THE FLIPWORTH GUIDE / RESALE VALUATION
What Are Sold Comps?
Sold comps, short for sold comparables, are recently sold items that are similar to the item you're trying to value. Resellers use their actual selling prices to estimate what another similar item is realistically worth.
New to the term? This guide goes step by step: what comps are, what makes one good, how many you need, and how to turn them into a price. You can also try the resale value calculator once you have your numbers.
01 / THE TERM
What Does “Sold Comps” Mean?
“Comps” means comparables. A sold comp is a similar item that has actually sold. If you want to value a used Nike hoodie, you would look at recently sold Nike hoodies that match yours on:
- Model or style
- Size
- Colour
- Condition
- Age
- Edition
- Authenticity
- Included accessories
The prices those items sold for are evidence of what buyers have actually been willing to pay.
- Asking price
- What a seller wants
- Sold price
- What a buyer actually paid
02 / EVIDENCE
Sold Comps vs Active Listings
Anyone can list an item for £100 without it ever selling. Active listings alone don't necessarily tell you what the market will pay, which is why sold prices are generally the stronger evidence.
| Feature | Sold Comps | Active Listings |
|---|---|---|
| What it shows | What buyers paid | What sellers are asking |
| Transaction completed | Yes | No |
| Useful for valuation | Strong evidence | Supporting evidence |
| Risk | Older sales may not reflect current demand | Asking prices may be unrealistic |
Active listings still help when:
- there are very few sold results
- an item is rare
- a product has only recently launched
- market prices have changed quickly
When relevant sold data exists, prefer it and treat active listings as supporting or fallback information, kept separate from sold prices. For checking eBay specifically, see the eBay sold price checker.
03 / LIKE FOR LIKE
Why Condition Matters When Comparing Sold Items
Two apparently identical products can sell for very different amounts. A good comp isn't simply an item with the same name. The closer a sold item matches yours, the stronger the comp.
Trainers might be
New with tags, new without box, lightly used, heavily worn or damaged.
Electronics might be
Sealed, complete in box, missing accessories, scratched or faulty.
Factors worth matching: brand, model, product type, size, colour, age, edition, condition, included accessories, and bundle versus single item.
04 / SAMPLE SIZE
How Many Sold Comps Should You Use?
Relying on one sale can mislead. A single item might sell unusually cheaply or high, be described incorrectly, include extra accessories or be part of a bundle.
As a practical guideline, find at least three genuinely comparable sold items before drawing a conclusion. Three is a starting point, not a guarantee of accuracy. More relevant comps give a more reliable view, but quality matters more than quantity: five highly relevant comps beat fifty vaguely related listings.
05 / THE MIDDLE
Should You Use the Average or Median Sold Price?
The average adds the sold prices together and divides by the number of sales. The median sorts prices from lowest to highest and takes the middle value. With an even number of prices, average the middle two.
- £30
- £35
- £40
- £45
- £150
- Average
- £60
- Median
- £40
The unusually high £150 sale pulls the average up to £60, even though four of five sales were £45 or less. The median can often be more useful for resale pricing because very cheap or very expensive sales have less influence. That doesn't make it always better: both give useful context, and the median helps most when there are obvious outliers.
06 / CHECKLIST
What Makes a Good Sold Comp?
A strong comp matches
- Same brand
- Same product category
- Same or very similar model
- Similar condition
- Similar size or specification
- Similar edition or version
- Similar included accessories
- A recent sale
- Same geographical market where relevant
Usually not a good comp
- Accessories when valuing the full product
- Bundles when valuing a single item
- Another model from the same brand
- Counterfeit items
- Damaged items when yours is excellent
- Completely different sizes where size strongly affects demand
07 / BY HAND
How Do You Find Sold Comps?
- 01Identify the item as precisely as possible.
- 02Search marketplaces such as eBay using the brand and model.
- 03Filter for sold listings where available. On eBay this is the sold items filter; completed listings that did not sell are not valid sold evidence.
- 04Ignore results that aren't genuinely comparable.
- 05Check condition and included accessories.
- 06Collect several relevant sold prices.
- 07Remove obvious outliers.
- 08Calculate a reasonable valuation range.
Compare shipping charges consistently, and check accepted-offer listings carefully: the displayed price may not show the final amount paid.
The hard part isn't finding listings. It's deciding which listings are actually comparable. Not sure what you have? Try to find an item from a photo first.
08 / WORKED EXAMPLE
Example: Using Sold Comps to Estimate Resale Value
A reseller finds five relevant sold listings:
- £42
- £45
- £47
- £50
- £89
£89 looks unusually high next to the others, so it deserves a second look. The median is £47, and most comparable sales fall roughly between £42 and £50.
That range is a reasonable starting point for a valuation, not a verdict that the item is worth £47. The right figure still depends on condition, fees, shipping, demand and marketplace.
For the next step, learn how to price items for resale, including costs, target profit and selling speed.
Once you have a realistic selling price, the reselling ROI calculator lets you deduct your costs and see what you can afford to pay.
09 / AUTOMATION
How FlipWorth Finds Sold Comps Automatically
FlipWorth is designed to reduce the manual work involved in finding and comparing relevant sold listings. It can:
- 01Analyse a photo of an item.
- 02Identify characteristics such as brand, product type and model.
- 03Generate relevant marketplace searches.
- 04Search for sold marketplace listings where data is available.
- 05Compare potential matches.
- 06Filter out irrelevant listings.
- 07Use the most relevant comps to estimate resale value.
- 08Calculate potential profit and ROI when a purchase price is provided.
FlipWorth prefers reliable sold evidence when available; any active-listing fallback is shown separately from sold prices. Results are estimates and depend on the data available.
Find Sold Comps Automatically
Upload a photo and let FlipWorth identify the item, search for comparable sales and estimate its resale value.