---
title: "Pawn Shop Sold Comps: Make Buy and Loan Offers From Real eBay Sales"
url: https://www.soldcomps.io/blog/pawn-shop-sold-comps
updated: 2026-10-30
answer: "Pawn shops and buy counters base offers on what an item will resell for, not what it cost new. Pull recent eBay sold comps for the exact model, use the 25th percentile as a quick-sale price, subtract selling costs, then offer a share of what's left. Loans usually go lower than outright buys. Skip items with few sales or a wide price range, or offer less on them."
publisher: SoldComps (https://www.soldcomps.io)
---

# Pawn Shop Sold Comps: Make Buy and Loan Offers From Real eBay Sales

> Pawn shops and buy counters base offers on what an item will resell for, not what it cost new. Pull recent eBay sold comps for the exact model, use the 25th percentile as a quick-sale price, subtract selling costs, then offer a share of what's left. Loans usually go lower than outright buys. Skip items with few sales or a wide price range, or offer less on them.

By SoldComps Editorial · Published Oct 30, 2026

A customer puts a PlayStation 5 on the counter and asks what you'll give them. The number you say next decides whether you make money on it. Too high, and you're stuck with inventory you can't move at a profit. Too low, and they walk across the street.

Good offers start from one question: **what will this actually resell for, quickly?** Recent eBay **sold comps** for the exact model answer it. Here's how buy counters, pawn shops and trade-in desks turn them into offers.

## Resale value, not retail

Customers anchor on what they paid. A shop has to anchor on what the next buyer will pay. For used goods, the deepest public record of that is eBay's sold listings: real completed sales, by model and condition, from the last 90 days.

Three numbers from the sold comps matter:

- **Median:** the typical sale price.
- **25th percentile (p25):** the low end of the middle half of sales. A price you can hit without waiting for the perfect buyer. This is your **quick-sale price**.
- **Count:** how many clean sales the numbers are based on. Under 10 means the estimate is shaky.

## From sold comps to an offer

```
quick-sale price  = 25th percentile of clean sold comps
net resale        = quick-sale price − selling costs
buy offer         = net resale × your buy percentage
loan offer        = net resale × your loan percentage (usually lower)
```

Selling costs depend on where you'll sell. If you'll list on eBay, the final value fee in most categories is 13.6% plus $0.40 per order. If you'll sell in-store, use your own cost of holding and selling the item.

The percentages are your policy, not a law of nature. Consumer guides commonly describe pawn loans as somewhere around a quarter to well over half of an item's resale value, depending on the item and the shop. What matters is that you apply a **consistent** percentage to a **real** resale number, instead of guessing at the counter.

## Worked examples (real sold comps)

eBay US sold listings, last 90 days, pulled Oct 30, 2026. Net resale = p25 minus eBay fees. The 50% buy and 35% loan columns are an **example policy** to show the math, not a recommendation.

| Item | Clean sales | Median | Quick-sale (p25) | Net resale | Buy at 50% | Loan at 35% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PlayStation 5 (disc) | 127 | $450 | $427.50 | $368.96 | **$184** | **$129** |
| iPhone 14 Pro 128GB, unlocked | 78 | $399.99 | $362.50 | $312.80 | **$156** | **$109** |
| Apple Watch Series 9, 45mm | 132 | $155 | $129.99 | $111.91 | **$56** | **$39** |
| DeWalt 20V impact driver | 104 | $68.09 | $52.67 | $45.11 | **$23** | **$16** |

Prices move fast in electronics. Pull fresh comps for every offer.

Look at how differently these items behave:

- **The PS5 is the easy one.** 177 sales in the 17 days from Oct 14 to Oct 30, and the middle half sits between $427.50 and $499.99. High demand, tight range. You can price confidently and turn it fast.
- **The iPhone needs more checking than the comps can do.** Storage, carrier lock, battery health, iCloud lock and screen condition all move the price. The comps above are for unlocked 128GB phones. A locked or damaged one belongs in a different search.
- **The DeWalt driver is a low-ticket item.** Is it the bare tool, or does it include a battery and charger? Bare tools and kits sell at very different prices. Search what's actually on the counter.

## Adjust for risk

The formula gives you a starting offer. Then adjust:

**Few sales or a wide range: offer less.** If there are only a handful of clean sales, or p25 and p75 are far apart, you don't really know the resale price. Lower the offer, or pass. [How many sold comps you need](https://www.soldcomps.io/blog/how-many-sold-comps) explains where the line is.

**Easy to fake: offer less, or verify first.** Watches, designer goods, sneakers and trading cards attract counterfeits. A sold comp for the genuine item tells you nothing about the one in front of you until it's authenticated.

**Slow sellers: offer less.** An item that sells a few times a month ties up your money and your shelf. Look at how many sales there were and over how many days. A fast item can carry a higher percentage.

**Condition: match it.** If the customer's item is untested, missing parts, or damaged, use for-parts or lower-condition comps, not the clean median.

## Watch for bad comps

A few sold listings aren't what they seem:

- **Lots and bundles:** "PS5 with 2 controllers and 6 games" isn't a PS5 comp.
- **For-parts sales:** broken units sell far below working ones.
- **Box-only listings:** empty boxes with the model name in the title.
- **Cancelled or fake sales:** some "sold" prices never actually got paid. See [whether an eBay sold price is real](https://www.soldcomps.io/blog/fake-ebay-sold-prices).

A [free sold comps lookup](https://www.soldcomps.io/) removes lots, parts, boxes and outliers automatically and shows the median, middle range and count for any search.

## Making it fast at the counter

A customer won't wait ten minutes while you scroll eBay. The routine has to take seconds:

1. Identify the exact model (and storage, size or kit contents).
2. Look up clean sold comps: median, p25, count.
3. Apply your formula and adjust for risk.
4. Say a number, and show the customer the recent sales if they push back.

That last step matters more than it sounds. "Here's what this model actually sold for this month" ends most haggling. It's real data, not your opinion.

Shops that run a point-of-sale or buy-system can pull the same numbers automatically. One request returns the stats for a search, so a buy screen can show the quick-sale price next to every item. [Automating sold comps](https://www.soldcomps.io/blog/automate-sold-comps) shows how, and the [API docs](https://www.soldcomps.io/docs) cover the details.

Whether you're lending against it or buying it outright, the principle is the same: every offer starts from what the item really sells for. That's what [sold comps](https://www.soldcomps.io/) are for.

## Frequently asked questions

### How do pawn shops decide what to offer?

They start from what the item will resell for, not what it cost new. Recent sold prices for the same model are the best evidence. From that resale value they take off selling costs and their margin, plus extra room for risk on items that are slow to sell or easy to fake.

### Why use the 25th percentile instead of the median?

A shop that has to resell an item wants a price it can hit quickly, without waiting for the right buyer. The 25th percentile is the low end of the middle half of sales, so it's a realistic quick-sale price.

### Are loan offers lower than buy offers?

Usually. A loan has to cover the case where the customer doesn't come back and the shop has to sell the item later, possibly at a lower price. Many shops lend a smaller share of resale value than they'd pay to buy outright.

### What should a shop do when there are few sold comps?

Offer less or pass. With under 10 clean sales, or a middle range that's very wide, the resale value is uncertain, and that risk belongs in the offer.

## Sources

1. [eBay: Selling fees (final value fee and per-order fee)](https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822) (accessed Oct 30, 2026)

SoldComps sells an eBay sold comps API, so we have a commercial interest in this topic. Corrections: hello@soldcomps.io