To find out what something is worth, identify it exactly, then look up what the same item has actually sold for recently, not what sellers are asking. Adjust for condition, and subtract the cost of selling it, such as eBay's 13.6 percent final value fee for most categories as of October 2026. The middle of five or more matching sales is your honest value.
Every specialist does the same four things whether the item is a coin, a watch, a handbag or a cast iron pan: identify, find sold comparables, adjust for condition, and choose a way to sell. This page explains the method once and points to the guides that apply it to specific things.
Quick answer
- Identify the exact item first: maker, model or pattern, date, size, material. The wrong identification makes every price wrong.
- Use sold prices only. On eBay, filter to Sold Items; auction archives and price guides fill in the rest.
- Match condition honestly. Most items people own are used, and used prices are what apply.
- Value depends on where you sell: a dealer pays less than a collector, and every channel takes a cut.
- Most everyday household items sell for tens of dollars or less. The exceptions almost always have a readable mark, precious metal or a known rare variant.
How do you find out what something is worth?
You work through four steps in order: identify it, find sold comparables, adjust for condition, and decide how you would sell it. Each step narrows the next.
- Identify it exactly. Look for the marks that name it: a maker's stamp on the base, a label inside, a serial or model number, a date, a hallmark like 14K or 925, a set symbol on a card. Measure it. Note the material. If you do not know what it is at all, start with our guide to identifying an unknown object.
- Search sold prices for that exact item. On eBay, search the maker and model, then filter to Sold Items. For better items, check auction archives such as LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable and Heritage, or a subscription archive such as WorthPoint.
- Keep only true matches. Same model, same size, same version, same completeness. Throw out the listings that are "similar."
- Adjust for condition. Compare your item to the condition of each sale. Chips, cracks, missing parts, replaced parts, fading and heavy wear all move it down.
- Take the middle, not the top. With five or more matching sales, the median is a fair value. One record sale is not a market.
- Subtract the cost of selling. Fees, shipping and the dealer's margin come out of the price. What you receive is lower than what the buyer pays.
Why do sold prices matter more than asking prices?
Because a sold price is what a buyer actually paid, and an asking price is only what a seller hopes for. Overpriced listings sit unsold for months and dominate search results, so anyone who prices from active listings almost always overestimates.
eBay's own data shows how much sold data exists: its Product Research tool gives sellers "real eBay sales data from the last three years," and eBay says it is available to all sellers at no cost. For a single item, the Sold Items filter in normal search is enough.
| Source | What it shows | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay Sold Items filter | Recent completed sales | No charge | Almost anything with an active market |
| eBay Product Research (Seller Hub) | Three years of eBay sales | No charge for sellers | Seasonal or slower items |
| LiveAuctioneers, Invaluable | Auction results from many houses | No charge to search, some results need an account | Antiques, art, decorative items |
| Heritage Auctions archive | Prices realized at Heritage | Account needed | Coins, currency, cards, comics, watches |
| WorthPoint | Archive of past sales and a marks library | Paid subscription | Researching many items |
| Price guides (PCGS, Greysheet, PSA, TCGplayer) | Category price data | Mostly no charge | Coins, cards |
What makes one item worth more than an identical-looking one?
Small differences in identity and condition decide most prices. These are the factors that move value across almost every category:
| Factor | What to check | Typical effect |
|---|---|---|
| Exact variant | Model number, pattern, date, mint mark, edition, size | Can be the difference between $5 and $500 |
| Maker's mark | Present, readable, correct for the period | Unmarked items usually sell for a fraction |
| Material | Solid gold or plated, sterling or silver plate, natural or lab-grown | Metal and stones set a floor or remove it |
| Condition | Chips, cracks, wear, fading, repairs | Damage often halves value or worse |
| Completeness | Box, papers, accessories, matching parts | Box and papers add a lot to watches, toys and bags |
| Originality | Original finish, no polishing, no cleaning | Cleaning coins or refinishing furniture cuts value |
| Authenticity | Genuine or a reproduction, reprint or fake | A fake is worth little or nothing |
For gold and silver items, the metal sets a floor. With silver at about $58 an ounce as of October 2026, a 90 percent silver Morgan dollar holds about $45 in metal (0.7734 ounces) and a 1964 Kennedy half dollar about $21. Our guides to silver coin value and whether old jewelry is real gold explain how to read the marks and work out melt.
Which guide covers your item?
The method is the same everywhere, but each category has its own marks and traps. These guides go deeper:
- Coins: coin value covers any US coin, with silver dates and key dates.
- Watches: how much is my watch worth explains brand tier, reference numbers and papers.
- Trading cards: how to check Pokemon card value applies the method to cards, including condition.
- Antiques: how to find the value of antiques covers dating clues and auction results.
- Paintings: is this painting worth anything separates originals from prints.
- China and pottery: how to read pottery marks dates and names most pieces.
Where you sell changes what it is worth
The same item has different values depending on who buys it. A dealer pays below retail because they have to resell it at a profit. A collector buying directly pays closer to full value, but reaching that collector costs fees and time.
| Channel | What you give up | Speed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| eBay | 13.6% final value fee for most categories plus $0.40 per order over $10, plus shipping | Days to weeks | Items with collector demand nationwide |
| Facebook Marketplace, local pickup | Time, and some risk; no fee on local pickup sales | Days | Bulky or common items |
| Dealer or shop | The dealer's margin, often a large share of retail | Same day | Coins, gold, silver, quick sales |
| Local auction house | Seller's commission, which varies by house | Weeks | Estates, furniture, mixed lots |
| Major auction house | Commission, and they only accept items above their threshold | Months | Items worth thousands |
| Consignment shop | A share of the sale price | Weeks to months | Clothing, bags, furniture |
eBay's selling fees page lists 13.6 percent of the total sale amount for most categories up to $7,500, and 2.35 percent on the portion above that. On a $100 sale with $10 buyer-paid shipping, that is about $15 in fees, a little more where sales tax applies, because eBay charges the percentage on the tax too.
A worked example
Say you find a heavy black frying pan in a relative's kitchen. Turn it over. In the center is a cross inside a double circle with GRISWOLD in large straight letters, a large 8 near the handle, a smaller number 704, and the word ERIE, PA., U.S.A. There is no raised ring around the outer edge of the base.
That is the identification: a Griswold #8 skillet with the large block logo, pattern 704, in the version without a heat ring. Next, search eBay for "Griswold 8 large block logo 704" and filter to Sold Items. Discard the restored and refinished pans if yours is crusty, discard any with the small logo, and discard cracked ones. Most clean, flat examples sell in the range of about $50-150 as of October 2026.
Now condition. Set it on a counter and press each edge: if it rocks, it is warped and worth much less. Shine a light along the rim for hairline cracks. Light rust and thick old seasoning are cleanable and only trim the price a little. A flat pan with no cracks that cleans up well sits in the middle of that range, roughly $75-100 to a buyer, minus about 14 percent in eBay fees and the cost of shipping a five-pound pan. Our old cast iron skillet value guide covers the other logos and sizes.
Common mistakes
- Pricing from asking prices. The most common reason people overvalue things. Use sold results.
- Matching the picture, not the item. Two items can look alike and differ in maker, size or version, and the price follows the version.
- Assuming old means valuable. Many old things were made in the millions and survive in quantity.
- Ignoring condition. Price guides and top sales describe the best examples; most items in a house are used.
- Cleaning or polishing first. It can destroy value on coins, bronze, cast iron and furniture finishes.
- Forgetting the cost of selling. Fees, shipping and dealer margins are real money.
How WorthPic reads item photos
WorthPic runs on the newest and most capable AI model available, tuned for exactly this kind of identification. It does the first two steps of the method for you: from one to four photos in one of twelve categories it reads the marks, stamps, labels, dates, model numbers, materials and visible condition, identifies the item, and gives an honest US dollar range with a most likely figure and the factors that move it. When the answer depends on something not in the photos, it says which extra photo would settle it. What it cannot know is what a photo does not show, such as weight, metal purity, a hidden crack or whether a careful fake is genuine. It identifies and estimates. It does not authenticate, grade or appraise.
What to photograph
- The whole item in daylight on a plain background, front and back.
- Every mark close up: stamps, labels, signatures, serial numbers, hallmarks.
- The underside or inside, where makers put their marks and construction shows age.
- Damage, plainly, so the condition can be judged.
- A ruler or coin for scale where size matters.
When to get it looked at in person
Most things do not need an expert. If the sold comparables top out at a few hundred dollars, the method above is the answer. Get an expert when the comparables reach the thousands, when the value rests on authenticity, metal or stones, or when you need a document for insurance, an estate or a donation. A dealer, an auction house specialist, a grading service or a qualified appraiser settles it, and our online appraisal and AI appraisal guides explain the options in between.
Sources
- eBay selling fees: 13.6% final value fee for most categories, per-order fees.
- eBay Product Research announcement: three years of sales data at no cost to sellers.
- IRS Publication 561: the definition of fair market value between a willing buyer and seller.