How AvLists checks every listing
Every listing goes through the same checks before buyers see it. A person on our team looks at anything a check flags. This page explains each check in the order it happens, what it has found so far and what it cannot tell you.
Verified and Confirmed sellers
Verified dealers have had their business checked by AvLists and hold an active Verified or Pro plan. Confirmed means the dealer answered “Still for sale” for this listing. The confirmation date appears on the listing and the badge expires after 30 days unless the dealer confirms again. Verified takes priority over Confirmed.
Confirmation is the dealer’s statement of availability, not an inspection or a check of ownership, condition or registry details. Listings without either badge may still be available; ask the seller.
The numbers so far
- Aircraft checked against a registry
- 6,060
- Matched the registry
- 68%
- Registry mismatches found
- 1,780
- Photos fingerprinted
- None yet
- Starts with the first photo a seller uploads
Live from AvLists, updated every few minutes. Counts cover every listing a seller has submitted since AvLists opened; drafts are not counted. Rates show once there are at least 20 to count.
1. The registration lookup
A seller listing an aircraft starts with its registration mark. For a US mark (N12345) or a Canadian mark (C-GABC), AvLists looks the aircraft up in its copy of the FAA or Transport Canada register and fills in the make, model, year and serial number. FAA records also fill in the seats, the engines and a suggested category. The seller confirms or corrects every field.
Our copy of each register holds aircraft details only. We never load an owner's name or address.
2. The registry comparison
Whenever the mark, serial number, make, model or year changes, AvLists compares the listing with the register entry. The comparison allows for the way names are written: a Cessna registered under Textron, a serial number with or without its model prefix or leading zeros, and a model year one year either side of the registered year. The listing then shows one of three results.
- Registry verified: every field that both the listing and the register have agrees.
- Registry mismatch: at least one field differs. The listing shows buyers which field and what the register says.
- Not on registry: the mark is not in the register, for example an aircraft being imported or deregistered.
A mismatch on a new listing holds it for review. If a seller edits a live listing so it no longer matches, it comes down for review too.
FAA (N- marks)
- Checked
- 5,755
- Registry verified
- 3,932
- Registry mismatch
- 1,700
- Not on registry
- 123
- Match rate
- 68%
Transport Canada (C- marks)
- Checked
- 305
- Registry verified
- 200
- Registry mismatch
- 80
- Not on registry
- 25
- Match rate
- 66%
Right now 36% of the 11,007 aircraft for sale show Registry verified.
5,234 of 11,294 aircraft listings had no US or Canadian mark to check.
3. Photo fingerprints
Every photo is resized, turned the right way up and saved without its hidden data, such as the camera's GPS position. AvLists also works out a fingerprint for each photo: a short code made from the pattern of light and dark in the picture. The same photo saved again, or at another size, gets the same or almost the same code.
When a listing is submitted, its photo fingerprints are compared with the photos in every other seller's listings. A match holds the listing for a person to look at.
4. Review before it goes live
When a seller submits or renews a listing, AvLists checks for the following. If none applies, the listing goes live straight away.
- It is the seller's first listing (private sellers, and dealers we have not verified yet).
- The registry comparison found a mismatch.
- A photo matches one in another seller's listing.
- The price is far below recent asking prices for the same model.
- A new account is listing a jet.
- The phone number or email address is already used by another seller.
- A buyer has reported the listing.
If any applies, the listing waits for a person on our team, who approves it, sends it back to the seller with a note, or takes it down.
5. Checked again after it goes live
Registers change as aircraft are sold, re-registered or deregistered. AvLists loads the FAA register every day and the Transport Canada register every Monday. After each load, every live or in-review listing on that register is compared again, and its result changes if the register has changed.
FAA aircraft registry
N- marks. Loaded every day.
- Last loaded
- Oct 16, 2026 (yesterday)
- Aircraft on file
- 317,667
- Listings checked again
- 8,397
Transport Canada Civil Aircraft Register
C- marks. Loaded every Monday.
- Last loaded
- Oct 16, 2026 (yesterday)
- Aircraft on file
- 34,884
- Listings checked again
- 403
Sources: the FAA aircraft registry and the Canadian Civil Aircraft Register, both public.
6. Reports from buyers
Every listing has a Report link. A report goes to our team, and the listing is marked so that its next renewal waits for a person. A person reviews every report.
Fixed rules, reviewed by people
The listing checks above are fixed rules: the registry match, the photo reuse check and the scam rules, such as a price far below the same model. Each runs on every listing and gives the same answer every time for the same listing. When a check flags a listing, a person on our team reviews it and decides what happens to it.
What the checks cannot tell you
- A match means the details the seller typed agree with the register. Someone who copies a real aircraft's mark and details will match too. See the aircraft and its data plate yourself.
- The register shows what is registered, not who owns the aircraft today. A match is not a title search, a lien search or an inspection.
- Only US and Canadian marks are checked. Aircraft registered elsewhere or listed without a mark, and engines and parts, have no registry check.
- Our copy of each register is only as current as its last load, shown above.
- The photo check compares photos on AvLists only. A cropped, edited or flipped copy, or a photo taken from another website, can get through.
- The price check needs at least three recent listings of the same model to compare with.
What you should still do
- Look the mark up yourself on the FAA or Transport Canada site, and check the seller is the owner or acts for the owner.
- Compare the data plate and the logbooks with the listing.
- Get a pre-buy inspection from a mechanic you choose.
- Pay through an aviation title and escrow company you found yourself.