How CheapskateIQ works

From a photo on the rack to a buy-or-pass answer in seconds. Here's what happens at each step.

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1. Photograph the item and its tag

Open CheapskateIQ and take a picture of the item, then one of the price tag. You can add up to six photos (for example the brand label or a flaw), and you can also pick photos you've already taken from your library.

• Get the whole price tag in frame and keep it flat so the numbers are readable.
• Photograph the brand label or tag inside the collar. It makes identification much more accurate.
• If the app misreads the tag, just type the right price. Your number always wins.

2. CheapskateIQ identifies it

Vision AI looks at your photos and works out the brand, what the item is, its condition and any visible flaws. It also reads the tag price and writes a clear listing title and description. You see a confidence score so you know when to double-check.

3. It checks the market

CheapskateIQ searches for comparable listings on eBay, drops the odd outliers, and takes the typical price. Listings are asking prices, not final sale prices, so it applies a conservative 15% discount to estimate what the item will actually sell for.

4. You get your numbers

With a market value in hand, CheapskateIQ does the math for each platform:

• List price: what to list it for.
• Max buy price: the most you can pay and still hit the target return, after fees and shipping.
• Profit and return: what you'd keep, and as a percentage of what you paid.

The math includes eBay's final value fee (estimated at 13.25% plus $0.30 per order) and shipping (assumed at $6). Vinted doesn't charge sellers a fee. Facebook Marketplace is priced as a local meetup, with no fee and no shipping. The verdict then compares your profit with a 100% return target, meaning you'd earn at least as much as you paid:

Verdict	What it means
Buy	Profit meets or beats the target: you'd at least double your money.
Maybe	It's profitable, but below that target.
Pass	After fees and shipping, there's no profit.

If you paid a different price than the tag, change it later and the numbers update instantly, with no new lookup.

5. Everything is saved and tracked

Every appraisal goes into your Saved list with its photos. Not ready to sell, or not sure it's worth the money? Come back later: CheapskateIQ re-checks the market for your saved items and shows how the price has moved, so you can see when a find becomes worth listing. You can mark items as listed, sold or archived, and delete any of them whenever you like.

6. List it when you're ready

• eBay: connect your eBay account once. CheapskateIQ creates a draft listing from your saved photos and details, and nothing goes live until you tap Publish.
• Vinted: Vinted doesn't offer a public listing API, so CheapskateIQ makes it quick instead. It saves your photos to your library, gives you a tap-to-copy title, description, brand and price, and opens Vinted's new-item page.
• Facebook Marketplace: Facebook doesn't offer individual sellers a public listing option either, so it works the same way: it saves your photos, gives you a tap-to-copy title, price, category, description and brand, tells you which condition to pick, and opens Marketplace's create-listing page.

Estimates only. CheapskateIQ doesn't guarantee what an item will sell for. More questions?