DreamsRecycled offers outlet for unwanted rings, dresses after divorce

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Website offers outlet for unwanted rings, dresses after divorce
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Orlando Sentinel's Sara Clarke on FOX35 discussing a business that allows divorcees to sell items from past relationships.
By Sara K. Clarke, Orlando Sentinel
8:03 p.m. EDT , October 10, 2013
[b][url=][/url][/b] Fresh off a divorce, Orlando stay-at-home mom Tiffany Beverlin had a dream one night about unsuccessfully trying to sell her 2.5-carat engagement ring.
[b][url=][/url][/b] As she slept, she says she literally dreamt up the idea for her business: an online website where divorc&eacute;es can sell the toxic assets of their past relationships, using the money from selling diamonds or wedding gowns to finance their new dreams.
[b][url=][/url][/b] "Why keep going into your closet and seeing your wedding dress there? Why go into your jewelry box and see your wedding ring?" asked Beverlin, 43. "We try to focus on the positive aspects of moving on."
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[b]<a href=""></a>[/b] DreamsRecycled.com serves more than just jilted lovers. There are prom dresses, bridesmaid dresses, communion gowns and other items Beverlin calls "dream" items: the things you spend a lot of money on but use just once or twice.
[b][url=][/url][/b] "We're a nation of hoarders. We hang on to all this stuff until, basically, it's worth nothing," she said.
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[b][url=][/url][/b] There is no fee to list merchandise, but Beverlin takes a 7 percent commission. She said she expects to turn a profit by March, the company's one-year anniversary.
DreamsRecycled isn't the only website of its kind, but it is perhaps the latest in a string of dump-the-relics-of-your-failed-relationship websites. The businesses attempt to give consumers an alternative to pawnshops or to broader online sales outlets such as eBay or Craigslist.
Among them are IDoNowIDon't.com, whose founder says he came home from work to find his fianc&eacute;e's belongings gone, all except the engagement ring he had given her. When he tried to sell it back to the store, the offer was "staggeringly low," prompting him to start his ring-resale site.
Then there's ExboyfriendJewelry.com &mdash; a site that features all types of baubles from boyfriends (and girlfriends). In an effort to keep the selling cathartic, the site requires sellers to share the story of the ill-fated item.
Lana Powell, a professor of business at Valencia College who specializes in entrepreneurship, said the key to success for such a website is good marketing to lure customers &mdash; buyers and sellers alike.
"Finding these people is going to be a little tricky," she said.
And of course, when it comes to the rings, Beverlin will have to get past the somewhat unromantic nature of shopping online for what is meant to be a symbol of everlasting love.
Steven Kirn, executive director of the Miller Center for Retailing Education &amp; Research at the University of Florida, said his retailing-management class studied jewelry buying. It evaluated the experience of using the online diamond retailer BlueNile.com versus shopping at Tiffany's.
Perhaps not surprisingly, there are gender differences in the results. Men were not that moved by Tiffany's, while women preferred the brick-and-mortar stores.
"They didn't like the idea of this thing sort of being done sitting in front of your laptop," Kirn said. "It was practical, but it wasn't fun."
Nevertheless, DreamsRecycled.com worked for customer Rebecca Raymond, who sold a semiformal dress for $100. She says the site appealed to her more than the giant e-commerce site eBay.
"I just thought it was more personable and maybe I could get a little more money for my item the way the website was advertising itself," she said. "I posted it and within really a matter of days, it sold."
But sales don't always happen that quickly. Proof in point: Beverlin's 2.5-carat diamond ring, the one that started it all, is still listed on the site for $32,000.
The sales description gives the story behind the solitaire.
"This is THE Ring that started this company," it reads. "If you have reached this page you are witnessing my dreams coming true. Having my own business, helping other women in my situation becoming independent again after their divorces. So I personally wish you all success in everything you dream."
[email protected] or 407-420-5664
Copyright &copy; 2013, Orlando Sentinel
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Meeeoowww at 2:44 PM October 11, 2013
WOW, most of these posters, so far, are very critical of her business. Can it be that they are all bitter, divorced men???
mictay at 2:32 PM October 11, 2013
.....my mother always said..."If you don't have something nice to say about someone.....!!!"
Captain J at 9:47 AM October 11, 2013
Ouch! I just went and checked out a few of the sites listed. LOL, these people are nuts if they think they can sell their used stuff for retail pricing. It just isn't happening. What is it with women and jewelry? They get that they have to mark their $2,500 wedding dress down to $200 in order to sell it, but that $1000 necklace is only marked down to $800? LOL, yeah right! Sorry folks, but 20-30% off isn't going to sell unless you're a brick and mortar where I can go back and get a refund if something isn't right.This site will be around for a few years, just because it's cheap to maintain. Not because it's successful. And as for the reason why people list there stuff at a site like these rather than on ebay??? My guess is it's because they're trying to push it in their ex's face. It's just that simple. They may or may not want to actually sell their ring, but they want their ex to believe they don't care about it or them any more.
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