Top 5 Music Artists Selling on eBay

Terapeak is like the Billboard of eBay thanks to its Hot Media search feature. Below is this month’s Top 5 Music list which you may find either outrageous or validating. That’s the beauty of this list, it’s based entirely on pure, unbridled sales without dwelling for a moment on what some hipster might consider “good.”

Rounding out the number five spot is arguably the most talented individual ever to wear a lampshade for a hat, the one and only Lady Gaga. She probably should have gone on Dr. Phil long ago but she sure can belt out a tune.

In fourth, Susan Boyle is the 49 year old contest winner who dreamed big and put on a jaw-dropping performance for British television. She sang her way to stardom without the typical sexuality angle played by most. Seriously, like none whatsoever.

Kidz Bop Kids sing their little hearts out in 3rd, and if that surprises you keep in mind that child singers have had a firm place in our world since The Jackson 5.

The boys from Sgt. Pepper’s are staying legendary in the number two spot and it should also be noted that they never drop below the top five. So if you ever swing by and don’t see The Beatles on our list you should look up – the sky might be falling.

Finally at number one is the incorrigible Eminem. You may find his subject matter to be in the absolute poorest of taste, but you can’t deny his success.

Retail store sales are one thing, but eBay is the biggest, broadest online marketplace on the planet and Terapeak is the score keeper. Items that are in high demand here are truly selling above the rest.

Post from the Terapeak blog.

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

eBay Sales for LeBron James Items Increase After New Team Announcement

After an incredibly successful 8 year career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, LeBron James announced he would be changing teams. On July 1st James effectively became unemployed and held millions of basketball fans in suspense while he deliberated over which team – of the handful that were courting him – he would move to. On July 8th people finally got their answer, James will join the Miami Heat for the 2010-11 season.


For us, the effect of the decision is just as interesting as the decision itself. So how has the team change affected merchandise sales? Below is a trend of all the Lebron James eBay listings over the last 30 days – taken from Terapeak Marketplace Research. All seems normal until the day the news breaks and listings more than double in the aftermath.


Its fascinating to watch the market after a major event, and as the NBA raked in about $4 billion dollars this year – it’s safe to say this is big. In less than a decade, LeBron has become one of the most prominent players of his time – and he is certainly among the biggest player franchises.


According to Terapeak, eBay has sold nearly $5 million dollars worth of LeBron James merchandise over the last year. That’s a whole lot of jerseys, hats, and action figures. A trading card from 2003, James’ rookie year, sold one week ago for $30,000 dollars – not bad for a little piece of cardboard.

Blog post from Terapeak Blog.

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

World Cup Fever on eBay - Vuvuzelas and Can Jersey Sales Predict Who Will Win?

World Cup Fever on eBay - Vuvuzelas and Can Jersey Sales Predict Who Will Win?

It is interesting to find out what impact world events have on the eBay marketplace. We can look at the impact by researching the eBay marketplace and see where there is an increase in searches, sales and price of items related to a world event. Market research gives us the opportunity see the ecommerce sales reach of recent world events on eBay, almost in real time.

Let’s look at the World Cup. Obviously this is a huge event. I know this because most people I know have stopped working to watch or are Tweeting game results and Facebooking "Gooooaaaallll". It is easy for one to stay in touch with the event without actually being there or even watching the game thanks to social media. We can also stay in touch with the World Cup when we research the eBay marketplace and find out the impact here.

I will be using the Terapeak for eBay market research tool to look at trending and sales on eBay for World Cup related items.

Let’s start with the Vuvuzela. What is it? The vuvuzela is a long plastic horn producing the annoying sound heard at soccer matches in South Africa. The noise or sound it makes is similar to a giant swarm of bees. One South African columnist even described it as "the horn from hell."

Where can you get one? Here in the States, it seems to be pretty hard to come by unless you go online, which is great for eBay sellers!

Look at the chart below, we can clearly see the rise in listings and sales for the vuvuzela around the time the World Cup started on June 11th. Although I am looking at this data on July 7th, this information is/would have been available to me to view back in June. An enterprising eBay seller with vuvuzelas to sell could easily have researched this information and potentially jumped on the hot sales trend. I am sure many eBay sellers did exactly this.

As the World Cup starts to come to a close and they enter the finals, vuvuzela sales do seem to be declining. Who is buying all the vuvuzelas anyway?


The majority of vuvuzelas purchased on eBay came from Germany. The German team is still in the World Cup (as of the time when this blog post is written) and their fans are rallying around and making noise with their vuvuzelas.

World Cup Team Jersey Sales. Can they predict who will win?

Looking at the charts below, we can see Spain has more World Cup jersey sales than the Netherlands. Could this be an indicator of who will win?

Team Spain

Team Netherlands

It will be interesting to see if these numbers spike in the next week or so, depending on which team wins.

Get to Know Your Business with Transaction Data from New Terapeak for PayPal

Recognizing the need for online sellers to better understand their transactional data, customers, and the effects of marketing and seasonal changes, Terapeak for PayPal was developed by Advanced.

Advanced, (Advanced Ecommerce Research Systems) recently announced in addition to their market research tool for eBay (Terapeak) they now provide analytics and data for PayPal (Terapeak for PayPal).

The new Terapeak for PayPal market research tool analyzes millions of raw PayPal transaction data to provide direct and relevant reports to an ecommerce merchant on their business and PayPal transactions. eBay sellers and ecommerce merchants of all sizes can use Terapeak for PayPal.

“...This new toolset allows sellers to put a microscope over their accounts and gain a thorough understanding of their customers...When used in combination with our Terapeak for eBay research, sellers can further increase the efficiency of their online stores.” - Fred Speckeen, Advanced/Terapeak CEO

Benefits of Terapeak for PayPal
Determine which platforms are most profitable - Compare your sales from eBay and other channels in a simple to read report. Evaluate taxes, net sales, fees, refunds and payments per platform and understand where your buyers are making their purchases.

Review your sales at the category level - Currency reporting, by country - understand which currencies are you receiving, and how much they cost in fees and conversion costs - Evaluate your global business and find opportunities to save money.

Get to know your customer - View sales, payments, average prices and sales growth by gender and target your demographic more specifically.

Marketing and selling strategy, have you made a change? - Try new marketing opportunities or change selling strategies and view the impact to your business as-it-happens for each platform. Evaluate the results of your marketing and strategy changes on sales instantly.

Performance and Benchmarking goal setting - Set a goal for sales, payments, refunds, and other metrics to track your company's progress. Determine the amount of sales, payments, fees, refunds, average price or taxes you wish to target, and receive to-the-minute updates on where you are en route to goals.

Check out Terapeak for PayPal now!

Terapeak for PayPal is an additional market research tool to Terapeak for eBay. If you are already subscribed to Terapeak for eBay and would like to add Terapeak for PayPal, you will need to sign-up for Terapeak for PayPal here.

Terapeak for PayPal has a “lite” version you can try for free.

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

New "Smart Lister" from inkFrog Combines an eBay Listing Tool with Research from Terapeak

Do you want to create eBay listings quickly while getting the research you need at the same time?

Then check out inkFrog’s new “Smart Lister” tool for eBay. Smart Lister combines inkFrog’s eBay listing tool technology with built in research data from Terapeak. The Smart Lister can provide the research a seller needs while they create their listing to determine the best listing strategy and pricing of the item.

“Let our Smart Lister optimize your listing to ensure it is listed with the optimal keywords, at the correct price point, duration, and time. Listing management is no longer just about templates and images. It's about using smart technology to ensure your items are found in searches and priced correctly.” – Greg Sisung, President of inkFrog

Smart Lister Features:

• Smart Category Suggestion (find the best category for your item)
• Title Optimizer (maximize the keywords in each item title)
• Prime Words (learn what the top keywords are for each eBay category)
• Takeoff Calculator (find the best date, time and duration to set your listing at for maximum exposure and profit)
• Elite Examples (research similar sold items and learn from your competitors)
• List to eBay.com, eBay.ca, eBay.co.uk, eBay.au, eBay.de and more
• Add an unlimited number of images to your eBay listings
• Choose a professional inkFrog template or use your own
• And more…

“The Smart Lister was created to empower you to sell more effectively and increase your sales. Our goal is to ensure inkFrog sellers are the most effective sellers online.” – Sisung

inkFrog’s Smart Lister is compatible and utilizes their other eBay centric offerings such as the prefilled profiles, image hosting and design templates.

Check out inkFrog’s Smart Lister today! Try it free!

Founded in 1999, inkFrog, inc. is an eBay Certified Solutions Provider that helps save online sellers time, money, and sanity through inventory management, eBay listing tools, image hosting, and more.

Wondering What (or What Else) to Sell on eBay?

Blog Post by Lisa Suttora from Auctiva Education

Wondering What (or What Else) to Sell on eBay?

How to activate your product sourcing radar

Are you stuck in a product line rut? Are you selling the same things over and over again, but seeing little growth or expansion in your business? Are your product offerings stale and ho-hum?

Perhaps it's time to inject some life back into your business! After all, there are thousands of new products coming into the marketplace each year, yet all too often people find themselves at a loss for how to expand their business.

And without having the products buyers want, all the marketing, selling strategies and customer service in the world won't sell items people aren't interested in. Without enough inventory to sell, you won't see the revenue growth you desire.

So how do you figure out what to sell, or what else to sell?

1. Understand your customer first; then look at what they want to buy

When you understand who your customer is, answering the question of what to sell, or what else to sell, becomes much easier. Unfortunately, many sellers see their customers as "buyers" rather than people who have a reason behind every purchase they make. Taking the time to know your customer will go a long way in helping you figure out what else to sell.

Here are some questions to ask that will help you with that process:

• Who are your customers?
• What are their wants?
• What are their needs?
• What else are they buying?
• Where else do they shop?
• What are the top products they purchased from you and others last year?

For example, are your customers moms who are snapping up everything they can for their newborns? What are their favorite brands? What colors do they like? What new products are they reading about in parenting magazines? What are they talking about? It's the answers to these questions that will help you decide what to sell next.

Keep in mind that these questions apply to every market! Whether you sell baby products or bongos, you need to know who your customers are.

2. Live in the world your buyers live in
Read what they're reading; hang out where they hang out online. Can you name the top consumer publications in your industry? Online or offline, your customers read magazines, Web sites and blogs on a daily basis. Are you there, too? This is where shoppers are getting ideas about products to buy next. Can you list the top blogs or discussion groups that cover your niche market? That's where your customers are talking about their problems, wants and needs, and where they're discussing the latest gadgets and gizmos they want to buy. A client of mine who sells in the boating niche gets 80 percent of his business and his ideas for products to sell by participating in a top recreational boating Yahoo group.

3. What products are they searching for?
As online retailers, we live in a search-driven world. Fortunately, the answer to what products your customers are searching for can be found for free, and is as close as the Google Keywords Tool. Do a search using Broad Match and Phrase Match for your primary keywords and watch as hundreds of related keywords come up. Products you have never thought about selling will suddenly be displayed right before your eyes!

You can also leverage the marketplaces. Spend some time looking on eBay when you're in the product sourcing mindset and you'll find yourself with more ideas for products to sell than time to sell them!

4. Make it your business to be on top of industry trends
Staying on top of industry trends is a fun and exciting process and will infuse your business with ideas for products to sell. Unfortunately, it's one that I find e-tailers often neglect. Do you know about the latest and greatest new products in your market? Are you on top of what's new before your customer is? Do you spend time each week reading industry publications and consumer magazines, and talking to your suppliers about what's hot? Do you attend industry trade shows?

It's in these places that you'll get a plethora of ideas or products to sell and find out what's destined to be the next hot product!

5. Listen to your customers
How often have you received an e-mail from your customer asking if you carry a particular product? Many people might just say, "No, sorry, we don't carry that," and move on. But paying attention to what customers are asking for can be a clue into what you should carry next. WhatDoISell member and eBay seller E.J. Bantz gets some of his best product ideas from his customers.

"They often tell me what they want to buy," he says. "It's my job to then go and source it for them."

6. Get insights from Google Insights
One of my favorite tools for figuring out what to sell next is Terapeak. Terapeak's trending module will lead you to many different opportunities for new products to sell on eBay.

7. Test, test, test!
Before you invest your inventory capital in unproven products, you'll want to test-market new inventory in small quantities. This will allow you to quickly distinguish the winners from the losers. A lot of people source products seasonally. But product sourcing isn't something you can do once a month.

One of the most important steps to being in the Product Sourcing Mindset is to have at least 10 new products in the pipeline at any given time. What you focus on expands, and being in the mindset will ensure you'll have a constant stream of new products flowing into your business.

This blog post has been condensed. Click here to read the full article.

eBay Seller HelloBaby Grows Business with Terapeak Research

Article from the Terapeak Blog

A Terapeak interview with Trevor Ginn of Hello Baby (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/hellobabydirect)

How long have you been selling on eBay?
I’ve been selling on eBay as Hellobabydirect for about 18 months. Before that I was working for Auctioning4u who were the UK’s largest eBay trading assistants. All in all I’ve been selling on eBay as a business for about 4 years.

What got you started there?
At Auctioning4u I provided consulting services to businesses to help them use eBay as a sales channel. With online sales experiencing strong growth most of my clients were doing pretty well, much better than me it seemed. I was itching to give it a go as I was sure I could build a successful online retailing business.

I choose baby products as my research showed that the industry had healthy margins and was not as competitive as areas like electronics. I also wanted to be in an industry which I knew something about (my first daughter had just been born), was largely non seasonable and mostly recession proof.

What sort of things do you like to sell?
We sell a wide range of baby and nursery items. Items range from small toys nursery and baby safety items like safety catches to larger, more expensive items like prams and cots. We sell a lot of our items internationally, especially to Europe as the strong Euro makes our products good value for our friends in the Eurozone. We sell on eBay and other online channels.

How do you use Terapeak to help build your business?
We use Terapeak to research products and also to investigate the tactics and best selling product of our competitors. eBay data, provided by Terapeak, is the only source I know of actual sales data about online sales. Other, very expensive, reports from companies like Mintel make broad statements about market sectors, but this is not much use when a merchant is looking to make purchasing decision at the brand or product level.

When we are analyzing new products we will use a product search on that particular brand to establish what items are selling well and then drill down to individual products to establish average selling prices. We then put the sales data into a spreadsheet which allows us to calculate the profit we can make from selling the item by taking into account cost like sales tax, PayPal and eBay fees. This process saves us from buying product for which the market is very competitive and there are poor margins.

We also make extensive use of the seller report. This allows us to see the products which our competitors are selling successfully and how their business is performing.

Terapeak Tips from Matt – What else Hello Baby can do to build their business using research?

Trevor mentioned a good portion of his business is targeted at international marketplaces. A lack of availability for products in certain regions can create excellent opportunities to sell your goods for a higher price. Terapeak’s International Report compares statistics for 6 eBay marketplaces around the world including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, France, Germany and Australia.

The International report provides charts detailing buyer and seller location and helps identify which eBay site represents the highest potential margin.

I (Matt with Terapeak) would recommend Trevor try using the International report for some of his products and see if he can expand his offerings into more eBay sites around the world.

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

New! Terapeak Collectibles Application Provides Extensive Research for Antiques and Collectibles

Have you ever cleaned out the attic and wondered what an old collectible is worth?

Have you been to a garage sale and wondered if there is money to be made in antiques?

Now eBay sellers can easily determine the value of antiques and other collectibles items with the new Terapeak Collectibles market research tool.

With just a few simple clicks, users can research multiple years of data to find out how much an item is worth and how best to sell it. The Terapeak Collectibles database accesses both online and live auction houses, and also allows users to view photographs, descriptions, and other antiques and collectibles data.

• Search and browse multiple years of antiques and collectibles data
• Price antiques and collectibles based on what they have sold for in the past
• View data, descriptions and photos from both online and live auction houses
• Access fast, reliable customer support and video tutorials
• Never have to leave your My eBay page!

Terapeak Collectibles is a brand new application allowing users to research antiques and collectibles data from eBay, other online marketplaces, and real-life auction houses. Terapeak has partnered with WorthPoint, whose "Worthopedia" database houses data from more than 10 years of live and online auctions. WorthPoint's database combined with eBay market data by Terapeak, creates an extensive and powerful research tool for antiques and collectibles sellers.

Available only in eBay's App Store, Selling Manager Applications.

To access Terapeak Collectibles (try it free for 7-days), sellers will need to subscribe or currently be subscribed to eBay Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro. Once subscribed to Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro, sellers can add Terapeak Collectibles at this link.

Sales of Disney Items on eBay Increase During the Holidays

Article by Terapeak

A week ago, we blogged about the holiday toy racket, which year after year provides one of the more reliable markets on eBay. But what if you were to boil that phenomenon down into one single brand? (Perhaps in a wicked witch’s cauldron, or as part of a poisonous apple?)
That brand would be Disney.

For more than 85 years, The Walt Disney Company has been one of Hollywood’s biggest money-makers, and a source for some of the world’s most sought-after merchandise. And, naturally, that fervor tends to reach its peak around the holidays.

For starters, here are Terapeak’s current top 5 Hot DVDs on eBay:



Those numbers, of course, come on the heels of Disney remastering several of its classic animated films this year, and sales have continued to rise since October. Also in the Terapeak top 20 Hot DVDs on eBay are: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, and Alice in Wonderland.

How about a Terapeak product report? Well here is a 90-day All Sites search for “Disney” total sales:



Now that’s an extremely broad search, but you can see how the demand for just one keyword rises!

Finally, to show just how annual “Disney Demand” is, here are a pair of two-year category trends. First is a total sales trend for the Collectibles > Disneyana > Contemporary (1968-Now) category:



And second, a total sold listings trend for Toys & Hobbies > TV, Movie & Character Toys > Disney:



Those are some pretty serious peaks and valleys, and it’s easy to see how they match up with the holiday season. So with close to a year before next December rolls around… imagine all the Disney schwag you’ve got time to collect!

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

Toys, Toys, Toys: Santas Worldwide are Buying on eBay by Terapeak

Article by Terapeak

This is not exactly the hardest time of year for us to find visually-dramatic sales trends — in fact, it’s almost certainly the easiest. A majority of all two-year Terapeak trends will show peaks and valleys in correlation with the holidays, and there’s no better category for that than eBay’s Toys & Games.

We have seen time and time again how certain toys will blow up for one season (Furby, Tickle-Me-Elmo, Cabbage Patch), while others will continue to sell year after year. Today, we’ll look at a few examples from 2009 — though of course there are hundreds more.

First is Leapster, an educational handheld game console that teaches kids the alphabet, phonics and basic math (among other things). First released in 2003, there’s been a recent spike in demand for Leapster 2, released last year. Here’s a 60-day total sales trend for “Leapster”:

Next is a classic: Lego. Dating back to the 1930s, the little building blocks are a big-time seller all year round… but rarely to the scale that the holidays provide. Here’s a 60-day sales trend for “Lego” (which, last Sunday, totalled more than $1.5 million in eBay.com sales!):

And finally, here’s this year’s phenomenon: Zhu Zhu Pets. You may have read about them already — robotic hamsters! — but if you have yet to believe the hype, check out this 60-day trend for “zhu zhu pet”:

It’s a prosperous venture, this toy racket. Here’s to guessing what next year’s craze will be!

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

New eBay Research App for the iPhone from Terapeak

New! eBay sellers can easily determine their products success rate on eBay (and more) with their iPhone! Terapeak just launched their new eBay market research app for the iPhone.

“The Terapeak iPhone app has been in the works for a long time, and it's a tool we feel will add a whole new dimension to conducting market research. Now you'll be able to take Terapeak with you wherever you go -- to garage sales, trade shows, thrift stores, and more!” - Terapeak







Terapeak helps answer the questions:

• What is the value of my item?
• Will my items sell?
• When should I list my item?
• Which features should I use to list my item?

• Similar to the web version of Terapeak, the new iPhone app will enable eBay sellers to see average prices, listing totals and sell-through rates for each search they perform.
• Results are viewable and sortable by end price, start price and number of bids. The results can also be filtered by category, minimum end price and maximum end price. All of this eBay data is easily accessible with your iPhone.
  
  Tereapeak’s iPhone app will be available free to anyone with a paid Terapeak subscription. Also, anyone who signs up for Terapeak before the end of December can take advantage of this offer.
  
  To access the application and get started, all you'll need to do is download it from the iPhone App Store and enter your Terapeak username and password.
  
  Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

eBay Workshop Nov 10th - "Top 5 Last Minute Christmas Research Tips"

Workshop: Top 5 Last Minute Christmas Research Tips

Host: Terapeak

Date: Nov 10th, Tuesday

Time: 11AM - Noon PST

Location: eBay Workshop Board

Description: The busiest shopping days of the year are rapidly approaching (Saturday before Christmas, Black Friday, Cyber Monday…) and you're going to want to be ready to sell! What are the hottest items and opportunities for your eBay business this holiday?

Spend an hour with us and discover how to use research to plan your biggest sales month of the year! We'll review the top five research tips that can help your sales soar.

Join Matt and Denise from Terapeak Marketplace Research to learn about last minute Christmas research. After the material is presented we'll open the board for discussion and questions.

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Service Provider and one of the third party providers included in the new Selling Manager Applications feature.

Visit http://certifiedprovider.ebay.com/ to learn more about eBay Certified Providers and the services and solutions they offer to help eBay sellers.

Build Great eBay Listing Titles with Terapeak Keywords (New in Selling Manager Applications)

Terapeak, an eBay Certified Provider and eBay Market Data member, just released a new and completely free app for the eBay Selling Manager Applications - Terapeak Keywords!

Terapeak Keywords is a free tool helping sellers optimize their eBay listing titles. eBay sellers know, the first step to creating a listing is coming up with a title. The first step to creating a great listing? Come up with a great title.

Terapeak Keywords asks a seller to type an item’s name/description into a search field. It then samples 100 recent eBay listings that have also included the specified search term(s), and automatically produces a list of related keywords accompanied by average prices and other metrics.

By clicking the most valuable relevant keywords and adding them to your listing, you can continue to build your title until you have used up all 55 characters… And as any eBay seller should know, every character counts!

"We’re very excited to be able to offer a free application that will benefit anyone who sells on eBay. The app will remain free and independent of any Terapeak subscriptions, so there's no need to create an account. Just add it to SMApps (Selling Manager Applications) and go!" - Terpaeak Team

Below is a sample of Terapeak Keywords for eBay Selling Manager Applications.


Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a full, web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

Proof - How eBay Research Improves Sales and Success by Terapeak

Article by Terapeak

Terapeak Case Study: The proof is in the product!

Over the past several months, Terapeak has been conducting studies that analyze the impact of market research on eBay sellers’ sales and success rate. We’re very grateful to all those who participated, and with the results from our first group of sellers now compiled, we’re excited to present the outcomes!

A little background first: the group of sellers was selected randomly, and features sellers specializing in collectibles, home safety products, antiques and more. Eight performance indicators were tracked for three months for each seller. Statistics related to each indicator were compared on a pre- and post-Terapeak basis, and were then used to determine a percentage of growth or decline.

Some sellers showed improvement in nearly every business facet, while the improvement of others focused on specific statistics. And when averaged across the entire group, every indicator showed at least some improvement.

Here’s a breakdown of the group averages and best results:

As you can see, those are some pretty impressive numbers!

Read the full Terapeak article here.

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

True Blood, True Value: HBO’s Vampire Series Best-Selling DVD on eBay by Terapeak

Post provided by Terapeak demonstrating how to use eBay market research to determine sales trends, popularity and average sales price.

As if that other vampire-riffic phenomenon couldn’t get any bigger, we were peeping the Terapeak Hot DVDs section this morning and noticed a TV series atop the list…



For those keeping score, your crazy-colored vampire eyes don’t deceive you: that’s HBO’s True Blood laying a whuppin’ on the former undead champs.

But unlike Twilight, which has more than its share of detractors, we’ve heard almost exclusively good things about the HBO series. Now in its second season, the show stars Oscar-winning actress Anna Paquin as Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress, and chronicles the mystifying events of a small town in Louisiana.

Below is a 90-day total sales trend for “True Blood,” produced by Terapeak’s All Sites package:



We’re not actually sure what’s produced such a spike — the DVDs were released several months ago, and the show’s second season only just began — but then we also haven’t had a chance to really bite into the television series… (hah!)

Maybe if there weren’t so many freakin’ Twilight books to finish?

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

eBay Certified Provider Fair - Helps Build eBay Customer Support Awareness of 3rd Party Services and Solutions

eBay held its sixth Certified Provider Fair at the eBay Customer Support center in Salt Lake City, UT. The purpose of the event is to expose Customer Support employees at eBay to the software and services available to the eBay Community from external eBay partners qualified to be an eBay Certified Provider.

Over 300 eBay employees attended and viewed product demos, discussed each solution and relayed ideas and feedback on what their eBay sellers needs are. Lots of interest at the Certified Provider Fair on how Certified Providers support SR2 and help sellers adapt and succeed with the new changes.

• Selling Manager Applications
• Bulk revising of all listings to include Return Policy & Handling Time
• Shipping and tracking automation in My eBay

eBay Customer Support teams were impressed at the range of software and services available to help eBay sellers be more efficient and successful -

• business and strategy consulting
• shipping automation for multiple carriers
• customer relationship management
• market research
• listing solutions
• and more!

Certified Providers in attendance:

1. Vendio
2. ShipWorks
3. Auctiva
4. Seller Sourcebook
5. Worldwide Brands
6. Terapeak
7. inkFrog
8. ShipRush
9. Monsoon
10. Selling Manager Applications from eBay Developers Program Team

To learn more about the tools and services from eBay Certified Providers, check out the Certified Provider website.

Click here to view photos from the Certified Provider Fair.

Beatlemania is Back: Rock Band and Beatles Items Sales Surge on eBay by Terapeak

Article by Terapeak

In case you haven’t heard, there’s this wild new video game out, where you and a few friends get to be English kids with bad haircuts, who sing cute little pop songs that eventually become more complex, and eventually you pioneer this thing called rock and roll and take over the world… It’s pretty “out there”, but a lot of fun!

Okay, obviously we’re talking about The Beatles: Rock Band, which released just over a week ago, and which features some crazy specialized instrument add-ons, like Paul’s signature Hofner bass and Ringo’s branded drum kit. Not coincidentally, the game also launched in conjunction with remastered reissues of the band’s catalogue — which, here in the office, we’re pretty stoked on. Of course, $250 retail (the cost of the 13-part box set) is a lot of dough to spend on tunes you’ve pretty much heard before — especially when paired with all the Rock Band packages — so for any fan to get in on the action, they’re looking at a hefty financial commitment.

As a result — and you know what we’re gonna say — eBay sales have gone through the roof.

Check out this 30-day All Sites total sales trend:

… and that’s just any listing with the keyword “Beatles” in it!

If total amounts aren’t your thing (fair, considering the new release factor), consider this: in the two weeks leading up to release date, sell-through also shot from 38% to 51%, while bids per listing nearly doubled. And if holiday patterns are any indication… well, that’s only the beginning.

Terapeak’s Hot Media charts for September won’t come out for another couple weeks, but do you remember the following from a couple months back?
… Okay, we still can’t get over how unbelievable that is. Jaw-dropping. Inconceivable.

But don’t be surprised to see some kind of Beatles “lite” version as holiday sales pick up…

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

eBay Sales for Julia Child and Cookbooks Are on the Rise by Terapeak

Article by Terapeak

From 1961 until her death in 2004, Julia Child was a celebrated American chef who brought French cuisine to the masses. In 2002, then-unknown Julie Powell created a blog titled The Julie/Julia Project, which detailed her attempts at all 524 recipes from Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking collection.

And in 2009, Nora Ephron made a movie about the two. Titled Julie & Julia, the film, which stars Meryl Streep as Child and Amy Adams as Powell, opened #2 at the box office, earned a glowing review from The New Yorker, and has so far grossed more than $70 million worldwide.

It’s also sold a lot of cookbooks.

Really, this is one of those merchandising fall-outs that should have been predicted a mile away — and surely hundreds of savvy book-sellers out there are congratulating themselves on stocking Child’s best-seller. Of course, many of these crystal-gazers do their business on eBay, and the following results speak for themselves. Just check out these 30-day All Sites trends for “Julia Child” — first Total Sales, then Average Price:

The latter graph, in our opinion, is the far more remarkable one: it tells us there’s extreme demand for Child’s books, which her publishers can’t reissue fast enough.

As for Child’s effect on “bigger picture” eBay sales, you can see in the graph below that total sales for “cookbook” in general have enjoyed a marginal increase over the past 30 days (probably less marginal that it seems, considering that’s a trend based on on nearly 75,000 listings):

Going forward, it’ll be interesting to see if cookbook sales continue to climb, and whether demand for Child’s recipes peters out as more books become available. (The upcoming holidays add even a further wrinkle.)

Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have some Beef Bourguignon to go whip up! - Terapeak

Terapeak is an eBay Certified Provider and a member of the eBay Market Data Program. Terapeak 5.0 is a web-based solution providing real-time market research and data analytics on eBay. Terapeak 5.0 provides eBay sellers and buyers with two years worth of trending data.

Fox Business News - eBay and Terapeak Discuss Launch of Selling Manager Applications

eBay just launched Selling Manager Applications, now being referred to as eBay's App Store. Similar to Apple's App Store or how Facebook users add applications to their profile, eBay sellers can now add individual applications to their Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro that their eBay business needs. Sellers can complete their selling puzzle with these apps and do more.

"...[Selling Manager Applications] is a new App Store on eBay where sellers can go to find applications by third party developers that will help them improve their eBay businesses and increase their selling efficiency and profitability." - Kristina Klausen, Sr. Director of the eBay Seller Platform Efficiency Team.

Selling Manager Apps are easily accessible as the App Store lives inside Selling Manager. Any eBay seller can subscribe to Selling Manager (for free!) and peruse or subscribe to the various apps their business needs. All apps have a minimum of a 7 day free trial period.

Terapeak, an eBay Certified Provider, is one of the first apps to be included in the new eBay App Store. Terapeak offers real-time market research and data analytics on eBay.

Fred Speckeen, CEO of Terapeak, - "Terapeak has been around for 5 years working closely with eBay and tens of thousands of eBay sellers...to deliver pricing research so that folks who are starting small medium sized businesses selling online can actually see ahead of time what kind of prices they are going to get before they buy their inventory. They can also track market movements, new trends in consumer interest. This in turn makes them much more profitable."

Subscribing to the Terapeak application as part of the new Selling Manager Applications, will give those sellers eBay research and their product performance right in My eBay.

Watch as Kristina Klausen and Fred Speckeen discuss the launch of eBay's new Selling Manager Applications for sellers and the benefits.

New Selling Manager Applications for eBay Sellers from Certified Providers

If you currently use Selling Manager or Selling Manager Pro to manage your inventory on eBay, you may find adding an additional application from our eBay Certified Providers is just what you need for robust inventory management, sales tracking, communication management and more.

Benefits:

• Market Research & Reporting
• Customer Service
• Shipping & Payments
• Listing
• Inventory Management
• Marketing & Merchandising
• Product Sourcing
• Accounting
• and more...

All sellers can take advantage of these new tools – all you need is a subscription to Selling Manager (Free) or Selling Manager Pro. From within Selling Manager and Selling Manager Pro, any new applications you subscribe to will appear under the Applications tab.

Every application is available with a free trial (usually between one week and 30 days) – so you can try it out before you subscribe. Most Selling Manager Applications charge a subscription fee. Just log into Selling Manager and check out the application catalog tab. Or, subscribe to Selling Manager today.

Certified Providers:

Hosted Support
MyStoreRewards
Terapeak
ShipRush
Worldwide Brands