Sell Your Used Trumpet — 0% Fees

A used trumpet typically sells for £60 to £350, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Trumpets sell on the valves — if they are slow, sticky or worn, everything else about the instrument is secondary.

The short version

Typical range: £60 – £350 — see the full trumpet value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Music & Instruments

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.

Oil and test every valve. They should drop freely and return quickly; sluggish valves mean wear or dirt.
Check all slides move and are not seized, and inspect for dents, particularly on the bell and leadpipe.
Check for red rot on the leadpipe, which shows as pink patches and is a serious corrosion issue.

The photographs that sell a trumpet

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 trumpet whole, from the side
The valve block close up
The bell and leadpipe, showing any dent or discolouration
The case interior with mouthpiece, plus any lacquer wear or repair

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Key, brand and finish: “Yamaha YTR-2330 Bb Trumpet, Lacquer, with Case and Mouthpiece”. Brand and model are the searches, and student model numbers are well known. Say lacquer or silver plate, which affects both look and price.

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

Key, brand and model
Finish — lacquer or silver plate — and its condition
Valve condition and whether all slides move freely
What is included, and any dent, repair or red rot

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a trumpet. 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 are the valves?”

Oil them and test. Free, fast valves are the whole playability of a trumpet and worn ones are an expensive rebuild.

“Are the slides seized?”

Try each one. Seized slides can often be freed by a technician, but a buyer needs to know it is a job.

“Is there any red rot?”

Look at the leadpipe for pink patches under the lacquer. It is corrosion from the inside out and it is a genuine condition issue.

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 trumpet 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 £205 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a trumpet — 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	£205
Poshmark	−£41	£164
eBay	−£28	£177
Mercari	−£20	£185
Etsy	−£13	£192

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

Lifts in September with school terms and before Christmas. Student models from known brands sell within days in season.

Post in its case, boxed, with the mouthpiece removed and wrapped separately so it cannot jam into the receiver in transit.

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 trumpet worth?

Typically £60 to £350, with professional horns far above. See the trumpet value guide for the condition bands.

Do dents matter on a trumpet?

Small dents in the bell flare are largely cosmetic; dents in the leadpipe or valve casings affect play and are expensive to correct. Photograph their location, not just their existence.

What is red rot?

Corrosion of the brass from the inside, usually on the leadpipe, showing as pink patches. It weakens the metal and eventually perforates it, so it should always be disclosed.