The short version
- Typical range: £15 – £70 — see the full pressure cooker value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Kitchen & Appliances
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.
- Inspect the rubber gasket for hardening, cracking and flattening, and note whether replacements are still available.
- Check every safety valve and vent is clear and moves freely, and that the lid locks and releases correctly.
- Check the base for warping and the handles for cracks, and identify the model precisely.
The photographs that sell a pressure cooker
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 cooker assembled with lid locked
- The gasket removed and laid flat
- The safety valves and vents from underneath the lid
- The base, plus the model marking and any warp, crack or corrosion
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Type, capacity and brand: “Prestige Stovetop Pressure Cooker, 6L” or “Instant Pot Duo 5.7L Electric Pressure Cooker”. Stovetop and electric are quite different products. Capacity is the search and gasket availability is the value question.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Type — stovetop or electric — and capacity in litres
- Brand and model, precisely, so gaskets can be matched
- Whether the gasket is sound and whether spares are available
- Condition of the safety valves, lid lock and base
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a pressure cooker. 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.
Take it out and flex it. A hardened or cracked gasket will not seal, and on discontinued models a replacement may not exist.
Check each one is clear and not seized. These are the components that stop a pressure cooker becoming dangerous, so it is not a detail to skip.
Look up the model. A pressure cooker whose gaskets are no longer made has a limited life and buyers should know before they commit.
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 pressure cooker 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 £42 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a pressure cooker — 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 | £42 |
| Poshmark | −£8 | £34 |
| eBay | −£6 | £36 |
| Mercari | −£4 | £38 |
| Etsy | −£3 | £39 |
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 in autumn and January. Electric multi-cookers sell within days; stovetop cookers sell steadily to cooks who prefer them.
Pack with the lid unlocked and the gasket in place. Note the model in the listing so the buyer can source a replacement gasket before first use, which is sensible practice for any used pressure cooker.
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 safe to buy a used pressure cooker?
A sound modern one, yes, and fitting a fresh gasket before first use is sensible practice. What should not be sold as usable is a cooker with a perished gasket, a seized safety valve or a warped base, or one so old that spares no longer exist.
What is a used pressure cooker worth?
Typically £15 to £70, with electric multi-cookers above. See the pressure cooker value guide.
Should I replace the gasket before selling?
If one is available and cheap, it is a genuine selling point. Otherwise say plainly what condition the gasket is in and confirm that spares exist for the model.
See also: what a used pressure cooker is worth · browse live kitchen & appliances listings · condition grades explained.