Active listings tell you what sellers hopeto get. Sold listings tell you what buyers actually paid. If you price from the first and ignore the second, you either sit on inventory for months or leave money on the table — and you will not know which.
eBay makes its sold history public, but the option is buried behind a filter most people never open. This guide shows exactly where it is on desktop and in the app, how to search sold listings by keyword or item number, what the 90-day window means, and how resellers turn sold comps into a repeatable pricing process.
Steps reflect the eBay interface as of 2026. eBay moves buttons around occasionally, but the underlying filter ("Sold Items" under "Show only") has been stable for years.
• Desktop: search a keyword → open the left filter panel → under "Show only" tick Sold Items(and optionally "Completed Items")
• App: search → tap Filter → toggle Sold Items → Show results
• Advanced Search (ebay.com/sch/ebayadvsearch) lets you tick Sold listings before you search and search by item number
• Public sold history goes back about 90 days; Terapeak in Seller Hub goes back years
• Sort sold results by "Ended Recently" and price your item against the last 5–10 comparable sales, not the highest one
Why Sold Listings Matter More Than Active Ones
An active listing at $120 is a wish. A sold listing at $78 is a fact. When ten sellers list the same jacket between $95 and $150 and the last six sales cleared between $70 and $85, the market price is roughly $80 no matter what the active listings say.
Sold data also shows you velocity: how many units moved in the last 90 days. Twenty sales at $40 is a very different item from two sales at $40. The first you can buy in quantity; the second you price a bit lower and move on.
Resellers use sold comps at three moments: at the thrift store or estate sale before buying, at the listing desk when setting a price, and when an item has sat unsold and needs a reality check. The steps below work for all three.
How to See Sold Items on eBay (Desktop)
Method 1: Filter from the search results page
Step 1.Go to eBay.com and search for the item — be specific: brand, model, size, colourway. "Levi's 501 32x32 black" beats "jeans".
Step 2. On the results page, look at the left sidebar of filters. Scroll down to the section labelled Show only.
Step 3. Tick Sold Items. The page reloads and every result now shows a green "Sold" date and the final price. Ticking Completed Items instead shows both sold (green price) and unsold (black or red price) ended listings, which is useful for seeing what did not sell.
Step 4. Change the sort dropdown (top right) to Ended Recently so the freshest sales are on top.
Method 2: Advanced Search
Click Advancednext to the search button (or go straight to ebay.com/sch/ebayadvsearch). Enter your keywords, then under "Search including" tick Sold listings (which automatically checks Completed listings too). You can also set a price range, condition, and location before you run the search. This is the fastest way when you already know you only want sold data.
LH_Sold=1 and LH_Complete=1), so the bookmark reopens straight to sold results.How to See Sold Items in the eBay App
The app is where most sourcing happens, standing in an aisle with one hand holding a sweater. Here is the flow on iOS and Android:
Step 1. Tap the search bar and enter your keywords (or use the camera icon for image search, then refine the text).
Step 2. On the results screen, tap Filter at the top.
Step 3. Scroll to find Sold Items and switch it on. You may also see Completed Itemsright next to it — same distinction as desktop.
Step 4. Tap Show results. Use the sort control to pick Ended Recently. Sold prices display in green with the sale date.
Filtering Sold Results Like a Pro
Raw sold results mix conditions, sizes, and formats. Tighten them before you trust the number:
Condition. Filter to New, Pre-owned, or the specific grade that matches your item. A NWT sale is not a comp for a worn one.
Buying format. Split Auction from Buy It Now. Auction results skew low when the listing had few bidders and skew high when two people got into a bidding war. Buy It Now sold prices are usually the steadier signal for pricing a fixed-price listing.
Item specifics. Use the size, brand, colour and material filters on the left to cut noise. Sellers who filled in item specifics properly are also the ones whose listings sold, so this narrows toward the good data.
Exclude keywords. Put a minus sign in front of words you do not want: -replica -lot -damaged. This is the fastest way to remove bundles and project pieces from a sold search.
Location. If you sell from Canada or into Canada, filter by item location to see what buyers actually paid in your shipping zone.
Search eBay by Item Number
Every eBay listing has a 12-digit item number, shown in the listing's "Item specifics" area, at the end of the URL, and on order confirmations. If you saved a listing number from a comp, a screenshot, or a customer message, you can pull it up directly.
Option A: paste the item number straight into the main eBay search box. eBay recognises the format and jumps to that listing, even if it has ended.
Option B: type the URL ebay.com/itm/ followed by the number.
Option C: in Advanced Search, use the By item number box on the left. This also works for ended and sold listings within the retention window.
For your own past sales, go to Seller Hub → Orders, or My eBay → Selling → Sold, where you can search or sort by item number and see the exact price, fees and buyer.
The 90-Day Limit and Terapeak
The public Sold Items filter only shows roughly the last 90 days of sales. For fast-moving categories that is plenty. For seasonal items (ski jackets in July), rare pieces, or anything that sells a few times a year, 90 days can show you zero or one comps and you are back to guessing.
That is where Terapeakcomes in. Terapeak is eBay's own research tool inside Seller Hub (Seller Hub → Research). It shows sold prices, sell-through rate, average shipping, and pricing trends across a much longer window — up to a few years of history — and lets you filter by condition, format and category. Product Research in Terapeak is included for sellers with a Seller Hub account; some deeper reports are bundled with eBay Store subscriptions. Check your Seller Hub for what your account tier includes.
Practical workflow: use the Sold Items filter for quick, everyday checks and Terapeak when the item is unusual, expensive, seasonal, or when you are deciding whether to buy a whole lot of something.
Using Sold Data to Price Your Inventory
Seeing sold items is only useful if it turns into a price. Here is a worked example of the method most experienced resellers use.
1. Sold search, Pre-owned, Buy It Now, sorted Ended Recently
2. Last eight comparable sales: $58, $62, $65, $65, $70, $72, $75, $89
3. Drop the outlier ($89 — it was a rare colourway). Median of the rest ≈ $65
4. Ten similar active listings sit between $75 and $110 — ignore them
5. Price at $69 with Best Offer on, or $65 if you want it gone this week
6. Run $69 through the eBay fee calculator: 13.6% + $0.40 leaves about $59.22 before shipping (US rates as of 2026)
Two habits make this scale. First, record the comp range on the item when you list it, so a price drop later is a decision, not a re-research session. Second, price against sold data on everymarketplace you list on, not just eBay — the same sweater often clears at a different number on Poshmark or Depop, and if you cross-list you want each listing priced for its own audience. See our guide to the best marketplaces for reselling and the roundup of sites like eBay for how the buyer pools differ.
If you manage more than a couple hundred SKUs, doing this by hand is where the time goes. Inventory tools with AI pricing suggestions and per-marketplace pricing — SECND included — let you research once and push the right price to every channel; see the cross-listing app.
FAQ
How do I see sold items on eBay?
Search for the item, open the filters, and tick "Sold Items" under "Show only" (desktop sidebar or the Filter button in the app). Sold prices appear in green with the sale date. Advanced Search also has a "Sold listings" checkbox.
What is the difference between Sold and Completed listings?
Sold Items shows only listings that ended in a sale. Completed Items shows every ended listing, sold or not — sold ones in green, unsold in black or red. Completed is useful for spotting prices that failed.
How far back does eBay sold history go?
The public Sold Items filter covers roughly the last 90 days. Terapeak Product Research in Seller Hub goes back much further, up to a few years depending on the report.
Can I search eBay by item number?
Yes. Paste the 12-digit item number into the search box, open ebay.com/itm/ followed by the number, or use the "By item number" field in Advanced Search. Ended listings remain viewable for a limited time.
Does the sold price include shipping?
The green price is the item price; shipping shows separately underneath (or "Free shipping"). When comparing comps, add the two together, because a $60 + $12 shipping sale and a $72 free-shipping sale cost the buyer the same and eBay charges fees on the same total.
Can I see who bought a sold item?
No. Buyer identities are private on public sold listings. You can only see your own buyers in Seller Hub or My eBay for items you sold.