Sell Your Used Ukulele — 0% Fees

A used ukulele 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. Ukuleles sell on size and on whether the instrument holds tune — and the size names matter, because soprano, concert, tenor and baritone are genuinely different instruments.

The short version

Typical range: £15 – £70 — see the full ukulele value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Music & Instruments

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.

Identify the size correctly and measure the scale length from nut to bridge.
Tune it and leave it an hour, then check whether it has held. Cheap tuners slipping is the usual fault.
Check the neck is straight, the action at the twelfth fret, and the body for cracks and open seams.

The photographs that sell a ukulele

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 ukulele front on, whole
The headstock and tuners close up
The bridge and saddle area
The body sides and back, plus any crack, open seam 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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Size, brand and wood: “Concert Ukulele, Solid Mahogany, with Gig Bag”. Size is the primary search. Solid wood versus laminate is a genuine value distinction, and saying whether a gig bag is included saves an exchange.

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

Size — soprano, concert, tenor or baritone — and scale length
Body wood, and whether solid or laminate
Whether it has a pickup, and the tuner type
Whether it holds tune, the action, and any crack or seam separation

What buyers will actually ask

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

“Does it hold tune?”

Tune it, leave it, and report honestly. Slipping tuners are the common fault on inexpensive ukuleles and they are replaceable, but the buyer should know.

“What size is it?”

Give the name and the scale length. Soprano and tenor feel completely different to play and buyers choose deliberately.

“Is it solid wood or laminate?”

Look inside the sound hole at the edge grain. Solid tops sound better as they age and are worth more, so it is worth establishing.

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 ukulele 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 ukulele — 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 before Christmas and in September as lessons restart. Beginner instruments sell fastest in those windows; solid wood instruments sell year round.

Light and easy to post in a rigid box with the strings slackened slightly. Include the gig bag, which protects it in transit anyway.

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 ukulele worth?

Typically £15 to £70, with solid wood and named brands above. See the ukulele value guide for the condition bands.

Which ukulele size should I say it is?

Measure the scale length from nut to bridge and match it: soprano is shortest, then concert, tenor and baritone. Getting this right is the difference between the listing being found or not.

Should I fit new strings before selling?

A fresh set costs very little and makes the instrument sound and photograph better. It is one of the few pre-sale jobs on an instrument that reliably pays for itself.