Redeem now - Vintage CorningWare casserole dishes appear to be selling for thousands of dollars on eBay.
- But CorningWare from the 1970s isn't actually worth that much — it'll fetch $100 to $150 on a good day.
- Adam Zimmerman of Syl-Lee Antiques told Insider that eBay sellers can manipulate listings to look like they've sold items for higher prices.
- If an item appears to have sold for a high even number with no bids, it's probably not a legitimate sale, Zimmerman said.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
With headlines like "Your grandma's CorningWare could be worth thousands" and "Your vintage CorningWare could be worth up to $10,000," it wouldn't be a surprise if people started rummaging through their cupboards, hoping to get rich quick.
Earlier this month, viral articles began circulating on social media about how valuable 1970s Corningware casserole dishes are, citing the fact that they've sold for thousands on eBay.
But are those vintage CorningWare dishes actually worth that much?
Insider asked Adam Zimmerman of Syl-Lee Antiques to examine eBay listings of CorningWare items that appear to have sold for thousands of dollars. He said there are a few signs that the prices aren't accurate.
Any listing with an even selling price like $6,000 or $4,000 probably didn't sell for that amount, Zimmerman said. Authentic sales are usually uneven numbers due to multiple bidders. If the listing doesn't show that there were any bidders at all, that's another red flag.
"I'm pretty sure if you look into it it's all manipulated numbers," he said. "You want to see multiple bids or non-even numbers. If you see a number like $10,000 with 22 bidders it's most likely real. But if it says 'best offer accepted,' you'll never know what the best offer is. "
Zimmerman said that's why eBay can be an unreliable source for determining the value of an antique. If a seller lists an item for $6,000, but accepts a "best offer" that's much lower, eBay doesn't share what that offer was — it will still show that the item sold for the price originally listed.
"If someone's asking for that number and they take the best offer, you'll never actually know what the offer is," he said. "That's why eBay is tricky. It's a good resource, but people get confused."
He sees this happen a lot at Syl-Lee Antiques. People come in and want to sell their items for the inflated prices they found online, only to discover that they're actually worth much less.
"It's a tough thing, I see it all the time," he said. "Everyone went and bought the items trending on eBay, people think they're making investments on things, but it's actually somebody who started a trend that's not actually real."
As for your grandmother's CorningWare, Zimmerman said it's not worth anywhere near thousands of dollars.
"In this day and age, where a lot of the collectible market is down, CorningWare retails for $100, $150, and that's on a really good day," he said. "I don't know of any Corningware that's worth real money."
- Read more:
- 16 things that are probably hiding in your closet that are now worth a ton
- 23 people who discovered that their junk was actually worth a fortune
- The 'Garage Sale Millionaire' shares the big secret to selling used items
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