So you want to find out what your used technology is really worth, right? Should you simply look back at your original purchase receipt and take a percentage based on its age? While this may work for some items, a more realistic and accurate approach is to research and identify recent historical data of sales for items similar or identical to your used technology. Historical data does not lie, so it is a very reliable predictor of future performance (what else can you go on?). Even the IRS uses historical data on eBay to calculate the fair market value of tax deductions.

eBay Historical Data

eBay provides free access to historical data from recent auction sales (14 days for free). All you have to do is be a registered eBay community member (it is free). When you conduct a search, simply select the "Completed Items" checkbox (on the right side below the search box), and the search query will return only completed transactions.

Tips for Sifting through Results

• To make it easier to read through the data, you can sort by price to identify a clear trend (start with highest to lowest).

• Keep in mind some auctions may not have closed with a successful bid or reserve amount met (these have red text in the price column).

• Furthermore, some auctions may have closed higher or lower than normal due to fraudulent activity. In any case, use common sense to identify the range of values for your used technology, removing the outliers (both highs and lows).

• Try narrowing the search by selecting specific categories (this may help eliminate low dollar accessories listed with similar keywords).

• Some items may have an identical model number, but different specifications that make the item more or less valuable. Click on the relevant links to confirm your item is identical or at least similar to the items you are looking at.

What do you do with this knowledge?

Use the historical data to properly set your expectations for the selling price of a particular item. You can also use the information to set a reasonable opening bid, reserve price, or Buy it Now price. Keep in mind eBay is an auction environment where buyers bid to the highest amount they are willing to pay, making the eBay environment a near perfect marketplace. Therefore, historical data on closing prices is extremely accurate in predicting the value of future sale prices.

A word of caution: most people are surprised to learn their used technology is worth less much than they originally paid for it. This is typical as technology depreciates rapidly... often more than automobiles!