Is eBay cheaper than Amazon and the shops for tech? We checked 74 products

Is eBay cheaper than Amazon, Currys or Argos for tech? We counted. On 24/10/2026 we went through every product page we compare, 100 in all, and looked at who had the lowest price for each, new and refurbished, then read the cheapest listings at source. We first ran this count on 22/10/2026; this is the same check two days later, after we took out listings that were the wrong product.

Is eBay cheaper than Amazon for tech?

Often, for new tech. On 24/10/2026 eBay had a listing on 67 of the 74 pages where two or more shops had the product in stock, and the lowest new price on 41 of the 68 pages with a new price, by a median £50 under the next shop. On 4 pages eBay was the only shop with the product new.

New, in stock, read on each listing and shop page on 24/10/2026. Amazon's prices are Amazon itself as the seller. Postage on eBay: free on the Pixel 10; £6.84 on the iPad mini, £11.95 on the Pixel 10 Pro and the iPhone 16, £11.76 on the Xbox, £9.99 on the Pixel 10a, £10 on the AirPods Max 2 and £5.80 on the Sony. The Pixel 10 and the AirPods Max 2 came from business sellers with 14 days' returns, the iPhone 16 from a private seller with 14 days' returns, and the other five from private sellers taking no returns.

That last line matters as much as the prices. Six of the eight lowest new prices came from private sellers, five of them with no returns of their own, so the eBay saving is often a saving on the shop's guarantee and returns too. We quote the median gap because a few very large gaps pull the average up.

Is eBay cheaper for refurbished tech?

Less often, and by less. On 24/10/2026 eBay had the lowest refurbished price on 31 of the 62 pages with a refurbished price, a median £18.01 under the next seller. The refurbished specialists win the rest: in our prices that day, refurbed had the lowest on 12 pages, Back Market on 10, Gadcet on 7 and Amazon Renewed on 3. musicMagpie had the lowest on none.

Refurbished, in stock, read at source on 24/10/2026 (Back Market through a page reader, as it showed us a security check). The eBay Galaxy A36 came from Argos's own eBay shop with 60 days' returns, the Pixel 10 from a business seller with 30 days' returns. On 22/10/2026 we took a £530 Xbox Series X on eBay out of the comparison: it was sold without its controller and leads.

So for refurbished tech, check Back Market and refurbed beside eBay every time. What the grades and the words on a listing mean is in refurbished vs second hand.

When is eBay not the cheapest?

When a shop has cut its price, or when the cheap eBay listing has sold. On 24/10/2026 the new Pixel 10 Pro Fold 256GB on our page's eBay listing was £1,485.70 plus £11.95 postage, from a private seller, against £1,399 at Gadcet; the £1,047 Fold we found on eBay on 22/10/2026 had gone. On the pages where eBay was not the cheapest new price that day, A1 Tech Deals had the lowest on 11, Amazon on 10, Gadcet on 3, and Argos, Currys and John Lewis on 1 each.

Two kinds of eBay listing stay out of those comparisons. Opened, never used boxes are a lane of their own on our pages, shown after refurbished, and used listings are kept out of the lowest price. Both can be cheaper again, with less behind them. For how Amazon compares with the shops, see Amazon vs Argos.

How do we find the eBay deal without the risk?

This is what OwlyFinds does with every eBay listing it shows:

• The condition as eBay lists it. A listing marked New counts as new, a refurbished grade as refurbished, "Opened – never used" as open box, and used grades are kept out of the lowest price. We do not move a listing to another condition.
• A seller record for a price far under the shops. A listing marked New more than 30% under the page's shop prices is shown only from a seller with 500 or more ratings.
• UK sellers above £135. Above £135, a listing located outside the UK is left out, because the buyer would pay import VAT on delivery and the price on the page would not be the price paid.
• Open box on its own. Opened, never used listings sit in their own section after refurbished, and are left out of the lowest price, the head-to-head comparisons and price alerts.
• A read time on every row. Every price shows when we last read it. Viewing a page whose last check is more than 6 hours old asks for a fresh one.
• Old prices withheld. A price we have not read for 7 days (24 hours for Amazon) shows as "Check price" with the date it was last read, never as a price.
• History and alerts. Each product page charts the cheapest price we have seen each day, and a price alert emails you when it drops below the price you set.

On top of that, eBay's own Money Back Guarantee, read on 22/10/2026, covers a purchase paid through eBay's checkout for 30 days from delivery if it does not arrive, arrives faulty or damaged, or does not match the listing. eBay says it "is not a product warranty", so a fault in month three is the seller's warranty or nobody's. How to read an eBay seller and listing, and how OwlyFinds compares prices.

Here is the cheapest price we have seen each day for the Pixel 10 Pro 128GB, new and refurbished together:

Since we started tracking on 09/09/2026, the line has moved between £420 (24/09/2026 and 25/09/2026) and £559.99 (16/09/2026 and 17/09/2026).

What to do

1. Check eBay beside Amazon and the shops for anything new: on 24/10/2026 it was the cheapest on 41 of the 68 products we compare with a new price.
2. Read who is selling. A business seller with returns and a private seller with none can list the same phone at the same price.
3. For refurbished, compare eBay with Back Market and refurbed on the same day, grade for grade.
4. Pay through eBay's checkout, so the Money Back Guarantee covers you, and test the item as soon as it arrives.
5. Set a price alert on the product page if today's price is not low enough.