The short version
- Typical range: £20 – £250 — see the full sculptures value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Art & Collectibles
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.
- Photograph any signature, foundry mark or edition number, usually on the base or the back edge.
- Do not clean or polish anything. Patina on bronze and the surface on stone are what collectors are paying for.
- Weigh it and measure it, and check the base for stability and any old repair.
The photographs that sell sculptures
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 piece from the front, whole, in even light
- Any signature, foundry mark or edition number, magnified
- The piece from a second angle and from behind
- The base and any chip, crack, repair 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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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
Material, subject and marks: “Bronze Figure Sculpture, Signed, Edition 12/50”. Material is the first search and an edition number is the strongest value signal you can give. Say resin or spelter plainly if that is what it is — misdescribed material is what ends these sales.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Material, stated honestly — bronze, resin, spelter, stone, wood or ceramic
- Height, width and weight
- Any signature, foundry mark or edition number, photographed
- Condition including patina, chips, cracks and any previous restoration
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about sculptures. 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.
Weight and a magnet tell you a lot: bronze is heavy and non-magnetic, spelter is lighter and resin lighter still. Say what you observe rather than asserting a material.
Photograph the base and the back edge closely. Signatures on sculpture are often small and easily missed, and they carry most of the value.
Say so if it has. Stripping patina from bronze is irreversible and reduces value substantially, so honesty here matters to serious buyers.
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 sculptures 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 £135 sale — roughly the middle of the range for sculptures — 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 | £135 |
| Poshmark | −£27 | £108 |
| eBay | −£18 | £117 |
| Mercari | −£14 | £121 |
| Etsy | −£9 | £126 |
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 to a collector audience year round. Attributed and editioned pieces sell when the right buyer appears, which can take weeks — patience beats discounting here.
Heavy and awkward. Pack in a rigid double box with the piece immobilised, and weigh it before quoting postage. Collection is often sensible for anything substantial.
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 are used sculptures worth?
Typically £20 to £250 for decorative pieces, with signed and editioned work far above. See the sculptures value guide for the condition bands.
Should I polish a bronze sculpture?
No. The patina is the surface the artist and foundry intended and it develops with age. Polishing it off cannot be undone and collectors price a stripped bronze far below an original one.
How do I tell bronze from spelter?
Bronze is noticeably heavier, warmer in colour and non-magnetic; spelter is lighter, often grey where chipped, and was widely used for decorative casts. Photograph any chip and give the weight.
See also: what a used sculptures is worth · browse live art & collectibles listings · condition grades explained.