eBay Sales will Double on January 3, According to Research by Terapeak
VICTORIA, British Columbia -- Dec. 19, 2005 -- One of the busiest days on the eBay calendar is scheduled to occur on Tuesday, January 3rd. This is exactly a week and two days after Christmas. On December 27, millions of people will be posting their unwanted, unopened, or unused Christmas gifts for sale on the world's largest online auction site. With a few simple tricks, both buyers and sellers can capitalize on this opportunity.
Terapeak Marketplace Research, a research firm specializing in the eBay.com platform, has analyzed eBay sales from last year's post-Christmas shopping period. More than twice as many listings closed on January 3rd than on December 19th -- the last busy day before Christmas.
Have you ever given someone a mixer for Christmas? It may have ended up on eBay! Mixers were the most popular kitchen appliance sold on eBay on January 3rd. Seven day auctions were by far the most popular, but had the lowest success rate (about 40%). One, 3, and 5 day auctions all had success rates of 75% or higher! Keep in mind that January 3rd falls on a Tuesday this year. Sellers will have greater success closing their auctions in the evening (5 p.m. to 9 p.m.) than during the daytime.
The ever-present Apple iPod was both a popular gift to buy, as well as to sell on eBay last year. On January 3, 2005, there was an average of 13.64 bids per successful listing! Five day auctions were the most successful (almost 90% of them closed), well above the average success rate of 57% for that day. With demand even greater this year, expect this trend to continue.
If you are a buyer looking for a great post-Christmas deal, Terapeak provides a free tool that helps buyers find the best deals on eBay. It's called SmartBuyer, and can be found at http://www.terapeak.com/buy.
Terapeak Marketplace Research predicts that January 3rd will again be a huge day for eBay sellers, with 2005 having been a record year for eBay sales. Terapeak has developed the most advanced research tool for analyzing eBay consumer transaction data. With over 1.4 billion transactions in 2004, eBay is the most reliable consumer activity index in the world.
