore.

Long term, I would have my own ecommerce website and also sell to other retailers (broker the merchandise). You are physically in So Cal and a lot of people are not, they want to buy these deals (being in the industry it's really not difficult for me to know where you got your mdse), but they cannot justify traveling, so there is a benefit to buying from someone who understands the end user and can filter the merchandise for them. In the past I even helped someone set up that exact business so I know the ropes.

BTW, the real way to sell this mdse to retailers is to sell it in the midwest and south, not in LA. Maybe even Mexico, but not in LA.

Anyway, good luck!

Let me also say this:

Social media is a great idea. This is the issue though: (and the one thing that made me get out of off price mdse)

You don't have all sizes and colors, therefore you end up individually replying to people about availability. This is why a straightaway listing (like an ecommerce store) is better and you can use social media to promote it. This will also be an issue if you do a home party or a sale hosted by a store, however, women are used to shopping in-person and dealing with limited size and color availability.

I know someone mentioned press releases, you'd have to do it w/o mentioning the brands. You have no claim to use those trademarks in advertising and promotions and you can get hit with cease and desists, DMCA takedown notices, or lawsuits, if you do. It does not matter that you acquired the merchandise legally and legitimately and while I am sure others will claim the contrary, this is my wheelhouse and I know what I'm talking about.

Thanks for the tips malia. I have all UPCs so I should be good for amazon. Brands include kors, collezioni, St. John, etc...all still has Bloomingdales tags on them. Why the Midwest and south? Are they more behind trend wise so it's an easier sell? Any tips on narrowing down a list of targeted retailers to contact?

They don't have the same access to merchandise as the coastal cities. Most brands selling off merchandise don't like it being resold in their major metro markets.

I highly doubt that you do. Bloomingdales barcodes are not the same as UPCs.

I get where you're coming from, but you're wrong about this industry, although I usually agree with you on other topics.

And you are right about the "street hawker" thing.

If she purchased store stock, properly, she already purchased it at a significant percentage off of WHOLESALE price so she doesn't need to sell it for one third of her cost, that would be like selling a $600 Burberry jacket for $30-$40 (give or take) -- it is NEVER that bad. That is a real example, I didn't just make those numbers up (and I know she said she is selling dresses).

Sladeryan, I think the WF has a lot to offer, but this is a circumstance where asking people who don't understand the industry will lead to a lot of comments that are off base or not applicable. Why don't you just go back to your supplier and ask them for advice?

I don't know WHICH company you purchased from but some of the companies in that market are run by people with 20-30 years in the industry while others are a little more upstart (less experienced). If you are fortunate enough to have purchased from one of the more experienced jobbers, they have a wealth of information to share as long as you don't approach them like a fly by night idiot (and I say that with no offense to you, just the truth about this industry). With the right approach they will help you out and give you a few pointers.

ETA: Had you come to the offline forum with a clear strategy for selling the mdse, and just needed tips on how to reach your market, the offline board could have been some help. Instead you just threw your cost out there, asking for answers, and as such people can't get past why you spent THAT MUCH money if you didn't already have a plan.

You can build a site for them.