Secondhand marketplaces: fees, buyer protection, and local pickup
A sofa, a bread maker, a box of tools: things too big or too ordinary for a clothing app still have buyers, and often neighbors who would happily collect them for free. Most of the choice comes down to one question. Will the item travel by post, or will someone come to the door? Shipped sales put a platform in the middle to hold the money and settle disputes. Local sales and gifts mostly leave that to you.
This guide covers household goods and general items. For clothing apps, consignment and thrift, see the secondhand and resale guide.
The short answer. For things that ship, eBay and Mercari hold the payment and state a buyer guarantee, and you pay for that: eBay's final value fee is 13.6% in most categories, Mercari's selling fee is 10% and its buyers pay a 3.6% protection fee. For things that do not ship, local classifieds are free to post in most categories, and the protection is whatever you check at the handoff: Craigslist's terms say it makes no promises and caps its liability at $100. If you only want something gone, or need something free, Freecycle, the Buy Nothing Project and, in the UK, Freegle cost nothing on either side. Habitat for Humanity ReStores and Salvation Army thrift stores take donations and sell in person, and the money goes to their programs. There is no single best route.
What the seller keeps on each route, in our data:
Four ways to pass something on
| Route | Examples | Who holds the money | Protection the platform states |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shipped marketplace | eBay, Mercari, Vinted | The platform takes payment; Mercari and Vinted release it after delivery | eBay's Money Back Guarantee is automatic on eligible purchases; Mercari gives 72 hours after delivery; Vinted 2 days |
| Local classifieds | Craigslist, OfferUp, Gumtree | Usually paid between you; Gumtree also offers in-app payment | Gumtree offers buyer protection on in-app payments; Craigslist offers none |
| Free giving networks | Freecycle, Buy Nothing, Freegle | No money changes hands | No payment, so nothing to refund |
| Nonprofit stores | Habitat ReStore, Salvation Army | The store, at the till | The store's own policy |
Fees on each side
| Platform | Seller pays | Buyer pays |
|---|---|---|
| eBay | 13.6% of the sale up to $7,500, plus $0.30 or $0.40 per order; up to 250 listings a month with no insertion fee | Nothing extra for the guarantee |
| Mercari | 10% of item price plus buyer-paid shipping | A 3.6% protection fee |
| Vinted | Nothing | $0.70 plus 5% of the item price |
| Gumtree (UK) | Nothing when using its payments | £0.70 plus 5 to 10% of the item price |
| Craigslist | Nothing for most posts; $5 for cars, trucks, RVs and motorcycles by owner in the US | Nothing |
| OfferUp | Most items free to post; a fee if you go past your free posts in some categories | See its terms |
| Freecycle, Buy Nothing, Freegle | Nothing | Nothing |
Seller fees at zero usually mean the cost moved to the buyer, as with Vinted and Gumtree, or that nobody is standing behind the sale, as with Craigslist.
Local handoffs
Craigslist's terms say the service is provided "AS IS" and that its liability will not exceed $100 or what you paid it in the prior year. Its safety page asks you to meet somewhere public, such as a bank or a police department, not to invite strangers into your home, to be especially careful with high-value items, and to tell someone where you are going. Some police departments set aside areas for exactly this. The same advice holds for any local sale.
Freecycle works the same way without money: members post what they want to give or get, reply to each other, and "arrange a pickup time and location."
Where your money goes at nonprofit stores
Habitat ReStores are run by local Habitat organizations, accept donated furniture, appliances and building materials, and sell them at "a fraction of the retail price"; the sales help Habitat build and repair homes. The Salvation Army lists 887 thrift stores in the US and says store proceeds fund its rehabilitation centers along with programs such as food pantries and after-school care.
If you care most about...
| Your priority | Kind of route | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Someone holding the money until it arrives | eBay, Mercari | A stated buyer guarantee |
| Keeping the whole sale price | Vinted, Gumtree payments, Craigslist | No seller fee; check who pays instead |
| Getting rid of it today, for free | Freecycle, Buy Nothing, Freegle, Nextdoor | A neighbor collects it |
| Bulky furniture or building materials | Local classifieds, a ReStore | No shipping |
| Your spending funding a cause | Habitat ReStore, Salvation Army | Proceeds go to their programs |
Before you post
- Decide whether it ships. If it does not, go local.
- Price after fees, on the day you list.
- For a shipped sale, keep the payment inside the platform, where the guarantee applies.
- For a local sale, meet in public and test the item before paying.
- If it is worth little, give it away. A neighbor's use beats a landfill.
What we are not telling you
Protection scores describe what each platform states, not how often it pays claims. Figures are US or UK rates as each page gives them. Facebook Marketplace is left out of our data because its help pages returned errors throughout our research, so no score would have had a real source. Nextdoor's figures come from a 2021 press release: at the time it said it reached 276,000 neighborhoods and that 25% of items in its buy, sell and give section were listed free. The cheapest option is often borrowing, repairing, or asking a neighbor before buying anything at all.
How we made this
Nobody paid to appear here. Every figure comes from the platform's or organization's own page, opened on 29 September 2026. Corrections are welcome and get applied with their source.
Sources
- eBay: selling fees, checked 2026-09
- eBay: Money Back Guarantee, checked 2026-09
- Mercari: fees, checked 2026-09
- Mercari: buyer protection, checked 2026-09
- Vinted: how it works, checked 2026-09
- Vinted: price list, checked 2026-09
- Vinted: buyer protection, checked 2026-09
- Gumtree: how fees and selling costs are charged, checked 2026-09
- Craigslist: posting fees, checked 2026-09
- Craigslist: terms of use, checked 2026-09
- Craigslist: in-person transactions, checked 2026-09
- OfferUp: terms of service, checked 2026-09
- Freecycle: about, checked 2026-09
- Buy Nothing Project, checked 2026-09
- Freegle, checked 2026-09
- Nextdoor: Free Finds press release (2021), checked 2026-09
- Habitat for Humanity: ReStores, checked 2026-09
- Salvation Army: thrift stores, checked 2026-09