The short version
- Typical range: £40 – £300 — see the full garden furniture value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Home & Garden
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.
- Wash everything down and let it dry fully. Green algae film comes off with soapy water and takes years off the appearance.
- Check every joint and bolt on folding or modular pieces, and count the chairs against the table.
- Assess the cushions separately and honestly. Faded, damp or mildewed cushions are worth nothing and can drag the whole set down.
The photographs that sell garden furniture
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 full set laid out together outdoors, so the buyer sees exactly what they get
- One chair and the table close up, showing the material and finish
- The cushions flat, in daylight, both sides
- Any rust, split weave, cracked slat, wobbling joint or fading
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Material and set size lead: “Rattan Garden Furniture Set, 4 Seater with Cushions” or “Teak Garden Table and 6 Chairs”. Teak, rattan, aluminium and steel are entirely different markets and prices, so name the material first and say whether cushions are included.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Exactly what is in the set, counted, with table dimensions
- Material, and whether it has been stored under cover or left out
- Whether cushions are included, and their honest condition
- Whether it folds, stacks or dismantles for transport
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about garden furniture. 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.
Answer honestly. Buyers can read weathering in the photographs anyway, and admitting it while pointing out that teak greys harmlessly is far stronger than a vague claim.
Say so in the title, and photograph them separately. Replacement cushions cost a lot relative to a used set, so this single fact moves the price.
Give the table dimensions and say whether the chairs stack or fold. Most sets need a van, and it is better they know before setting off.
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 garden furniture 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 £170 sale — roughly the middle of the range for garden furniture — 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 | £170 |
| Poshmark | −£34 | £136 |
| eBay | −£23 | £147 |
| Mercari | −£17 | £153 |
| Etsy | −£11 | £159 |
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
A short, sharp season from April to July. Listing in spring is worth substantially more than the same set in September, so if it is autumn, storing it until March is usually the better decision.
Collection, and usually a van. Stack the chairs and have it out and ready before they arrive, because loading a full set takes longer than anyone expects.
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 used garden furniture worth?
Typically £40 to £300, with teak and quality rattan at the top and plastic sets at the bottom. See the garden furniture value guide for the grade bands.
Should I restore teak before selling?
A wash is worth it; a full sand and oil usually is not. Many buyers actively prefer the silver-grey patina and will finish it themselves, so you risk spending a weekend on work the buyer did not want.
Do I have to include the cushions?
No, and if they are mildewed you probably should not. Say clearly that the set is frame-only and price it there — that is a cleaner sale than bundling something the buyer will throw away.
See also: what a used garden furniture is worth · browse live home & garden listings · condition grades explained.