Top Selling EBay Items: 3 Tools to Help You Find Out What They Are

One of the first questions I'm asked after I tell a person what I do (selling items on eBay) is, "How do you know what to sell?" Or, "What Sells Best?"

Unfortunately, that is a very tough question to answer. It depends on many factors such as time of year, the current economy, and even current events. But, eBay does offer their sellers certain tools to help determine if an item is a "hot" seller or not.

"Trends" are very important to view and analyze. Simply put, if you have statistics that tell you what people are searching for and buying, you can know what is currently selling well.

One of eBay's tools is called "eBay Pulse." They offer an eBay Pulse for each category. On this page you will find the top ten daily searches on eBay. You'll also get a list of the top eBay stores, and a list of the most "watched" auctions in that category. This information is very valuable in determining buyers' bidding trends.

Another tool are the "Completed Listings." On any page of results in eBay, to the left there is a menu entitled "Search Options." Check the box next to "Completed Listings" and click the "Show Items" button. Now, the results you get are auctions that have already ended. If the price next to the item is green, it means the item sold. If it's red, it did not sell. If you see a lot of green, you know you've got a current hot seller.

My final favorite tool is the "Popular Search Terms" tool. This is an alphabetized list of the most popular search terms on eBay during the previous month. I also love to use this tool while writing my auction titles. Adding popular keywords is the best way to get the most clicks on your item.

Besides eBay's tools, you can use the various free keyword tools offered online. Just knowing what people are searching for in the search engines will help you determine what is selling best on eBay, currently.

Knowing what's selling best is half the battle to succeeding on eBay.