Sell Your Used Tripod — 0% Fees

A used tripod 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. Tripods sell on load capacity and folded length, and the fault that ends most of them is a stripped or seized leg lock rather than anything structural.

The short version

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

Extend and lock every leg section and check each lock holds under load.
Check the head separately — whether it is included, what type it is, and whether the plate is present.
Measure the folded length and the maximum height, and weigh it.

The photographs that sell a tripod

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 tripod fully extended, whole
The leg locks close up
The head and quick-release plate
Folded, with a tape showing folded length, plus any wear or missing foot

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Brand, material and capacity: “Manfrotto Aluminium Tripod, 5kg Load, Ball Head Included”. Load capacity is the search for anyone with a heavy camera. Carbon fibre versus aluminium is a real distinction on weight and price, and whether a head is included is the other value question.

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

Maximum and minimum height, and folded length
Weight and maximum load capacity
Material, and number of leg sections
Whether a head is included, its type, and whether the plate is present

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a tripod. 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 a head included?”

Say so and name the type — ball, three-way or fluid. Heads are a substantial part of the value and are often sold separately.

“Is the quick-release plate there?”

Check and confirm. Plates are model specific, easily lost, and a head without one is unusable until the buyer sources a replacement.

“Do the leg locks hold?”

Extend and load each section. Slipping locks are the standard fault and they are what makes a tripod useless.

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 tripod 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 tripod — 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

Steady year round with a lift before summer and Christmas. Carbon fibre and known brands hold value strongly.

Long and heavy, so measure and weigh before quoting. Fold it fully and protect the head, which is the part that gets damaged in transit.

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 tripod worth?

Typically £15 to £70, with carbon fibre and professional brands far above. See the tripod value guide for the condition bands.

Does the quick-release plate matter?

Considerably. Plates are specific to the head and a missing one means the buyer cannot mount a camera until they find the right replacement. Always say whether yours is included.

Is carbon fibre worth the difference?

It is lighter for the same stiffness and damps vibration better, which is why it costs more new and holds value better used. Say which yours is in the title.