A researched guide by collectorlens.app.
Use eBay’s Sold items filter (in the left sidebar). It shows roughly the last 90 days of completed sales; the green “sold” price is the real market signal — not what sellers are asking.[1]
Compare like with like: the same issue, the same grade, and the same print/edition (first vs. reprint, newsstand vs. direct). Comparing across these is the #1 error.
Graded means CGC-inspected and slabbed with a grade label; raw means ungraded. There’s roughly a ~20% CGC-over-raw premium, which can shrink to about the cost of grading plus shipping in soft markets — so don’t compare a raw book to a graded sold price.[2][3][4]
Look at the spread, ignore obvious outliers, and beware tiny sample sizes — rare books may have no recent solds at all. Factor in shipping.[5][1]
eBay shows the immediate market, GoCollect tracks current values, and GPA shows the long-term trend. Use them together rather than relying on one.[4]
CollectorLens shows the eBay sold-comps range inline so you can skip the tab-switching — but the method above is exactly what it’s automating. Always sanity-check the match (issue, grade, edition) yourself.
Sources retrieved 2026-06-08.