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Note to Readers: Sorry, but 99dresses is no longer in business.
If you have a closet full of dresses but nothing to wear, check out 99dresses, a new Internet site designed to expand your wardrobe infinitely!
99dresses is a site where people can exchange their gently worn dresses for other gently worn dresses on the site. To get started, go through your closet and find dresses in good condition that you’re willing to sell. Take pictures of them, either on a person or on a hanger, and head to the 99dresses site. Sign up for an account using either your Facebook account or your email address, then upload the pictures of your dresses. You need to include the size and manufacturer of the dress and 99dresses will suggest a price, but you can set whatever price you want.
The dresses must be in good shape, gently used without defects, stains, rips, etc. Their standard is, “if you’d be embarrassed lending the dress to a friend, then it doesn’t belong at 99dresses.”
99dresses will list the dress for you, cropping the background out of the photo so it looks like this.
You earn Buttons, the site’s online currency, for each dress that you sell. You can use these Buttons to buy dresses on the site. Buttons can be used so long as you are a member of the site, but they expire one year after you earn them.
Browsing through the dresses is fun and easy, you can search the dresses according to your size. If you don’t find any dress you deem Button-worthy, don’t worry, more dresses are uploaded every day.
If you want to buy a dress but haven’t yet earned enough Buttons to pay for it, no worries. You can buy Buttons for $1 apiece. The site runs promotions where they give away Buttons. Right now, the site is offering 5 free Buttons for each picture of a dress that you upload for the first three days of your membership, up to a maximum of 25 Buttons.
If you change your mind and decide you can’t part with a dress you have listed for sale, you can withdraw the listing so long as it hasn’t been sold yet. If you buy a dress, then change your mind after you receive it, you can re-list it to earn Buttons.
Similar to eBay, buyers and sellers can leave feedback so you can steer towards members with high positive feedback. The site is brand new in the US, having launched on March 28th, so there isn’t much feedback yet.
The founder, Nikki Durkin, is a 20 year old girl from Australia now living in San Francisco. She was inspired to start this site when she saw her friends at boarding school exchanging dresses and wondered what it would be like if she brought this concept to the Internet. She started this site in Australia and it proved successful immediately with 4500 dresses uploaded and 3500 dresses sold within the first four months.
Her charming video explaining the site is worth watching:
Nothing else is sold on the site yet, so don’t look for accessories or other types of apparel, but they have plans to expand soon.
Do you have a closet full of dresses that you would like to exchange for other dresses? Would you like to trade them for other dresses? Does the idea of an infinite closet appeal to you? Let us know in the Comments section below!
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I am away from the Internet but will return on April 8 to respond to your comments. I will be posting more Wonder of Tech article when I’m gone!
Sounds like a wonderful idea!
I think all of us have certain dresses that are in good condition, though we get bored wearing them and would love a change instead. But yes, sometimes they are too good to really give away to anyone. I think such a wonderful site would surely be a great way to exchange or purchase new dresses for your old ones.
Nikki has indeed put up a wonderful site at her young age and am sure its going to attract many people to it.
Thanks so much for sharing, and hope you are having a nice time 🙂
Hi Harleena, Yes, Nikki is simply amazing. She has enjoyed success at a very young age and has launched a website that will be useful to many. I was very excited when I discovered this website and wanted to share it with Wonder of Tech readers.
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts, Harleena!
What a great idea. I love antique clothing stores. The quality and style of the clothing is what I’m looking for. But being on the Cape I rarely shop in those stores which are easier to find in bigger cities. But I like the idea of this site. I’ll take a look.
Thanks Carolyn!
Hi Betsy, I hope you enjoyed checking out 99dresses. Make sure to check back often. The site just launched so their inventory of dresses will change tremendously as the site continues to grow. I hope you find great dresses, Betsy! 🙂
Just sent this article to my wife, good find. I can’t believe all the ideas people come up with for use on the Internet, wish I could come up with some for my bamboo biz.
What’s cool about 99dresses is its use of the point system, a proven way to increase engagement and contribution, they should do well.
Hi Greg, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I hope your wife really enjoys 99dresses. I’m sure she will find plenty of dresses to choose from. If she doesn’t, she can keep checking back until she finds ones she likes.
I agree, Nikki should do very well with this site. I wish you the best of luck with your site too, Greg!
Now, that’s creative thinking!
Hi Eleni, I completely agree, it’s very creative thinking. Nikki is very impressive to have come up with this idea and to have executed it so well. 🙂
I can see why people would be drawn to that. I’m not a big dress wearer anymore and the ones I do have left in my closet are OLD…
But I have purchased nicer dresses from resale shops when I don’t want to spend a huge amount and know that the dress will only be worn a few times.
I must admit, these kids come up with the best ideas.
Hi Adrienne, Yes, even if you don’t buy dresses a lot, it’s nice to know there is a site where you can trade in your dresses for other ones so you can have a constant supply of dresses. Nikki has plans to expand to other inventory in the future so maybe the site will be more appealing to you then.
Now THIS is my kind of website! I’m obsessed with designer handbags, and I have a one bag in – one bag out policy. So I’d love to see the same concept, but with purses :-). Great idea! Carolyn, you should check out The Purse Forum (www.purseforum.com). That’s where I hang :-).
Hi Ruth, I’m so glad you like this website. I hope you find many lovely dresses at 99dresses. I will have to check out Purse Forum. That sounds like a great website! 🙂
Very clever and it makes perfect sense. Look forward to checking it out. Thx so much.
Hi Janet, I agree, it’s a very clever concept and very well executed. I like what Nikki has done with the site and I hope she continues to be successful with this.
I’m poking around here to see if they have dresses for girls – now that would interest me. I used to love dresses when I was about twenty years old. But the styles she shows don’t really interest me.
Nice idea – I’m wondering about how they decided to develop her site. It’s not easy to browse. Do you have to login to see the dresses?
Hi Leora, No, she doesn’t list dresses for girls yet, though I hope she expands in that direction. Having twin girls I would have loved to have traded in their gently worn dresses for the next size larger as my girls grew older.
Yes, you need to log in to see the dresses. You can use your email address or your Facebook account.
Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for sharing the information of 99dresses site. Is that this site for male’s dresses exchange?
Hi Pete, Great question. 99dresses does not differentiate between male and female attire. The site is available to men as well as to women. 🙂
Just to clarify my statement, the site doesn’t carry men’s clothes, but if a man wishes to purchase or trade in a dress, he can do that on 99dresses.
Thankyou Carolyn for informing us about 99dresses site.I think its a good offer to exchange our dresses and there are lots of chances that I will avail this exchange offer in future.
Hi Syeda, Welcome to The Wonder of Tech! I am glad you will make good use of this site. I think it’s a wonderful resource for those who want to exchange their lightly used dresses for others. 🙂
I liked this amazing idea but still there could be few problems associated with this as Sizes in women’s clothing have no objective standards at all. I have a closet full of clothes I feel its good to resell my clothes as they would no longer fit me,instead can be utilized by others. I can earn buttons and use these to buy dresses from the site.
I am intrigued. Didn’t know about this site, I must check this out! I have a closet of dresses that – sigh – don’t fit me anymore. Maybe I can swap them out for a better fitting one!
Hi Carol, This site is less than two weeks old, which may be why you have never heard of it. But Nikki is off to a strong start with her new site.
Great point, this site will be very handy for those who have changed sizes, whether they have lost or gained weight. Out with the old and in with the almost new! 🙂