COS Pleated Skirts Resale Value

COS pleated skirts: price by condition

Seller-declared grades, sterling with an approximate US dollar equivalent at £1 ≈ $1.33 (July 2026). What each grade means.

What holds its value across COS

• Oversized wool and wool-blend coats, which are the label’s signature and the thing buyers search it for by name
• Archive and limited-edition pieces, which are produced in small runs and are the only part of the range with a collectors’ element
• Plain, structured tailoring in neutral colours, which dates far more slowly than anything printed and stays saleable for years
• Heavier knitwear in merino and wool blends, which holds its shape where the cheaper high-street equivalents do not

What pulls COS resale value down

• Pilled knitwear, which is the commonest fault and shows immediately against the plain colours the label favours
• Faded blacks and washed-out greys, which are most of the range and where fading is most obvious
• Anything with a broken or replaced signature button or fastening, since the hardware is deliberately minimal and any substitute shows
• Basic jersey pieces, which are cheap enough new that a used one rarely justifies the postage on its own

Identifying and dating yours

1. The neck label reads COS rather than any sub-line, and the care label carries a product code buyers can search to confirm the season
2. COS sizing runs large and is cut deliberately oversized, so give flat measurements — buyers who have not worn the label before consistently order wrong
3. Photograph the shoulder seams and the inside of the coat, because the construction is most of why somebody chooses this label secondhand

What lifts any pleated skirt, whatever the label

Pleated skirts live on whether the pleats are still sharp, and dropped pleats cannot reliably be restored.

• Pleats still sharp and evenly spaced
• Permanent-pleat fabrics that hold their set
• Designer and contemporary labels
• Full linings in good condition

And what pulls one down

• Dropped pleats that have lost definition
• Uneven pleating from bad pressing
• Stretched waistbands
• Thin synthetics with poor pleat retention

Working out what yours is worth

1. Hang it and check every pleat falls evenly
2. Check the waistband for stretching
3. Measure the waist and full length

What to state in the listing

• Waist measured flat, and length from waistband to hem
• Label size, and whether the waistband is elasticated
• Fabric composition, and whether it is lined
• Pleat condition, and whether they are permanently set

Style, length and size: “Pleated Midi Skirt, Size 12, Waist 30in, Navy”. Length category — mini, midi or maxi — is a real search and so is the waist measurement. Say the fabric, because a wool pleated skirt and a polyester one are different purchases.

Preparing and photographing it

1. Hang it and check the pleats fall evenly. Pleats that have lost their set cannot easily be restored at home.
2. Check the waistband, zip and any hook and eye, and look at the hem for dropped stitches.
3. Measure the waist flat and the length from waistband to hem.

1. The skirt hung, front, whole, so the pleats hang naturally
2. A close-up of the pleats showing they are crisp
3. The waistband and zip
4. The label with size and composition, plus the hem and any mark or unset pleat

When it sells best, and handing it over

Lifts in autumn for wool and winter fabrics and in spring for lighter ones. Steady year round for workwear styles.

Post folded along the pleats rather than across them, which preserves the set. Say you have done so — it reassures buyers who have received a crushed pleated skirt before.

What buyers ask

Does COS clothing hold its value?

Reasonably, and better than most of the high street, because the designs are plain enough not to date. Coats and tailoring do best; plain jersey basics are barely worth listing on their own.

What size should I list a COS coat as?

Give the label size and the flat measurements together. COS is cut oversized and the label size alone misleads more buyers on this brand than on almost any other.

How much is a COS pleated skirt worth?

Roughly £8 to £35 depending on condition, against £8 to £35 for pleated skirts generally. The identification points above are what move a listing to the top of that range.

What the fees would take elsewhere

At the mid-range £21 for a COS pleated skirt, against what the commission marketplaces would deduct:

Seller-side rates verified 26 Jul 2026, percentages only — the per-order and processing charges those platforms add are excluded, so the real gap is wider.

Listing is free and there is no commission — read how to sell a pleated skirt for the title, handover and timing, or the general pleated skirt value guide if yours is not a COS.

See also: all COS value guides · value guides by brand · buying a pleated skirt · Clothing · condition grades.