Sell Your Used Fancy Dress Costume — 0% Fees

A used fancy dress costume typically sells for £5 to £25, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Fancy dress is worn once or twice, which makes it one of the best-value second-hand buys there is — and the sale is almost entirely about timing.

The short version

Typical range: £5 – £25 — see the full fancy dress costume value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Kids’ Clothing

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.

Wash or air it and check every seam, fastening and elastic, which are usually the weak points on cheap costumes.
Confirm exactly what the costume includes, since accessories are frequently missing.
Check the size against actual measurements, because costume sizing is notoriously optimistic.

The photographs that sell a fancy dress costume

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 costume laid out flat, all pieces together
The main garment front and back
All accessories arranged beside it
The label with size, plus any tear, loose seam or missing piece

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Character, size and completeness: “Spiderman Costume, Age 5-6, Complete with Mask”. Character and age are the searches. Say complete or list exactly what is included, because accessories going missing is the standard problem with used costumes.

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

Character or theme, and the age or size
Actual chest and length measurements, since costume sizing runs small
Exactly which pieces and accessories are included
Fabric condition, seams and any fastening damage

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a fancy dress costume. 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 it complete?”

List every piece. Masks, capes, belts and props go missing constantly and completeness is most of what a parent is paying for.

“What size is it really?”

Measure the chest and length flat. Costume sizing is optimistic and a costume that does not fit on the day is a genuine problem.

“Has it been worn much?”

Most have been worn once, so say so. It is the strongest thing you can say about a used costume and it is usually true.

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 fancy dress costume 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 a fancy dress costume — 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

Sharply seasonal: October dominates for Halloween, with World Book Day in early spring the second peak. Listed outside those windows it will barely be seen, so hold it.

Very cheap to post, but check the calendar — a costume needed for a specific date must arrive before it, so be clear about your posting times in season.

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

Are used fancy dress costumes worth selling?

Very much so. Most are worn once for a single event, so used ones are usually near-new and parents actively look for them rather than paying full price for one evening.

What is a used costume worth?

Typically £5 to £25, with complete branded character costumes above. See the fancy dress costume value guide.

When is the best time to sell one?

September and early October for Halloween, and January to February for World Book Day. Selling in November or May means a fraction of the audience and a fraction of the price.