How it Works
Buying or Renting a Hat
Finding a hat for your upcoming race day is now easier than ever!
- Step 1 - Browse the hat listings until you find one you love.
- Step 2 - Click the Rent/Buy button found on the listing.
- Step 3 - In the 'Optional Message' field, give your hire dates and make payment.
Owners then have 3 days to accept or decline your request. Read this step-by-step guide for full details.
Hats are rented in 1 week blocks to give you time to try on the hat before your race day and make any final adjustments to your overall look. The 1 week block excludes shipping times, so you will have the hat for 7 days (e.g. receive hat on Tuesday and return post it the following Monday).
Renters are responsible for the return postage costs and must get parcel tracking. We also recommend getting insurance coverage in case your parcel is lost or damaged during transit.
If you want to save money on shipping or don't have time to wait for delivery, do a location search or view the listings in Map View to see if there are any hats available in your local area that you can pickup in person.
Selling or Lending a Hat
With Millinery Market, milliners can showcase their creativity and design skills to thousands of women every month. It's a great way to have your amazing work discovered and enjoyed by racegoers across the country. A lot of our milliners are also having success renting out their pieces to appeal to casual racegoers who often have a lower budget. See what these 6 milliners had to say about their experience using the platform.
Race enthusiasts who have previously invested in quality millinery are also welcome to list their existing hats, which can help fund your next bespoke millinery purchase. Please note that the total number of hats listed for rent will be capped to ensure no more than 20 hats produced by a single milliner are listed for rent on Millinery Market.
Listing your hat for sale or rent is easy, just click 'Sign up' in the menu to create an account and then click '+ List your item' and follow the prompts. The whole process takes less than 10 minutes. Read this step-by-step guide on how to create a new hat listing.
You then just need to add your bank account details to your profile settings, so you can receive payment directly into your bank account.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What items can I list?
You can list handmade millinery and any accessories.
The majority of the hat's materials must be handmade from scratch. This means hat bases must be blocked and fabric flowers hand tooled and crafted. Please do not list factory made hats as these items will be removed.
Accessories can include bags, belts, jewellery, brooches, gloves or any other accessory items to complete a race day look. At this stage we do not accept racewear (dresses, skirts, tops, etc.) - let us know if this is something you'd like and we may add it in the future.
All hats and accessories must be in a good, wearable condition and any defects must be clearly noted in the description with accompanying photos showing any defects. Millinery Market reserves the right to remove any listings that we feel do not cater to the needs of the community.
How do sellers and lenders get paid?
Millinery Market uses Stripe as our payment provider. Sellers and Lenders receive payment directly into their bank account (you do not require your own Stripe account). You can enter your bank account details on your profile settings page on the payments tab.
Should I wait until I receive the funds before shipping my hat?
As soon as you accept a booking, Stripe captures payment from the customer's credit card but it takes 3 business days to transfer the money to your bank account. Lenders should ship hats straight away to ensure the hat is delivered on time. Please don't wait for the money to arrive in your bank account.
What is a Milliner Badge? How can I get one?
Milliner badges help highlight hat listings by verified milliners. There are two types of badges; a milliner badge and a top rated milliner badge. Customers can filter hat listings by milliners if they'd prefer to rely on the services of a professional milliner.
To be eligible for a milliner badge, you need to:
- Run your own millinery business.
- Provide details (website URL, store location) on where you sell your hats.
- Set your Millinery Market display name to your trading name.
- Upload a profile image (of your face or logo) and complete your profile description.
If you meet the above requirements, please email your details to hello@millinerymarket.com and we will apply the milliner badge to your account. You will also have the opportunity to be featured in our Milliner Directory.
Milliners earn the top rated milliner badge once they have 5 or more reviews with an average review rating of 4.5 stars or higher.
How much does it cost to list an item for sale or rent?
- For hats listed by milliners (who have a milliner badge): 9% of the listing price or the following minimum fee depending on listing currency: AU $9, NZ $9, US $7, €6, £5.
- For hats listed by non-milliners: 13% of the listing price or the following minimum fee depending on listing currency: AU $13, NZ $13, US $10, €8, £7.
- For accessories: 13% of the listing price or the following minimum fee depending on listing currency: AU $6, NZ $6, US $4, €4, £3.
Without a service fee, Millinery Market wouldn't be able to exist. The fee helps to cover the following:
- Website running costs
- New feature software development
- Marketing and promotion
- Site admin and customer service
- Staff and contractor labour
- Buyer and lender protection (insurance)
Why do milliners get reduced service fees?
In short ... because they're awesome. Without milliners, there wouldn't be any beautiful hats for us to enjoy. Milliners operate on thin enough margins as it is, so we help support our milliners by reducing their service fees. The higher service fees for non-milliner listings are used to subsidise milliner listings.
Can milliners list hats that are also listed on their own website? How to avoid a double sale?
Yes many of our milliners list their hats both on Millinery Market and their own site. It's a great way to get your hats in front of more people.
You don't need to worry about selling the same hat to two different people. When a customer orders a hat on Millinery Market, the seller/lender has 3 days to either accept or reject the request. If you've already sold the hat on your own website, you can reject the request to avoid a double sale. Otherwise, you can remove the listing on your own site and then accept the request.
Can a customer pay me directly outside of Millinery Market?
All payments must be cashless and processed through Millinery Market's payment gateway. This ensures payments are processed securely and allows Millinery Market to mediate and monitor transactions. It also ensures lenders are eligible for Millinery Market's Lender's Protection. Transacting outside of Millinery Market is a violation of our terms of use agreement and will result in offending users being banned from the platform.
How much should I charge for hat rentals?
As a guide, rental hats typically rent for between 15% and 25% of the retail value (e.g. a hat with a retail value of $400 might rent for between $60 and $100). You can browse other similar hat listings to get an idea of what others are charging. In the end, the price you charge should simply be whatever amount makes it worthwhile for you.
Who pays for postage?
Sellers and lenders are responsible for paying postage to the buyer/renter. Renters are responsible for the return postage. You can check postage costs with your local post office or their website. Generally it will be around $15 to $20 depending on the weight of the hat.
Who pays if the parcel is lost or damaged during transit?
The owner assumes the risk of loss or damage when the item is in transit from the owner to the customer. The renter assumes the risk of loss or damage when the item is in transit from the renter back to the owner.
Millinery Market Lender's Protection does not cover items lost or damaged in transit, so users are encouraged to get postal insurance coverage to reduce their risk. The coverage amount should be enough to cover the major damage/replacement fee as specified on the listing's terms of hire. Postal insurance generally costs around $2 per $100 of coverage depending on the provider.
How much time should I allow for postage?
Please note that posting your hat can take between 2 and 5 business days or even longer depending on where you are posting it to. Lenders should take shipping times into consideration when accepting bookings that are close together. You can get an estimate of shipping times between specific postcodes here.
I'm new to racing fashion. Can I get some help with choosing a hat?
Millinery Market offers complimentary stylist advice to help you choose a hat. Just send an email to hello@millinerymarket.com with your location and a photo of you wearing your outfit and Milano will get back to you within 24 hours with 3 to 5 potential options. Milano is an experienced race enthusiast and has an eye for what will work well together.
Can I cancel my rental order and what are the fees?
You cannot cancel a rental order after it has been posted. If you wish to cancel an order before the agreed postage date, please check the listing's 'Terms of Hire'. Listings that have 'flexible' or 'moderate' terms are free to cancel, however, listings that have 'strict' terms will incur a cancellation fee.
COVID update: If your event is cancelled due to COVID, renters may cancel their order before it has been sent without incurring a cancellation fee. If the rental hat has already been posted, the renter is eligible for a full refund excluding the postage costs.
Which countries can use the platform? Can I rent/buy from someone overseas?
Millinery Market is mainly used by sellers/lenders located in Australia, New Zealand, United States, United Kingdom and Ireland. Our payment processing system accepts debit/credit card payments from every country, so anyone can make a purchase regardless of their location.
If you live outside the five countries mentioned above and want to list your hats, please email us to see if your country is supported. We can currently make payments into owner's bank accounts in 21 countries.
Members should also check whether they will need to pay any import tax. In New Zealand, GST (15%) plus import entry fees are payable if the hat's declared value plus postage costs and insurance is NZ $400 or higher. In Australia, GST (10%) plus import entry fees are payable if the declared value plus postage costs and insurance is AU $1,000 or higher.
What if the renter damages or doesn't return my hat?
While Millinery Market helps to connect you with potential renters, please note that if you decide to participate in a rental, you do so at your own risk. All hat listings have a 'Terms of Hire' section, which shows the listing's cancellation policy, minor damage fees, major damage/replacement fees and late return fees.
If your rental hat is damaged or not returned, you should contact the renter directly and request payment of the damage/replacement fee as agreed to in the listing's 'Terms of Hire'. If you are unable to recover the applicable fees from the renter, you may be eligible for Millinery Market Lender's Protection (see next question below).
We recommend only renting out hats where you wouldn't feel devastated if something unfortunate were to happen to it. Hats that you've worn multiple times but you aren't ready to part with yet are ideal items to list. It's also a good idea to avoid listing hats that have delicate features such as feathers that can be damaged during shipping. Strong hats made of durable materials such as leather make good rentals.
Also note that Millinery Market has a review ratings system. If you want to be extra careful, only rent to users with a positive review history.
During the rental period, if your rental hat or accessory is stolen, not returned or damaged beyond repair and you are unable to recover the replacement fee from the renter, Millinery Market will cover you for 3 times the weekly rental rate up to the following maximum coverage amount depending on listing currency: AU $200, NZ $200, US $150, €120, £120. This is in addition to the original rental fee that you would have received from the renter.
Please contact Millinery Market immediately with details of the incident so we can ban the offending user from the platform and report the incident to the relevant authorities.
Example: A renter has lost your AU $60/week rental hat. On your hat listing, you specified 'Strict' terms of hire and a retail value of AU $375, so the renter owes you AU $300 (80% of AU $375). The renter refuses to pay the replacement fee. Millinery Market will pay you AU $180 (3 x AU $60/wk) and you would have already received the original AU $60 rental booking, so in total you will recover AU $240 of the AU $300 replacement fee.
If you submit a claim for a hat or accessory that is damaged beyond repair (a complete write-off), you will need to email us photos of the damaged item. If a claim is approved, we reserve the right to take ownership of the damaged item, and may request you to post the item to us (Millinery Market will cover the postage cost).
Please note that minor damage or damage that is repairable is not covered under the Millinery Market Lender's Protection. Lenders need to recover these minor damage fees directly from the renter. We recommend lenders set aside a portion of the rental income to fund minor repairs and general wear and tear.
Also note that parcels lost or damaged in transit aren't covered under Millinery Market Lender's Protection. Users are encouraged to get postal insurance coverage when posting their item.
All lenders are eligible for Lender's Protection provided they receive payment through the platform and communicate about the order through the platform.
For rentals, the hire cost is non-refundable so please choose carefully. A good tip is to ask the lender to send photos of the hat being worn. You can also use the PicCollage app to visualise how your hat will look with your outfit. For hat sales, please check the seller's refund policy in their terms of sale before placing an order.
If you have ordered a hat with an agreed delivery date, it is up to the lender to post it allowing enough time for your hat to arrive. If it doesn't arrive in time for your special event, then please contact the lender and ask for a full refund. The lender is also responsible for the return postage cost.
Accidents can happen. Imagine rocking up to a race day in your newly borrowed percher only to have a rogue bird fly into it. Or someone manages to spill a beer on your head... hey anything can happen right?
Unfortunately though, as a renter you are responsible for any accidents. Please notify your lender and you may be required to pay a fee up to the damage/replacement cost specified in the lender's Terms of Hire.
When hiring out someone's precious millinery, please take good care of it. Don't pass it around for everyone to try on, don't get it wet in the rain, don't leave it around on tables and package it carefully for return postage. Treat their hat how you would like yours to be treated.