Sell Your Used Waistcoat — 0% Fees

A used waistcoat typically sells for £10 to £45, and on WishThrift it costs you nothing to list — no fee, no commission, so you keep the whole amount you agree. Waistcoats sell to two quite separate buyers — formalwear and vintage — and telling them apart in the title decides who finds your listing.

The short version

Typical range: £10 – £45 — see the full waistcoat value guide
What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
Category: Clothing

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.

Check the back adjuster buckle and strap, which is where waistcoats wear and where they are easily damaged.
Inspect the lining, particularly under the arms and along the back panel.
Press it properly. A waistcoat photographs badly creased and takes minutes to steam.

The photographs that sell a waistcoat

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 waistcoat flat or on a hanger, front, whole
The back, showing the adjuster strap and buckle
The lining and inner pockets
The label with size and composition, plus any stain, hole or worn buttonhole

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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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

Style, material and size: “Tweed Waistcoat, Size 40in Chest” or “Three Piece Suit Waistcoat, Navy, Medium”. Chest size in inches is the search for formalwear. Say if it is part of a suit and whether the matching jacket and trousers are available.

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

Chest size in inches, and length from shoulder
Fabric composition, and whether the back is satin or matching cloth
Number of buttons and pockets, and whether there is a back adjuster
Any missing button, stain or lining damage

What buyers will actually ask

You will receive the same three messages about a waistcoat. 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 chest size is it?”

Give the label size and the flat measurement doubled. Formalwear buyers work in inches and are usually matching an existing jacket.

“Is it part of a suit?”

Say so, and whether the other pieces are available. A matching three-piece is worth far more together than a waistcoat alone.

“Does the back adjuster work?”

Check the buckle and strap. It is what makes a waistcoat fit, and a broken one turns a wearable garment into a repair job.

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 waistcoat 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 £27 sale — roughly the middle of the range for a waistcoat — 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	£27
Poshmark	−£5	£22
eBay	−£4	£23
Mercari	−£3	£24
Etsy	−£2	£25

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 wedding season in spring and around Christmas party season. Tweed and vintage styles sell steadily to a separate audience year round.

Light and cheap to post. Fold along existing seams with tissue at the fold, and post flat rather than rolled so it arrives ready to wear.

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 waistcoat worth?

Typically £10 to £45, with tweed, vintage and designer pieces above. See the waistcoat value guide for the condition grades.

Should I sell a waistcoat separately from the suit?

Only if the other pieces are gone. A complete three-piece suit is worth considerably more than the sum of its parts, so keep it together where you can.

Do buyers mind a satin back?

Not at all — it is the traditional construction for a suit waistcoat. Just say which it is, since a matching-cloth back suits a different, more casual buyer.