Thread: Are we selling out by selling costumes on our website?

I have a website, aimed at promoting myself as a dancer. I also have a couple of costumes for sale that will probably be around for a while.

One side of me thinks:'hey, I could add a page to my website to let other dancers know what I have for sale'. Then a little voice in my head tells me that it would look unprofessional for prospective clients who are looking for a dancer. What do you think: adding a for sale page makes you look less glamourous?

Lots of big name dancers sell their used costumes on their website. I just suggest using very nice professional pictures of you in the costume.

i would be more worried about legalities (vat number etc...). as a dancer (performer/teacher), i fall under different laws that if i would be vending. i dont have the official set up to vend. apart from selling the occasional second hand costume i dont vend, so i prefer to keep my selling of second hand costumes, private, i mean, to do that as a private person (which is allowed) and not as part of my business

Selling some of your own costumes is fine. I would rather buy from the person who had actually used the costume. They would have the best info on fit, fabric, etc. I see nothing un-professional in that. Assuming, of course, that you are just trying to sell a handful of costumes. If you had 20 or 30 images, that might be a different story.

Originally Posted by artemisia_danst

i would be more worried about legalities (vat number etc...). as a dancer (performer/teacher), i fall under different laws that if i would be vending. i dont have the official set up to vend. apart from selling the occasional second hand costume i dont vend, so i prefer to keep my selling of second hand costumes, private, i mean, to do that as a private person (which is allowed) and not as part of my business

In the UK I checked about this. I was told that if you start a second hand costume agency and sell a lot of costumes as your main business, then there are one set of laws that apply. But if you are a working dancer, and you sell your own used costumes after you've finished with them, but selling costumes isn't your main business, another set of rules apply. They said it is the same for a restaurant that sells on it's dishes and replaces them every so often. Since the main business isn't on selling used crockery, it's OK.

I don't know...I would feel a little bit creepy/weird about people knowing my measurements .w.:

ETA: Maybe if I were 5'9" and built like a Victoria's Secret model, it wouldn't feel so wrong! ..l;,

I try to think about this from a customer's point of view.

If I were having a party and hiring a DJ, and while browsing websites I saw that one of the DJs was selling some used equipment/lighting/CDs/whatever on his site, I wouldn't be put off at all.

If a magician I was thinking of hiring had a page where he was selling some old top hats and tux coats, that wouldn't bother me either.

Most of my clients are women, they're fascinated by the costumes and have never looked at them up close, so they might skim that page out of curiosity -- and would probably be amazed/impressed at how high-quality and expensive most of our costuming is! But I don't think it would seem unprofessional or lower their impression of me. UNLESS I had pics of myself with no makeup, hair not done, standing in a mess room, etc.

I know Jillina does it as well as other professionals.

It wouldn't bother me in the least. It would actually make me feel like you were more of a bellydancing business woman. I never would have thought of the legal issues so I guess that is something to take into consideration.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it's not a legal issue in the US. Just based on my 15 years in various businesses, I'm not an accountant.

Unless you're buying costumes at wholesale prices and selling them retail -- making a profit -- there shouldn't be any sales tax on costumes.

From a bookkeeping standpoint, you have two choices -- neither of which should require sales tax.

You might buy the costume as an asset, claim depreciation on them annually, and sell them for roughly the purchase price minus the depreciation -- in which case it's all balance sheet transactions and doens't affect your taxes except for the depreciation expense which you write off against income.


That's too complicated for me. I just buy costumes as a business expense (I have a category for 'costuming expense') and when I sell one I return the funds to that category (debiting and crediting the same expense account for buying and selling costumes). So every costume I sell simply reduces my overall 'costume expense' category. I'm not sure this method is as strictly kosher as the 'asset' method above, but it seems fair and accurate, and I'll continue to use it until the auditor comes.

Neither way is it a profit center for me. OTOH, I have a bunch of hip scarves, videos, etc. that I bought wholesale to resell to my students, and I have to pay sales tax on those whether I sell them in the studio or online.

Originally Posted by Reinaa

I know Jillina does it as well as other professionals.

this.

she regularly sells her stuff & her troupes.

she doesn't give dets you have to contact her.

Think about Sandra's or Maria's websites, they have pages devoted to selling their used costumes. The pages are full of beautiful photographs of them in the costumes, I think the pages can do double duty for selling costumes and promoting the dancer:

Sandra -- Bellydance -- raks-sharki.com

Maria - Belly Dancer | San Jose - San Francisco Bay Area | Professional Oriental Bellydance

It is not unprofessional at all, in my opinion.
Some of these have been stated, but I agree with them:
- someone that has a website, and is obviously a dancer that has been around is probably viewed as more trustworthy
- a dancer that has beautiful, professional costumed pictures throughout her site probably seems more knowledgeable about the fit, style, etc.
- it is actually a very good marketing tool. I get much much more hits than for any other type of keywords. People from all over the word arrive at my site via costuming related keywords, the second one is dance class related and only the rest is fro actually hiring a dancer. Either way works, if they found me today for a costume, they may remember to hire me next time. Also I get a lot of order through emails for custom made costumes.
- definitely have nice pictures up with your make up pn, or I guess, you can always cut off your head from the picture, but I like full pictures more. Don't put on pictures that have you looking like you just woke up from all night of partying. Also pay attention to the background, a crowded living room full of furniture or a kitchen is not very professional. If you have a beautiful huge home, I guess it can look nice, but it's better to stand in front of a wall or a door or outside.
- you don't need to post your measurements. yes, you are going to post the bra is a b/c cup, and end to end is 34", but you don't need to say I am a 34 full C, my waist and hip measurements are XY. Most measurements are approximate - but I'm sure a customer can read between the lines or take a guess by looking at someone anyways. If you are an A cup and heavily pad your bras, you can still write: bra will fit A and up with padding, and small D with cleavage, for example. They will not know if your are A,B,C or D. So I don't think you are giving out top secrets.
- just because you are selling used costumes, you do not look less professional. People are often searching for bargains, and used costumes are perfect.

So I say go for it. Make sure you provide accurate details, especially tear and wear if they are used. Have lots of pictures from front/back and close ups.

Also think of Michelle Joyce. She has lots and lots of used Bellas for sale, regularly. Does that make her less professional? Definitely not! I, myself, as a dancer regard her even higher because I can see that she only deals with extreme high quality of costumes - which are expensive, and that justifies her rates, especially if they are higher than the local norms. So she actually backs up her words in negotiations with a page of her costumes! very smart!

I think that the more well known the dancer the easier it is to sell costumes on your own site.

If you are a local dancer (with a local following) then keep your costumes off your site.

As for people like Michelle, Jillina, and others who have national "belly-fame" the allure of owning one of their costumes may sell it even if the costume isn't to taste. Also understand that the websites of these dances are geared more to other dancers and not to clients/customers looking to book someone for their private party or restaurant.

Yes, I agree that your are targeting other dancers for your costumes, and not gp who is looking to hire a dancer. However if you have costumes on your site, just understand that everyone will see it - that's why you need to hold it up to professional standards. Here on Bhuz, we post pictures with weird backgrounds, pets (like my goat, hihi), no make up, socks on, but only because this site is geared towards other dancers. To us these are cute because we know each other (sort of).

As far as national fame. I definitely don't have that, not even sure about a small local following, but I still have costumes on my site, for the past 3 years, and people still find me via the costume pages. Like I said, about 60 % of people come to me via costume keywords - I often feel frustrated, because costume selling and making is not my main business, it's just a supplement. First I am a dancer, second a teacher and third costume seller / maker. But who cares how they find me.

As a dancer, I love to look at others' costumes. If I were looking to hire a bd, seeing them selling their costumes would seem pedestrian and take away some of the mystique.
Just my opinion.

Originally Posted by SatinWorship19

I don't know...I would feel a little bit creepy/weird about people knowing my measurements .w.:

this ^
but on the other hand - if clients see that it costs us hundreds of $ to get dressed, perhaps they will gain greater understanding of our pricing structures.

they will hopefully understand they are hiring a top notch professional production full of high end glitz and glamor, as apposed to the undercutting $30 6WW in a low grade psudo-costume

Originally Posted by sabrinabellydancer

this ^
but on the other hand - if clients see that it costs us hundreds of $ to get dressed, perhaps they will gain greater understanding of our pricing structures.

they will hopefully understand they are hiring a top notch professional production full of high end glitz and glamor, as apposed to the undercutting $30 6WW in a low grade psudo-costume

I know. I'm feeling really torn on the issue after reading Marianna's thoughts on Michelle Joyce!

If people can see and appreciate just how many gigs it takes to pay off just one Bella, then maybe it's OK to broadcast to the world just how many pounds of pillow stuffing goes into my bras! .w.:,r:;..l;,

hi everyone, thank you for your responses! I agree that I personally don't mind visiting a dancer's website and seeing a page for selling costumes. For me, there are a couple of extra factors:

- Selling second hand costumes in the Dutch bellydance scene is usually informal (on hafla's, through teachers, etc.). I'm not sure putting them on my website would help me sell second hand costumes, there are auction sites that are more suitable. Not international fame here!

-I might even add that the market for bellydance costumes over here sucks. A handful of dancers know what designercostumes are, several pro dancers have a Bella or Pharonix. but that's it. Dancers are looking for bargains in the 100-150 euro range, if it's more expensive it's more likely to sell to dancers in other EU countries. Adding costume pages to my german/English pages might be more useful.

- To me, showing how expensive my costumes are is not going to convince my clients to pay my rate. They might also say: 'wow, she's charging so much because of her costumes! Let's find another dancer with cheaper costumes, she might ask for less money!' It's the same reason I never go into lengthy discussions with clients why I charge what I charge. Ever went to a bakery, complained about the price of bread and get into a discussion about how expensive flour is?

- I agree that high quality photoshoot pictures are neccesary if you put a costume up on your website. I don't have pro-pics for every costume that I own. How about detailed shots about sweat and make-up stains, wear and tear, etc.? Not exactly charming for prospective clients!

I've been oogling costumes on websites from famous dancers and knowing that they wore that costume certainly made the costumes more attractive! Guess I have to become a famous bellydancer if I want to sell ..l;,

Originally Posted by mekyria

I agree that high quality photoshoot pictures are neccesary if you put a costume up on your website. I don't have pro-pics for every costume that I own. How about detailed shots about sweat and make-up stains, wear and tear, etc.? Not exactly charming for prospective clients!

I agree with this point. A way to get around it would be to post one high class photo of you wearing the costume to be sold and have a 'contact me' link so that people who are interested can get measurements, detail shots and info about possible damage. Then it's more like a photo gallery than a sales shop. It'd be worth it to me to get the extra costume related hits.

Yes do please. I am a cheap skate and love a second hand costume! As long as they are good pics I don't think it is bad for biz at all and in fact I think it can add by showing how much you are paying qfor costuming! Maybe next time those clients won't balk at the price of our entertainment value! ;-)