Sell Your Used Telescope — 0% Fees

A used telescope typically sells for £40 to £250, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Telescopes are sold on aperture and mount, and the honest truth worth stating is that a solid mount matters more than magnification — the wobbly-tripod department store scope is why so many end up resold.

The short version

Typical range: £40 – £250 — see the full telescope value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Cameras & Photography

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.

Note the aperture and focal length from the tube, and identify the mount type and whether it is motorised.
Check the optics for fungus, scratches and dust by looking through and at them in good light.
Gather every eyepiece, diagonal, finder and adapter, and check the tripod for stability and missing bolts.

The photographs that sell a telescope

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 telescope assembled on its mount, whole
The optical tube with the aperture and focal length markings
All eyepieces and accessories laid out together
The mount head and tripod, plus any fungus, scratch or missing 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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Aperture, type and mount: “200mm Newtonian Reflector on EQ5 Mount” or “90mm Refractor Telescope with Tripod”. Aperture in millimetres is the search. Never lead with a magnification figure — experienced buyers treat that as a warning sign.

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

Aperture and focal length, and the optical design
Mount type, and whether it is motorised or has a tracking drive
Every eyepiece and accessory included, with focal lengths
Optical condition, including any fungus, scratches or coating damage

What buyers will actually ask

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

“Is there any fungus on the optics?”

Look through the tube toward a light and check. Fungus spreads and etches coatings permanently, so it is the fault buyers most want disclosed.

“How stable is the mount?”

Be honest. A good tube on an inadequate mount is unusable at high magnification, and experienced buyers judge a scope on the mount first.

“What eyepieces come with it?”

List focal lengths and barrel size. Eyepieces are a real share of the value and buyers add them up.

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 telescope 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 £145 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a telescope — 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	£145
Poshmark	−£29	£116
eBay	−£20	£125
Mercari	−£14	£131
Etsy	−£9	£136

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 sharply from September to December as nights draw in and around Christmas. A good scope listed in autumn sells within a fortnight; summer listings are slow.

Collection is easier for anything sizeable, and the optical tube should travel padded and separate from the mount. Never post a telescope with the tube attached to the tripod.

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 telescope worth?

Typically £40 to £250, with larger apertures and quality equatorial mounts well above. See the telescope value guide for the bands.

Does magnification matter?

Far less than aperture and mount stability. High magnification claims are a marketing feature of cheap scopes, and quoting one in your listing signals inexperience to the buyers most likely to pay well.

Can fungus on optics be cleaned?

Sometimes, by a specialist, but it often leaves permanent etching in the coatings. Disclose it clearly and price accordingly rather than hoping it will not be noticed.