The short version
- Typical range: £20 – £150 — see the full dining chairs value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Furniture
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.
- Sit on each chair and rock it gently. Loose joints are the standard fault and are worth mentioning honestly rather than hoping.
- Tighten any accessible screws or bolts under the seat, and check the glides or feet are all present.
- Clean the seat pads and check underneath for a fire label if they are upholstered.
The photographs that sell dining chairs
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.
- All the chairs together in one frame, so the set size and the match are obvious
- One chair alone, straight on, showing shape and proportions
- The seat and back where wear concentrates, including any fabric or leather damage
- The underside joints, plus a close-up of any wobble point, split or repair
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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 first, then style and material: “Set of 4 Oak Dining Chairs, Fabric Seats” or “6 Mid Century Teak Dining Chairs”. Buyers search the number, so it belongs at the front. If they are a known design or make, name it — that is what makes the set searchable at all.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- How many chairs, and whether they are identical
- Seat height and overall height in centimetres, because these have to work with a specific table
- Frame material and seat covering
- Whether any chair has a loose joint, split or stained seat, said per chair
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about dining chairs. 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.
Answer precisely, because near-matching sets are worth much less. If two came from a different batch and the colour differs slightly, say so and photograph them side by side.
Decide before you list. Splitting usually earns less overall and leaves you with the awkward remainder, so it is normally worth holding out for a whole-set buyer.
Measure floor to the top of the seat. It is the one dimension that decides whether they work with the buyer’s table, and almost no listing includes it.
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 dining chairs 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 £85 sale — roughly the middle of the range for dining chairs — 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 | £85 |
| Poshmark | −£17 | £68 |
| eBay | −£12 | £73 |
| Mercari | −£8 | £77 |
| Etsy | −£6 | £79 |
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
Strongest in late summer and the run-up to Christmas, when people are setting up dining rooms. A matching set of four or six in a common style sells within two to three weeks.
Collection. Four chairs fill a car and six generally will not, so tell the buyer the set dimensions in advance and let them arrange the right vehicle rather than making two trips.
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 dining chairs worth?
A set typically fetches £20 to £150, driven by set size, match and material. The dining chairs value guide prices each condition grade.
Is it better to sell chairs with the table?
Often yes, if you have both. A table and chairs sold together attracts buyers furnishing a room from scratch and usually beats the two prices separately — though it does narrow the audience to people with a van.
How do I fix a wobbly dining chair before selling?
Tighten every accessible fixing first. If the joints themselves are loose, say so in the listing rather than gluing badly — a failed repair is worth less than an honest description.
See also: what a used dining chairs is worth · browse live furniture listings · condition grades explained.