What’s Hot Report: Determining an Effective Listing Duration

December 20, 2005 (13:00)

Listen to Greg squabble the eBay urban legend of how long to list an item. Is 7 days really always the best option?

(0:55)

Hello eBay Sellers, I’m HammerTap’s Jen Cano with a What’s Hot on eBay newsflash.

Powertools are cool this winter, and I’ve used HammerTap, auction research software, to find some of the hottest-selling items. Shopsmith is the top-selling brand, with all tools and accessories listed in the power tools category selling about 86% of the time. I also did a little auction listing keyword analysis to discover which Shopsmith products might sell best. From there, I found that Shopsmith sanders, miters, tables, and saws have a sales rate of 95% right now. I looked even further to find that tables, model 510 sold 100% of the time.

Use HammerTap to discover hot-selling eBay products, all the way down to the model, size, color, or style!

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Hello eBay Sellers, I’m HammerTap’s Jen Cano with a What’s Hot on eBay newsflash.

Some categories have items that, in general, sell less often than those in other categories. For example, kitchen glassware in Pottery and Glass sells about 32% of the time. But that doesn’t mean you can’t discover hot-selling items in that category, or find out how to make an item sell well. It just depends on what you know.

I used HammerTap to hunt around for hot-selling items in kitchen glassware, and here’s what I found. Corningware cookware listings ending on a Saturday sell about 94% of the time. Butter dishes with the word “boat� in the title sold 100% of the time. Reamers from Japan that had a gallery picture sold 100% of the time, as well.

Use HammerTap to discover which products are hot in your niche!

(0:56)

Hello eBay Sellers, I’m HammerTap’s Jen Cano with a What’s Hot on eBay newsflash.

The PDAs and Handheld PCs category in Consumer Electronics has a success rate of about 63% right now. But, I wanted to do better than that, so I took a closer look at what sells best, using HammerTap. Here’s what I found.

Around 83% of all Tungsten handheld PDAs sell on eBay. If you sell it as a Regular Auction without Buy it Now, the close rate jumps up to about 93%. And, if you want to make more money, use the bold feature and close the auction on a Thursday between 9 pm and midnight, PST. Throw in a warranty and you’ve got a 100% close rate.

Use HammerTap to find out how to increase profits on your own products!

(0:52)

Hello eBay Sellers, I’m HammerTap’s Jen Cano with a What’s Hot on eBay newsflash.

With Christmas day so close at hand, I wondered if sales on Christmas videos were starting to drop off. For the last few weeks, I’ve followed the research, using HammerTap, our eBay research tool, to find out.

Last week, I discovered that Dolly Parton’s “A Smoky Mountain Christmas� was scorching hot. About 97% sold. This week, twice as many videos are up for sale and are closing at 98%! In comparison, the number of auctions featuring “How the Grinch Stole Christmas� holds steady, right along with its 81% sales rate.

Use HammerTap to to find market trend information for your own product!