The short version
- Typical range: £80 – £400 — see the full bass guitar 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.
- Sight down the neck from the headstock and check the relief, and confirm the truss rod still turns.
- Plug it in and test both pickups, every control and the output jack for crackle.
- Note the scale length — standard 34 inch or short scale — and check the fret wear.
The photographs that sell a bass guitar
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 instrument front on, plain background
- The headstock showing brand, model and serial
- The neck sighted down its length, and the frets angled to show wear
- The pickups, bridge and controls, plus any damage or modification
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Brand, model, string count and scale: “Fender Player Precision Bass, 4 String, 34in Scale, Sunburst”. Short scale is a deliberate search and should be stated where it applies. Say whether it is passive or active, since that determines whether it needs a battery.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Brand, model, number of strings and scale length
- Pickup configuration, and whether the electronics are passive or active
- Neck condition, relief and fret wear
- Whether anything is non-original, and whether a case or gig bag is included
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a bass guitar. 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.
Sight down it from the headstock and say what you see, and confirm the truss rod turns. A bass with a twisted neck is a repair job and buyers need to know.
Check for a battery compartment. Active basses need a nine volt battery and some buyers specifically avoid them.
Measure from nut to bridge saddle. Short scale basses are a distinct and popular market and worth naming.
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 bass guitar 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 £240 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a bass guitar — 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 | £240 |
| Poshmark | −£48 | £192 |
| eBay | −£33 | £207 |
| Mercari | −£24 | £216 |
| Etsy | −£16 | £224 |
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 all year with a lift before Christmas. Recognised brands sell within days; unbranded instruments move slowly.
Slacken the strings and post in a hard case only, with heavy padding at the headstock. Basses are long and heavy so postage is expensive — get a quote first. Collection lets the buyer play it, which sells the instrument.
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 bass guitar worth?
Typically £80 to £400, with recognised brands and desirable models above that. See the bass guitar value guide for the condition breakdown.
Do I need to set it up before selling?
A basic setup — string height, intonation, fresh strings — costs little and makes the instrument play noticeably better for anyone who tries it. Worth doing if buyers will collect and play.
Are short scale basses worth more?
They occupy their own market rather than being worth uniformly more, but demand is strong and steady. Always state the scale length, because short scale buyers search for it specifically.
See also: what a used bass guitar is worth · browse live music & instruments listings · condition grades explained.