Sell Your Used Clarinet — 0% Fees

A used clarinet typically sells for £50 to £300, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Clarinets sell on material and on the state of the pads, and the honest question is whether it plays now or needs a service — repadding costs real money.

The short version

Typical range: £50 – £300 — see the full clarinet value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Music & Instruments

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.

Play or have someone play every note and identify any that do not seal, which indicates worn pads.
Check the wooden body for cracks, particularly around the tone holes and the top joint, which is where they occur.
Check the corks on every joint and the case, and note whether a mouthpiece and ligature are included.

The photographs that sell a clarinet

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 clarinet assembled, whole, on a plain surface
The pads close up along the body
The joints and their corks
The case interior, mouthpiece and accessories, plus any crack or worn key

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Material, key and brand: “Buffet B12 Bb Clarinet, ABS Body, with Case”. Brand and model carry most of the value in student instruments. Say wood or resin, since it is the main price distinction, and confirm the key.

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

Key, brand and model
Body material — grenadilla wood or ABS resin
Pad and cork condition, and whether it plays without leaks
What is included — case, mouthpiece, ligature, cap

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a clarinet. 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.

“Does it play properly?”

Have it played through the full range and report which notes seal. Leaking pads are the most common issue on a stored clarinet.

“Is the body cracked?”

Inspect wooden instruments carefully around the tone holes and top joint. Cracks are repairable but expensive and must be disclosed.

“Is a mouthpiece included?”

Say so. Mouthpieces are personal and often replaced, but a buyer with none cannot play the instrument at all.

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 clarinet 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 £175 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a clarinet — 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	£175
Poshmark	−£35	£140
eBay	−£24	£151
Mercari	−£18	£157
Etsy	−£11	£164

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

Lifts sharply in September as school terms start, and before Christmas. Student instruments from known brands sell within days in season.

Post in the case, with the case itself boxed. Slacken nothing but ensure the joints are seated, and pack so the keys cannot be pressed against the case walls.

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 clarinet worth?

Typically £50 to £300, with wooden professional instruments far above. See the clarinet value guide for the condition bands.

Does it need a service before selling?

A full repad costs a significant sum, so it is usually better to describe the pad condition honestly and price accordingly than to pay for work the buyer may want done their own way.

Wood or resin — which sells better?

Resin student instruments are more robust and popular for beginners; wooden instruments sound warmer and are worth more but crack if neglected. Say which yours is.