The short version
- Typical range: £20 – £150 — see the full rug 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.
- Vacuum both sides thoroughly, then check the backing for crumbling latex, which is what ends an old rug’s life.
- Photograph in daylight. Artificial light shifts rug colours badly and colour disputes are the main reason a rug sale goes wrong.
- Check the fringes and edges for fraying, and look for moth damage on anything wool by parting the pile in a few places.
The photographs that sell a rug
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 whole rug flat on the floor, shot from above, entirely in frame
- A close-up of the pile in daylight, showing true colour and texture
- The backing and the edge binding or fringe
- Any stain, worn patch, fray, moth hole or repair, close up
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Size first, then material and style: “Wool Rug, 200x290cm, Persian Style, Red”. Dimensions in centimetres are the search because buyers are matching a room. Say hand-knotted, machine-made or flatweave, and never describe a machine-made rug with a place name that implies it is hand-knotted.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Exact dimensions in centimetres, measured not estimated
- Material — wool, cotton, jute, viscose or synthetic
- Construction — hand-knotted, hand-tufted, flatweave or machine-made
- Whether it has been in a home with pets or smokers, and any stain or wear
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about a rug. 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.
Shoot in daylight and say what conditions you shot in. Colour is the single biggest source of disappointment on rugs, and you cannot accept a return.
Answer honestly. Buyers with allergies ask specifically, and a rug rejected on the doorstep for a smell you did not mention wastes everyone’s day.
Turn it over and photograph the back. On a hand-knotted rug the pattern is visible in the knots from behind; on a machine-made one the back is uniform. Let the buyer read it themselves.
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 rug 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 £85 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a rug — 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 | £85 |
| Poshmark | −£17 | £68 |
| eBay | −£12 | £73 |
| Mercari | −£8 | £77 |
| Etsy | −£6 | £79 |
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 from September through winter as people warm up rooms, with a smaller January window. Large rugs in neutral tones sell fastest; bold colours take longer but face little competition.
Rolls tightly and posts more cheaply than people expect, though large wool rugs are genuinely heavy — weigh before quoting. Roll with the pile outward and never fold, which creases permanently.
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 rug worth?
Typically £20 to £150, with hand-knotted wool rugs considerably above. See the rug value guide for pricing across the condition grades.
Should I have a rug cleaned before selling?
A professional clean rarely pays for itself at these prices, but a thorough vacuum of both sides does. If there is an odour, say so — that is far better than a buyer discovering it after collection.
Does a small stain stop a rug selling?
No, provided it is photographed and its position given. Buyers routinely plan around a stain by placing furniture over it; what they will not forgive is finding one that was cropped out.
See also: what a used rug is worth · browse live home & garden listings · condition grades explained.