This has been the year of the pivot for many businesses. So if you’re in an industry that’s been hurt by the huge changes over the past 12 months, here is your chance to find some creative ways of adjusting your product mix to match the way people are spending.
ShelfTrend has taken 5 of the most active categories on eBay Australia and, using real sales and eBay search rank data, have identified the best-selling products within them.
This report shows you:
Products and categories customers are hungry to buy
Niche pockets where listing competition is relatively low but sales are high
Whether customers are brand sensitive or focused on function.
The high performing categories on eBay Australia analysed are:
Baby
Health & Beauty
Vacuum Cleaner Parts
Pet Supplies
Sporting Goods
1. Baby Category: Nappy Bags
With analysts predicting a baby boom (presumably the result of people running out of things to watch on Netflix during lockdown), the baby category should be teeming with opportunity. But what are customers buying and how competitive is this space?
The Baby category with the most buyer interest is Nappy Bags. People are spending almost $13,000 a week on the top 100 nappy bag listings, with an average sale price of around $35.
Best Performing Listing
With 8747 sales overall (55 sales per week on average), the top listing is a waterproof resealable bag for cloth nappies that is available in a wide variety of unique prints. This listing has multiple variants ranging in price from $8.30 upwards and also offers a multi-buy discount, which a proportion of customers opt to take, increasing the average sales value.
Top Brands
After unbranded products, the top-selling brands are Wet Bag, Love Baby, and Babyland. 40% of top-selling listings are unbranded, suggesting that buyers are prioritising function and likely price in a category where products are heavily used for a short period of time until baby grows into the next phase of development.
Pricing and Sales Trends
This chart provides an indication of competition for sales in each price range. The chart shows the distribution of sales (blue dots) over different price ranges in an average week compared with the percentage of listings at that price point (green bars).
Distribution of top 1000 listings by price.
There is a significant opportunity in the under-$10 point, where demand outstrips supply, however, many sellers would struggle to compete at this price point. At the $30-$40 price point, sales are high and there is slightly less competition. The products sold in this range are nappy backpacks.
2. Health & Beauty Category: Orthotics, Braces & Sleeves
Orthotics, Braces and Sleeves is receiving the greatest interest in the Health & Beauty category, likely due to people turning to jogging instead of the gym given COVID.
Orthotics, Braces & Sleeves delivers $26,955 in sales per week from the top 100 listings. The average selling price was $12.29.
Best Performing Listing
The top-selling Orthotics, Braces & Sleeves product was an unbranded unisex compression sock priced at between $7.80 and $9.85 – but often selling for $15.95 as a result of customers opting for the two pair bundle. This listing sells, on average, 50 transactions per week.
Top brands
Unbranded products were the most popular, suggesting that buyers trust the performance of generics in this category. The top brands were CFR, Aolikes and Aaweal.
Pricing and sales trends
Sales and listing volume are both highest in the $5 - $10 price range. Listing competition remains high and steady up to $20 despite sales falling.
Distribution of top 1000 listings by price.
Overall, this category appears highly competitive and price-sensitive, suggesting it may be difficult for new sellers to break into.
3. Home Appliances Category: Vacuum Cleaner Parts
In the Home Appliances category, vacuum cleaner parts received the most buyer interest and were even more popular than vacuum cleaners. Listings for Vacuum Cleaner Parts are turning over $42,467.85 a week from the top 100 listings, with an average price of $38.
Best Performing Listing
A $62.99 battery cell for a Sony brand cordless vacuum cleaner was the top seller in this category. The product listing offered a variety of inducements including discounted multi-buys and same-day shipping from within Australia. It has sold over 1000 units so far, at an average of 40 per week.
Top brands
Not surprisingly, given that this category was dominated by appliance parts, branded products featured. There were Dyson, Bonacell and Miele. However, the top spot was taken out by unbranded products, suggesting there is a roaring trade for generic parts that function with branded appliances.
Pricing and sales trends
The majority of sales and listings are in the $15-$45 range. There is a small opportunity for sellers in the $30 to $45 price point, where there is relatively higher demand but less competition.
Distribution of top 1000 listings by price.
4. Pet Supplies Category: Playpens
Pet Supplies is one of the fastest-growing categories in online sales but it’s not just any pets getting the love, it’s all about pooches. Sales of dog supplies outstrip products for any other creatures, including their nemeses – cats.
On eBay Australia, Playpens receive a great deal of buyer attention. The top 100 playpen listings are achieving a solid $31,899 per week and 440 unit sales, at an average sale price of $73.
Best Performing Listing
The best performing listing is an 8-panel puppy playpen that comes in a range of heights. It’s sold over 1,700 units and sells 74 units per week on average. The popularity of this product may be partially explained by customer reviews, which indicate a much broader use than the product description specifies.
Buyers are using them as an alternative to crate-training, for rabbits, to keep pets recovering from surgery contained and to give time-outs to elderly pets that want a break from active puppies.
Top brands
The most popular brands included i.Pet, Play Pen and Pawz. Unbranded products were also popular, but came in second to i.Pet.
Pricing and sales trends
Sales are highest in the $20-$40 range, followed by the $40 - $60 range (although this band has more listing competition). Listings in the $80 - $100 range are also receiving relatively high sales, but with less competition - these tend to be larger playpens.
Distribution of top 1000 listings by price.
5. Sporting Goods Category: Dumbells
Sales for dumbells reached almost $50,000 a week from the top 100 listings, making it one of the higher-performing products. The average price was $103.
Best Performing Listing
The best performing listing was a set of 2 x 24kg adjustable dumbbells for $299 – almost three times the average sale price in this category. The appeal of this product is likely its capacity to adjust to 15 different weight levels, ranging from 2.5 to 24 kg, making it equivalent to a full set of fixed weight dumbbells but taking up much less space. Sweetening the deal was a free pair of weight lifting gloves.
Top brands
Unbranded products were the most popular overall, with brands Meteor for the Winner, Fitness Master and Energetics being the best-selling ones.
Pricing and sales trends
There are several price points where demand is high and competition is relatively low. In particular, there is significant opportunity in the $60 to $100 price range.
Distribution of top 1000 listings by price.
What does it all mean?
There are countless niches across eBay where sellers can find an opening and exploit lower competition and proven sales. ShelfTrend’s data acts like a bloodhound sniffing out opportunities and showing you where you can have the most success.
ShelfTrend can help you:
• Find products that sell and help set expectations around pricing and sales
• See where small price changes can make a huge difference to your sales
• Monitor your eBay search rank performance and optimise your listings.
Find out more about how ShelfTrend can grow your business. Sign up for ShelfTrend’s free basic plan now or upgrade if you need more detail.