Scan barcodes to check eBay sold prices on your phone.

A barcode on a product encodes a product identifier, a code the manufacturer assigns so that a specific product can be identified. eBay's Seller Center lists Universal Product Codes (UPCs), Stock Keeping Units (SKUs), International Standard Book Numbers (ISBNs) and Manufacturer Part Numbers (MPNs) as examples, and says the type of identifier that applies can vary by category. It also says that when you enter an identifier, eBay suggests a match if the product already exists in the eBay catalog, and that many fields, such as the photo and title, are then filled in for you.¹

eBay's product catalog gives each product an eBay product ID (ePID). Each catalog product is generally associated with one or more Global Trade Item Numbers (GTINs), and UPC, EAN and ISBN are examples of GTIN types.² In plain terms, the number under the bars is the same kind of code eBay uses to tell products apart, which is why a scan can be a quick way to get from the item in your hand to listings for the same product.

In the eBay app, the barcode scan is inside the camera button in the search bar, and it works for UPC codes.³ An item with no barcode cannot be scanned.³

Do not confuse this with eBay's Scan to list tool. eBay's help page says that tool is for sports trading cards and other collectible card games, that it is in the eBay app on iOS and Android, and that it is not available on desktop or mobile web. If a card does not match, the page says to scan it again, and if the error persists the card may not be in eBay's catalog yet and you will need to create the listing manually.⁴ That is a listing tool for cards, a different job from checking a price on a barcoded item.

A scan gets you to listings for a product. It does not tell you that the item in your hand is the same one. This is our suggestion, not an eBay rule: before you trust what comes back, compare it with the item.

• Title and edition. Books, discs and games often have several editions or reissues that share a look but not a barcode or a price.
• Size, color and count. Apparel, cosmetics, supplements and bundles come in variants. Check that the size, color, scent or pack count matches yours.
• Condition and completeness. A sale of a sealed item says little about an opened one, or one without its box, cables or case.
• Several results, not one. A single sale can be an outlier. Look for a handful of similar ones.

Seller Center also says to use only product identifiers that exactly match the product you are selling.¹ That is a good habit when you list, and a reason to read the match critically when you research.

For the full walkthrough see the guide to finding sold prices on eBay. The short version for a phone:

• The sold filter requires you to sign in, and regular eBay shows sold items from the last 90 days.⁵
• Regular sold search does not display the price a Best Offer was accepted at.⁵ If a sold price looks high or low compared with the asking prices around it, a Best Offer may be the reason.
• eBay's Product research gives access to the last 3 years of eBay sales data.⁶ In a seller account, Terapeak (Product Research) sits in Seller Hub's Research tab and goes back up to 3 years.⁷

Once you have a believable sold range, work backwards to a ceiling on what to pay with the max buy price calculator, and check the margin after fees and shipping in the eBay fee calculator.

Not every product has a product identifier. Seller Center gives antiques as an example and says that when a product has none you can choose "Does not apply" in the identifier field.¹ In practice, items that often have no scannable barcode include vintage pieces, handmade or unbranded goods, many clothing items and some store-brand goods. That is our experience, not an eBay rule, and any one item can differ.

For items without a barcode, the eBay app offers an image search that looks for visually similar listings.³ These are our suggestions for the rest:

• Search by title. Type the brand, the item name and one or two distinguishing words, then apply the sold filter.
• Look for other numbers. A model number, style number or part number on a tag, label or the underside is often a better search term than a description. Seller Center lists the manufacturer part number as an identifier type.¹
• Write down what you find. Note the model number, size, markings and condition while the item is in your hand, so you can search properly later.
• Treat image matches as leads. Visually similar is not the same as identical. Open a few results and compare details before you rely on a price.

When you do list an item that has item specifics to fill in, the item specifics guide covers how to complete them.

Researching on the spot is only half the job. Think about packing too, and see the shipping supplies guide for what to keep on hand once the items are home.

Strooply has a barcode scan in the camera on the sourcing screen of the iPhone and Android app. On the web, you type the code in by hand. It reads UPC and EAN barcodes, including the EAN-13 on books (an ISBN-13). A scan opens the research screen with current eBay listings and a sold-price figure that is marked as an estimate or shown as saved data with its age. You make the price decision.

Each new lookup counts toward your plan's monthly lookups (15 on Free). A code you looked up recently is not charged again while its saved result is still fresh (about 24 to 48 hours).

The research screen also has photo search views labeled AI Vision, eBay Vision and Combined, which look for similar items from a picture. For an item with no barcode at all, you can start from a photo. Strooply is not affiliated with eBay and its results are a starting point, so read the comps the way this guide describes. See how Strooply works for the full picture.