How to Sell Bikes | WishThrift

Used bikes sell for roughly £10 to £1,200 on WishThrift, and listing it costs nothing — no fee, no commission, no buyer-side charge. Bikes sell on frame size above everything else, because a bike in the wrong size is useless at any price. Give the size and the rider height range it suits, and let the buyer ride it before they commit — a test ride closes more bike sales than photographs ever will.

The short version

Guides in this section: 12
Range covered: £10 – £1,200
Every guide covers: prep, the photographs that sell it, the title, buyer questions and the fee maths
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price

How to sell bikes, item by item

What you keep on a typical sale

On a £240 sale — around the middle for this category — a 20% commission would take £48 and a 10% one £24. On WishThrift you keep the whole £240, and the buyer pays no surcharge either. The full fee comparison sets out what each marketplace actually charges.

When bikes actually sell

Cycling is seasonal and predictable: March to August is the selling window, with spring the peak. A bike listed in November either sells cheaply or waits until spring. Electric bikes are the exception and hold up better through winter because commuters buy year round.

Before you list anything

Two things decide most of the price in every category, and both are settled before you write the listing. The first is the condition grade: WishThrift uses five — New with Tags, Like New, Good, Fair and For Parts — and what each one means is worth reading, because grading optimistically does not raise the price, it just produces a buyer who arrives expecting something else. The second is the price itself: the bicycles & cycling value guides price each item across all five grades.

Ready to list? It takes about two minutes and costs nothing — create a free account or see how selling works.

Frequently asked questions

What frame size should I list?

The size marked on the seat tube, plus the rider height range it suits. Most casual buyers do not know their frame size, so the height range is what actually converts them.

Should I service a bike before selling?

A clean drivetrain, inflated tyres and working gears cost almost nothing and transform how a bike presents. A full service rarely returns its cost.

Is it safe to buy a used carbon frame?

It can be, but the buyer should inspect closely for cracks and ask directly about crash history, because carbon damage can be invisible. As a seller, answer that question plainly.

See also: all selling guides · what bikes sell for · browse live bicycles & cycling listings.