The short version
- Typical range: £20 – £90 — see the full boots value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Shoes & Footwear
Before you photograph it
Ten minutes here is worth more than anything else you will do. Buyers are deciding between your listing and someone else’s, and preparation is what visibly separates the two.
- Clean and condition the leather. Boots respond visibly to a wipe and a coat of polish, and it costs almost nothing.
- Look at the sole edge: a line of stitching around the welt means the boots are resoleable, which is a major selling point.
- Check the heel wear, the sole tread and the insole, and photograph the size stamp inside or on the sole.
The photographs that sell boots
Four photographs do almost all the work. Shoot in daylight, near a window, with the item against something plain — and do not use the flash, which flattens texture and hides exactly what buyers are trying to see.
- Both boots side on, upright, on a plain surface
- The soles, showing tread, heel wear and whether there is a stitched welt
- The size stamp, legible
- The leather uppers close up, plus any scuff, crack or separation
Photograph the flaws too. It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover. Buyers who can see the damage stop imagining something worse.
Writing the title and description
Brand, style and size: “Dr. Martens 1460 Boots, UK 8, Black Leather”. If they are Goodyear welted, put that in the title — buyers who know footwear search for it and pay more. State the sizing system, and say whether they are leather or synthetic.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Brand, model and size with the sizing system stated
- Leather or synthetic, and whether the sole is welted or cemented
- Sole and heel wear, and whether they have been resoled before
- Whether they are waterproof or steel toe capped, if relevant
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about boots. Answering them in the listing itself removes the back-and-forth, and answering them well when they do arrive is what turns an enquiry into a sale.
Look for stitching around the welt and answer. Resoleable boots are worth substantially more because the buyer is purchasing decades of use, not a season.
Photograph the soles flat and honestly. Tread wear is easy to judge from a picture and impossible to argue about afterwards.
Check the inner label and the cut edge of the material. Say plainly if they are synthetic — it is not a problem stated up front and is a real one discovered later.
Pricing it so it actually sells
Start from the honest condition grade rather than the price you hope for. WishThrift listings use five grades — New with Tags, Like New, Good, Fair and For Parts — and what each grade means is worth reading before you choose, because grading up is the most expensive mistake sellers make. It does not raise the price; it produces a buyer who arrives expecting something else.
The boots value guide prices all five grades for this item. Pick your grade, take the figure, and if you sit between two grades price toward the lower one. Items priced honestly sell faster than items priced hopefully, and on a free platform there is no fee eating the difference anyway.
What you keep, compared
On a £55 sale — roughly the middle of the range for boots — here is what the commission-charging platforms would take, and what you would keep on each:
| Where you sell it | Fee | You keep |
|---|---|---|
| WishThrift | £0 | £55 |
| Poshmark | −£11 | £44 |
| eBay | −£7 | £48 |
| Mercari | −£6 | £49 |
| Etsy | −£4 | £51 |
Seller-side rates verified 26 Jul 2026 — Poshmark: 20% commission on sales of $15 and above; eBay: 13.6% final value fee, plus a per-order fee; Mercari: flat 10% selling fee; Etsy: 6.5% transaction fee, plus a listing fee and payment processing. Percentages are applied to the sterling figure above; the fixed per-order and processing charges those platforms add are quoted in their own currency and are not included here, so the real deductions are slightly larger. Full breakdown: marketplace selling fees compared.
Timing and getting it to the buyer
Autumn and winter are strongest, with a clear peak from September to December. Quality welted boots hold value all year; fashion boots follow the season closely.
Heavier than shoes so postage costs a little more, but still straightforward. Wrap each boot separately and check the parcel weight before quoting the buyer a postage price.
WishThrift does not process payments or arrange delivery — you and the buyer agree both directly — so confirm payment has cleared before the item leaves your hands, and keep the conversation on the site so there is a record of what was agreed.
Ready to list it? It takes about two minutes, costs nothing, and there is no commission when it sells — create a free account or see how selling works.
Frequently asked questions
What are used boots worth?
Typically £20 to £90, with quality welted brands considerably above that. Construction and remaining sole life drive the price. See the boots value guide for the condition breakdown.
Do worn-in boots sell?
Quality boots do, and sometimes for more than stiff unworn ones, because good leather improves with wear. What matters is that the structure and sole are sound — broken-in is a selling point, broken is not.
Is it worth resoling before selling?
Rarely. A resole costs a significant amount and buyers discount unsoled boots by less than the work costs. Say the boots are due a resole and let the buyer arrange it to their own preference.
See also: what a used boots is worth · browse live shoes & footwear listings · condition grades explained.