The short version
- Typical range: £25 – £110 — see the full work boots value guide
- What decides your price: condition, and how well you evidence it in photographs
- Cost to sell here: nothing, at any price
- Category: Shoes & Footwear
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.
- Find the safety marking inside the tongue or on the label — codes such as S1, S3 or SB tell buyers exactly what protection the boot has.
- Check the toe cap area for impact damage and the sole for separation at the welt.
- Clean them properly and check the lacing hardware and the inner lining at the heel, which wears through with heavy use.
The photographs that sell work boots
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 pair side on, cleaned, standing
- Both soles, showing tread depth and any separation
- The safety marking inside the tongue, photographed legibly
- The toe area, the heel lining, and any split, scuff or worn hardware
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 It feels counterproductive, but a listing that shows the worst of an item gets fewer questions, fewer withdrawn offers and fewer arguments at handover.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, safety rating and size: “Dr Martens Steel Toe Safety Boots, S3, UK 10” or “Waterproof Work Boots, Composite Toe, EU 44”. Tradespeople search the rating and the toe type directly, and composite versus steel matters to anyone going through a metal detector at work.
Then state these in the description, because a buyer who has to ask is a buyer who might not bother:
- Size as marked, with UK and EU equivalents, and the width fitting if given
- Safety rating code as marked, and whether the toe cap is steel or composite
- Whether the boot has a midsole plate, is waterproof, or is electrical-hazard rated
- Tread depth and overall wear, given honestly
What buyers will actually ask
You will receive the same three messages about work boots. 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.
Read the code inside the tongue and quote it exactly. Buyers often need a specific rating for a site and cannot use a boot that does not carry it.
Say which. Composite is lighter and non-metallic, steel is cheaper and more common, and some workplaces require one or the other specifically.
Answer honestly. A safety toe that has already absorbed a serious impact should not be relied on again, and that is worth stating rather than leaving to chance.
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 work boots 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 £67 sale — roughly the middle of the range for work boots — 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 | £67 |
| Poshmark | −£13 | £54 |
| eBay | −£9 | £58 |
| Mercari | −£7 | £60 |
| Etsy | −£4 | £63 |
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 all year, with a lift in autumn as outdoor work gets wetter. Common trade sizes in recognised brands sell within a fortnight.
Heavy, so weigh them before quoting postage. Local collection often makes more sense for a cheaper pair where the postage would be a large share of the price.
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 are used work boots worth?
Typically £25 to £110, with premium brands and lightly used pairs at the top. See the work boots value guide for the grade-by-grade figures.
Should I sell safety boots that have taken an impact?
Say so plainly if they have. A toe cap is designed to absorb one serious hit, and selling a compromised boot as site-ready is not a corner worth cutting. Describe them as workwear rather than as certified protection.
Do worn treads matter on work boots?
A great deal, because slip resistance is part of what the boot is for. Photograph the sole flat to camera and let the buyer judge the depth themselves.
See also: what a used work boots is worth · browse live shoes & footwear listings · condition grades explained.