Sell Your Used Sander — 0% Fees

A used sander typically sells for £18 to £100, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Sanders are cheap and plentiful, so yours sells on dust extraction and on whether the pad still grips — a worn hook-and-loop pad throws discs off constantly.

The short version

Typical range: £18 – £100 — see the full sander value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Tools & DIY

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 hook-and-loop pad. If the hooks are flattened, discs will not stay on and the pad needs replacing.
Test the dust extraction and confirm the bag or canister and any adapter are present.
Run it and listen for bearing noise, and check the cable along its length.

The photographs that sell a sander

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 sander from above, whole
The pad face, showing hook-and-loop condition
The dust bag, canister or extraction port
The cable and rating plate, plus any crack or worn part

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, brand and pad size: “Random Orbital Sander, 125mm, Bosch, with Dust Box”. Sander type is the first filter — orbital, random orbital, belt and detail sanders do different jobs. Pad diameter matters because discs are bought to fit.

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

Type of sander and pad size or belt dimensions
Brand, model and wattage or battery voltage
Whether dust extraction, bag and adapters are included
Pad condition, and whether any discs or belts are included

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a sander. 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.

“Does the pad still grip?”

Press a disc on and pull it off. A flattened hook pad is the standard fault, and replacement pads are available for most brands.

“What size discs does it take?”

Give the diameter and hole pattern. Buyers usually already own discs and need to know they will fit.

“Does the dust extraction work?”

Test it and say. Sanding without extraction is genuinely unpleasant and buyers treat it as a real feature.

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 sander 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 £59 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a sander — 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	£59
Poshmark	−£12	£47
eBay	−£8	£51
Mercari	−£6	£53
Etsy	−£4	£55

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 spring and before Christmas. Trade brands sell quickly; unbranded sanders compete on price.

Light and easy to post. Empty the dust bag first, which is both courteous and stops fine dust escaping through the packaging.

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 sander worth?

Typically £18 to £100, with trade brands and cordless models above. See the sander value guide for the condition bands.

Can a worn sanding pad be replaced?

Yes, and replacement pads are inexpensive for most known brands. Say the model so the buyer can check availability — it turns a tired sander into an easy fix.

Which sander type should I say it is?

Be precise: random orbital, orbital sheet, belt, detail or disc. They do genuinely different jobs and buyers search the type they need.