Sell Your Used Bird Cage — 0% Fees

A used bird cage typically sells for £15 to £80, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Bird cages sell on bar spacing above all — the wrong spacing is a genuine escape and injury risk, so it belongs in the title, not buried in the description.

The short version

Typical range: £15 – £80 — see the full bird cage value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Pet Supplies

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.

Measure the bar spacing precisely, since it determines which species the cage suits safely.
Check for rust and flaking paint, and establish the coating — some older finishes are unsuitable for birds.
Check every door, latch and feeder, and confirm the tray slides out and the perches are present.

The photographs that sell a bird cage

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 cage whole, from the front
A ruler across the bars showing spacing
The doors, latches and any feeder attachments
The tray removed and the base, plus any rust, flaking or bent bar

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Dimensions and bar spacing: “Large Parrot Cage, 90x60x150cm, 20mm Bar Spacing, on Stand”. Bar spacing is the critical safety fact and the primary search. Say whether a stand, feeders and perches are included.

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

Cage dimensions and bar spacing in millimetres
What species it suits, based on the spacing
Coating type and condition, and whether there is rust or flaking
What is included — stand, tray, perches, feeders, toys

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a bird cage. 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.

“What is the bar spacing?”

Measure it. Too wide and a small bird escapes or gets its head trapped; too narrow and a larger bird cannot climb. It is a safety measurement, not a detail.

“Is there any rust or flaking paint?”

Check the bars and base carefully. Birds chew bars, so flaking coatings and rust are a real hazard to them rather than a cosmetic issue.

“Is the stand included?”

Say so. Stands are a substantial part of the value and buyers frequently assume one comes with a large cage.

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 bird cage 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 £47 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a bird cage — 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	£47
Poshmark	−£9	£38
eBay	−£6	£41
Mercari	−£5	£42
Etsy	−£3	£44

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 year round with a lift after Christmas. Large cages with stands sell within a fortnight.

Bulky and awkward; most dismantle at least partly. Collection is usual, so give the assembled and dismantled dimensions.

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 bird cage worth?

Typically £15 to £80, with large parrot cages and included stands above. See the bird cage value guide.

Why does bar spacing matter?

It determines which species can be housed safely. Too wide and a bird can escape or trap its head; too narrow and it cannot climb properly. Always measure and state it.

Is flaking paint a problem?

Yes. Birds chew the bars, so flaking coatings and rust can be ingested. Photograph any damage honestly and price the cage accordingly, or recycle it if it is bad.