Sell Your Used Maxi Dress — 0% Fees

A used maxi dress typically sells for £15 to £60, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. With a maxi dress the only question that matters is whether it will drag on the floor, so give the shoulder-to-hem length and the height you wore it at.

The short version

Typical range: £15 – £60 — see the full maxi dress value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Clothing

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.

Measure shoulder to hem, plus bust, waist and hip laid flat.
Check the hem for dirt and fraying, which maxi dresses collect from the ground.
Confirm the zip, any ties and the lining are all intact, and check for underarm marks.

The photographs that sell a maxi dress

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.

Full length on a hanger, front, whole dress in frame
Flat with a tape running shoulder to hem
The hem edge close up, showing wear or fraying
The fabric texture, plus the zip and any flaw

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Style, fabric and size, with the length: “Floral Maxi Dress, Size 10, 145cm Shoulder to Hem”. Putting the length in the title is unusual and immediately useful, because maxi length is entirely relative to the wearer. Mention if it is lined or has an adjustable tie.

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

Shoulder-to-hem length in centimetres, and the height it suited you at
Bust, waist and hip measured flat
Whether it is lined, and the fabric composition
Hem condition, and whether there are pockets or an adjustable waist

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a maxi dress. 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.

“How tall are you?”

Answer it. On a maxi, the seller’s height plus whether it touched the floor tells the buyer more than any measurement alone.

“Is the hem dirty or frayed?”

Inspect the hem edge carefully — it is where maxi dresses show their wear — and photograph it.

“Is it see-through?”

Hold it up to a window and check honestly. An unlined light fabric is a common complaint and easily avoided by saying so.

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 maxi dress 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 £37 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a maxi dress — 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	£37
Poshmark	−£7	£30
eBay	−£5	£32
Mercari	−£4	£33
Etsy	−£2	£35

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

Clearly seasonal, strongest from April to August plus a holiday-season lift in winter for warmer climates. Off-season listings take longer.

Light but with a lot of fabric, so it folds bulkier than expected. Cheap to post regardless.

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 maxi dress worth?

Usually £15 to £60 depending on brand and fabric, with occasion and designer pieces higher. See the maxi dress value guide.

How do I stop maxi dress returns?

State the shoulder-to-hem length in centimetres and your own height, and say whether it touched the floor on you. Length mismatch causes almost every maxi dress complaint and both facts take a minute to supply.

Does the hem condition matter?

Yes, more than on other dresses, because maxi hems sweep the ground and buyers know to check. Photograph the hem edge and mention any fraying or marks.