Knowing how to research comps is an easy and vital skill every reseller needs to learn. Doing proper comp research will you save you a lot of time, hassle and money throughout your reselling journey!
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What does researching comps even mean?
If you are totally new to the reselling world, you might be wondering, researching comps? What does that even mean?! Well my friend, simply translated it means researching comparables.
Comps are comparable products to what we have to sell. It’s important to research comps to see the resale value of products. Just because something is expensive brand new, doesn’t mean it has good resale value.
We want to research our product or potential product to find out if they are selling, and for how much! This easy method can be used for Poshmark or Ebay sellers. Personally, I like to research comps on both Poshmark & Ebay because often times items might sell quicker or for a higher price on one platform compared to another.
So, we want to use these platforms to search for either the same item as we have, or something similar to ours to see how much they have sold for previously. With this information, we can decide:
a) If the item has good resale value
b) If we will make profit on this item
c) How much to list our item for
Step 1: Using the search bar
Use the search bar at the top of the app/webpage on either Poshmark or Ebay. Type in some keywords for your item, similar to what you would use for the listing title. You can try and be as specific as possible, using the brand name of the item, style of the item, defining features etc. You either want to try and find the same item, or an item as similar as possible.
Read also: How to List on Poshmark
In most cases while doing your comp research, you don’t need to narrow down the size unless it’s a factor of your item. For example, a size 14 shoe can be difficult to find, and therefor may sell for a higher price.
After you hit search, it is automatically going to show you listings that are available for sale. While this page is good to skim over, it is not the information we are looking for. Just because someone has listed something for a high price, does not mean it is going to sell for that price.
The info you might be interested in from this page is the quantity of listings. If there are 20+ listings for a particular product, but none are actually selling, then this product is not in demand, and is not a good product to resell. If there are 20+ products and there are lots of sales happening, that is a good sign the item is in demand.
Step 2: Filter to ‘Sold Items’
Somewhere on your page you should see an option for filters. Scroll until you either see ‘Availability’ or ‘Show Only’. Click those filters, and then choose ‘Sold Items’.
Now, it will only show you listings that have been sold! From here you’ll be able to see if any similar items have sold, and for how much, and on Ebay you can even see the date sold!
Good signs:
High sold price
Multiple recent sales
Watch out for items that might have a high sold price, but only one has sold at that price in a long time, or only once in a while. Your item might have a good resale price, but it might sit for awhile before the right buyer comes along.
Bad signs:
Low sold price
Last sale was weeks/months ago
Many available for sale
If there are a lot of similar products for sale and a lot of recent sales, this is a good sign. If there are many for sale and few or no recent sales, bad sign. Make sure you pay attention to these details to avoid buying bad products.
So there you have it, an easy guide on how to research comps! If you are still confused or have any questions, please feel free to send me a message and I would be happy to help you out!
