Sell Your Used Step Ladder — 0% Fees

A used step ladder typically sells for £15 to £70, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. The rule for step ladders is the same as for any ladder: a bent stile, cracked tread or failed locking stay means scrapping it, not discounting it.

The short version

Typical range: £15 – £70 — see the full step ladder 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.

Open it fully and check the locking stays engage positively on both sides.
Check every tread and both stiles for bends, cracks and corrosion, and confirm the feet are present and not perished.
Note the number of treads, the platform height and the duty rating from the label if present.

The photographs that sell a step ladder

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 step ladder open and standing, whole
The locking stays engaged
The feet and the tread surfaces
The rating label, plus any bend, 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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Height and rating: “5 Tread Step Ladder, Aluminium, 1.1m Platform, EN131”. Tread count and platform height are the searches. Duty rating matters to trade buyers, who often need a specific class for work use.

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

Number of treads and platform height
Closed height and folded footprint, for transport and storage
Material and duty or class rating from the label
Condition of the stays, feet, treads and stiles

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a step ladder. 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.

“Do the locking stays work?”

Open it fully and check both sides engage. A stay that does not lock lets the ladder fold under load, which is exactly the failure that hurts people.

“What height is the top platform?”

Measure it. Buyers are matching it to a specific job and the number of treads alone does not give it.

“What class is it rated to?”

Read the label. Domestic ladders are fine for home use but many trade buyers need a specific rating, so quote it or say clearly there is none.

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 step ladder 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 step ladder — 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 spring and summer with decorating and outdoor work. Trade-rated ladders sell steadily year round.

Collection almost always — step ladders do not post economically. Give the closed height so the buyer knows whether it fits in their vehicle.

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 step ladder worth?

Typically £15 to £70, with trade-rated and taller models above. See the step ladder value guide for the bands.

Should I sell a damaged step ladder?

No. A bent stile, cracked tread or failed stay can collapse without warning under load. Ladders are one of the few categories where scrapping is genuinely the right answer.

Do missing feet matter?

Yes, considerably. The rubber feet are what stop the ladder sliding on a hard floor. Replacements are available for many models, but a ladder used without them is a slip risk.