The short version
- Typical range: £50 – £250 — see the full bunk bed value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Furniture
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.
- Find every bolt, allen key and connector. A bunk bed missing its fixings is close to unsellable, and replacements are rarely a simple match.
- Check both guard rails and the ladder mounts for cracks, splits or worn screw holes.
- Measure the mattress spaces and note whether mattresses are included — buyers assume nothing here.
The photographs that sell a bunk bed
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 bed fully assembled, shot from the side so both bunks and the ladder are visible
- The ladder and its fixing points close up
- The guard rail on the top bunk, showing height above the mattress base
- The complete set of bolts and tools laid out, plus the instruction manual if you have it
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
State the material, the mattress size and whether it splits: “Solid Pine Bunk Bed, 3ft Single, Splits into 2 Beds”. The splitting feature is a genuine search and doubles the audience, because some buyers want two separate beds later. Include the make if it is a known one.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Mattress size each bunk takes, in feet or centimetres
- Overall height, which decides whether it fits under the buyer’s ceiling
- Whether it splits into two single beds
- Whether all bolts, the ladder and the guard rails are present, and whether mattresses are included
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a bunk bed. 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.
This is the first question every time. Count them against the manual, photograph them, and say the number. If any are missing, say which, because a buyer can source a bolt but not a surprise.
Measure floor to the top of the guard rail. Rooms with sloping or low ceilings are the main reason a bunk bed sale collapses at collection.
Give the facts — guard rail height, ladder condition, any manufacturer age guidance printed on it — rather than an opinion. Parents want to make that judgement themselves from real detail.
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 bunk bed 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 £150 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a bunk bed — 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 | £150 |
| Poshmark | −£30 | £120 |
| eBay | −£20 | £130 |
| Mercari | −£15 | £135 |
| Etsy | −£10 | £140 |
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
Strongest before the school year and around Christmas. A complete bunk bed with its fixings sells quickly; an incomplete one can sit for months at any price.
Collection, dismantled. Take it apart before the buyer arrives, keep the fixings in a labelled bag taped to a frame rail, and hand over the manual if you still have it.
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 bunk bed worth?
Usually £50 to £250, with solid wood and splittable frames at the top and tubular metal frames at the bottom. The bunk bed value guide breaks it down by condition.
Can I sell a bunk bed with missing bolts?
You can, but say so clearly in the listing and price it accordingly. Hiding it produces a buyer standing in your hallway with a half-built bed, which is a worse afternoon than the discount would have been.
Should I include the mattresses?
Only if they are in genuinely good condition, and say so separately. Many buyers prefer to buy new mattresses, so bundling tired ones can put people off a frame they would otherwise have wanted.
See also: what a used bunk bed is worth · browse live furniture listings · condition grades explained.