The short version
- Typical range: £30 – £250 — see the full coffee machine value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Kitchen & Appliances
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.
- Run a full descaling cycle, then a couple of clean water cycles. This is the single highest-value thing you can do.
- Test it end to end: pump, heat, and for bean-to-cup machines the grinder and the milk system.
- Note the model number and check whether it takes a proprietary pod system, which sharply narrows who wants it.
The photographs that sell a coffee machine
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 machine front on, clean, with the drip tray in place
- The group head, portafilter or pod mechanism close up and clean
- The water tank, clear of scale
- Everything included: portafilter, baskets, tamper, milk jug, descaling tools
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Type first, because these are very different products: “De’Longhi Bean to Cup Coffee Machine” versus “Nespresso Pod Machine” versus “Espresso Machine with Portafilter”. Say that it has been descaled in the title if there is room — buyers of used coffee machines look for exactly that word.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Type: pod, filter, espresso with portafilter, or bean to cup
- Brand, model, and for pod machines which pod system it takes
- Whether it has been descaled recently, and roughly how often it was used
- Which accessories are included: portafilter, baskets, tamper, milk frother, jug
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a coffee machine. 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.
Do it, then say so with confidence. It is the question every buyer asks and a straight yes is worth real money on the price.
Test it with actual milk, not water, and confirm. Steam wands and automatic milk systems block up and this is where used machines commonly fail.
Name the system exactly. A machine tied to a discontinued or expensive pod line is worth much less, and buyers need to know before, not after.
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 coffee machine 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 £140 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a coffee machine — 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 | £140 |
| Poshmark | −£28 | £112 |
| eBay | −£19 | £121 |
| Mercari | −£14 | £126 |
| Etsy | −£9 | £131 |
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 lift before Christmas and in January. Bean-to-cup and quality espresso machines sell fastest; basic pod machines are plentiful and move slowly.
Heavy with a water tank that must be fully drained before posting, or it will leak over everything. Local collection lets you pull a shot in front of the buyer, which sells the machine better than any photograph.
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 coffee machine worth?
Roughly £30 to £250 depending on type and brand, with bean-to-cup machines well above basic pod models. See the coffee machine value guide.
Do I need to descale before selling?
It is the most worthwhile thing you can do. Scale is the main cause of failure in these machines, so a descaled machine with the fact stated reassures buyers more than almost anything else you could write.
Are pod machines harder to sell?
Generally yes, because they are cheap new, widely given away, and tie the buyer to one pod system. Name the pod system clearly and price realistically, and they still sell.
See also: what a used coffee machine is worth · browse live kitchen & appliances listings · condition grades explained.