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eBay Auction Yearly Trends:
Last Year's Auctions Predict This Year's Success

It's the holiday season and one of the busiest times on eBay. As a matter of fact, the online shopping numbers have just
been released by the National Retail Federation and the news is good foreBay sellers!

eBay was the #1 visited online retail site on Friday, 11/24 - topping other online giants such as Amazon.com and Walmart.

eBay had the most Web traffic on "Black Friday," one of retail's busiest days, with a total of 7.5 million unique visitors- more than doubling it's closest competitor !! Amazon.com was in second place, with 3.4 million unique visitors, followed by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. with 3.2 million.

But maybe we don't think about how many of our buying dictate potential selling opportunities. Some of hot products during the holiday season seam obvious. But when do we list these items, for how many days, and with what eBay listing upgrades?

Seasonal eBay Buying

Many products sold on eBay follow seasonal patterns. Unfortunately eBay's completed item search doesn't give us the historical data from a year ago. Yet if could analyze last years buying and selling patterns, we could use this information to predict patterns in buying behavior based on that time a year ago.

For example, the hottest product on eBay this holiday season is the Sony PS3. Well, last year, the hottest product on eBay was Microsoft's XBox360. What if we could look at the historical data from the Holiday's of 2005? How valuable would it be to know the optimal listing dates, times, uprgrades, etc. for the XBox360 from a year ago? By having this information it could have a dramatic impact on the selling of the Sony PS3 this holiday season.

AuctionOptimizer, the #1 research tool for eBay buyers and sellers, can not only provide you with information (in the desktop version), but analyze it for you. It's the only software of it's kind that gives you eBay data from a year ago and seller are using it to maximize their profits this holiday season.

We might think about how Christmas trees and decorations might become more of a hot item as the holidays approach. But less obvious products related to the season also show seasonal buying trends.

For example, let's look at the sale of humidifiers. In the winter months, the air gets dryer in many places. It makes for rough skin. I'd also expect lotions to get more popular during the winter months. With colder weather, people open their windows less, so the air gets more stale. Scented candles and oils may get more profitable in the winter.

Dates To Remember This Holiday Season:

Here are some dates that will walk you through the remaining time of the *actual* holiday selling season.

12/5 - 12/15:  Peak eBay Shopping Days

12/16 - 12/23:  Last minute holiday shopping on eBay

12/24 - 1/ 31:  Post holiday gift shopping

Buyers are on eBay looking to buy the gifts that they didn't receive for the holidays, but still very much want to own this season! And don't forget that eBay is a great place to sell the gifts you "receive but don't want"!

Get in Their Heads

In selling, there's a concept called "mindset marketing." You've got to get into the heads of your customers. Understand their wants, needs, and fears and you'll find what makes them buy. And here's another key to understanding those who buy your products: "People buy based on emotion and justify it with facts."

People buy what they want and typically not just what they need. So when you're looking for good items to sell, it's key to understand what they want. Remember, you don't have to sell what you like - sell what people want to buy. And, the time of year is a huge factor which influences what people want to buy.

Let's go back to the humidifier example. I tried to go beyond the obvious things people look for as the holidays approach. It will surprise no one to find that Christmas decorations get more profitable as the holidays approach. Since your competition will see the obvious as easily as you do, reach a little further as you look for seasonal products.

Tip: Sell people what they want to buy

Tip: Research what you're going to sell and stay one step ahead of your competition

What Sells When

Using the desktop version of AuctionOptimizer you'll see four charts below. Each illustrate one week long snapshots describing listings on eBay for humidifiers in the weeks around the holidays for 2005. As you take a look at each, let's focus on two things:

1. Listing Success Rate (how likely are you to sell this item on eBay)

2. Average Selling Price

Understanding Your Customer's Mindset

So what did we discover? We find that the Listing Success Rate climbed from 59% the week of December 4-10 to a peak two weeks before Christmas. It then began to fall again, finally dropping all the way back to 54.6%.

What else did we find? We saw how during the week where you had the best chance to sell a humidifier on eBay (December 4-10), its price dropped from an average $44.37 to $36.77. Here's where you have to get in the mind of not only the buyer, but the seller to see why.

The Buyer's Mindset

Who are likely buyers of humidifiers? With auctions closing a week before the holidays, some last-minute shoppers might purchase a humidifier as a gift. Maybe they anticipated company coming and wanted a nice atmosphere for them.

The Seller's Mindset

As a seller you will have a completely different motivation during the holiday season. You should be thinking about making that last push to unload your seasonal inventory before the holidays are over. So what do you do when you want to dump things fast? You lower the price.

The Result

Where what the buyer wanted and what the seller desired converged resulted in lower prices. Lower prices often drive more sales and that's just what we see happen.

So how do you take advantage of this kind of knowledge? From a buyer's standpoint, we may be able to predict a dip in the price of humidifiers as we approach the holiday season. Those wanting to give one as a gift know it takes a while to ship an item, so the clock's ticking. The highest price during this period of time was achieved on listings closing between December 4th and 10th.

Why Do They Buy?

That makes sense. From a buyer's perspective, there's still enough time to have the product shipped to them in time for gift giving. The lowest price during this period was the week of December 25-31, when it's too late to buy a humidifier before the holidays. From the buyer's perspective, the desire for humidifiers tapers off, so the price drops as the urgency to buy one decreases.

What's Behind Seller Pricing?

Again, let's put ourselves in the mindset of the seller. During the week of December 25-31, holiday shopping is pretty much over. A seller may have humidifiers left in stock they have to unload quickly. They are willing to take less. They may have lower start prices or Buy It Now prices.

When you understand the needs, wants and fears of both the buyers and the sellers you can better understand why products fluctuate in price and demand. But do you really have time to get in the heads of your customers when you sell most products?

Actionable Real-World Knowledge

I've been writing about this subject a lot lately. There's a huge void in the marketplace for outstanding research tools - and in the education of how valuable these tools can be. For basic auction research you can use eBay's "completed search" options. Of course, you'll have to create your own analysis and then figure out what the data means. Even if you get it right, it's a time consuming process. This process makes it difficult to analyze a wide variety of items in a short period of time.

Auction Research Software, which can cost either less than $10 a month for a PowerWeb edition, will pay for itself the first hour it's used. What's the value of your time worth to you? For less than $10 a month you get eBay data, on any product in any category, analyzed for you almost instantly. And, with AuctionOptimizer's 10 day unlimited use trial, there's absolutely no risk for you to see the value for yourself.

Auction research lets you make decisions based on predictable trends. You may not even care about the "why" behind it. If you find a source for inexpensive humidifiers, what you most need to know is if you can consistently sell them at a profit.

Knowing last year's trends help you go beyond what's selling now. It gives you the tools and knowledge to predict eBay buying patterns over the coming weeks. You'll quickly determine when demand for seasonal product will peak. You'll know when it may fall, helping you better determine the right amount of inventory to buy so you're not stuck with a garage full of product you can no longer sell.

Auction research gives you the power to determine future profits based on past findings. It helps you avoid risk by anticipating drops in demand for a product.

Try AuctionOptimizer Free for 10 Days

Beyond predicting buying trends, AuctionOptimizer helps you discover:

• Which Listing Features steal your eBay profits
• The optimal Ending Day that gives you the best chance of selling at the highest possible price
• The perfect Starting Price to fan the flames of a bidding frenzy
• The Auction Type that's right for your listing

In your first 10 days, you'll not only get unlimited use of the software - but you'll also you'll receive the 10 Lesson Course "Ten Ways to Mazimize Your Auctions."

You owe it to yourself to take the guesswork and risk out of your listings.

Try AuctionOptimizer free for 10 days. There's NO RISK - and you'll get some great research to make a ton of profits during the competitive holiday selling season. If you are not absolutely sure you'll increase your eBay profits by far more than the minimal monthly subscription price, you're free to cancel and never pay a cent. It costs you nothing to prove to yourself there's a more profitable way to eBay. Act now and save 50% off the regular subscription price!

Click HERE to See How AuctionOptimizer Gives You the Tools to eBay with Confidence

Until the next issue...

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