Sell Your Used Game Controller — 0% Fees

A used game controller typically sells for £15 to £50, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Controllers sell constantly because they break constantly, and the only question a buyer really has is whether the sticks drift.

The short version

Typical range: £15 – £50 — see the full game controller value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Gaming

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.

Test both sticks in a controller-test menu and watch for any movement when you are not touching them.
Press every button and both triggers, checking for sticking or unresponsive inputs.
Clean the grips and around the sticks, and check the charging port or battery compartment.

The photographs that sell a game controller

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 controller from the front, whole
A controller-test screen showing stick position at rest
The grips and the back, showing wear
The charging port or battery compartment, plus any crack, worn grip or missing rubber

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Platform, model and colour: “PS5 DualSense Controller, White, No Drift”. Platform compatibility is the search. The phrase no drift is worth including only if you have actually tested for it, because it is the first thing the buyer will check.

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

Platform and exact model or generation
Whether the sticks drift, tested and stated
Battery type, and whether a charging cable is included
Condition of grips, triggers and buttons

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a game controller. 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.

“Do the sticks drift?”

Test in a menu that shows stick input and report exactly what you see. This is the entire question for a used controller.

“Is it official or third party?”

Say plainly. Official controllers are worth considerably more and buyers can tell from the photographs anyway.

“Does it come with a cable?”

Mention it. Cables are cheap but a controller arriving without one cannot be charged or paired immediately.

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 game controller 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 £32 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a game controller — 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	£32
Poshmark	−£6	£26
eBay	−£4	£28
Mercari	−£3	£29
Etsy	−£2	£30

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 year round with a Christmas lift. Official current-generation controllers sell within days at the right price because new ones are expensive.

Cheap and easy to post in a padded box. Reset the controller and unpair it from your console first so it pairs cleanly for the buyer.

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 game controller worth?

Typically £15 to £50, with official current-generation pads at the top. See the game controller value guide for the bands.

Can I sell a controller with stick drift?

Yes, described as faulty and priced accordingly. There is a genuine market among people who repair them with replacement stick modules. Listing a drifting pad as working is what causes disputes.

Should I unpair it before selling?

Yes. An unpaired, reset controller connects cleanly to the buyer’s console, whereas one still bound to yours can be confusing to set up.