How to Sell Your Hair for Cash
Photo credit:
c_pichler / Flickr I first read of selling hair in Les Miserables when Fantine sold her head of gold to clothe her daughter Cosette. The hair trade just seems like such an archaic idea, but actually high quality hairpieces are still made from real human hair and there is a huge market for sourcing natural hair. Here are some tips and information on how to sell your tresses for cash. (See also: 8 Fun Ways to Make Money)
1. Leave your hair untreated
Most wig makers want "virgin hair" that has no chemical treatment. Virgin hair is generally less damaged and would last longer in a hair piece. They also look more natural and could stand additionally treatment. So if you want to sell your hair, make sure you do not dye, perm, or bleach it.
2. Grow your hair out
Generally you need at least 10 inches of hair to be able to make a sale. This is because natural hair is usually not the same length and not all the hair is usable. Hair buyers generally want long continuous lengths of hair to make extensions and wigs.
3. Take good care of yourself and your hair
Healthy hair that shines fetch a better price in the open market. Some basic tips I have read are to brush your hair gently, eat well, and do not take any drugs since hair retains traces of the drugs you take. Also, it is best not to shampoo your hair every day because that would strip your hair of its natural oils. Smoking is also detrimental to your hair because the scent usually stays long after you light up a cigarette.
4. List and market your hair
Hairwork [will be discontinued as of 2016] and Online Hair Affair are two sites that specialize in hair trading classifieds. The first site costs $20 to post an ad, and the second offers listings starting at $10. They allow you to post a description of your hair, pictures, and your price. It is usually recommended that you get paid first and then cut your hair at a professional salon and bundle the hair in a pony tail or braid. You could also try to auction your hair on eBay or post a classified ad on Craigslist, but I think your chances are much better on the sites specializing in hair.
How much can you make? The price buyers are willing to pay really depends on the color, length, and quality of your hair. Also, if you market it well you would have better results. Some sold listings have great photographs and descriptions. For example, one woman on specified that she grew her hair with the intention to sell and took very good care of it, and she managed to sell it for over $1000 in just a week. It took her four years to grow that hair, but $1000 is still a good return on something that is fairly painless to give up. It also seems that her research into the hair trade led to a healthy lifestyle, and that is a great bonus for her.
If you are cutting your long locks but do not want to sell it, you can always donate it to Locks of Love. This is a great charity that makes wigs for children who have lost their hair due to cancer and other diseases. Since wigs are considered cosmetic they are not covered by insurance and a lot of families cannot afford a wig made from human hair. The wigs Locks of Love gives out really provide self esteem for affected children. Their guideline for hair donation is posted here.
In closing, I think if you already have beautiful long hair and need a bit of cash, selling those locks is definitely something you should look into. It is quite profitable and definitely much less painful than selling any other body part.
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Yet another cool post from Xin Lu. How do you do it?
Exercise and plenty of sleep Linsey.
"I first read of selling hair in Les Miserables when Fantine sold her head of gold to clothe her daughter Corsette."
Me too!
Another worthy cause to donate your hair to is Pantene Beautiful Lengths. They use it to make wigs for women who have lost their hair to cancer.
I've read on many websites that Locks of Love is not everything people think. They graciously take the hair, but they don't give it away, they sell it at a hefty profit. The other one mentioned, well I haven't looked into them at all, but LoL should be avoided as far as I'm concerned. I'll cut my 20" hair off and throw it in the trash if it's not worthy enough to sell, but I'll NEVER give it to LoL.
I sent my hair in to Pantene Beautiful Lengths a few years ago because i found out they help anyone in need of hair on matter the reason and it is free. so i felt good about that but now i have my son and my man who both grew their hair out to donate so i was googleing and found this. so i went to check out hair trader and it is upgrading i guess so it sounds to me like they should be bigger and better to help us all out. hope it is soon! sounds like selling is the way to go. hope they don't start charging when they come back up. i do think that LoL are not what people once thought. really we want a vacation and to bring a little joy in to the world. hope people get what they want. if you have long hair and are able to care for it, love it show it off, no one has a right to tell you to cut it. that is just crazy! i cut mine because of headaches it helped. well i hope i didn't put you to sleep. loved this add never felt the need to put in my 2 cents. thanks
As someone who recently cut her own waist length hair for a charitable donation, I would ask that people not donate to Locks of Love. A quick google search and review of thier financial records shows that despite them taking in huge amounts of hair, they make very few wigs and charge those that they give them to.
If you really want to donate for a good cause, sell the hair you cut and donate the money to the appropriate place.
I could not disagree with you more! My younger sister was a recipient of a wig from Locks of Love. Although my parents are middle class (I was not even eligible for financial aid in college), the wig was still provided free of charge. Fortunately, my sister's hair grew back, but Locks of Love committed to making her a new wig every year-and-a-half as her head grew until the age of 18. The quality of wig that they make is truly unbelievable - it looks like a natural head of hair right down to the scalp and my sister could even wear hers swimming without it falling off. I have donated my hair twice and I will continue to do so. If you are thinking about cutting your long hair, please send it to Locks of Love. You will help improve a child's self-esteem!
i'm glad you mentioned that (locks of love) because my sister has 14" of natural brown hair that she's wanting to sell so that she can help cancer patience and return, earn cash to help pay for utilities, groceries, etc. as her current job isn't doing so great and the economy is so aweful, no one is hiring!!!!
I have been told by people over and over to give my hair to locks of love, i do not believe that they help as many as they "could" so I am selling my hair and splitting the money to a local animal shelter and buying a new TV. I get a lot of dirty looks but I dont see any of these people donating the amount of money I am about to... Thanks for the suggestion.
Rach
please help me where to sell my hair can u plz send me a number, plz help me Thank you
Rosalinda Virgen
I agree with the post about NOT donating hair to Locks of Love. Very little of what they do is actually given to children in need. If someone would like to donate their hair to a child in need, please consider Wigs For Kids at www.wigsforkids.org. This organization was established by a fellow who wanted to help his own niece. Everything they do is for the kids, and the wigs are free to those who need them.
Pantene Locks of Love is a donation charity about which I have read more positive comments. I ahve read that Locks of Love resells their donations.
Great tip, I just sent this too a friend at work but she was a little offended.
A minor point, but the Les Miserables daughter is Cosette, not Corsette.
Yes. Considering the seriousness of the subject matter in this particular conversation, Eng. Lit. Spell Check-ing is definitely an arbitrary and counterproductive tangent.
I first heard about selling hair in an O. Henry story called the Gift of the Magi or something like that. The woman sells her hair so that she can buy a chain for her husband's pocket watch, only to find that her husband had sold his watch to buy her haircombs. Its a lovely story.
yup I read that story, too. It's pretty sad.
Hi I'm Ron. Where and how do I sell men's hair in Orange county California? Male hair is it worth more?
I grow my hair long, and have worn it long for years: I was also a paid ovum donor. If I had the choice between cutting off my hair or being an ova donor again, I'd be an ova donor every time! Not because it was easy, but because it's far easier emotionally than cutting off my hair.
While I agree that selling hair could raise cash, just keeping your long beautiful hair can save you money, too. I save money over the longer term by having a long, classic hairstyle, not paying for frequent cuts, color, or treatments, and not buying hairdryers or straighteners.
Easier emotionally to be a biological mother to children you will never meet than to donate hair that will grow back? I find it very hard to relate to this comment.
Having children all over the place that you will never know is a less emotional experience than that of a HAIRCUT? I guess they got right kind of candidate they were looking for to donate some eggs!
I've actually found that Locks of Love is reputable:
Locks of Love @ Charity Navigator
I don't know if this is true or not but I heard recently that Locks of Love charges for thier wigs. After donating mine to them a few years back, I really hope that it is not true.
The info at Charity Navigator is almost 2 years old. Check at squido.com/locksoflove lots of research in one place. They only deal w/children 18 *under w/ long-term hair loss. Cancer patients are not on their list.
Wow, but i dont think i can sell my hair. it just seems wrong
Would you sell your clipped toe nails? Same thing.
Bald people don't need toe nails they need hair!
LOL is NOT for cancer, it's intended for allopecia. Wrong info to make others feel guilty about having long hair so they'll just chop it off and hand it over. LOL does sell most of the hair they receive, so in essence why don't you sell your own hair? At least your intentions would be honest. People have been using hair for wigs for thousands of years. You can decide if you want to sell it or donate where you choose. I've worked w people on thehairtrader site and that is a great site by the way. Some of the content from this blog is from their site and their articles.
I can't believe this article describes Locks of Love as a "great" charity. Among the inaccuracies:
First, Locks of Love only provides wigs for children with "long-term hair loss," usually alopecia areata, NOT KIDS WITH CANCER. This information can be found on their own website, which this article links to.
Second, Locks of Love DOES NOT MAKE WIGS. Also from their website: "Locks of Love is not a manufacturer of any type of hair replacement product or hair care product. As a charity and strictly a charity, we must purchase the custom prostheses we provide for our recipients." They resell the hair you send them, provide a few kids who DON'T have cancer with wigs, and pocket a nice salary. If you're really interested in helping out kids with cancer, sell your hair and donate the proceeds to the MAKE A WISH FOUNDATION, a REPUTABLE charity.
Sorry if I seem rabid about this, but I have knee-length hair, and I'm sooo tired of people telling me I should cut it off and send it to a bunch of scammers.
It's perfectly fine to leave your hair long. It's a personal choice.. If one would like to consider cutting or even selling or donating their hair, I would suggest selling their hair and then you can donate the money to for any cause or charity of their preference. Yes.. it's true. You must check out the charities. I sold my hair on Thehairtrader.com site. I was paid great money. The service is great and they are not thieves. They dont even charge for their service! They help people to raise money when in need or for their cause, that's what they did for me. I was able to help out a few causes and i was able to rescue a couple dogs too. I've checked out other sites and they are junk and a couple wanna be's- I had more traffic on my hairtrader ad than i did for my myspace page!!!
I also have knee-length hair and donated 2 feet of hair several years ago to LOL. I had a great friend when I was young that suffered from alopecia so for me it was an easy decision. My daughter has donated twice. One time it was 17 inches long, and the second time it was 15 inches. (We are hair factories here in this house, our poor drains!) My husband also donated 18 inches when he finally decided to cut his all off.
People should do their research before donating to any charity.
Furthermore, people should remember to not make comments to those of us with long hair on what they think we should do with it. Its frankly nobody's business whether or not I should donate it. When I tell them how much I have donated before, followed by asking them how much they have donated, they usually get a clue. But it is VERY annoying. Should I ever decide to cut it again...I will sell it. Seems like a fair thing to do since I am the one caring for it. Plus it has never been dyed, permed, or otherwise chemically treated and I don't own a blow dryer, straightener, or curling iron. Cheers.
http://www.wigsforkids.org/ in my opinion is everything people think Locks of Love is. Wigs for Kids hand make wigs for children and adults who have lost their hair due to cancer or other medical reasons. And the people who receive their wigs are not charged any money. If you want to donate your hair do a bit of research first, there are several lesser known charities out there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/06/fashion/06locks.html I think many people would be enlightened by this New York Times article. I know I was shocked to find out that 80% of the hair sent to Locks of Love is thrown away or sold. According to the article Locks of Love made $1.9 million from hair sales from 2001 to 2006, and took in another $3.4 million in donations. That's astounding.
Excellent blog BTW.
Just cut and sell your own hair and then donate the money you get to the charity of your choice, because then you know that it is truly for a good cause and there is no way you are getting scammed.
I donated over a year ago but I was more financially stable then. Now I want to sell 10 inches of my hair. I have never ever dyed or permed my hair. It has always been totally natural. I don't even blow dry. It is also very thick and curly.
How much should I charge?
Seriously? How much should you "charge"? Nice.
I've always donated to locks of love as well. just recently found out that they make millions on peoples hair,and throw it away at times.so...times are tuff here at home and i would like to sale my hair now.but it seems that i can't find ayone one to answer my posts.can anyone tell me where to go???? thanks for all the insite nytimes> tara
They sell the hair to a company overseas that turn the hair into wigs and they do make a lot of money. You can not believe how much money that they make.A girl or woman should sell there hair and get paid for it . Do not give it to someone for free. Yes , they do throw a lot of the hair away .
I have been giving buzzcuts to woman who desire to sell their hair. I have done 12 in the last 4 yeears, I pay very well, so If your interested please contact myself
Cutting is a one-time shot, and then it's gone for years. If you enjoy your hair, keep it. At most, you'll receive pennies for each day of growth.
looking to sell my hair and live in county durham do you know of any were that i can do this. if you are in this area how do i go about the cutting of my hair. and what sort of price range would we be looking at? please get back to me and let me know.
Hi Tom I have been trying to sell my on the Hair Trader for some time now......If your are serious maybe we can talk..
I'm living @Atlanta ,GA. How I can sell my hair . My hair is layer. The longest is about 20 inches. ( 27 inches from the top ).
How do I do it, and how much do you pay?
I am looking at selling my daughter's hair and I was wondering if you would be willing to help me out with some insight or information regarding this, She has strawberry blond hair and it is roughly 16 inches for root to tip and I was wondering if you would be interested and if so how much would it go for?
I am looking at cutting 12 inches off. So if you would not mind responding and giving me a bit of insight on what I should do and how to go about doing so. I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you for the time to read this as well as your time in replying to it as well
Krys Anderson.
My hair is past my knees. I anm the mother of 4 boys and I need to get rid of my hair. It almost takes as much time as my boys.
Kimberly Carillo-contact me at jimslim306@yahoo.com
I'm looking for long women's hair.
If yours is available still, please send me
some pictures.
Thank you,
Ant
Taking care of your hair should be a joint project when you are a mom. It might become a special time for the both of you. It has worked well for me and my wife for many years!!
I am a reporter in Phoenix looking for someone who has sold hair in my area. If you could in any way help out or point me in the right direction I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks so much.
Liz Lastra
480 862 4765
Des anyone buy gray hair?
I have just found out that i can sell hair lol don't know where to go saw your ad, please let me know what you are looking for and where you are located,i live in conyers,ga, i had about 12inches to cut off soon!!it has been color treated, but i hardly ever blow dry or use curling iron mostly air dry and set to long to set anymore,never used drugs,it is auburn in color,please get back to me..thank you Maria
I would I like to sell my hair,please contact me at www.goodgirlm8@aol.com
Just wanted to know if you still buy hair my hair is waist lenght and I'm very interested in selling it. Please e-mail me and let me know what your criteria is.
i have all shades in all sizes for sale.....triple rubber banded.....no knots or snarls.......most of them hair is over 10 inches long...some longer some shorter but all in great shape.....about 3lbs......all in all....interested?......sofiacavanaugh@yahoo.com
I am looking to sell my hair. 10-12 inches of natural red hair long beautiful and healthy. email me if u are interested
i have long dark brown wavy hair and am interested in selling it, could you please get back with me and let me know more aboout it? thank you..
I may be interested in selling my hair sometime in the near future. I see you posted your comment a long time ago but if you are still interested I would like to possibly see if we could work something out
Hi Im 31years old always had long hair,never ever died, bleached,ect...my hairs all natural. Its blondeish/brown. As a kid it was very blonde as I got older it got darker. Im just sick of it,its sooo thick, its a pain. So I just chop it off. Was thinking of locks of love but didn't hear the greatest things. I could use some money,mother of 3. I would say what I cut is 12 to 14 inches. If interested email me back could send picture.
i have roughly 25-28 inches of auburn/red hair how can i go about selling my hair it is virgin no blow dryer no gels only wash and cond. 3 times a week if you would like to get ahold of me to talk about it then you can call me at 1(760)288-6827 that is in Ca.
I would like to sell my hair, Can you email me back so I can get more info, I have really pretty thick long wavy hair, I can send you a Picture if you like, Thanks
hello i9m ontrested in saling my very long hair can you please get back to me and let me know asap
I want to sell my hair.Dont have a computer.Call me at 205 412 7016
Please send information on how to sell hair.
How much do you pay for 12" untreated, well quality hair? Just wondering since one of my freinds wants to donate hair after I did, and we want to see if I made a mistake or not :), I just saw a comment that I liked, we can sell the hair and then donate an amount to the charity!! :)
ok i am a guy name alex diaz and while i was trying to donate my hair and i hear is a lots of scammers outhere,well i have a little bit over 15 inches of long kerly brown hair and is nice and thick hair that i would love to sell for a little bit if cash,so if you are interested in seen my and buying my hair just email me and let me no,my email is< alexdiazm2009@yahoo.com>thank you?
I want to sell my long male hair. I have brown hair that is about 10 inches long. If you are still buying hair please contact me on my cell # 832-468-6716
Thanks,
Justin S.
could you please tell me your procedure? i am interested in selling my hair. thank you
I am considering selling about 12-16 inches of my long natural dirty blond hair. I have been unsuccessful in finding a place to do it so far. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Hi Tom. I've donated my hair 2 times to Lol. Just had 10 inches cut off last week. My hairdresser knows I don't have very much money, so she gave me my hair & told me alot of people would but it and not to donate it this time. I've been growing it out for over a year. It's never been colored . A couple times I received a body perm as a teenager, that was over 20 years ago. My hair is brown & very thick. It's in a pony tail from the day I got it cut last tues..What's the most I could get for my hair?
Thanks so much for your time,
Desiree
Hi there!
May I ask do you know where can I sell hair in person? I live in Dallas. I have 4 set of 10 inch hair wanted to donate but wigs for kids don't want to take it since they need 12 inch up. Would you please let me know. Thanks!
KEEP your long hair, Ladies! It's the best beauty decision a woman can make.
guys like you just make me want to lop my hair off all the sooner. boy cut, did you say? or the classic pixie?
also, per your other comment, it doesn't take "years" to grow back. it takes about 15 minutes, depending on the lady.
umm, FYI, locks of love does not GIVE the hair pieces away. they sell them. they sell a lot of hair. they even take gray hair to sell, to 'off set the cost of manufacturing', they say. locks of love makes it sound like they 'give' the hair pieces away, when they don't.
Hi I have just been told to come and look at this site as i have got long hair and at the minute it is for sale on Ebay. It only has 16 hours left and now im quit worried that it is not going to sell. It has 1 bid so far so i think i might take it off.
Please help what should i do. It is medium/dark brown and was coloured once about 18months ago. I dont smoke drink or do drugs, I am wanting to keep my hair a little shorter than shoulder length as i couldnt bare to have none as it hasnt been cut in 6 years.
I am selling it in aid of the donna louise children's hosice trust.
The Trust provides family rooms that allow families to be together at a time when, otherwise, they would face enormous emotional and practical upheaval as a child reaches end of life. At the moment the Hospice can only afford to keep open 6 out of their 8 rooms due to its lack of public funding. It costs £150,000 a year to keep just one open. The rooms are also used on a rotational basis - serving as respite facilities for one or two weeks at a time.
There is a waiting list of 200 families. if you would like any more information on treetops go to
www.donnalouisetrust.org and click on th treetops link.
Please Help
Manda x
Is it harder to sell curly hair? I have extremely curly hair which makes it hard to grow extremely long, but I imagine I could 10 inches. Thanks!
I wish I'd learned of this hair selling thing sooner. I just got mine cut last night probably about 15 inches!!!
how much did u get for it?
It's not that difficult finding buyers for hair at least 12" long or longer. There are various ways for the buyer to resell it for a profit.
If anyone is interested in any further information, please contact me.
I am interested in selling my hair to raise money for ecology volunteer trips, and have ran into some trouble finding a legit buyer. I have an ad on TheHairTrader.com listing # 263734. I don't know anywhere else to go I have searched and searched. any help?
please contact me looking to sell about 12in color auburn,color treated, no drugs no blow drying or curling iron
do you know of anyplace in michigan where i could go to sell my hair? i do not want to do it through the internet. thank you
If you still want to sell ur hair here in Michigan let me know i may buy.
I seen that you were interested in human hair please contact me if still interested.
Email me if you are still interested in buying hair.
My hair is about 18" long,brown and wavy. Never died or permed, make an offer.
Hi I just cut about 12 to 14 inches. Always had long hair for 31years all natural never died,bleached,ect...Just sick of it. Its blondeish/brown, as a kid it was very blonde as I got older it got darker. Its straight and very thick,never even did the blow dryer thing just washed and go.Was going to donate to locks of love but didn't hear good things.
I would like to sell my hair, Can you email me back so I can get more info, I have really pretty thick long wavy hair, I can send you a Picture if you like, Thanks
Hi I am interested in selling my locks. I recently had my braid cut off and it is 27" long. It is "Virgin hair" and I never even blow dried it. I am First Nations and my hair is dark brown/reddish (my hair turns reddish in the summer and is thick too) I live in Canada could you send me some info on where I can sell my braid.
I have sold my hair about 3 different times now and I think it is easy money. any can do it, just take care of it.
where did you sell your hair, how much did you get per inch, and what method of payment did you accept?
Listen everyone, this is not a board for selling hair. Please read the article for details as to where you can sell your hair.
Hi,
I'm not looking to sell my hair. I'm just trying to understand how this works. So, I understand you can sell your hair on thehairtrader.com. I understand that you should ask for cash only too. But, how do you receive the cash? If the person lives in another state, it's not really easy for you to meet and get the cash. Can you use PayPal?
Also, does precut hair sell better than hair that's cut after it's sold?
Thanks!
This is a blog informing you that you can sell hair and where you can sell your hair. The two places are mentioned, this is NOT A FORUM for SELLING hair, hello.. You want information then GO TO THE SOURCE THAT CAN ACTUALLY HELP YOU.. She's mentioned the name of the two sites, go ask THEM! I've looked at this and if you don't get competitive bids from all hair buyers, then TOM will just rip you off!
I just posted my hair on thehairtrader.com last night... so far so good. I had 100 views and 5 offers overnight.
http://www.thehairtrader.com/viewlisting~lid~258055.htm
You've made a mistake about Locks of Love.
I can't explain everything here except that it has NOTHING to do with cancer and they make a lot of money - just check the wikipedia page's criticisms. Seriously.
Spread the knowledge.
Please do not post advertisements or requests for hair. These comments will be (and have been) removed.
Maybe I will let my hair grown just a bit longer!
Thank you for the info on where to post hair for sale. I've posted to the hairtrader.com to sell about 2 feet of my hair and have had 22 hits already, its only been 2hrs.
I have 34 inches of dark blond hair to sell. I don't do drugs, have never put chemicals on my hair, and do not use curling irons or hair dryers. Could you please let me know how much I could expect to receive for my hair. I need the money to pay for school.
I also wanted to post my email of anyone would prefer that over calling me. Again I am a reporter looking for people that have had success selling their hair in the Phoenix area. Thanks!
480-862-4765
Liz_Lastra@hotmail.com