Sell Your Used Fishing Rod — 0% Fees

A used fishing rod typically sells for £20 to £150, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Rods sell on length, test curve and action, and the fault buyers look for is a cracked ring or a loose reel seat.

The short version

Typical range: £20 – £150 — see the full fishing rod value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Sports & Outdoors

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.

Find the length, test curve or casting weight, and the number of sections, usually printed on the butt.
Run a cotton bud through every ring to find cracks, and check each ring for looseness.
Check the reel seat threads and the joints between sections for wear.

The photographs that sell a fishing rod

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 rod made up, full length, on a plain background
The butt section showing the maker’s markings and test curve
The rings close up, particularly the tip ring
The reel seat and the section joints

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, length and rating: “Shimano Beastmaster 12ft Carp Rod, 3lb Test Curve, 2 Piece”. Test curve or casting weight is how anglers choose. Say the number of sections, since travel rods are a separate search.

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

Length in feet, and the number of sections
Test curve or casting weight rating
Ring condition, particularly the tip ring
Reel seat condition, and whether a bag or tube is included

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a fishing rod. 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.

“Are any rings cracked?”

Run a cotton bud through each one; a crack catches the fibres. Cracked rings cut line and are the standard fault to check.

“What test curve is it?”

Read the butt section. It is how anglers match a rod to their fishing and buyers will not proceed without it.

“Is the reel seat tight?”

Fit a reel and check. A worn seat lets the reel move under load and is worth mentioning.

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 fishing rod 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 a fishing rod — 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

March through September, peaking in spring. Specialist carp and sea rods sell year round.

Long even in sections, so expect a length surcharge and use a rod tube if you have one. A broken tip in transit is the common failure.

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 fishing rod worth?

Typically £20 to £150, with recognised brands and specialist rods above. See the fishing rod value guide.

How do I check rod rings?

Run a cotton bud around the inside of each ring. If fibres catch, the liner is cracked and will cut line. The tip ring is the most common failure and the first one to check.

Does test curve matter?

Yes, it is how anglers match a rod to the fishing they do. It is printed on the butt section — photograph it and state it, because buyers filter on it directly.