Sell Your Used Cat Tree — 0% Fees

A used cat tree typically sells for £20 to £90, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Cat trees are bought on height and sturdiness and sold on hygiene — buyers assume the worst about a used one, so clean it hard and photograph it honestly.

The short version

Typical range: £20 – £90 — see the full cat tree 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.

Vacuum every platform and the carpet surfaces, and clean out any enclosed bed thoroughly.
Check the sisal posts for shredding and the platforms for wobble, and tighten every bolt.
Be honest about whether the previous cat sprayed on it. That is a smell that does not come out and it must not be a surprise.

The photographs that sell a cat tree

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 whole tree upright, whole, against a plain wall
The sisal posts close up, showing how much wrap is left
The platforms and any hammock or enclosed bed, from above
The base and any wobble point, plus every worn, shredded or stained area

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Height and features: “150cm Cat Tree with Hammock and 2 Beds, Sisal Posts”. Height is the search and stability is the concern, so mention the base size for a tall unit. Say if it dismantles, which decides whether it fits in a car.

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

Overall height and base footprint
Number of platforms, beds, hammocks and scratching posts
Condition of the sisal and the carpet surfaces
Whether it dismantles, and whether all fixings are present

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a cat tree. 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.

“Is it stable for a big cat?”

Push it firmly at the top and describe what happens. Base width matters more than height, and owners of large breeds ask this every time.

“Are the posts worn out?”

Photograph the sisal. Rewrapping a post is a cheap job many buyers will happily do, but they need to see how much is left.

“Does it smell?”

Answer honestly, including whether the previous cat sprayed on it. This is the one thing that makes a cat tree worthless, and it cannot be hidden at collection.

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 cat tree 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 £55 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a cat tree — 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	£55
Poshmark	−£11	£44
eBay	−£7	£48
Mercari	−£6	£49
Etsy	−£4	£51

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 small lift after Christmas and when people take on new cats in spring. Tall, clean, sturdy trees sell within a week.

Collection. Most tall trees dismantle into sections — take it apart, bag the bolts and tape them to a platform, because reassembly without fixings is genuinely difficult.

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 cat tree worth?

Typically £20 to £90, with tall, sturdy, well-known brands at the top. See the cat tree value guide for the condition grades.

Will anyone buy a used cat tree?

Yes, readily, provided it is visibly clean and odour free. Cat trees are expensive new and cats are hard on them, so there is steady demand for good used ones.

Can I replace the sisal before selling?

You can, and sisal rope is inexpensive, but most buyers accept worn posts if they can see them. Only rewrap if the post is bare to the tube.