The short version
- Typical range: £5 – £40 — see the full glassware value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Home & Garden
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.
- Check the base of each piece for an etched signature, label or moulded maker’s mark.
- Hold every piece to the light and turn it, checking rims for chips and the body for internal cracks and cloudiness.
- Wash by hand in lukewarm water. Never put old or decorated glass in a dishwasher, which etches it permanently.
The photographs that sell glassware
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 full set together against a light background, countable
- The base of one piece showing any mark
- A rim close up in raking light
- Any chip, crack, cloudiness or ground-down rim
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, type and quantity: “Set of 6 Cut Lead Crystal Wine Glasses, Stuart”. Named makers and pattern names are the searches. Say how many, since sets of six and eight are worth disproportionately more than odd numbers.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- How many pieces and what type
- Maker and pattern if marked, photographed
- Height and capacity
- Whether lead crystal or ordinary glass, and every chip, crack or cloudiness
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about glassware. 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.
Run a fingernail carefully round every rim and foot. Tiny flea bites are common on older glass and buyers accept them — when told.
Tap it gently and note whether it rings, check the weight, and say what any mark indicates. Describe what you observe rather than asserting a composition.
For old and cut glass, no — it clouds permanently. Say so, because a buyer who does it once has ruined the set.
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 glassware 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 £22 sale — roughly the middle of the range for glassware — 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 | £22 |
| Poshmark | −£4 | £18 |
| eBay | −£3 | £19 |
| Mercari | −£2 | £20 |
| Etsy | −£1 | £21 |
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 before Christmas for entertaining, and steadily year round to collectors of named makers. Complete sets of six sell fastest.
Double box with each piece individually wrapped and no glass touching glass. Fill every void, because glassware breaks in transit more than any other homeware.
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 used glassware worth?
Typically £5 to £40 a set, with named crystal makers and complete sets well above. See the glassware value guide for the condition bands.
Is lead crystal safe to use?
For serving and drinking it is generally considered fine, but lead crystal decanters should not be used to store spirits for long periods, since lead can leach over time. It is worth saying in a decanter listing rather than leaving the buyer to find out.
Why has my old glass gone cloudy?
Almost always a dishwasher, which etches the surface permanently. It cannot be reversed, so describe cloudiness honestly rather than hoping it photographs out.
See also: what a used glassware is worth · browse live home & garden listings · condition grades explained.