Buying a Used Printer: What to Check

A fair price for a printer in good condition is around £16 to £65 (approximately $21 to $87), against £25 to £100 across the full condition range. Printers are cheap new and expensive to run, so buyers price on the cost and availability of cartridges rather than the machine.

What a fair price looks like

Condition on WishThrift is described by the seller against five grades, and nobody inspects it on your behalf — so the description and the photographs are what you are buying on.

Condition	Typical	What it means
New with Tags	£100 (~$133)	Unused, tags or seals intact
Like New	£85 (~$113)	Barely used, no visible wear
Good	£65 (~$87)	Light signs of use, complete and working
Fair	£45 (~$60)	Heavily used, or a described fault or missing part
For Parts	£25 (~$33)	Not working or incomplete, sold as seen

Sterling guide ranges with an approximate US dollar equivalent at £1 ≈ $1.33 (July 2026). Sellers set their own asking price; these are a starting point for judging an offer. All five grades explained.

The checklist before you pay

An account lock is the single biggest one — a device still signed in to an iCloud, Google or Microsoft account cannot be reset and is effectively unusable. After that, battery health and undisclosed third-party repairs.

Run through these before money changes hands — they are the things that decide whether a printer is worth what is being asked:

Discontinued or very expensive cartridge formats
Dried or blocked inkjet print heads
Discontinued drivers for current operating systems
Very cheap inkjets, worth almost nothing

And the things worth paying more for, because they hold their value:

Models using widely available, affordable cartridges
Laser printers, which have far lower running costs
Duplex and network features
Recent purchase with drivers still supported

Common faults and fakes

Outright counterfeits are rare outside accessories, where fake chargers and cables are a genuine fire risk. The commoner problem is a device described as working that has a fault the seller knows about.

Ask the seller to factory reset and remove their account BEFORE you pay, and to send a photograph of the settings screen showing it signed out. Ask for the exact model identifier and, on anything with a battery, the battery health figure.

WishThrift does not authenticate, inspect or grade anything, and no marketplace check replaces your own. If a seller will not answer a direct question about condition or origin, that is the answer.

Questions to ask the seller

These are the three that get asked most often about a printer, and the answers tell you most of what you need:

“Does it come with ink?”

Say what is installed and roughly how full. Ink often costs more than a used printer, so this is genuinely the main value question.

“Which cartridges does it take?”

Give the numbers. Buyers check the price of consumables before buying any printer, used or new.

“Does the paper feed work properly?”

Run several sheets through and say. Feed roller failure is the usual fault on used printers and causes constant jams.

Also worth establishing before you commit:

Print a test page and check for banding or gaps
Note the cartridge type and check it is still sold
Confirm drivers exist for current operating systems

Photographs to ask for

If the listing does not already show these, ask — a seller who has the item will send them in minutes:

The printer whole, from the front, with trays closed
An actual test page it has printed, held next to it
The cartridge bay open, showing what is installed
The model and cartridge numbers, plus the power and USB cables

Details to confirm before you commit

Brand, model, and whether inkjet or laser
Cartridge or toner model numbers it takes
Whether it prints, scans and copies, and whether it is wireless
What ink is included and roughly how full, plus which cables are included

Live printer listings

Nothing matching is listed at the moment. Browse electronics for what is live now, or everything on the site — stock changes daily and new listings are free to post, so it is worth checking back.

When to buy

Lifts in September and January, around school and work cycles. Laser printers and models with cheap cartridges sell fastest.

Prices move against that cycle for a buyer: the cheapest time to buy is when sellers are listing most, not when demand peaks.

Paying and collecting safely

WishThrift does not process payments, hold funds or offer buyer protection — you agree the price and the method with the seller directly, which is what keeps the platform free on both sides. Meet somewhere public where you can, inspect before you pay, and keep the conversation on the site so there is a record of what was agreed. Be wary of any seller who wants to move the conversation elsewhere before you have agreed anything.

Selling one instead?

If you already have a printer sitting unused, it is free to list and there is no commission — the price you agree is the amount you keep. Read how to sell printer for what to photograph and how to price, or what printer is worth at each condition grade.

Frequently asked questions

What should I pay for a used printer?

Around £16 to £65 in good condition, more for barely-used examples and less for anything with a described fault. Compare against the seller’s photographs rather than the grade alone.

How do I check a printer before buying?

Is buying a printer second hand safe?

Yes, with the ordinary care any private sale needs. WishThrift does not authenticate, inspect or hold funds, so inspect before you pay where you can, meet somewhere public, and keep the conversation on the site. An account lock is the single biggest one — a device still signed in to an iCloud, Google or Microsoft account cannot be reset and is effectively unusable. After that, battery health and undisclosed third-party repairs.