What to Do with Old Halloween Costumes: Resell to Ravers | Raveival

Every Halloween, millions of costumes get worn once and thrown away. An estimated 35 million Halloween costumes are discarded in the U.S. each year. But costumes don’t have to be single-use, especially in the rave and festival scene, where creative, themed looks are worn year-round. Here’s why selling your old costumes is better for your wallet, the planet, and someone else’s next event.

The Environmental Cost of Single-Use Halloween Costumes

Treating Halloween costumes as single-use outfits poses serious impacts to the environment.

• Natural Resource Use: Halloween costumes are often made from synthetic, plastic-based fabrics like polyester, nylon, and spandex, which require lots of water, energy, and fossil fuels to produce.
• Microfiber Pollution: Costumes made from plastic-based materials like polyester shed millions of microfibers during the wash cycle, which can make their way to our waterways and become ingested by aquatic wildlife.
• Toxic Chemical Pollution: The vibrant dyes and finishes used in Halloween costumes often contain harmful chemicals that may harm these delicate aquatic ecosystems.

Why Selling Your Old Halloween Costumes Is Better Than Donating

One of the best ways to counter the environmental impact of Halloween costumes is to sell your costumes on Raveival! Music festivals and raves are places where costumes are worn all year, so our marketplace is the perfect place for your retired costumes.

By selling on Raveival, you are giving costumes a second chance, reducing the demand for new fashion production, and cutting down waste.

How to Sell Halloween Costumes on Raveival

Don’t let your old costumes haunt your closet! Follow these steps to sell your costumes right from your phone.

1. Photograph the Costume: Focus on lighting and show off any unique details or features. We recommend photographing by a window to accurately capture the costume’s color. Your costume will sell more quickly if you take good photos.
2. Write a Description: Include the brand and adjectives that describe the costume’s color, fabric, fit, etc.
3. Set a Price: You can use our Pricing Recommendation Tool to find a fair price. This tool calculates a suggested resale price based on the costume’s quality and its original retail price.

Which Costumes Sell Best Year-Round?

The costumes that we see most often being worn in the festival and rave scene are cartoon/anime characters, fairy looks, and anything and everything silly.

Halloween, raves, and music festivals don’t have to mean new costumes (and more waste) every year. At Raveival, we’re helping create a festival and rave scene that’s silly and sustainable. Recycle your past costumes with Raveival to earn back your money and help us keep Halloween, festivals, and raves eco-friendly and endlessly creative. Whether you’re selling last year’s costume or hunting for something fresh, Raveival has your sustainable costume fix. List your costume today or browse secondhand costumes.