The short version
- Typical range: £30 – £180 — see the full chest of drawers 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.
- Empty every drawer and run each one in and out. Sticking runners can often be fixed with a candle rubbed along the wooden runner.
- Check the drawer bottoms from underneath, which is where thin ply bows or drops out entirely.
- Wipe the top. It is the surface buyers look at first and usually carries ring marks or heat damage.
The photographs that sell a chest of drawers
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 chest straight on with all drawers closed, in even light
- All drawers open at staggered depths, showing they run freely
- The inside of one drawer, showing the base and joints
- The top surface at an angle to reveal ring marks, plus any chip, veneer lift or missing handle
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Lead with material, drawer count and style: “Solid Pine Chest of Drawers, 5 Drawer, Waxed” or “1960s Teak Chest of Drawers, 6 Drawer”. Drawer count is a real search term because buyers are matching a space, and the era matters for anything mid-century.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Height, width and depth in centimetres
- Number of drawers, and whether any are lockable or have dividers
- Material and finish — solid wood, veneer, painted or laminate
- Whether every drawer runs smoothly, and whether handles match and are all present
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a chest of drawers. 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.
Test them and answer specifically. If one sticks, say which and why. Buyers accept a sticky drawer they were told about and resent one they discover.
State it plainly, and photograph an unfinished edge or the inside of a drawer, which is where the construction is visible and impossible to argue with.
Say what the finish is. A waxed or oiled surface needs different preparation from a laminate, and a large share of buyers for chests are planning to repaint.
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 chest of drawers 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 £105 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a chest of drawers — 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 | £105 |
| Poshmark | −£21 | £84 |
| eBay | −£14 | £91 |
| Mercari | −£10 | £95 |
| Etsy | −£7 | £98 |
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
Consistent demand all year with a January and late-summer lift. Solid wood pieces suitable for painting move fastest, often within a week or two.
Collection, and remove the drawers before lifting — an empty carcass is a fraction of the weight and far easier through a doorway. Tell the buyer that in advance so they bring the right vehicle, not the right optimism.
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
How much does a used chest of drawers sell for?
Typically £30 to £180, with solid pine and oak in the middle and mid-century teak well above. The chest of drawers value guide prices it by grade.
Do mismatched handles reduce the price?
A little, but they are also the cheapest thing to fix. Replacing a set of handles costs very little and often returns more than it costs, so it is one of the few pre-sale jobs genuinely worth doing.
Is it worth painting before selling?
Usually not. Buyers who want painted furniture want their own colour, and a repaint you chose can narrow your audience rather than widen it. Sell it clean and let them decide.
See also: what a used chest of drawers is worth · browse live furniture listings · condition grades explained.