Pick a detector and see what it actually sells for on eBay. Few hobbies have a secondhand market this liquid, because a great many of these get used twice and then listed. Prices are pulled live, so what you see is what sellers are asking this minute.
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Browse the full range of used metal detectors on eBay → Prices move fast. See the biggest price drops across every category this week →The coil is the part that fails and the part that costs. Look along the underside for hairline cracks and along the cable where it enters the housing, which is where flexing eventually splits the seal. A submersible coil that has taken water is dead weight, and a replacement coil is a large fraction of what a mid-range detector is worth used.
Check what the control box is actually rated for, not what the seller says. Plenty of detectors are rain resistant while only the coil and lower shaft are submersible. A flooded control box is usually the end of the machine, and corrosion on the battery contacts is the tell: look for white powder or pitting in the photos.
Ask whether the battery is a proprietary pack. Several older flagships take a sealed pack that is no longer manufactured, and once it stops holding charge the detector is a display piece. Machines that take AA cells or a standard USB charge have no such cliff, which is a real reason a cheaper model can be the better buy secondhand.
Wobble the shaft at every joint before you commit. Cam locks wear and the lower shaft develops play, which is cheap to fix on a current model and impossible on a discontinued one. It also tells you how hard the machine has been used, more honestly than the cosmetic condition does.
Confirm the coil is included and is the right one. Coils are usually interchangeable within a brand and almost never across brands, so a detector listed without its coil is worth much less than it looks. A stock coil with the original box suggests a careful owner; a mismatched aftermarket coil suggests the original one died.
Value. Detectors hold their money unusually well because the hobby has a steady secondhand market and the technology moves slowly. A five year old flagship still finds what a new mid-range machine finds, which is why the discontinued top models are often the best value on this page.
Live eBay listings, which is where most used detectors change hands. Pick a model and it fetches the current lowest-priced listings in real time, with the listing shown next to each price so you can check it yourself.
Less than most electronics, because there is little to go wrong beyond the coil, the shaft and the seals, and all three are visible in photos. Ask for a picture of the battery compartment and of the coil cable where it enters the housing, and you have covered the expensive failures.
Water in the control box, which usually writes off the machine. After that a dead coil, which on a mid-range detector can cost a large share of what the whole thing is worth used.
Only if you intend to detect in water. Most machines are rain resistant with a submersible coil, which is enough for wet grass and damp sand. Fully waterproof models cost more new and hold that premium secondhand, so do not pay it unless you will use it.
Often, yes. The technology moves slowly, so a discontinued top-end machine usually outperforms a current entry-level one at a similar used price. The exception is a model whose battery pack is proprietary and no longer made, which puts an end date on the machine.
A daily snapshot of the lowest genuine eBay price for every model we track, and how good that price is right now versus its usual level, updated automatically. Prices last refreshed 12 October 2026. Tap a price to see that model's cheapest listings on eBay, or tap a model name for the full live list here.
These are second hand prices, listed by sellers as used or pre-owned, taken from live eBay US listings in US dollars. In collectible categories a sealed or unworn item is sometimes the cheapest genuine listing, and it is included. The same number works both ways: it is what a buyer pays today and the resale value a seller can realistically ask. Every model also carries a price history, the daily record kept since tracking began, which is the part to read before you buy or resell. On a day when a model has no listing that passes these filters, its row keeps the last price we recorded rather than inventing one, and drops off this table if that goes on for more than a few days.
Under each model is the actual listing that price came from, so you can see whether it is the thing you want or a bundle, a variant, or an accessory that happens to share the name.
Over the period we have tracked, this category is down 1.5%, while the used market as a whole is down 0.3%. See the Used Price Index, which is built from these prices and published as a free CSV.
| Model ↕ | Cheapest now ↕ | vs typical ↕ | vs recent |
|---|---|---|---|
Garrett ACE Apex Garrett Ace Apex multi frequency metal detector treasure hunting beach finds | $313 lowest yet | 17% under | ▼ 6% |
Minelab Equinox 800 Minelab Equinox 800 Metal Detector - Working Unit, Headphones, Coil, Cable... | $465 lowest yet | 17% under | ▼ 16% |
Fisher F22 Fisher F22 Weatherproof All-Purpose Metal Detector | $188 lowest yet | 14% under | steady |
Minelab Vanquish 540 Minelab Vanquish 540 metal detector with Protective cover. Slightly used | $350 same 14 days | 7% under | steady |
Bounty Hunter Tracker IV Bounty Hunter Tracker IV Ground Search Metal Detector Discrimination Knob | $50 same 65 days | about typical | steady |
Teknetics Delta 4000 Teknetics Delta 4000 Metal Detector | $125 same 48 days | about typical | steady |
Whites Coinmaster Vintage Whites 5500/D Series 3 Coinmaster Metal Detector full kit | $200 same 38 days | about typical | steady |
Nokta Legend Nokta The Legend SMF Metal Detector Pro Pack | $450 same 65 days | about typical | steady |
Garrett AT Max Garrett AT MAX Metal Detector Z-Lynk Waterproof Pinpoint Sensitivity | $525 same 35 days | about typical | steady |
Minelab CTX 3030 Minelab CTX 3030 Metal Detector with 17" coil and Headphones | $1,225 same 30 days | about typical | steady |
Minelab Manticore Minelab Manticore Metal Detector | $1,350 | about typical | ▼ 42% |
Garrett AT Pro 2011 Garrett AT Pro Waterproof Metal Detector Fully Tested read Full Descript… | $334 | above typical | steady |
Garrett Ace 400 GARRETT ACE 400 Advanced Metal Detector In Box - WORKS w/ Accessories | $250 same 18 days | above typical | steady |
Minelab Equinox 700 Minelab Equinox 700 Metal Detector - Open Box | $670 | above typical | ▼ 3% |
Tesoro Compadre TESORO COMPADRE METAL DETECTOR – EXCELLENT CONDITION – TESTED – WORKING | $225 same 28 days | above typical | steady |
Garrett Ace 300 Garrett ACE 300 Metal Detector | $200 same 14 days | above typical | steady |
XP ORX XP ORX Metal Detector 9.5" Elliptical DD Waterproof Coil MI-6 Pinpointer Shov… | $775 same 14 days | above typical | steady |
Minelab Equinox 600 Minelab Equinox 600 Metal Detector & Pro-Find 20 Pinpointer - Open Box | $580 | above typical | ▼ 17% |
Nokta Simplex Simplex Nokta Makro Metal Detector use Only 6 Times with all The Extras | $299 same 12 days | above typical | steady |