The short version
- Typical range: £80 – £450 — see the full drone value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Cameras & Photography
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.
- Note the take-off weight, which is what most registration thresholds are based on.
- Check every propeller and arm for cracks, inspect the gimbal for free movement, and confirm the camera is undamaged.
- Charge each battery, record the cycle count if the app reports it, and check for any swelling — a swollen battery must not be sold or posted.
The photographs that sell a drone
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 drone with arms unfolded, whole, from above
- The gimbal and camera close up
- All batteries, propellers, controller and case laid out together
- Any crack, scratch, worn arm or damaged propeller, plus the battery health screen if available
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Brand, model and bundle: “DJI Mini 3 Drone, Under 250g, 3 Batteries, Fly More Combo”. Take-off weight is a genuine search because it determines which rules apply. Say how many batteries and whether the controller and case are included.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Brand, model and take-off weight
- Camera resolution and gimbal condition
- How many batteries, their cycle counts and health, and whether any is swollen
- What is included — controller, charger, propellers, case — and any crash history
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a drone. 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 honestly. Crash damage affects motors, arms and gimbal alignment in ways that are not always visible, and buyers who fly regularly always ask.
Give cycle counts and any app-reported health figure. Drone batteries are expensive and a set of tired ones is a significant cost to the buyer.
Point to the take-off weight and tell the buyer to check their own country’s current rules. Requirements differ and change, so give the fact and let them apply 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 drone 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 £265 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a drone — 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 | £265 |
| Poshmark | −£53 | £212 |
| eBay | −£36 | £229 |
| Mercari | −£26 | £239 |
| Etsy | −£17 | £248 |
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
Lifts in spring and before Christmas. Current models from major brands sell within days; older models drop sharply when a successor launches, so there is little advantage in waiting.
Post in the original case if you have it, with propellers removed. Lithium battery carriage is restricted, so check your carrier’s rules before promising postage, and never send a swollen battery.
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 drone worth?
Typically £80 to £450, with current-generation camera drones well above. See the drone value guide for the condition bands.
Do I need to tell the buyer about drone rules?
It is good practice to state the take-off weight and note that registration and flight rules apply and differ by country. You are not their regulator, but a seller who flags it is the seller people buy from.
Can I sell a drone with a swollen battery?
No. Swollen lithium batteries are a fire risk, cannot be posted, and should be taken to a proper recycling point. Sell the drone without it and say so.
See also: what a used drone is worth · browse live cameras & photography listings · condition grades explained.