Looking up COMPS here -- before you buy something to resell.....

[konga5]

Anyone else think that "COMPS" in the SOLD section can be fickle and steer you in the wrong direction sometimes ? You know - TRENDS come and go ... peoples taste changes... But I cannot tell you HOW MANY TIMES I looked up something I was about to purchase; see it goes for $34.99 to $49.99 then I list mine a week later for a median price like $39.99 ; AND IT JUST SITS THERE in an auction . So then I do "BUY IT NOW" and it takes a YEAR before it sells. 

What am I doing wrong ? 

[luckythewinner]

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@konga5 wrote:

Anyone else think that "COMPS" in the SOLD section can be fickle and steer you in the wrong direction sometimes ? You know - TRENDS come and go ... peoples taste changes... But I cannot tell you HOW MANY TIMES I looked up something I was about to purchase; see it goes for $34.99 to $49.99 then I list mine a week later for a median price like $39.99 ; AND IT JUST SITS THERE in an auction . So then I do "BUY IT NOW" and it takes a YEAR before it sells. 

What am I doing wrong ? 

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IMHO your problem is that you are researching prices, but not supply and demand.

If 100 are listed and 90 are sold for $35 - $50, then you can probably expect to sell one in that price range. 

But if 100 are listed and 2 are sold for $35 - $50, then you can probably expect yours to sit for a year.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

The standard disclaimer found in investment literature applies here: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Lucky's advice is also good: If you are researching before purchasing, research both the sold prices AND the ratio of sold to active listings. If there are 200 active listings and 2 solds, well, that's very different from 40 solds and 20 active listings.  While this ratio analysis is not very precise, it is very useful. 

And then, consider the nature of the item: I tend to buy a lot of stuff that is "long tail".  Unlike , say the latest must have tech gadget that everyone wants (think of that as the "head", my stuff is way out at the end of the tail. There are not a lot of people looking for it, so it isn't going to sell quickly. And price is not always the deciding factor...I need the right person to come along, and setting a low price isn't going to get them to come along any quicker. Long tail items sometimes sell quickly, but for the most part, as a seller, I just need to be patient.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Most of the stuff I sell is long tail. I know it will sell... eventually...to someone. I set a higher price with best offer. Over half, probably 60% sells for the full listed price and the vast majority of offers are good ones, no lowballs.  I don't bother to look up solds or completeds. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[jayjaspersgarage]

I look up "sold" comps just to  know where to start my auction price 20% below the highest sold price yet not below the lowest price.   The tricky part is when you have a one off that no one has sold or has listed.  This happened to me recently and I did quite well when the right buyer came along.

[mobley120]

Looking at your avatar, it would appear that your sales "most likely" consist of collectibles items, and due to the present state of things, that market has somewhat bottomed out, at the present time.  

At the present time, I, myself,  have put the flipping of collectibles on the back burner, and I have moved towards items of necessity and particular sporting goods.

So, it's not that you're doing anything wrong, it's just the nature of the market.

And as for researching items to resell, I think the other responding posts here, sum it up pretty darn good. But look, after X number of years of buying and selling, you will not need to do that research, because your instinct, gut-feelings, hunch, experience; etc. will serve you well.

Good flipping luck : )

[skeletonstore]

No one is running auctions anymore.  It's like ebay has completely changed.  Maybe offer that item for $39.99 but place a best offer on it?   If an item gets stale it gets lost too.  It's always wise as tedious as it is to revise your listing often to remind ebay you're still alive.  

[dizzardx]

Where can a seller look up sold comps?  I've been looking at competitive active listings, but pricing is all over the place.

[farmalljr]

The first thing you are doing "wrong" is not understanding how comps research works. The first thing you analyze is the sell through of a product. 

1 how many are currently listed, how many have sold in the last 90 days. 

2 THEN what is the price range it's sold for.

3 THEN figure out was that with or without "free" shipping.

4 Then what may have made the solds, actually sell. Was it the free shipping? Was it the pictures? Was it some other thing included with the sale?

You first need to get through your head, that most things take time to sell here. Everyone wants their items to sell in hours/days, but that is NOT the norm. It takes time for items to sell. This is how selling works, welcome to selling. This is the "law" of how it works. It takes so many views, with so many clicks, to finally make a sale. The more common an item is, the longer it collects dust before it sells. The less demand an item has, the longer you get to look at it before it gets a new home. 

Just looking at sold prices, doesn't mean much. You have to analyze the whole of it, not just a price. Pretty sure if most sellers actually looked all that information over BEFORE buying/listing inventory, eBay would not be nearly as flooded with some items.  I've run across items that had a sell through of ONE a month on average, but had literally HUNDREDS listed. Items like that become become your new mascot, because it ain't selling. 

[tdrake]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@konga5 wrote:

Anyone else think that "COMPS" in the SOLD section can be fickle and steer you in the wrong direction sometimes ? You know - TRENDS come and go ... peoples taste changes... But I cannot tell you HOW MANY TIMES I looked up something I was about to purchase; see it goes for $34.99 to $49.99 then I list mine a week later for a median price like $39.99 ; AND IT JUST SITS THERE in an auction . So then I do "BUY IT NOW" and it takes a YEAR before it sells. 

What am I doing wrong ? 

---

IMHO your problem is that you are researching prices, but not supply and demand.

If 100 are listed and 90 are sold for $35 - $50, then you can probably expect to sell one in that price range. 

But if 100 are listed and 2 are sold for $35 - $50, then you can probably expect yours to sit for a year.  

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Exactly.   When I look up "comps" the first thing I look at is how many currently for sale. Then I look at how many have SOLD .  There's a ratio in there that for me is flexible depending on item. THEN I look at prices realized.  Then IF I'm still interested I drill down in the solds to see what separates the high prices from the average and low prices, and where my item fits in there, IF it does.

[maros9416]

This occurs with me mostly with records, when I look up a huge stack of titles and artists unknown to me. I only look up sold listings because my gauge is usually frequency of sales. I am more inclined to list a record if there are more than 100 sold in the 90 day history. Of course, if it's rare it would be less of a count, but the price would tip me off that there is more to it. Records that have no or very few sold means to me that there isn't enough demand to take up valuable space...When it comes to new in package retail items, I can create my own market by pricing it the lowest, if I had quantity and a few sales,  I may increase the price over time. The others are doing the same. They understand that eBay considers your proof of sales more important than anything else and will show your item higher and higher in the search. This also distorts the sold searches. Then there are the ones that do promoted listings at 30% and sell a $50 item for $99.99. Which is why sold's are all over the place. 

[1tuna]

you can look up sold or completed listings on the advanced search tab next to the blue search bar up top.

I alwys tell my friends to look for prices in the green...........they are the ones that sold

its hard to get an idea of what stuff sells for by asking prices but looking in the sold section tells the truth about what items are really worth..............especially the one with multiple bids

[greenmountainmike]

R u listing every single day. At least two items do not list 10 in one day and none other days. Try to list a dollar or two lower than other people if you truly want to sell. Did not do a listing for something that has dozens available. Go on and end items and then click on sell similar and relist it that way it goes as it is a brand new listing. Get your listings to a high number. I started selling about one a day after I had about 800 listings. You must have excellent key words words that the Layman will use to look for something

[kh-cathy]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.