Sell Your Used Curtains — 0% Fees

Used curtains typically sell for £10 to £50, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Curtains are bought to fit a specific window, so the two measurements in your title do more work than any photograph — and the drop is the one people get wrong.

The short version

Typical range: £10 – £50 — see the full curtains value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Home & Garden

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.

Measure the width of one curtain and the total width of the pair, then the drop from the top of the heading to the hem.
Check the lining separately from the face fabric, since linings rot and discolour in sunlight long before the fabric does.
Wash or clean according to the label and check for sun-bleached edges, which is the standard fault.

The photographs that sell curtains

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 pair hung, if you can, so the drape and fullness read
One curtain laid flat with a tape across the width
The heading tape and hooks close up
The lining, plus any sun bleaching, mark, or worn hem

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Dimensions first: “Pair of Blackout Curtains, 168x229cm, Pencil Pleat, Grey”. Width and drop in centimetres are the search. Say the heading type — pencil pleat, eyelet, tab top — because it decides whether they fit the buyer’s track or pole at all.

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

Width of each curtain and the drop, in centimetres
Whether the width quoted is per curtain or for the pair
Heading type, and whether hooks or rings are included
Whether they are lined, blackout or thermal, and the lining condition

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about curtains. 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.

“Is that width per curtain or the pair?”

State it explicitly. It is the single most common misunderstanding in curtain listings and it wastes both parties’ time when it goes wrong.

“What heading do they have?”

Say pencil pleat, eyelet or tab top and photograph it. Eyelet curtains need a pole and will not work on a track, which buyers discover too late.

“Is the lining sound?”

Check it separately. Linings perish and discolour from sunlight faster than the face fabric, and a rotten lining means remaking rather than hanging.

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 curtains 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 £30 sale — roughly the middle of the range for curtains — 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	£30
Poshmark	−£6	£24
eBay	−£4	£26
Mercari	−£3	£27
Etsy	−£2	£28

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 year round with a lift in autumn as people warm up rooms, and in spring when they redecorate. Blackout and thermal curtains sell fastest.

Heavy for their bulk, especially lined pairs, so weigh before quoting postage. Fold along existing creases and they arrive ready to hang.

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 are used curtains worth?

Typically £10 to £50 a pair, with made-to-measure and heavy interlined curtains above. See the curtains value guide for the condition bands.

How should I measure curtains for a listing?

Width of one curtain, and the drop from the top of the heading tape to the hem. Then state clearly whether your quoted width is per curtain or the total for the pair.

Can curtains be shortened?

Yes, taking up the hem is straightforward, which is worth mentioning — it widens your audience to anyone whose drop is shorter than yours. Widening them is not practical, so the width is the hard limit.