Analysis Paralysis: What To Sell On Ebay

So, you want to join the legions and sell on ebay. Great! First question...what are you going to sell? To help you decide, I took a snapshot of items currently being sold on eBay. This snapshot occurred at 2:57 p.m. (CST) on March 4, 2008 and includes all active items currently available on eBay (these figures do not include eBay Motors). Total items available in all of the categories on eBay... 14,148,511.

Keep in mind that these are the 33 major categories currently listed on eBay. Each category has hundreds, or even thousands, of sub-categories. The entire list can be found at http://listings.ebay.com/.

If you are new to eBay, you should probably stick to one of the Top 10 categories. The listings already have traffic and it will be easier for you to price your products.

Major Category: Clothing, Shoes and Accessories
Items in Category: 2,496,569
Percentage of Total Items: 17.65 percent

Major Category: Collectibles
Items in Category: 1,662,966
Percentage of Total Items: 11.75 percent

Major Category: Jewelry and Watches
Items in Category: 1,199,333
Percentage of Total Items: 8.48 percent

Major Category: Toys and Hobbies
Items in Category: 737,770
Percentage of Total Items: 5.21 percent

Major Category: Home and Garden
Items in Category: 734,873
Percentage of Total Items: 5.19 percent

Major Category: Sports Mem, Cards and Fan Shop
Items in Category: 698,600
Percentage of Total Items: 4.94 percent

Major Category: Books
Items in Category: 548.746
Percentage of Total Items: 3.88 percent

Major Category: Sporting Goods
Items in Category: 495,079
Percentage of Total Items: 3.50 percent

Major Category: Computers and Networking
Items in Category: 484,086
Percentage of Total Items: 3.42 percent

Major Category: Music
Items in Category: 430,208
Percentage of Total Items: 3.04 percent

Major Category: Cell Phones and PDAs
Items in Category: 412,225
Percentage of Total Items: 2.91 percent

Major Category: DVDs and Movies
Items in Category: 398,499
Percentage of Total Items: 2.82 percent

Major Category: Health and Beauty
Items in Category: 384,521
Percentage of Total Items: 2.72 percent

Major Category: Consumer Electronics
Items in Category: 374,428
Percentage of Total Items: 2.65 percent

Major Category: Crafts
Items in Category: 337,478
Percentage of Total Items: 2.39 percent

Major Category: Video Games
Items in Category: 294,983
Percentage of Total Items: 2.08 percent

Major Category: Business and Industrial
Items in Category: 289,312
Percentage of Total Items: 2.04 percent

Major Category: Coins and Paper Money
Items in Category: 251,378
Percentage of Total Items: 1.78 percent

Major Category: Cameras and Photo
Items in Category: 240,329
Percentage of Total Items: 1.70 percent

Major Category: Pottery and Glass
Items in Category: 232,583
Percentage of Total Items: 1.64 percent

Major Category: Everything Else
Items in Category: 219,881
Percentage of Total Items: 1.55 percent

Major Category: Entertainment Memorabilia
Items in Category: 205,195
Percentage of Total Items: 1.45 percent

Major Category: Art
Items in Category: 203,047
Percentage of Total Items: 1.44 percent

Major Category: Antiques
Items in Category: 187,653
Percentage of Total Items: 1.33 percent

Major Category: Musical Instruments
Items in Category: 165,102
Percentage of Total Items: 1.17 percent

Major Category: Stamps
Items in Category: 161,612
Percentage of Total Items: 1.14 percent

Major Category: Dolls and Bears
Items in Category: 149,201
Percentage of Total Items: 1.05 percent

Major Category: Baby
Items in Category: 63,69
Percentage of Total Items: .45 percent

Major Category: Tickets
Items in Category: 51,339
Percentage of Total Items: .36 percent

Major Category: Travel
Items in Category: 11,547
Percentage of Total Items: .08 percent

Major Category: Gift Certificates
Items in Category: 11,268
Percentage of Total Items: .08 percent

Major Category: Specialty Services
Items in Category: 10,515
Percentage of Total Items: .07 percent

Major Category: Real Estate
Items in Category: 4,491
Percentage of Total Items: .03 percent

There are thousands and thousands of different types of items that are currently up for auction on the site. eBay has approximately 276 million registered users worldwide that trade more than $2,039 worth of goods on the site every second… yes, I said every second! eBay has hosted over 532,000 stores worldwide and has over 276 million registered users worldwide that trade in over 50,000 categories. eBay calculates that there were 637 million new listings added in Q4-07. At any given time, there are approximately 113 million listings worldwide, and approximately 6.7 million listings are added per day. Approximately 54 percent of eBay’s profit comes from international markets with the rest coming from the U.S.

By: Bruce Moilan

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