Sold out in your size? How to find it on eBay

Why your size turns up on eBay

When a store runs out of your size, the item hasn’t vanished. People order two sizes and keep one, get the wrong size as a gift, or miss the return window. Plenty of those pairs and pieces end up on eBay, often still new with tags. The catch is that they appear one at a time, in no particular size, and a fairly priced one in a popular size doesn’t stay listed long. So the job is to search precisely and hear about new listings as they appear.

Step 1: Get the exact style code

Searching by name brings back every color, every version and every size. A style code narrows it to the one you tried on.

• Sneakers: on the label inside the tongue and on the end of the box. Nike and Jordan style codes look like DD1391-100: the first part is the model, the three digits after the dash are the colorway.
• Clothing: the style number on the hang tag or the care label, or the “Style #” or “Item #” line on the store’s product page. The color name or color code usually sits next to it.
• Jeans: the fit name or number, the wash name and the rise. Two pairs with the same fit number can look nothing alike in different washes.
• Anything else: the model number on the box, your receipt or the order confirmation email.

Search eBay for the code before you set anything up. If the results show the right item, the code works. If few sellers use it, search by the full name and color the way sellers write them, including nicknames (Dunk Low Panda, Better Sweater black), and keep that as a second search.

The shortcut: Spotter Otter can start from the item itself. Paste the link to the store’s product page, sold-out notice and all, add your size and price, and it starts a Spotter for the same item. Or, on your phone, take a photo of the hang tag, the tongue label or the end of the box. Spotter Otter reads the brand, style code and color it can see, uses eBay’s image search for clues, and writes a description of the item for you to check before anything starts. The photo isn’t stored; it’s sent to OpenAI and eBay to identify the item.

Step 2: Write your size the way sellers do

Sellers don’t agree on how to write sizes, and a search only finds the words that are actually in the listing. These are the forms you’ll see most:

Put one form of your size in the Spotter’s “Must include” box. Spotter Otter looks for every word or phrase in that box, so don’t list two forms of the same size in one Spotter: a listing would have to say both. Instead, make a second Spotter with the next most common form. For sneakers, one Spotter with size 10 and another with 10M or sz 10 covers most listings.

Half sizes are the most common near miss. If you wear a 10, add 10.5 to “Exclude.” If you need a width, add that too: for men, D is standard and 2E is wide; for women, B is standard and D is wide. For clothing, words like petite, tall and short matter as much as the size.

Describing the item in your own words takes care of the wording for you. Write Nike Dunk Low Panda, men’s size 10, new with your maximum price, and Luna, Spotter Otter’s AI, turns it into a search plus a list of must-haves for you to confirm, with your size as one of them. Must-haves are checked the way a person would read a listing, using the wordings sellers use: Large is L, LG or Lrg, and 30x32 is waist 30, inseam 32. A listing that states a different size is left out; one that doesn’t say comes through as a Maybe match for you to judge from the photos.

Step 3: Decide how new it has to be

Most people chasing a sold-out size want it unworn. These are the words sellers use:

• NWT: new with tags, unworn with the original tags attached. BNWT means the same.
• NWOT: new without tags, unworn but the tags are off.
• NIB or NWB: new in box, new with box, for shoes.
• DS: deadstock, sneaker shorthand for new and never worn. VNDS (very near deadstock) means worn once or twice.

Set the Spotter’s condition to New to skip worn items. eBay counts “New with defects” as a new condition too, so read the condition line before you buy. Only put NWT in “Must include” if the tags truly matter, because many sellers of new items never type it.

Step 4: Set your price from sold listings

Search eBay for the style code and your size, then turn on the Sold items filter. Those prices are what buyers actually paid, which is a better guide than what sellers are asking. Prices can differ from one size to the next, so look at sales in your size rather than the model as a whole. Set your maximum price at what you’d happily pay before shipping, and remember shipping is added on top.

Step 5: Let the Spotter watch, and check before you buy

A Spotter only alerts you to listings posted after it starts, so search eBay once yourself on day one in case your size is already listed. After that, each new match arrives by email and on your Alerts page. It’s also worth signing up for the store’s back-in-stock email, since returns sometimes put a size back on the shelf.

When an alert comes in, check these before you buy:

• The size label in the photos, not just the title. Sellers mistype sizes.
• The style code on the label, matched against yours.
• Measurements for clothing: pit to pit, length and inseam. Jeans are sometimes hemmed, so ask for the inseam if it isn’t listed.
• Returns and protection: read the return policy. eBay’s Money Back Guarantee covers items that don’t match the listing, and eligible sneakers go through eBay’s Authenticity Guarantee.