Second-hand shoes & footwear in Varanasi typically sells for ₹500 to ₹15,500 (about $5 to $160). Colourways made only once keep their money long after the common ones have settled down, while a model still on sale new sets a ceiling the used pair will not pass. Very large and very small fittings go for more simply because far fewer were ever made.
Buying shoes & footwear in Varanasi
Varanasi is among the oldest living cities in the world, with a silk weaving tradition that has run for centuries and a constant flow of pilgrims and visitors. Textiles and traditional crafts define what is distinctive here.
Shoes are the category where buyers most want to try before they commit, because a size on a label and a size on a foot are different things. A local sale lets them do that, which is why fewer shoe sales fall through in person than by post.
What to check in person
Lift the insole out if it comes away. A replacement often hides how far the footbed underneath has collapsed, and the lining at the back wears through well before anything outside gives it away. Press the toe box and watch whether it springs back.
Collecting it in Varanasi
It fits in a bag, so most people meet on the way to something else. A station or a high street works, and neither side needs a car.
The lanes of the old city are too narrow for vehicles and genuinely difficult to navigate, so anything large has to be collected from the edge of them. The newer parts of the city are straightforward.
Selling your shoes & footwear in Varanasi free
Pilgrimage and tourism drive a good deal of the trade and both are seasonal. Humidity near the river is high and is hard on textiles and paper stored without care.
Photograph the soles as well as the uppers, because that is the first thing a buyer asks for and the request costs you a day if it is missing. Say whether the original box is included and let the buyer try them on when they arrive. Boots move from the first cold week; trainers and lighter shoes move steadily all year.
UPI has largely replaced cash for in-person handovers and is instant and traceable, which suits a private sale well. Cash on delivery is still widely expected for anything posted, and it is worth deciding your position on it before you list.
Shoes & Footwear worth listing in Varanasi
Same region (Uttar Pradesh)
If nothing in Varanasi suits, Lucknow, Kanpur and Ghaziabad each have their own shoes & footwear page, and a seller will often meet part of the way for something worth the trip.
More in Varanasi: everything second hand in Varanasi, or Shoes & Footwear across India.
Prices converted from sterling at the 2 August 2026 rate; sellers set their own price.