Sell Your Used Figurines — 0% Fees

Used figurines typically sell for £5 to £80, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Figurines live and die on the backstamp and on hairline damage, so photograph the base first and run a fingernail round every extremity before you write anything.

The short version

Typical range: £5 – £80 — see the full figurines value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Art & Collectibles

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.

Photograph the base mark, which gives the maker, and often the pattern and date code.
Check every extremity — fingers, ears, tails, flowers — for chips and restoration, which is where these break.
Do the ping test and check under a bright light for hairlines and glued repairs.

The photographs that sell figurines

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 figurine from the front, whole, on a plain background
The base mark, filling the frame
The piece from the back and side
Every extremity close up, plus any chip, hairline 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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Maker, model and name: “Royal Doulton Figurine HN2000, Boxed”. Maker and model number are the searches, since collectors work from catalogues. Say boxed if you have the original box, which matters on collectable ranges.

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

Maker, model number and figure name from the base
Height, and material — bone china, porcelain, resin
Whether the original box and certificate are included
Every chip, hairline, restoration and any crazing

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about figurines. 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.

“What is the model number?”

Photograph the base. Collectors identify and value figurines from the model number rather than the description, and it is almost always printed there.

“Is it damaged anywhere?”

Check every raised detail with a fingernail and under a light. Restored fingers and flowers are common and buyers grade heavily on them.

“Do you have the box?”

Say so. On collectable ranges the original box and certificate add real value and make the piece far safer to post.

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 figurines 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 £42 sale — roughly the middle of the range for figurines — 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	£42
Poshmark	−£8	£34
eBay	−£6	£36
Mercari	−£4	£38
Etsy	−£3	£39

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 to a collector audience year round with a Christmas lift. Discontinued models and complete boxed examples sell fastest.

Wrap every extremity separately and double box. Figurines break at the thinnest point in transit and single boxing is the usual cause.

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 figurines worth?

Typically £5 to £80, with sought-after discontinued models far above. See the figurines value guide for the condition bands.

Does restoration reduce the value?

Substantially, and it must be disclosed. Restored figurines still sell, but to buyers who know what they are getting. Check under a bright light for colour or texture differences at the joins.

How do I identify a figurine?

Photograph the base mark, which usually carries the maker, a model number and sometimes a date code. Collectors match that against published catalogues far more reliably than any description.