How much is a pair of Levi’s 501s worth?
A red tab and a 501 stamp are the start. The care label, the selvedge, and the waist number are what separate a common pair from an older one.
The 501 is Levi’s button-fly jean. It has been made for decades, in the United States and elsewhere, in selvedge and in ordinary denim. A thrift rack of 501s is mostly modern or recent pairs with a small red tab, a printed care label, and a waist size that is the size. The pairs people slow down for are older: a capital E on the tab, a selvedge outseam, a specific care label or the absence of one, and a stamp inside the pocket that you can actually read.
Condition is the rest of the price. A hole in the crotch, a hem that has been chopped into fringe, and a waist that is no longer the number on the label are ordinary thrift jeans. They can still be worth buying to wear. They are a poor flip if the sticker already assumes a collector. This page does not quote a price. Search sold listings with the same tab, the same country of origin, and an honest description of the wear.
What to look for
- The tab
- A red tab on the right back pocket. “LEVI’S” in capital letters, the big E, is the older tab. A lowercase e is later. A tab that has been replaced or is missing is a different, weaker identification. Photograph it flat.
- The stamp
- Inside the pocket or on the waist, a stamp with 501 and a factory and date code on many pairs. If the stamp is gone, say it is gone. Do not reconstruct a date from the wash.
- Selvedge
- Turn up the hem. A white selvedge with a colored thread, or a red line, means selvedge denim. No selvedge means a later or a different construction. Selvedge is not automatically pre-1970.
- Care label
- Paper, cotton, and printed polyester labels mark different eras, and the country line says where they were made. A US pair and a later import are both real 501s. They are not the same search.
What moves the price
- Era
- Big E, the care-label period, and the presence of selvedge are the sorts. A modern selvedge 501 from the main line is a current product with a current retail price. Compare used with that, not with a 1960s pair.
- Size
- The actual waist and inseam, measured, not the label if the denim has shrunk. A size nobody can wear is a display pair. Say the measurements in inches, taken flat, and explain how you measured.
- Wear
- Whiskers and a fade can be what a buyer wants, or they can be a thin crotch. Photograph the inside of the thighs and the crotch. A repair belongs in the first line of the description.
- Alterations
- A chopped hem with no selvedge left, a taken-in waist, or a replaced button fly is an altered pair. Collectors pay for unaltered. Wearers may not care. Name which one you are selling to.
Where to sell
- eBay
- The comps are specific: tab, selvedge or not, country, waist, measured inseam, and flaws. A title that says “vintage Levi’s” and nothing else attracts the wrong buyer and the wrong argument.
- Poshmark and Depop
- Clothing marketplaces, with their own fees. Good when the pair is a wearable size and the photos are honest. Read the current fee before you treat the listed price as your money. The fee article in the journal is the map, not a rate card.
- Wear them
- A common small-e 501 in your size, bought under the price of new, is a successful thrift. Not every red tab is inventory.
What a photo can settle
Photograph the full pair front and back, the tab, the button fly, the inside stamp, the care label, the hem edge for selvedge, and the crotch. Worth can see a 501 tab. It cannot date a pair if the stamp and care label are out of frame, and it cannot measure a waist from a styled photo on a person.
Questions
- What is the big E on Levi’s?
- It is the older red-tab lettering, LEVI’S with a capital E. A lowercase e is a later tab. The tab is one clue. The stamp, the selvedge, and the care label still have to agree before you call a year.
- Are all selvedge 501s valuable?
- No. Selvedge means the denim was woven on a narrower loom and the edge is finished. Levi’s has sold selvedge 501s in later decades, including pairs you can compare with current retail. Age still comes from the labels and the stamp.
- Should I wash them before selling?
- Wash a pair that smells. Do not wash a pair to invent a fade, and do not dry a pair so hard that the waist changes and you forget to remeasure. Disclose shrinkage if you caused it.