Use 2006 Sales Data To Predict 2007 Selling Trends
With a research tool such as HammerTap, sellers can quickly access eBay sales data for specific items sold last year to determine what type of products will sell the best this year, as well as when to expect a higher volume of sales that result in a higher sales price per item. This time of year sellers have three key selling time frames to consider:

• the period from now until Thanksgiving (Now - Nov. 23)
• the period between Thanksgiving and Christmas (Nov. 24 - Dec. 25)
• the period following Christmas leading into the new year (Dec. 26 - Jan. 26).

While many sellers focus only on the "gift giving" period that spans between Thanksgiving and Christmas, there are many variables this time of year that will influence how well your merchandise sells on eBay outside of the popular Nov. 24 - Dec. 25 time frame.

Case in point: during HammerTap's Webinar yesterday, the hosts of the presentation tracked eBay sales data on a Craftsman 18v Cordless Drill for the last three months, and then specific sales data for the three key time frames. The research clearly showed that sellers with this particular product have a better listing success rate (LSR) along with a higher average selling price (ASP) between Nov. 24 and Dec. 25. Before and after this selling period, the LSR only changes by a few percentage points, however the selling price of this item was at the lowest selling price leading up to the Thanksgiving Holiday to the highest price between Thanksgiving and Christmas, but still held steady in the period following Christmas.

HammerTap Trends for eBay: The 2006 holiday selling trend for a Craftsman 18v Corldess Drill, courtesy of HammerTap.

For sellers, this type of sales data is the key to obtaining your maximum profit and successful listings. If you were selling this item today on eBay, past sales data indicates that it would not bring in as much of a profit that listing it between Nov. 24 to Dec. 25 would, and listing again between Dec. 26 to Jan. 26. Users of HammerTap can dig further in their search to determine which specific keywords are associated with the highest selling price. In one example Steve Nye showed the difference in final sale prices where sellers used 18 VOLT or 18V as keywords. You can also use HammerTap research data to find out things such as which day of the week and at precisely what time of day the most successful auctions for the product were.

In other examples, the Christmas period proved not to be an optimal sales time for some products, and depending on the item, eBay sellers could actually maximize profits by listing certain items before Thanksgiving in some cases. They also could make more money on eBay by waiting and listing after the Christmas period.