Can sold item searches be trusted to be actual sold prices

[2011pkins]

I searched Ebay for items similar to the one I would like to sell using the sold option.    I received 5 results for that manufacture. The item is a Driver Assist Computer (ECU) for a popular automobile. The 1st matched my part number exactly, it sold for over $900. The 2nd was very similar it sold for over $800. The 3rd, also very similar sold for nearly $700. Finally, the 4th and 5th were  the newest version of this type ECU both had the same part number one sold for $1750 the other $1795. All were BIN with free shipping. I closely compared the 5 and noticed No. 1,2,3,4 all had different part no. all were different ads with different pictures and sold for different prices but all sold on the same day. Even weirder no. 1,2,3 were sold at the same exact time. There were 3 sellers.  No.1 was sold by the 1st seller. No. 2,3 were sold by the 2nd seller and No. 4,5 were sold by a 3rd seller.

These 5 item were the only ones to sell in the last 3 months. Are these sold items and there prices even real?

[cashvaluerecovery2011]

I have found sold prices to be very accurate and to be very helpful on my pricing and my sourcing inventory. That being said.......you certainly cant take it as the gospel. You will sometimes see some very peculiar patterns and your gut instinct should be taken very seriously. In the example you have above I as a seller would have no problem selling my part for that big money with insurance and taking video in front of my postmaster as I seal the package and hand it to him and walk away. In case you have to file a mail fraud case.......I do this with every sale over $200. Ebay will not help or take that video evidence.........but the authorities will.

That being said.............the example above is also scammy enough that there is no way I would buy the product to attempt to resell based on that info.........unless it was super cheap. It seems fishy to me.......but if you already have the part..........what else are ya gonna do with it?

[luckythewinner]

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@2011pkins wrote:

Are these sold items and there prices even real?

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"Sold item" is a misleading term. "Completed listing with at least one sale" would be a more accurate term.

If a seller lists a car part with a quantity of 50 and 35 of them sell over the course of three months, there is no single sold date ... there are potentially 35 different sold dates. And the price shown may not be the sold price, because there are potentially 35 different sold prices. And the price you see on the ended listing may not match any of the sales for the that item.

Also, if the buyer makes an offer and it is accepted, you will see a strike-through on the price but you will not see the actual accepted price. (But when sorting by price, it does sort using the accepted price - so with a little work, you can get a pretty good idea what the accepted price was.)

[kaykakfs]

In my experience in the automotive industry I've had occasion to deal with a company or two that deal in remanufactured ECUs. Buying multiples would be a basic stock purchase. That could explain why slightly different units would sell in close proximity to one another.