Sell Your Used Turntable — 0% Fees

A used turntable typically sells for £50 to £300, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Turntables are bought by people upgrading, so specify the tonearm, cartridge and drive type — this audience knows exactly what those mean and will not enquire without them.

The short version

Typical range: £50 – £300 — see the full turntable value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Vinyl & CDs

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 drive type, tonearm and cartridge, and whether the cartridge is original or an upgrade.
Check speed accuracy with a strobe or app, confirm the tonearm moves freely with correct tracking force, and inspect the stylus.
Check the belt if belt driven, and whether the dust cover, mat and counterweight are present.

The photographs that sell a turntable

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 deck from above with the lid open, whole
The tonearm and cartridge close up
The rear outputs and any switches
The platter and belt or motor, plus any plinth damage

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, model and cartridge: “Rega Planar 1 Turntable with Carbon Cartridge, Belt Drive”. Serious buyers search by model. Say whether the cartridge has been upgraded and what the original was — upgrades add real value when documented.

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

Brand, model, and drive type: belt, direct or idler
Tonearm type and cartridge fitted, plus whether it is original or an upgrade
Approximate stylus hours, and speed accuracy
Whether the dust cover, mat, counterweight and original box are included

What buyers will actually ask

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

“What cartridge is fitted?”

Read the model off the cartridge body. It is a meaningful part of the value and this audience prices it separately.

“Is the speed accurate?”

Test with a strobe disc or phone app and give the result. Belt-driven decks drift as belts age and buyers expect the check.

“Has it been serviced or upgraded?”

List anything done — new belt, rewired arm, upgraded cartridge or platter. Documented upgrades add value with this audience.

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 turntable 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 £175 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a turntable — 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	£175
Poshmark	−£35	£140
eBay	−£24	£151
Mercari	−£18	£157
Etsy	−£11	£164

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 with an active hi-fi market and a Christmas lift. Well-regarded models sell within days; unbranded decks sit.

Very fragile in transit. Remove the platter and counterweight, secure the tonearm, and protect the stylus separately or remove the cartridge entirely. The original box, if you have it, is worth using.

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 turntable worth?

Typically £50 to £300, with respected audiophile models and vintage direct-drive decks well above that. See the turntable value guide for the condition breakdown.

Do cartridge upgrades add value?

Yes, when documented. A good cartridge can be worth a substantial share of a budget deck’s price, so name the model and say roughly how many hours are on the stylus.

How should I pack a turntable for posting?

Remove the platter, the counterweight and ideally the cartridge, secure the tonearm with a tie, and pack each part separately with heavy padding. Tonearms and styli are what arrive broken when this is skipped.