Sell Your Used Side Table — 0% Fees

A used side table typically sells for £12 to £70, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Side tables are an easy sale where the top surface is the whole listing — photograph it across the light rather than straight down, which hides every ring mark.

The short version

Typical range: £12 – £70 — see the full side table value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Furniture

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.

Clean the top and check it across raking light for ring marks, heat damage and scratches.
Check for wobble on a flat floor and tighten the legs.
Look underneath for a maker’s label or stamp, which on mid-century pieces changes the price.

The photographs that sell a side table

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 table from a standing angle
The top surface across the light
The legs and their joints
The underside with any maker’s mark, plus every chip or scratch

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, style and size: “Mid Century Teak Side Table, 45cm, Tapered Legs”. Height and top dimensions are the searches because buyers are matching a sofa arm. Era and maker carry the value on anything vintage.

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

Height, and top length and width or diameter
Material and finish
Whether it has a shelf or drawer
Top surface condition and any wobble or repair

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a side table. 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.

“How tall is it?”

Measure it. Side tables are matched to sofa arm height and a few centimetres decides whether it works.

“What condition is the top in?”

Photograph it across the light. Every used side table has marks and buyers simply want to see them.

“Is it solid wood?”

Say what it is and photograph an edge. Solid, veneered and laminate are three different price brackets.

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 side table 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 £41 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a side table — 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	£41
Poshmark	−£8	£33
eBay	−£6	£35
Mercari	−£4	£37
Etsy	−£3	£38

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 lifts in January and late summer. Mid-century pieces sell within days when correctly identified.

Small enough for a car boot, which makes collection easy. Remove the legs if they unbolt and say so — it turns a van job into a hatchback one.

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 side table worth?

Typically £12 to £70, with mid-century and designer pieces far above. See the side table value guide for the bands.

Do ring marks stop it selling?

No, but hiding them does. Ring marks are expected on a used table and many buyers plan to refinish the top. Show them and price accordingly.

How do I tell if it is mid-century?

Look for tapered legs, teak or rosewood veneer, and a maker’s stamp underneath. Photograph what you find rather than asserting a period you cannot evidence.