Sell Your Used Antiques — 0% Fees

Used antiques typically sell for £25 to £600, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Antiques are bought on age, maker and originality, and the most common mistake sellers make is restoring something before listing it — which usually removes value rather than adding it.

The short version

Typical range: £25 – £600 — see the full antiques value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Art & Collectibles

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.

Look for maker’s marks, stamps, labels or signatures, and photograph every one you find.
Measure the piece and note the materials, and look for signs of age such as hand-cut joints or irregular wear.
Do not polish, strip or repair anything. Original surface and patina are much of what a collector is paying for.

The photographs that sell antiques

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 whole piece from a three-quarter angle in daylight
Every maker’s mark, stamp or label, close and legible
The construction detail — joints, screws, underside — that indicates age
All damage, repairs and areas of wear

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Period, item and material: “Victorian Mahogany Writing Box with Brass Inlay, c.1880”. Give an approximate date with a “c.” if you are not certain, and say what your estimate is based on. Vague dating claims reduce trust with exactly the buyers who pay most.

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

Approximate period or date, and what that estimate is based on
Materials, dimensions and weight
Any maker’s marks, stamps, labels or signatures, transcribed
Condition including all damage, repairs, replacements and restoration

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about antiques. 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 old is it?”

Give an approximate period and say what it is based on — a mark, a construction method, family history. Honest uncertainty is respected far more than a confident guess.

“Has it been restored?”

Disclose any repair, replacement part or refinishing you know of. Collectors value original condition and detect restoration easily.

“Is it a reproduction?”

Say what you know. Reproductions are common and sell perfectly well when described as such; misdescribed ones cause disputes.

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 antiques 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 £312 sale — roughly the middle of the range for antiques — 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	£312
Poshmark	−£62	£250
eBay	−£42	£270
Mercari	−£31	£281
Etsy	−£20	£292

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

Steady with a specialist buyer base. Well-documented pieces with clear marks sell within weeks; unmarked items take longer and sell on appearance.

Fragile and often heavy. Pack generously and photograph the item before sealing. For larger pieces, collection is usual and lets the buyer inspect properly.

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

Should I restore an antique before selling?

Almost never. Stripping, polishing or refinishing removes original patina and routinely destroys a large share of the value. Collectors want original surface, and they can arrange sympathetic restoration themselves.

How do I date an antique?

Look for maker’s marks, construction methods, screw and nail types, and wear patterns. Photograph everything you find and describe it, rather than asserting a date you cannot support.

What are antiques worth?

Typically £25 to £600 for general pieces, with marked and documented items far above. Attribution and originality drive it. See the antiques value guide.