The short version
- Typical range: £4 – £25 — see the full manga value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Books
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.
- Sort by series and volume number and identify exactly what you have, including any gaps.
- Check whether any volume is out of print, since those carry a premium well above the rest.
- Inspect spines for creasing and page edges for yellowing, which is common on older printings.
The photographs that sell manga
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.
- All volumes lined up with spines readable, in numerical order
- The covers fanned, showing the count
- A page spread showing print quality and any yellowing
- Any spine crease, tear, sticker or water damage
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Series, volume range and language: “[Series] Volumes 1-12, English, Complete”. Volume numbers are the search and the language matters because both original-language and translated editions circulate. Say if any volume is out of print — that is where the value concentrates.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Series title and exactly which volume numbers are included
- Language and publisher
- Whether the run is complete, and whether any volume is out of print
- Condition of spines, covers and page edges
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about manga. 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.
List every number. Collectors are completing a run and cannot work with an approximate answer.
Check and say. Out-of-print volumes are worth several times an in-print one and are worth listing separately.
Photograph the page edges. Yellowing is normal on older manga printings and buyers accept it, but it should be visible rather than described.
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 manga 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 £14 sale — roughly the middle of the range for manga — 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 | £14 |
| Poshmark | −£3 | £11 |
| eBay | −£2 | £12 |
| Mercari | −£1 | £13 |
| Etsy | −£1 | £13 |
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 lift before Christmas. Complete runs and out-of-print volumes sell within days; common in-print singles compete with retail and move slowly.
Light individually but heavy as a run, so weigh the full set. Pack flat with card protection — manga spines crease easily and that is what the grade rests on.
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 manga worth?
Typically £4 to £25 per volume, with out-of-print titles well above. See the manga value guide for the condition bands.
Is it better to sell manga as a complete set?
Usually yes for an in-print series, since buyers want the whole run. But pull out any out-of-print volume and list it separately, or you will sell it for the set price.
Does yellowing reduce the value?
Somewhat, and it is nearly universal on older printings. Show it clearly in a photograph and buyers price it in without complaint.
See also: what a used manga is worth · browse live books listings · condition grades explained.