The short version
- Typical range: £40 – £200 — see the full cot value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Baby & Kids Items
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.
- Find or download the assembly instructions, and gather every bolt, allen key and fixing. A cot missing fixings is close to unsellable.
- Check the mattress base and the slats for cracks, and confirm the drop-side or height adjustment still locks properly.
- Measure the mattress size it takes, since buyers need to know whether their existing mattress fits.
The photographs that sell a cot
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 cot assembled, from the side
- The fixings, allen key and instructions laid out together
- The mattress base and slats from above
- Any chew marks on the rails, which are extremely common and should be shown rather than hidden
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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 and mattress size: “Solid Pine Cot Bed with Mattress, 140x70cm”. A cot bed converts to a toddler bed and is worth more than a plain cot, so make the distinction clear. State whether a mattress is included, because that is a significant part of the value.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Cot or cot bed, and the mattress size in centimetres
- Whether a mattress is included, and its age and condition
- Whether all fixings and the instructions are present
- Material, and whether the height adjusts or a side drops
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a cot. 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.
Count them against the instructions before listing. This is the question that decides a cot sale, because sourcing replacements is genuinely difficult.
Say so either way. Many buyers prefer to buy a new mattress regardless, so a cot without one is not a problem when stated up front.
Photograph them. They are almost universal on used cots, buyers expect them, and showing them makes the rest of your listing more believable.
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 cot 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 £120 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a cot — 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 | £120 |
| Poshmark | −£24 | £96 |
| eBay | −£16 | £104 |
| Mercari | −£12 | £108 |
| Etsy | −£8 | £112 |
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. Cot beds sell faster than plain cots because they last longer, and solid wood outsells board.
Dismantle it before collection if you can, and keep the fixings in a labelled bag taped to a rail. That single step makes the handover smooth and is the sort of thing buyers remember when they rate you.
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 it safe to buy a used cot?
Generally yes, provided all fixings are present, the instructions are available and no parts are cracked or missing. Buyers should assemble it themselves following the instructions rather than relying on how it was put together before.
Should I include the mattress?
Many buyers prefer a new mattress for hygiene reasons, so it is not essential. If yours is recent and in good condition, include it and say so — but never present an old, stained mattress as a selling point.
What is a used cot worth?
Usually £40 to £200, with cot beds and solid wood at the top. See the cot value guide for the condition breakdown.
See also: what a used cot is worth · browse live baby & kids items listings · condition grades explained.