How to check if a Marketplace price is fair

What makes a Marketplace price fair?

A fair price is not the lowest listing you can find, and it is not what the seller paid. It is roughly what a willing buyer and a willing seller agree on for that exact item, in that condition, in your area, right now.

Three things make that hard to see on Marketplace:

• You only see asking prices. Sellers ask high, expect offers, and some never sell. An asking price is a ceiling, not proof of value.
• Sold prices are hidden. A listing marked sold shows what the seller asked, not what the buyer paid, and the real deal may have been lower.
• “The same thing” is rarely the same. Two iPhones of the same model can differ by storage, battery health and a cracked back. Two cars of the same model can differ by variant, gearbox, kilometres and service history.

The method below deals with all three.

Step 1: Pin down exactly what it is

You cannot compare prices until you know precisely what you are pricing. Get these details from the listing, or ask the seller before you go further.

Item type	What you need
Phones and tablets	Model, storage, colour, battery health, any repairs, whether it is locked to a carrier
Cars	Year, make, model, variant, gearbox, fuel, kilometres, service history, registration left
Power tools	Model number, bare tool or kit, how many batteries and what capacity, charger
Consoles	Model and edition (disc or digital), storage, controllers included
Furniture	Maker or material, dimensions, condition of joints and surfaces
Bikes	Brand, model, year, frame size, groupset

For iPhones, the seller can read battery health in Settings, under Battery (the menu is called Battery Health on newer models and Battery Health & Charging on older ones). For cars, ask for the VIN, which you will need for history checks anyway.

Step 2: Compare recent listings

Search for the exact model and sort by Date listed so you see what is on the market now. Facebook’s Help Centre says you can sort by distance or by when the listing was created; on a computer it is under Sort by, and in the app under Filters.

Then:

1. Collect five to ten listings that match on the details from step 1. If your area is thin, widen the radius. Our guide to searching a wide area shows how.
2. Drop the outliers. Ignore placeholder prices such as $1 or $123, parts-only listings, and anything with a different variant or storage.
3. Note how long each has been listed. A listing that has sat for weeks is a sign its price is too high.
4. Take the middle of what is left, not the top.

That gives you an asking-price range. Actual sale prices are often at or below it.

Step 3: Check sold prices where they exist

Sold prices are the best evidence of value, and a few places publish them.

• eBay sold and completed listings. eBay’s own pricing help tells sellers to use Advanced Search, enter keywords and choose Completed listings to see what items like theirs sold for. In ordinary search results you can also filter to Sold items. Watch for auctions that ended oddly, postage included in the total, and sales from other countries.
• eBay Product research. Sellers with access to it in Seller Hub can look back over the last three years of eBay sales, and eBay says it shows the actual price even when a Best Offer was accepted. Who can use it depends on your account and country.
• Car price guides. Redbook in Australia and Kelley Blue Book in the US publish private-sale price ranges for a given car. Kelley Blue Book asks for mileage and condition, so its range fits the car in front of you.

eBay prices are a guide, not a rule for Marketplace. A local, cash, pick-it-up-today sale can land at a different price from a posted eBay sale.

Step 4: Adjust for age, condition, kilometres and storage

Now move from “what this model is worth” to “what this one is worth”. There are no reliable fixed formulas, so adjust using your comparisons: find listings that differ in one way and see how their prices move.

Factor	What it does to the price	How to adjust honestly
Age and model year	A newer generation usually pulls older ones down	Compare only against the same year or generation
Condition	Scratches matter less than faults; faults matter most	Price in the cost of fixing anything that is not cosmetic
Kilometres or hours	Higher use means a lower price for the same car or machine	Compare with listings near the same kilometres
Storage or spec	More storage or a higher variant costs more	Never compare across storage sizes or variants
What is included	Batteries, chargers, boxes, service books and registration all add value	Subtract what it would cost you to buy what is missing
Needed repairs	Turns a fair price into a poor one quickly	Get a quote, or assume the worst if you cannot

Worked example: a used hatchback

The figures below are made up to show the method. They are not market data for this car. Prices in this guide are in Australian dollars and are illustrative. Use your own local prices.

You are looking at a 2016 Toyota Corolla Ascent hatch: automatic, 142,000 km, logbook service history, five months of registration, a small dent in the rear bumper. The seller asks A$13,900.

You find these recent listings:

Listing	Year	Gearbox	Kilometres	Notes	Asking
A	2016	Automatic	128,000	No service history, listed 3 weeks ago	A$13,500
B	2017	Automatic	110,000	Full history	A$15,800
C	2016	Automatic	155,000	Full history	A$12,900
D	2015	Automatic	150,000	Some history	A$11,500
E	2016	Manual	140,000	Full history	A$12,000

Working through it:

1. Drop E. It is a manual, so it is not a close comparison for an automatic.
2. A and C are the closest. Same year and gearbox, with kilometres either side of yours. They ask A$12,900 to A$13,500.
3. B and D bracket the range. A newer, lower-kilometre car asks more; an older one asks less. That fits.
4. A has sat for three weeks at A$13,500. That suggests the market will not pay more than that for a 2016 with those kilometres, at least without a service history.
5. Adjust. Full service history is worth something over A; the dent takes a little off.

A fair price for this car is around A$13,000 to A$13,500 before inspection, and a price guide’s private-sale range for the same variant is your cross-check. A$13,900 is not a rip-off, but it is at the top. A reasonable plan is to inspect it, run the history checks, and offer in the fair range with your reasons: the dent, and the car that has sat unsold at A$13,500.

If the same car were listed at A$9,000, that is not a steal. That is the moment to slow down.

When does a cheap price mean risk?

A price far below your fair range has a reason, and you need to know it before you pay. Common ones:

• A fault the seller has not mentioned, or does not know about.
• Money owing, a write-off or theft on cars, caravans, boats and trailers. In Australia, a PPSR search (A$2 online at the time of writing) shows any registered security interest, and for a car may also show whether it is recorded as stolen or written off. Our guide to written-off and salvage cars covers other countries.
• A locked or stolen phone. Apple says not to take an iPhone that shows “iPhone Locked to Owner” or is still linked to the previous owner’s account. In Australia, AMTA’s free IMEI checker shows whether a phone has been reported lost or stolen.
• A scam. Scamwatch lists an unbelievably low price as a warning sign, and advises not to pay for big-ticket items before inspecting them in person.

A genuine bargain survives these checks. A trap usually does not. For more on the tricks, see Facebook Marketplace scams.

What about price drops?

A listing that was overpriced last week can be fair this week. If a price is close but not there, save the listing and watch it. Our guide to price drop alerts covers what Facebook tells you and how to track prices yourself.

Sources

1. Sort by distance or new listings on Facebook Marketplace, Facebook Help Centre
2. Pricing your items, eBay Help
3. Product research, eBay Help
4. Redbook car valuations, Redbook
5. What’s my car worth?, Kelley Blue Book
6. iPhone battery and performance, Apple Support
7. Activation Lock for iPhone and iPad, Apple Support
8. Do a used car or vehicle search and PPSR fees, Personal Property Securities Register
9. Check if a phone has been reported lost or stolen, AMTA
10. Buying and selling scams, Scamwatch (ACCC)