So, since I'm about a week or so out from actually acquiring my second-hand dress (GAH!), I figured now would be a good time to explain how my seller and I put together a "Wedding Dress Contract."
Then I moved on to the "Purchase" section:
Then we decided that the Seller should have the bulk of the money by the time it leaves her hands. So, she will take some photos of the dress to prove it's not completely wrecked, text them to me, I will give her the thumbs up, and then will deposit money into her PayPal account. Then the Transporter will take it from there!
The Seller requested that the remainder of the money be paid in cash at the Transporter's home. This ensures that no one is cheating anybody out of any money, and that once it's in my hands, the transaction is 100% complete.
Usually, in a pre-owned dress sale, the Seller is responsible for cleaning the dress. However, we decided that just wasn't going to work for us. The Seller's wedding is in Texas, but she lives in NYC, and she is departing for her honeymoon immediately after the wedding. With all those variables and my wedding only 3.5 months away from hers, we wanted to have the dress delivered ASAP, in case something didn't work out and I needed to find something else (KNOCK ON WOOD!). So we did factor that into the price, in our discussion.
Then came the 'Rental Option' part of the agreement:
Our process would be fairly similar if she decided to buy it back - she is responsible for cleaning & she sends me money when she sees the dress is in acceptable condition. $750 is a bargain - I'd definitely be open to sending it back to her!!
Finally, I had a section called 'Exceptions:"
The second part is where it gets tricky. The Seller actually brought up this possibility - if after dry-cleaning, the dress is in worse shape than expected, I told the Seller I didn't want her to feel responsible for anything. I want her to have fun at her wedding, and not to worry too much about taking perfect care of the dress. I don't want her to even think about me or the sale of the dress on her wedding day. I mean really, if it got past both of our initial inspections and I decide it's not in acceptable condition AFTER that point, then I think that's my call, and I take responsibility for that. So I would send it back to her, but I would pay for the costs of shipping in both directions. (She is paying the Transporter $165 for the trouble of lugging a big dress from Texas to Chicago). And I'm okay with that.
And finally, we signed it!
So...the Transporter will be back in a few days time, and shortly after that, we'll schedule a pick up time! Don't worry - I won't go by myself, okay? I'm so excited!