The short version
- Typical range: £8 – £40 — see the full cardigan value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Clothing
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.
- Check every button is present and firmly attached, and look for a spare sewn inside the placket.
- De-pill the fabric, especially under the arms and at the cuffs.
- Read the composition: wool, cashmere, cotton and acrylic sit at very different prices.
The photographs that sell a cardigan
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.
- Laid flat, front, buttoned
- The composition label
- The buttons and buttonholes close up
- Cuffs, elbows and any hole, pill or stretch
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Fibre, style and size: “Lambswool Button Through Cardigan, Navy, Size 12”. Fibre is the price driver and belongs first. Say whether it is chunky, fine knit or a longline, since those suit different buyers.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Fibre composition and knit weight
- Pit-to-pit and body length laid flat
- Whether all buttons are present and any spare included
- Any pilling, holes or stretched cuffs
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a cardigan. 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.
Count them and check for a spare inside the placket. A missing button on a distinctive cardigan is hard to match.
Read the label. Wool and cashmere cardigans are worth several times acrylic ones and buyers ask immediately.
Hold natural fibres up to a window and check. Small holes are normal on wool and accepted when disclosed.
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 cardigan 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 £24 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a cardigan — 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 | £24 |
| Poshmark | −£5 | £19 |
| eBay | −£3 | £21 |
| Mercari | −£2 | £22 |
| Etsy | −£2 | £22 |
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
Autumn through late winter, with a peak before Christmas. Natural fibre cardigans hold value; acrylic ones sell cheaply.
Light and cheap to post. Fold rather than hang so the shoulders do not stretch, and use a waterproof bag for natural fibres — wool and cashmere absorb any damp in transit and arrive smelling musty, which buyers notice immediately.
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 cardigan worth?
Typically £8 to £40, with cashmere and quality wool well above. See the cardigan value guide for the condition breakdown.
Does a missing button ruin the sale?
Not if disclosed, but it does lower the price because matching a button is fiddly. Check the inside placket for a spare before assuming it is lost.
Should I de-pill knitwear before selling?
Always. It takes minutes with a fabric shaver and reliably raises what buyers will pay, because a de-pilled knit photographs as looked-after.
See also: what a used cardigan is worth · browse live clothing listings · condition grades explained.