Comp quality
What makes a good sold comp
A good comp is a sold listing that matches your item on five points: the exact product and generation, the condition band, completeness, size or variant, and recency. Miss one and the median of the set is precise and wrong.
Two listings can share a brand, a model name and a photograph and still be different products with different markets. Comp selection is where pricing is won or lost.
What makes a sold listing a good comp?
A sold listing is a good comp when it matches your item on five points: identity, condition, completeness, size or variant, and recency.
- Identity. The same product, not a similar one. Generations, model years, regional variants and reissues share names and do not share prices.
- Condition. Same band. New with tags, new without, excellent, used, and for-parts are separate markets, not points on one scale.
- Completeness. Box, papers, accessories, cables, dust bag, original packaging. On some items it can be a large share of the value.
- Size or variant. Common sizes and unusual ones can sell at different prices for the same garment or shoe.
- Recency. Prices move. A sale from two years ago is history rather than a comp, and in fast-moving categories even a few months matters.
Which sold comps look right but aren't?
Six near-misses look like comps and aren't: a different generation, a bundle, an accepted offer, a condition graded too high, a regional version and a sale the buyer never paid for.
| Looks like | What it is | Effect on your price |
|---|---|---|
| Same model name | A different generation or model year | Can be wrong by a multiple, in either direction |
| Same item | A bundle or lot sale | Inflates, because the buyer paid for several things |
| A sale | A best-offer accepted well below the listed price | Depends on which figure you read. Read what was paid |
| Same condition | Described as excellent, photographed as rough | Inflates your expectation for a worse item |
| Same product | A different regional version | Different demand, a different market, and sometimes different voltage or sizing |
| A real sale | A sale the buyer never paid for | eBay's public pages don't show whether the buyer paid, so one odd sale can mislead |
Why open the highest and lowest comps first?
Opening the extreme comps can teach you more than the arithmetic does, because it turns an outlier from noise into information.
Open the highest and lowest comps in your set before trusting either. You are looking for the explanation: a lot of six, a rare colorway, a damaged item sold for parts, an exceptional set of photographs.
Why are my sold comps so different from each other?
A wide spread is itself a finding, and it can mean a mixed set, presentation driving price, or a thin market. Here is each one:
- Your set is mixed. Two different products, or two condition bands, have been collected together. Split them and price against the right half.
- Presentation is driving price. In categories where photographs and description carry a lot of weight, the spread can reflect seller effort rather than the item. That is an opportunity if you photograph well.
- The market is thin. Few buyers, sporadic sales, and price depends heavily on who is looking that week. Handle it differently.
Why does identifying the item come first?
Wrong identification poisons a comp set: if you have the wrong item, every later step is wasted precision. Model numbers, tags, serial plates, and the details printed on the object beat visual similarity.
Time spent identifying the item exactly is worth more than time spent averaging prices for the wrong one.
What makes a good sold comp?
Why are my sold comps so different from each other?
Should I include bundle sales as comps?
How recent do sold comps need to be?
Disclosure What's It Sold For comes from the team that builds FlowLister, an AI tool that turns your photos into a complete eBay listing and prices it from sold listings, with the sales behind the number shown. It publishes to eBay through eBay's official Trading API, using eBay's own sign-in, and never sees your eBay password. Read this site as a guide from a tool maker with a stake in the topic, not an independent review.
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