Sell Your Used Kids Shoes — 0% Fees

Used kids shoes typically sell for £6 to £30, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Children’s shoes are the one clothing item where honesty about wear really matters, because a shoe moulded to another child’s foot is not a bargain at any price.

The short version

Typical range: £6 – £30 — see the full kids shoes 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.

Look at the sole wear pattern and the inside of the heel. A shoe worn heavily on one edge has moulded to a specific gait.
Clean them thoroughly, including the insoles, and remove or replace anything soiled.
Measure the internal length in centimetres, since children’s sizing varies significantly between brands.

The photographs that sell kids shoes

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 pair side on, clean, standing
Both soles, showing the wear pattern honestly
The insoles and inside of the heel
The size marking, plus any scuff, split or worn toe

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, size and type: “Clarks School Shoes, Size 11F, Black Leather”. The width fitting is a genuine search for parents whose child has been measured, and it is almost never included in listings. Say leather or synthetic, and whether they are school shoes or casual.

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

Size as marked, width fitting if given, and internal length in centimetres
Brand and material
How much they have been worn, honestly
Sole and heel wear pattern, and the state of the insole

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about kids shoes. 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.

“How worn are they?”

Photograph the soles and answer plainly. Lightly worn children’s shoes are a genuinely good buy; heavily moulded ones are not, and saying so builds the trust that sells the rest of your listings.

“What is the internal length?”

Measure it in centimetres. Brand sizing differs and parents who have had a child measured work in centimetres, not sizes.

“Are they leather?”

Say so, and note if they are the type that can be re-polished. Leather school shoes clean up far better than synthetic ones and it 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 kids shoes 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 £18 sale — roughly the middle of the range for kids shoes — 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	£18
Poshmark	−£4	£14
eBay	−£2	£16
Mercari	−£2	£16
Etsy	−£1	£17

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

Peaks in August for school shoes and again in spring. Barely-worn shoes in common sizes sell within days in season.

Light and cheap to post. Box rather than bag so the shape holds, and say plainly that they have been cleaned — for children’s footwear that reassurance matters.

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

Is it OK to buy used children’s shoes?

Lightly worn ones, yes — children outgrow shoes long before wearing them out. Heavily worn shoes mould to a specific foot and gait, so those are better recycled than resold. Photograph the soles and let the parent judge.

What are used kids shoes worth?

Typically £6 to £30, with barely-worn branded school shoes at the top. See the kids shoes value guide for the bands.

Should I include the box?

It helps for posting and looks better, but it is not essential. What matters far more is a clear photograph of the soles and an honest account of how much they have been worn.