Sponsored by eBay Ads
Are you looking for an easy way to boost your eBay sales, but with the ever-changing marketing landscape, you’re unsure of what to focus on? One marketing strategy that you may not have considered is using sales trends data in your campaigns. By examining consumer behaviors and sales data and incorporating this into your marketing strategy, you can meet and even exceed your sales goals.
In this post, you’ll learn how to use the eBay Ads sales trends calendar to strategically increase your reach and sales and plan your inventory and advertising strategy for the entire year.
What Are eBay’s Sales Trends for the Year?
Every year, eBay Ads analyzes customer interactions and sales to determine what products sell best during different times in the calendar year. By taking a deep dive into sales trends, eBay sellers can better plan their inventory, advertising, and marketing budget and know what to expect for the year ahead.
For instance, if you were an ugly Christmas sweater seller like Anne Marie Blackman, you would want to stock up on sweaters during the summer months, start promoting in the fall, and get ready for the sales rush in November and December. While this is a straightforward example of following holiday sales trends, other items like brooches and pins are more difficult to plan for inventory and advertising strategies.
Luckily, eBay Ads has a sales trends calendar (which you can download from their blog) that highlights product recommendations for each month. This sales trends calendar, which is based on data-driven research from eBay Ads, highlights when consumers are shopping for certain categories of items, so you can increase your advertising spend to shoppers who are primed to purchase.
Here are just some of the sales trends, months, and average percentage increases for the categories.
January
- Brooches and Pins: 30%
- SIM Cards: 15-30%
- Cables and Adapters: 20%
- USB Flash Drives: 10%
February
- SIM Cards: 15-30%
- USB Flash Drives: 20%
- Computer Monitors and Accessories: 25-130%
- Commercial Cookware and Kitchen Tools: 25%
March
- Computer Cases: 45%
- Toner Cartridges: 15%
- Cell Phone Cases: 10%
- Commercial Coffee, Cocoa, and Tea Equipment: 10%
April
- Women’s Shorts: 50-75%
- Paint and Maintenance: 30-50%
- Patio Chairs: 45-90%
- Pool Cleaning Tools: 60-65%
May
- Women’s Swimwear: 45-60%
- Women’s Sandals: 55-60%
- Car Wash Soap: 35-45%
- Planters: 150-180%
June
- Bike Racks: 30%
- Patio Chairs: 50-85%
- Commercial Ice Machines: 25-30%
- Commercial Freezers and Refrigerators: 40%
July
- Men’s Belt Buckles: 25-40%
- Keychains, Rings, and Finders: 60%
- Umbrellas: 80%
- Commercial Ice Machines: 25-30%
August
- Men’s Bracelets and Charms: 110%
- A/C Compressors and Clutches: 30-50%
- Pool Cleaning Tools: 20%
- Laptop Power Adjusters and Chargers: 15%
September
- Outerwear for Babies and Toddlers: 45%
- Baby Shoes: 15%
- Handheld Blenders: 45%
- Disinfecting and Sterilizing Products: 80%
October
- Men’s Sleepwear and Robes: 25%
- Men’s Sweaters: 45%
- Blankets and Throws: 25%
- Fireplace and Stove Accessories: 65-90%
November
- Blankets and Throws: 90-115%
- Gift Bags: 50-65%
- Greeting Cards: 30-40%
- Slow Cookers: 30-40%
December
- Men’s Sleepwear and Robes: 75-100%
- Home Office Desks: 50%
- Handheld Blenders: 40%
- PC and Console VR (Virtual Reality) Headsets: 20-50%
How to Use These Sales Trends to Increase Your eBay Sales
With this knowledge of sales trends, you can use the calendar to plan out your marketing strategy for the year. Not only can you plan accordingly to ramp up inventory, customer service, and advertising, but you can take advantage of trending time periods you weren’t aware of before.
With more eyeballs on your listings, you’ll want to ensure that you optimize your listings; this includes having detailed product descriptions that are optimized for search. Using a thesaurus is an excellent way to make sure that you’re including all of those relevant keywords and phrases that customers might be searching for. If SEO writing isn’t your strong suit, you can always use artificial intelligence (AI) software tools to help you craft a polished description and title for the products you’re selling.
Along with strong descriptions, you’ll also want to have high-quality images from multiple angles. Creating a short-form video is another great way to stand out from your competition.
Use eBay Advertising Options
One of the best ways to maximize your advertising dollars is to run your campaigns when trends are hot, and eBay has many options for increasing the visibility of your listings.
With eBay, you can use Promoted Listings Advanced, which is a pay-per-click advertising model that places your listings in highly visible spots across the eBay platform. With Promoted Listings Advanced, you can choose your budget spend and target audience and view insights in your seller hub. Not only are these ads easy to set up, but eBay sellers who used Promoted Listing Advanced saw, on average, 50% more sales compared to non-promoted items.
Another advertising method to consider is eBay Offsite Ads. These ads extend your reach and increase your listing visibility beyond the eBay platform on external channels like Google. Like Promoted Listings Advanced, Offsite Ads can be accessed and set up in your eBay seller hub, making your paid marketing efforts a snap.
Leverage Social Selling
Social media marketing is an excellent way to reach your target audience (especially if you’re targeting Gen Z and Millennials) and to get more visibility on your eBay listings!
If you’ve added a video to your eBay listing, you can repurpose it for social media platforms like TikTok, Facebook, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts. Short-form video content has never been more popular, and using them can be a highly effective way to increase traffic back to your product listings.
With video, you’ll want your content to offer value to your audience by informing, educating, or entertaining the viewer. For instance, if you’re selling an espresso machine, you can record a how-to video on how to brew the perfect shot of espresso. Or, if you’re selling clothing, you can create a video on how to style the item for a polished and stylish look.
Creating videos for your eBay listings and associated social media accounts has never been easier with smartphones and in-app editing tools. Just jot down a few video ideas, film your content with your smartphone in some natural lighted areas, edit, and publish. It really is that easy!
Other forms of content marketing you may want to use to promote your eBay business include starting a blog, writing guest blog posts, appearing on podcasts, or sending out monthly email newsletters. Whatever digital marketing methods you decide to use, remember to keep your target audience in mind and to be consistent in your efforts.
Provide a Positive Customer Experience
With more buyers in your pipeline, providing top-notch customer service is a must. Start by having clear and concise policies for returns, exchanges, refunds, and shipping.
One of the best ways to build customer loyalty is by being responsive to your customers’ needs. This means shipping products expediently and replying to customer queries quickly. When customers have a positive experience with your business, they are more likely to purchase from you again.
And let’s not forget about customer satisfaction reviews! When shopping online, most prospects will shy away from storefronts with poor feedback reviews. This article has some good tips for boosting your eBay ratings.
Use the eBay Seller Center Resources
eBay wants its sellers to be successful; that’s why eBay offers sellers a ton of free resources, tools, and tutorials in the eBay Seller Center. Whether you’re new to selling on eBay or you’re an established seller, they have the information you need to be successful in your online business. From tips for getting started and shipping know-how to advanced topics on how to grow your business with bulk listings and advertising.
eBay Sales Trends Wrap-Up
Increasing your eBay profits has never been easier! By analyzing these important sales trends and planning out your marketing efforts for the year, you can be better prepared to deal with normal e-commerce peaks and valleys. Knowing this information will not only help you take advantage of hot sales seasons, but you can also better utilize your advertising dollars, giving your eBay business a winning sales strategy!
To learn more about amplifying your listings using eBay’s advertising tools, head here to the eBay Ads blog.
This post was sponsored by eBay Ads and written by Holly Reisem Hanna. Please be aware that we only promote advertising from companies we can legitimately recommend to our readers. See our disclosure policy for further information.
