This article helps our Volunteer Squad keep the database clean and consistent! It pertains to members who have Contributor access and above. If you're interested in getting involved, read more about joining the Squad here. We'd love to have you aboard!

We are dedicated to providing the most accurate Estimated Values possible, and a big part of achieving that goal is adding completed eBay sales to the Price Guide. eBay is an excellent source for Price Points because of the huge number of transactions completed there every day, and they provide easy access to completed sale history.

Follow these easy instructions to add eBay auction and Buy it Now Price Points to Database Items. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS




The Basics


eBay is a great source for Price Points because we can see exactly what each item sold for. To keep our price guide as accurate as possible, please carefully read and follow these rules and guidelines.



What to add to the Price Guide


Add only sold eBay listings that meet our Price Point Quality Standards. Add as many Price Points as possible for each item—eBay keeps 90 days of sales history, and in many cases, there is no reason not to add every valid sale going all the way back to that 90-day cutoff (within reason—if there are hundreds of recent sales, it's probably enough to add only the ones completed in the past month).


Before adding any Price Points from eBay, please read and become familiar with the Price Point Quality Standards. All Price Points added must meet those standards. Disregarding the quality standards may result in limitations on Squad participation or removal from the Squad.



What NOT to add to the Price Guide


Do not add listings that are...

  1. For items that aren't mint or near-mint (this includes the packaging)
  2. Still active (haven't sold yet)
  3. For fake or counterfeit items
  4. Sold by anyone on our Bad Sellers list
  5. Lots/bundles containing multiple items
  6. Multi-quantity listings (more info below)
  7. eBay auctions that sell for $1 and have an Estimated Value of $10 or more (see for more on this here)



Multi-Quantity Listings


If an eBay seller has more than one copy of the same item, they can create a single "multi-quantity" listing for those items. We do not add multi-quantity listings to the Price Guide. There are two main reasons for this:


  1. Sellers can change the listing price at any time. This means the current listing price (which is what our system pulls when a Price Point is entered on hobbyDB) is often not what the item has sold for in the past. eBay used to provide easy access to the Purchase History so we could check whether the current price matches a previous sale, but they've made changes that make it hard to check the history.

  2. Dates might not match up. The most recent sale may not match the listing's end date. For example, a listing that ended in March 2023 might not have seen a sale since November 2022. If we were to use that listing as a Price Point, our Price Guide would show that the item sold in March 2023, which would be inaccurate.


How do you identify a multi-quantity listing? Simply look for a "quantity" field! They'll look like this in the eBay mobile app or a mobile web browser:



Or like this on a desktop web browser:



If you see a multi-quantity listing, do not add it to the Price Guide.



Unsold/Ended Early


Sometimes an eBay seller will end a listing early, even if it hasn't sold. They might have lost the item or sold it somewhere else. Either way, if the listing did not sell on eBay, we can't use it in the Price Guide. 


Unsold/ended early listings sometimes show up in Sold Item searches, so watch for and skip any listings with these features:

  • A gray banner on the item thumbnail that says "Ended" or anything other than "Sold".

  • A yellow banner at the top of the page that says something like "This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available".
  • A red "Ended" instead of a green "Sold" on the listing summary:


As eBay makes changes to their page layout these indicators might change. Watch for other things that might indicate that a listing was ended early, and if you have any questions, please ask in the Squad Facebook group or by filling out the Contact hobbyDB form with the green button above!



A Note on Relisted Items


It is usually okay to add relisted items to the price guide. At one time we had a policy of excluding relisted eBay items as Price Points, but that policy has been discontinued. While a seller who relists items can potentially have nefarious motivations, it's uncommon. The more common scenarios are that the seller has more than one of the item and is just recycling the original listing to save time, or the original sale fell through (and that does not mean the original sale is an invalid Price Point).


Our current policy is that it is okay to add relisted eBay sales as Price Points if they appear to be legitimate and meet the Price Point Quality Standards. Rare items and high-priced items (around $100 USD and above) that have been relisted should receive a closer look before adding as a Price Point since it's much more likely for fraud attempts in that range. 


Sales for common items that sold for less than around $100 generally don't need any more scrutiny than other Price Points. In general, we expect Squad members to use good faith editorial judgment when deciding which eBay listings to add as Price Points.



Detailed Instructions

  1. Go to the database item that you'd like to add price points to in the catalog (see Adding eBay Price Points for more info).

  2. Click Price Points and then Add eBay Price Point
  3. This will open up your form that will allow you to enter a price point from 130point

  4. Please use 130point as eBay does not show vital information like Accepter Offers. The eBay item number can be found in the description section of the completed sale page or its URL.

    On 130point, if the url to the sold listing redirects you to an active listing, please right click on the title link of the item on 130point and click "Copy Link address". Then paste the url into the eBay Item ID box, fill out the rest of the form, and click save.

  5. If the price point is a Best Offer, make sure to click the Best Offer Accepted tick box

  6. Remember to check each listing as usual (read the item description and inspect each photo) to make sure the item meets Price Point Quality Standards.

  7. You do have the ability to add items that not near mint / mint and items that are considered Fakes. These Price Points should have notes and ideally match our Fake Photos information in the Gallery.



  8. Once all the information has been added, click Save. You can add multiple price points at a time, simply click add another row and another form will populate.



That’s it! Remember that it takes up to 60 minutes for the Price Point to show in the Price Guide and for the Estimated Value to recalculate.