Sell Your Used Bicycle — 0% Fees

A used bicycle typically sells for £60 to £400, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. A general bike listing lives or dies on frame size, because a buyer of the wrong height simply cannot use it whatever the price — so give the size and the rider height range.

The short version

Typical range: £60 – £400 — see the full bicycle value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Bicycles & Cycling

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.

Find the frame size, usually on the seat tube, and work out the rider height range it suits.
Check both brakes, run through every gear, and spin both wheels to check they run true.
Clean the drivetrain, pump the tyres, and check for rust at the chainstays and under the bottom bracket.

The photographs that sell a bicycle

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.

The whole bike side on, drive side, against a plain wall
The drivetrain and gears close up
The frame size marking and any brand decals
The tyres, brakes and any rust, dent or damage

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Type, frame size and brand: “Carrera Hybrid Bike, Medium 19in Frame, 21 Speed”. Frame size is the primary filter. Say what type it is — hybrid, road, mountain, town — because those are separate searches with different buyers.

Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:

Frame size, and the rider height range it suits
Bike type, frame material and wheel size
Number of gears, brake type, and whether everything works
Any rust, damage or non-original parts

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a bicycle. 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.

“What height rider does it suit?”

Give a height range rather than only the frame size. Most casual buyers do not know their frame size and this answer converts them.

“Do the gears and brakes work properly?”

Run through every gear and test both brakes. These are the two things a buyer checks in the first thirty seconds.

“Is there any rust?”

Look at the chainstays, under the bottom bracket and inside the seat tube. Surface rust is cosmetic; structural rust is not, and buyers should be told which it is.

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 bicycle 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 £230 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a bicycle — 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	£230
Poshmark	−£46	£184
eBay	−£31	£199
Mercari	−£23	£207
Etsy	−£15	£215

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

Seasonal, strongest March to August with spring the peak. A bike listed in November sells slowly or waits until spring.

Usually collected, and let the buyer ride it — a short test ride closes more bike sales than any photograph. Posting requires partial dismantling and a bike box.

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 is a used bicycle worth?

Typically £60 to £400 depending on type, brand and condition. See the bicycle value guide for the range by condition.

Should I service a bike before selling?

A clean drivetrain, inflated tyres and working gears cost almost nothing and transform how a bike presents. A full service rarely returns its cost — clean it and describe honestly what it needs instead.

How do I work out frame size?

It is usually printed or stamped on the seat tube, in inches or centimetres. If not, measure from the centre of the bottom bracket to the top of the seat tube and state that measurement.