Things You'll Need:
- Computer with internet connection
- eBay account
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Step 1
To begin, don't make the mistake that many do of looking at the active listings. While this may seem the most obvious thing to do, there are two problems with using this method:
1. If the item is an auction format, you will only see what the current bid price is. Much of the activity in an auction takes place in the last minutes, or even seconds, so any price before that can be misleading.
2. If the item is being listed in a fixed price format, or if the seller has listed a starting bid price, you will see the minimum that the seller has decided to accept. But there is no guarantee that the item will sell at all at that price so it's not helpful for research purposes. -
Step 2
The key to researching what something is selling for on eBay is using completed listings. The first step in using this method is to obtain an eBay account. It's free to sign up and the process is easy (link below in resources).
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Step 3
Once you've set up an eBay account and logged in, do a search for the item that you are wanting to research. When the search is complete, it will show you active listings for that item.
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Step 4
Scroll down on the listings page and in the left sidebar you will see a section called 'search options'. In this section, check the 'completed listings' box and then click on 'show items' at the bottom of the 'search options' box. This will run the search again showing only completed listings, or listings whose time has expired.
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Step 5
Take note of the prices of the listings shown in your new results. Any listings in green are items that sold and the price is the final price. Any listings with prices in red are items that did not sell. Both kinds of information will be helpful in helping you to decide if something is a good seller on eBay or not.
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Step 6
On the right hand side at the top of the listing page, you will find a 'sort by' box. You can use this box to list your completed results from lowest price to highest, highest to lowest, oldest listing first, newest listing first, and by distance (closest listings first). Regarding price, make sure to examine the completed listings both ways (highest price to lowest and lowest price to highest) to get a real feel for how that item is selling on eBay.
Comments
ariesjumagbas said
on 8/21/2008 Thanks for the info I've tried it just recently
lilmissrooroo said
on 7/19/2008 Thanks!
missforty said
on 7/13/2008 Thanks!
sexychef said
on 7/9/2008 This is great advice. 5*