Second-Hand Lolita Sales: Buying and Selling Used Lolita

If you take a look at my wardrobe posts and reviews over the years, you'll see that I've bought and sold a lot of items. When I lost my job a few years ago, secondhand sales actually helped me pay my bills, and I was able to start over from a clean slate. Nowadays, I continue to buy and sell pieces because besides having a shopping problem (lol), I'm constantly evaluating my items to create a more cohesive wardrobe.

I've mentioned before that my personal style and tastes are all over the place. When I first joined the fashion, I was notorious for impulse shopping and buying everything that caught my eye. After a while, I realized that I had a lot of one-hit wonders, and not enough pieces that could be worn interchangeably. Thankfully, the Lolita community has a really great secondhand system in place, that allows Lolitas to basically start from square one as many times as we like.

I buy and sell a lot of secondhand Lolita because it's more cost-effective and it also helps the community thrive. While I find that the Western market is a bit more costly than the Japanese secondhand market, both are great tools for any Lolita that wants some new pieces without breaking the bank.

Western Sites
Lolita sales in English banner image, I do not own!
While there are a large number of secondhand sites for the "Western" market (i.e. USA, Canada, and most of Europe), the most popular places are Lolita Sales in English on Facebook and Lacemarket.

LSE is a FB group that's monitored by several Lolitas around the globe. The page is filled to the brim with secondhand sales, and is extremely useful for Lolitas that are just starting out. The group is easily accessible and with FB's new search functions, it's a lot easier to use than it used to be. 

I personally do 90% of my secondhand sales on FB. Usually, I don't even have to post my items anywhere else because FB sales are so quick and easy. However, if I don't sell something on FB, the next place I go to is Lacemarket.

Lacemarket!

LM is basically EBay for Lolita Fashion. It's an entire website dedicated to Lolita sales, which makes it unique and niche. LM is great because every transaction can earn the buyer (or seller) feedback, which then makes it easier to buy and sell items elsewhere. A lot of users will crosspost their listings between LSE and LM to increase their views.

My biggest complaint with LM, however, is compatibility. After the most recent update, LM stopped working on my Mac, so I can't view or post any listings. In order to work around that, I also tried creating a listing via mobile, but since the app doesn't allow buyers to upload a previously used picture, I still had to move over to a PC in order to post my items on the site. These are just a few qualms I have with the page, but ultimately, I'm too lazy, and FB just feels a lot easier and quicker.

There are other sites that you can visit for secondhand Lolita including Ebay, as well as a handful of other FB sales pages. I'm sure I'm missing a few shops, but those are the ones that come to mind.

Japanese Sites

Wunderwelt Landing Page!
The go-to place for low priced secondhand Lolita is the Japanese sites. Almost every Japanese secondhand site I've seen has had lower prices than all of the Western sites. I'm not sure why that is, but it's definitely cheaper.

The biggest con to ordering from the Japanese secondhand sites is that some require a shopping service, and nearly all of them require a translation app to help you navigate the site. However, a lot of Japanese sites have started allowing International buyers, which is fantastic for those of us that don't live in Japan or speak Japanese.

Some of my favorite Japanese secondhand sites are:
A few other popular sites that I don't have personal experience with, but have heard positive reviews of are:
Most of these sites are fairly easy to use, though the final two (and Yahoo Auctions Japan) will require a shopping service. Searching for items on these sites is a bit more difficult as well.

Buying Secondhand
A secondhand JSK from Wunderwelt.

Personally, I recommend selling secondhand items within your local region, and buying outside of it. 

Here in the States, many pieces sell at an inflated price compared to what you would pay if you were buying that item from a Japanese site. So, you're more likely to make more money selling your old items "locally" (within your market). 

Another thing to keep in mind is: international shipping is expensive as hell for people in the West. About a month ago, I had to send a dress back to a Taobao shop in China, and USPS charged me $54 to ship a 1 lb. 8-oz. package. Imagine paying that every time you sold anything! X_X

Things are a little different when you're buying an item from Asia, though. Shipping is usually a flat rate of about $25 - $35 for tracked EMS, which takes 5-7 days. It seems pricey, but when you're paying $70 for a JSK, it hurts a lot less.

I would say that if you're in the Americas, you may also want to avoid purchasing any items from Europe, simply because shipping between our two continents is a nightmare, but that's up to your discretion. I know some people have paid the price and been very pleased, but I personally don't feel like it's worth it. I might change my mind if I find out my ultimate dream dress is in Europe though, XP

I have a process for buying secondhand pieces, and while I don't think it's fail-proof or perfect method, by any means, I feel like this is the best way to get a good price.

1. Research

Firstly, always, always, always, always (did I mention always?) research the piece. As much as you want to hit that "Buy" button, you could be shooting yourself and your wallet in the foot by buying the first dress you see without any background information. Part of the reason why the secondhand market is so lucrative is because Lolitas know the retail value of our pieces. By not knowing the cost of an item, you may not be getting the best deal on it. 

Another benefit of knowing the value of your items is that while most secondhand shops won't price match, other Lolitas *will*, so it's good to know the value of what you're buying and the reasonable asking price.

If I see a dress that I really want, the first thing I do is look it up. It seems like a lot of effort, but usually I just Google the name of the dress and check it out all the information available on Lolibrary. From there, I can use the piece's retail value to determine a good asking price (for selling) or a bartering price (for buying).

For an example, we'll use a dress I own, Angelic Pretty's French Cafe OP in blue.

French Cafe Stock Photo!
Lolibrary is filled to the brim with all sorts of Lolita information. Even if the data isn't always correct, it's usually a great place to start. If you can find the original shop listing for the dress, that's even better, but a lot of shops archive that info after a while.

Let's take a look at Lolibrary's page for French Cafe.

Lolibrary info for French Cafe.
So from this page, we can determine that French Cafe retailed at a value of 24,990 Yen at release, which is about $232. That means if I'm buying French Cafe secondhand, I should only be paying that much if the dress is being resold as brand new, with tags still attached. Anything more than that means I'm paying more than the dress retailed, which really should only apply to special cases.

A special case would be an extremely rare piece that is either really hard to find or something really coveted within the community. One such piece is Moi-même-Moitié's Iron Gate. I've seen that dress sell for upwards of $800, O_O

2. Shop Around

Now that we know how much our dress costs brand new, we can look at listings for it. I personally look through all the Japanese sites first, since the prices tend to be lower there. Then, I'll move over to the Western sites. 

I actually bought French Cafe from Lolita Sales in English about two years ago. I looked all over the Japanese market, but due to the age and "rarity" of the print, I could never find the dress in the color-way I wanted. Thankfully, I found a listing that included the full set, so I got the OP, socks, the headband, and free shipping all for the price I paid. While I did pay over retail value for the dress, the added value of the socks and headbow made my purchase more than worth it.

Lisiting for French Cafe on Y!Auctions Japan

Sometimes shopping around is the best way to get a great deal, because, for example, if you see a local person selling a dress at a little under retail value, but on Lacemarket, all the other sellers are selling it for much less, you can sometimes haggle with your fellow Lolita and get them to lower the price. Fair warning that some people won't appreciate you attempting to haggle or "price match" what you've found online, but my motto is "The worst thing they can say is no".

3. Rewards Programs

Another thing to keep in mind is that many of the Japanese secondhand sites have rewards programs that will score you some discounts on future purchases. One of my favorite rewards programs is through Wunderwelt, which earns buyers 1 point per dollar. Every site has something a little different so it's important to read over the rules and regulations. If I see a piece for a slightly higher price on a site that offers rewards, I'm definitely more likely to buy it.

4. Be Cautious 

Pay close attention to listings and always look for proof photos. Be careful of sellers who have a lot of negative or neutral feedback, and if you are willing to take that risk and buy items anyway, always read over why a person received negative feedback.

Also, and I will type this in bold always leave negative feedback for bad transactions. I know many people don't want to rock the boat or be "that" customer, but if you had a genuinely bad experience, it's important to warn others so that there are no other victims. 

Now, if someone said they'd ship in 4 days and it took 5, you don't have to report them, but for grievous things such as rips, tears, foul smells, stains, or general dishonesty, that's worth noting and reporting. Let's make sure our sales community is a safe and responsible space. 

Selling Secondhand
My FB sales album!
When selling secondhand Lolita, there are a few common sense rules, and a few minor marketing things that will help make your secondhand sales go smoothly.

1. Always Have Feedback

The first thing to make sure you have without a doubt is feedback. Now, depending on the sales page, the requirements may vary, but some FB groups will even take EBay or Amazon feedback as proof that you're not some shady, backdoor salesperson.

Also, make sure that your feedback is positive. If you do receive negative or neutral feedback, talk with your buyer to see if you can resolve the problems together. If a person is extremely belligerent, you may have to get the group mods involved, but those are rare cases.

2. Be Accurate

Always list the problems that your items have. Scuffs, stains, tears, ripped seams, or any other issues are all to be noted in your sales post. Is your JSK missing the waist ties? The buyer needs to know these things before they are compelled to buy your piece. Plain wear and tear happens when an item is worn often, so the condition of a dress you've worn 10 times, will most likely be slightly more used than a dress you've only tried on. Also, remember that trying on a dress still counts as wearing it, even if you put it on and took it right back off. An item is no longer new if you've worn it on your body, so it's best to just be honest about it. 

3. WASH YOUR ITEMS BEFORE YOU SELL THEM!!

I'm putting this in all caps because I have seen many people try to skip this step! I have no idea why someone wouldn't wash a dress before they sold it to another person, but when I bought French Cafe, the seller didn't wash the dress and it was horrible. To add, since all of my items were shipping together, everything smelled bad from the box that it was shipped in. I ended up having to wash French Cafe four times on arrival just to get the stench out and ultimately, ended up getting a discount for my trouble.

Washer stock photo, I do not own!
Don't be that person; wash your used goods before sending it to the buyer. Wipe your shoes down. Spray everything with Febreeze and give them time to air out. A lot of people tend to get "nose-blind" to scents in their own homes, so be kind to your buyers and give them a fresh, clean-scented item. They'll be so thankful to you.

4. Be Realistic

In our earlier example, we discovered that French Cafe's retail value is about $230. Given that the information on the dress is readily available, if I decide to sell it for $450, I most likely wouldn't be able to sell it to anyone. Even if I priced the full set at that much, it probably wouldn't sell because while French Cafe is a more rare piece than Angelic Pretty's Holy Lantern, it's not *that* coveted within the community. This is yet another example of why research is so important -- a piece that may seem rare to you, may not be rare to the Lolita community at large. 

That's why we need to be realistic with our secondhand sales: it's unreasonable to ask others to pay $450 for a dress that retailed at $230, especially when I've worn that dress multiple times. To add, I'm the second owner, which means someone else wore it a handful of times before me. If I account for wear and tear on a dress that's been worn about ten times between its two previous owners, there's no reason for me to charge the full retail value of $230 to another buyer.

Of course, some people will ignore this step completely, and price items at whatever value they want, and that's totally okay -- ultimately, these items belong to them until it is sold. However, keep in mind, that while other people can't dictate the price of another person's sales, they can decline to buy that item. If the buyer doesn't see your prices as reasonable, then they simply won't buy it and you'll either have to discount the item, or hold on to it.

Whoooooa, I wasn't expecting this to be as long as it turned out to be! I hope I gave you some helpful tips on buying and selling secondhand Lolita fashion. I find that secondhand Lolita is extremely useful for finding wishlist items and padding out a wardrobe. In this age of social media and global exchange, it's now more easier than ever to actually find used pieces for a great price.

Have you purchased any secondhand pieces before? How was your experience? Tell me all about it in the comment section below!

I have a bunch of orders coming in the next couple of weeks, including some circle lenses, so I'm super excited to get back to writing more reviews! Stay tuned, my lovely readers!

Stay beautiful, stay true,
~J

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