Found something at a garage sale? Identify it, check its price, find another

Start with the marks, not the shape

Two bowls can look identical and come from different makers decades apart. The fastest route to a name is whatever the maker wrote on the piece, so before you photograph anything, turn it over and look:

• China, pottery and glass: the bottom. A backstamp often names both the maker and the pattern. Art pottery may have a molded mark and a shape number instead, and kitchen glass like Pyrex usually has its name molded underneath.
• Cast iron: the bottom of the pan. Look for a maker’s name or logo and a number. The large number is a size, not the width in inches.
• Tools: the casting, the blade or the handle. Hand planes, wrenches and saws are often stamped with a brand and a model or size number.
• Electronics, cameras and audio: the label or plate on the back or bottom. The model number is what matters; you don’t need the serial number.
• Toys and figurines: underneath, or on the back. A year molded into a toy is usually the copyright or design date, not the year that piece was made.
• Furniture: inside drawers, on the back panel and under seats, where makers put paper labels and stamps.

If there’s no mark at all, that’s worth knowing too. Photograph the whole piece and describe what you can see: material, size, color and anything unusual.

Identify it from a photo

1. Take the photo. On Spotter Otter, choose Add photo, then Take a photo, or upload one you took at the sale. Use the shot of the mark or label if you have one; get it sharp, straight on and in good light.
2. Crop to one item. Sale tables are crowded. Crop to the piece you mean, or add a short note like the green glass bowl in front.
3. Check the description it writes. Spotter Otter reads visible brand names, marks and model numbers, uses eBay’s image search for clues, and tells you what it thinks the item is. If it isn’t sure, it says so.
4. Compare with the closest listings. It also shows the closest listings on eBay right now. Put your piece next to them: same mark, same shape, same pattern? If not, fix the description or take a closer photo of the mark.

The photo isn’t stored. It’s sent to OpenAI and eBay to identify the item, and your Spotter keeps the description you confirm.

What is it worth? Use eBay’s sold listings

Spotter Otter doesn’t appraise items or tell you what they’re worth. eBay’s sold listings are the best free guide to what people have actually paid:

1. Search eBay for the name you identified: maker plus pattern, model or piece type.
2. Turn on the Sold items filter. On a computer it’s in the filters beside the results; in the eBay app it’s under Filter. You’ll see listings that sold in recent months and their prices.
3. Compare like with like. Same size, same color, same condition, same completeness. A lid, the original box or a working motor can change the price a lot, and so can a chip or crack.
4. Look at several sales. One high price is a lucky day, not a value. Where a sale shows “Best offer accepted”, the asking price is crossed out and the buyer paid less.
5. Remember shipping. Heavy or fragile items such as cast iron and furniture often sell for less once the buyer pays shipping, or sell locally.

Prices on active listings are only what sellers are asking. For anything that looks rare or valuable, a professional opinion is worth it; the guide to attic and inherited finds covers when and how.

Find another one, or the rest of the set

Sometimes the find is the start, not the end: three of four nesting bowls, one of a pair of lamps, a china pattern with half the place settings, or a pan you love and want in another size.

• Make one Spotter per piece. Name the maker, pattern or model, and the exact piece: Pyrex Butterprint 404 mixing bowl, turquoise on white. Make the piece number a must-have, and a listing that states a different number is left out.
• Say what condition you’ll accept. “No chips or cracks” is a must-have that Luna, Spotter Otter’s AI, reads in the listing. If a seller doesn’t mention it, the listing arrives as a Maybe match so you can check the photos.
• Use local pickup for heavy or fragile pieces. A Spotter can be limited to listings offering local pickup within 10, 25, 50 or 100 miles of your ZIP code.
• Set a price from the sold listings. Your maximum price is before shipping.

For broken or missing pieces in a set, see replacing a missing piece.

Example: a skillet from an estate sale

Garage sale, estate sale or flea market

• Garage and yard sales: ask the seller what they know. They may still have the box, the manual or the other pieces in the house.
• Estate sales: a whole household is for sale at once, so the rest of a set is often in another room. Look before you leave.
• Flea markets: dealers usually know what they have, and reproductions turn up. Spotter Otter doesn’t authenticate items, so compare marks carefully with sold examples before paying a collector’s price.