How to check eBay sold prices for antiques

Asking prices vs sold prices

Search eBay for almost any antique and the first page is full of big numbers. Those are asking prices. Anyone can list a teapot at any price, and the overpriced ones stay on the site for months, so they are the ones you keep seeing.

A sold price is different. It is the amount a real buyer agreed to pay, on a real day. Kovels gives the same advice: research completed sales, not asking prices, and prefer recent ones, because "collecting markets change."

This matters in both directions. If you are selling, asking prices make you expect too much, and your listing sits. If you are clearing a house, they can make you hold on to things that would sell quickly for less. If you buy to resell, sold prices are the only honest ceiling on what you can pay.

Step by step, on the web and the app

The filter is the same idea on both. The website gives you a little more control, so use a computer for anything you are serious about pricing.

1. Search the way a cataloger would

   Type what is actually on the piece and what it is: the maker, the pattern or model name, the material and the form. "Wedgwood jasperware covered urn" finds far better matches than "old blue vase". If there is a mark, use the words in it. If you do not know the name yet, start broad and tighten the words as the results teach you.

2. Turn on Sold items

   On a computer: in the filter column on the left, under Show only, tick Sold items. You can also open Advanced next to the search bar and choose sold listings. In the eBay app: run your search, open Filter and turn on Sold items; it is sometimes grouped under Show only or item details. eBay moves these controls from time to time, so if the wording differs, look for anything that says sold.

3. Check the prices are green

   On the website, sold prices show in green. If you see prices in other colors, you are also looking at listings that ended without a sale. That happens when Completed items is switched on as well.

4. Open each close match

   Do not trust the thumbnail. Open the listing and read the title, the photos and the condition notes. Check the maker or pattern, the size, the condition and whether anything is missing, such as a lid, a stopper or one chair of a set.

5. Watch for accepted offers

   If a price is struck through, the item likely sold through Best Offer. eBay often does not show the price that was actually accepted, so the number you see may be higher than what the buyer paid. Count those sales as a ceiling, not a price.

6. Write down several sales and read the middle

   Note the sold price of every true match you find. Drop anything wildly above or below the rest, then look at where most of them cluster. That middle band is your realistic range.

A tip for the website: if you check prices often, run one sold search and bookmark the results page. The filters are saved in the page address, and trade guides note that adding &LH_Sold=1&LH_Complete=1 to a search address does the same thing.

Completed items vs Sold items

These two filters sound alike and do different jobs.

• Sold items shows listings that ended with a sale. This is the one you want for a price.
• Completed items shows everything that ended: the sales and the listings that got no buyer.

Completed items is still useful. If you see the same kind of chair listed ten times and sold twice, the price those eight sellers asked was too high, or the demand is thin. That is worth knowing before you list your own.

How far back you can see

In normal search, sold listings go back about 90 days. eBay's own help page on this did not load when we checked, so that figure comes from eBay community mentors and trade guides. They agree with each other, but treat it as "about."

Ninety days is plenty for common things, such as a popular china pattern or a standard piece of silver plate. It is not enough for rare pieces that sell a few times a year. For those, see going further back below.

Picking real comparables

This is where most people go wrong with antiques. A listing that looks similar is not the same item. Before you count a sale, check that it matches yours on:

• Maker and pattern. The same factory, the same pattern or model, and ideally a similar mark. An unmarked look-alike is a different item.
• Condition. Chips, cracks, repairs, worn gilding and replaced parts all pull the price down. Compare like with like.
• Size. A large platter and a small one in the same pattern can sell very differently. Check the measurements in the listing.
• Completeness. A lid, a stopper, a full set or the original box can change the price a lot.
• Several sales, not one. Outliers happen: a bidding war, a mistake, or worse. Look at where most sales land.

Then read the result as a range. The low end is what a quick sale gets; the middle is a fair price with a good listing; the top is what a perfect example got on a good day. Also remember that the sold price is not what the seller kept: selling fees come out of it.

If you cannot find a single true match, that tells you something too. The piece may be scarce, or you may not have the right name for it yet. Our guide to finding what an antique is worth covers the other routes.

Going further back

When 90 days of eBay is not enough, these are the main places to look. Auction results come with their own catch: a hammer price may or may not include the buyer's premium, and a sale at a big-city specialist auction does not translate directly to a local one.

Checked September 25, 2026. Plans and limits change; confirm on each site before you pay for anything.

Questions people ask

Updated September 25, 2026. eBay changes its filters and menus from time to time; if a step no longer matches what you see, look for the Sold option in the search filters. Vintio is not affiliated with eBay Inc.