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...
- For items that aren't mint or near-mint (this includes the packaging)
- Still active (haven't sold yet)
- For fake or counterfeit items
- Sold by anyone on our Bad Sellers list
- Lots/bundles containing multiple items
- Multi-quantity listings (more info below)
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:
- 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.
- 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.
The Tutorial
This video is a bit out of date. The basics are still the same, but we've added new features and tweaked the hobbyDB interface since it was recorded. We'll try to get it updated soon, but until then you're probably best off reading the instructions below the video :)
Detailed Instructions
Step One: Find Sold eBay Listings
Start by searching for the item you want to find Price Points for, then take a look at the filters on the left side of the page. Scroll most of the way down to the section that says Show only. One of the options there will be Sold Items. Select that and you’re on your way!
NOTE: It's extremely important to check each listing to make sure the item has actually sold, even when the Sold Items filter is set. Sellers can end their listings early, before the item sells, and sometimes those ended listings still show up when search results are filtered for sold items.
On mobile, look for a green "SOLD" label when you go into a listing. If it has a red "ENDED" label instead, do not add the listing to hobbyDB as a Price Point.
On desktop, watch for a yellow banner that says "This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available." There's also one that says it was ended because of an error in the listing. If you see either one of those banners, don't add the listing to hobbyDB. The item photo will also have a gray ribbon on the corner with "ENDED" if the listing was ended early, or "SOLD" if it did actually sell.
Step Two: Find the eBay Item Number
First and foremost, please make sure that the sold item you’ve found meets all the criteria we expect for Price Points in the database (mint condition, not more than one item per listing, etc.). You’re also going to want to pull the correct database entry up in a separate tab to make things easier for the next step. Once we’ve got those parts squared away, it’s a pretty simple process. You’re looking for the eBay Item Number, which can be found about halfway down the page (see below). Just copy that and we’re onto the next step!
Step Three: Adding the Sold Item to the Price Guide
Navigate to the Database Item and click Price Points in the menu above the Item Name, then click Add eBay Auction or BIN (BIN stands for "Buy It Now"). Do not use the Add eBay Best Offer button for standard eBay listings.
Paste eBay Item Numbers into the text box, one on each line. Click Save when you're done entering completed sale listings. You will see confirmation that the completed sales listings were saved successfully in green, a notification in blue that one or more of the listings you entered are already in the system, or a warning in red that one or more of the numbers entered is invalid.
You can also add eBay IDs for listings with damaged or fake items and tick the checkbox labeled These items are not Near Mint or not genuine and should be excluded from the calculation of the Estimated Value. Those listings will immediately be marked as "deleted" in the system to prevent them from being accidentally added to the Price Guide in the future. Note that this is an "all or nothing" option, so be sure not to include listing IDs for valid Price Points when using it.
That’s it! Remember that it takes up to 24 hours for the Price Point to show in the Price Guide and for the Estimated Value to recalculate.