How to find products to sell on eBay

How to check what sells on eBay with sold listings

Active listings show what sellers hope to sell. Sold listings show what buyers actually paid. That’s the number to plan around.

1. Search eBay for the product, using the words a buyer would type.
2. Filter the results to Sold items. You can also use eBay’s Advanced search page, which has a Sold items tick box.
3. Look at the sold prices, the dates they sold, the condition and what buyers paid for postage.
4. Note how many sold, and how many different sellers sold them.
5. Switch the filter off to see how many are listed right now. Many listings and few sales is a warning sign.

Tip eBay says completed listings results only include listings that ended in the previous 90 days. For seasonal products, that may not cover a full year, so use Product research for a longer view.

How to use eBay Product research (Terapeak)

Product research, which eBay used to call Terapeak, is eBay’s own research tool. eBay’s Seller Centre says it is free to all sellers and sits under the Research tab in Seller Hub. It lets you search any time period across the last 3 years, and covers all of eBay’s marketplaces.

eBay says Product research shows:

• Sales trends, so you can see if demand is rising, falling or seasonal.
• Average sold price and the sold price range.
• Average postage cost, and how many listings offer free postage.
• Sell-through rate, which compares how many items sold with how many were listed.
• The total number of sellers who sold the item.
• Which selling format the items sold in, such as auction or Buy It Now.

Demand vs competition: reading the numbers

No single figure tells you to buy. Read the numbers together, and compare them with other products in the same category rather than against a fixed target.

Look at the listings behind the numbers too. If the top sellers have better photos, faster postage or a lower price than you could offer, factor that in before you decide.

Check your margin after eBay fees

A product that sells well is no use if you lose money on each one. Work out the profit before you buy any stock, using a realistic sold price, not the highest one you found.

1. Start with the price you expect to sell at, plus any postage you charge the buyer.
2. Take off eBay’s fees. eBay works out the final value fee as a percentage of the total sale, including the item price, postage and any taxes, plus a per-order fee. The rate depends on the category.
3. Take off what the item costs you, including delivery from your supplier.
4. Take off postage to the buyer, and packaging.
5. Allow for returns, and for any promoted listings fees if you use them.
6. If you’re VAT registered, account for VAT too.

Avoid restricted, VeRO and brand-protected items

Some products are banned on eBay, and others can only be listed under certain conditions. eBay’s prohibited and restricted items policy covers areas such as cosmetics and perfume, electronic equipment, food, medical devices, knives and product safety. eBay asks you to check before listing that it allows the item, and whether it has specific rules on how to list it.

Brands need care too. eBay’s intellectual property policy makes sellers responsible for making sure items are authentic and that listings don’t infringe anyone’s rights. Counterfeits are not allowed. Through the Verified Rights Owner (VeRO) programme, rights owners can report listings that infringe their rights, and eBay can remove listings, restrict accounts or suspend them.

Before you pick a branded product, look for the brand in eBay’s VeRO participant profiles. eBay notes that not all rights owners in VeRO have a profile, so no profile doesn’t mean the brand is safe to sell. OneDS’s Brand Protection flags brands that may be restricted, but always check eBay’s own pages too.

Finally, think about where the stock comes from. eBay’s dropshipping policy allows you to fulfil orders directly from a wholesale supplier, but not to list an item and then buy it from another retailer or marketplace that ships it to your buyer. Either way, you are responsible for safe delivery on time.

Start small and test

Research cuts down the guesswork. It doesn’t remove it. The cheapest way to learn is to test a product in small numbers before you commit.

1. Buy a sample or a small quantity from a supplier you’re entitled to buy from.
2. Check the quality yourself, and take your own photos.
3. List it with a clear title, full item specifics and honest photos.
4. Watch views, sales and questions for a few weeks.
5. Reorder if it sells at a profit. Drop it if it doesn’t, and move on to the next idea.
6. Keep a note of returns and complaints, as they eat into margin.