Tricks of the Trade: Using the Advanced Search tool on eBay

As to be able to compile all of my Tricks of the Trade together, here is the recent excerpt from Facebook:

We get a lot of questions about the value of specific items from customers. While we are not certified appraisers, here are a few tips to evaluating the market value of an item yourself using EBAY. 

There are several common mistakes made when searching EBAY for an items value. The first thing you should remember is the prices are set by individuals who may have little or no knowledge of what they are selling. You will notice that prices for the same item could be tens to thousands of dollars apart. Buy It Now prices are usually NOT RELIABLE, if the buy it now price is really a great deal, you will probably never see the listing because someone else has already purchased the item. 

The best way to evaluate the value of your item or the value of a prospective purchase is to use the advanced search tool on EBAY to view completed listings. Next to the search icon you will see the word Advanced. Click on Advanced and then click on the field that says completed listings. Next, enter the key words to search your item. This will show you the results of completed listings. The items with red prices did not sell, the green prices are items that did sell. If the sold item was a buy it now or best offer click the item to see the actual sale price. This is just one easy method to begin searching for the current market value of an item. This is by no means a solid appraisal of the value, but it is a good way to get some idea of what is a good deal or appropriate asking price. 

I know this was a long post, but I just wanted to offer some help to those trying to get an idea of the value of an item to sell or purchase.