The short version
- Typical range: £5 – £25 — see the full costume jewellery value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Jewellery & Watches
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 the reverse of every piece for a signature. Signed costume jewellery can be worth many times an unsigned equivalent.
- Test every clasp, pin and catch, and set aside anything broken.
- Sort into wearable and spares, and clean gently without immersing anything with foil-backed or glued stones.
The photographs that sell costume jewellery
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 lot laid out together, countable
- Any signed pieces photographed individually, front and back
- A close-up of typical clasps and settings
- Any broken, tarnished or missing-stone pieces, grouped honestly
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Quantity, era and any names: “Costume Jewellery Job Lot, 30 Pieces, Some Signed, 1980s”. Quantity is the search for lot buyers. Naming any signed maker lifts the whole listing, so check before you bundle.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- How many pieces and what types
- Any signed or marked pieces, named individually
- Approximate era if you can judge it
- Honest split between wearable pieces and spares or repairs
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about costume jewellery. 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.
Check the reverse of every piece under magnification. A single signed piece can be worth more than the rest of the lot together, and it is easily missed.
Say honestly how much is broken or missing stones. Job lot buyers expect some spares and price accordingly when told.
Look for hallmarks. Silver pieces mixed into a costume lot are common and worth separating out.
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 costume jewellery 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 £15 sale — roughly the middle of the range for costume jewellery — 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 | £15 |
| Poshmark | −£3 | £12 |
| eBay | −£2 | £13 |
| Mercari | −£2 | £13 |
| Etsy | −£1 | £14 |
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 to lot buyers and crafters year round, with a Christmas lift. Signed pieces sell individually and quickly.
Light and cheap to post. Bag pieces separately or interleave with tissue so chains do not tangle irretrievably in transit.
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
Is costume jewellery worth selling?
In lots, yes, and individually when signed. Check every piece for a maker’s mark before bundling — selling a signed designer piece inside a job lot is the most common way sellers lose money here.
What is costume jewellery worth?
Typically £5 to £25 for a lot, with signed designer pieces far above. See the costume jewellery value guide.
Can I clean tarnished costume jewellery?
Very gently with a dry cloth. Avoid dips and water entirely, since most costume pieces are plated over base metal and have glued or foil-backed stones that water ruins.
See also: what a used costume jewellery is worth · browse live jewellery & watches listings · condition grades explained.