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Even with the advances in resources on the internet it can still be difficult to find the actual value of items. This is due mostly due to limited data and inflated prices. Also, the person conducting the search must have the know-how to properly find what they are looking for. In this short article we will teach you how to better determine the value of your things. Before we dive into this though, it is always best to leave it up to the professionals when determining value, but this will help those who prefer the do-it-yourself route.
As we hinted at above, limited data sources can make it difficult. A great place to begin your journey is of course eBay. The most important thing to remember is to ensure you are looking at COMPLETED LISTINGS. This will show you a few different things... You will see an accurate representation of the value of your item if looking at SOLD RESULTS. We try to find at least three exactly the same items that have sold within the last three months. We commonly find people look at "asking price" and not "sold price" the only result that matters is what people are selling it for NOT what people are asking. We can ask a million dollars for a Cincinnati Bengals ticket, but that doesn't mean that's what we actually sell it for. Another result we are looking for is the "sell through rate" this helps determine how popular your item is with buyers. If you see a lot of sold results within the last few months for your item it tells us this is an in-demand item that should sell relatively quickly at this time. If eBay doesn't have what you are looking for you can search in your web browser for external resources, but this can be mis-leading. Often times retail or designer websites like to inflate their pricing, try to avoid these resources. We have seen items advertised for thousands of dollars above their actual market value. There are paid resources as well such as worthpoint.com that can help you with your journey as their database goes back at least ten years, but you really want the most recent results possible when evaluating an item.
It is important to remember that the value of items is constantly changing as well as the desirability. It is a good idea to re-evaluate the item in question at a minimum of once a year. This is of course circumstantial on the reason for your valuation. Are you evaluating for insurance, personal knowledge, investment or to sell? Remember the craze when people said to hold onto those Beanie babies because one day they would be worth something? This is just one example of market timing where it was not worth the investment to hold. Finding a company that can assist you professionally with your valuation should be able to offer you a market trend outlook as well so you can be sure to have accurate representation and future outlook.