When you think toys, you naturally think children; but if you’re a toy seller in the UK you would be missing a trick if you didn’t keep adults on your radar.
According to ShelfTrend’s Lisa Wong, the UK toy market is as avidly buoyed up by adult collectors, hobbyists and gaming enthusiasts as by the pester power of tots and school children.
As millions of new buyers surged online during the COVID pandemic, ShelfTrend analysed the buying behaviour of millions of shoppers on eBay to see what’s trending in the toy industry right now. The data revealed how evergreen the appeal of toys and games are for UK residents.
“Whilst there are 22 broad toy categories on eBay.co.uk, the most popular are Games, Creative Toys and Activities, and Construction and Building Toys,” Ms Wong said.
“Within those categories, we can see a number of kids and family entertainment toys doing very well but there are also several items that we know are strongly supported by adults.”
1. Games – Not Just For Kids
In the leading toy category, Games, around half of the top products appeared to be targeting families with the remainder pitched firmly at adults, according to Ms Wong.
In the leading toy category, Games, around half of the top products appeared to be targeting families with the remainder pitched firmly at adults, according to Ms Wong.
Figure 1: Fast Sling Puck
“We split this category into board games and card games and a recent standout performer in the board games category is a current Youtube star called Fast Sling Puck [Figure 1]. This is a type of two-player table-top hockey game that seems to have taken the youth market by storm thanks to its effective video marketing,” she said. “The top-ranked 100 listings are selling a combined 1,514 units per week, generating £19,151, at an average price of £12.65.”
Traditional games, Monopoly and Scrabble, take out the number two and three spots and we know these games are played by a great variety of ages.
In the Card Games category, the clear winner was an adult product, with branded products attracting higher prices.
“Cards Against Humanity is a dominant player in the card games section, with the top 100 listings selling a combined 1,075 units per week, achieving £14,508. It also provided sellers with the best opportunity to charge higher prices – especially for branded properties like Cards Against Disney,” Ms Wong said.
“Where buyers were prepared to pay £1-4 for cheaper card games like UNO, they were willing to fork out up to £20 for Disney branded packs of Cards Against Humanity.”
2. Creative Toys & Activities – Time Consuming, Independent Play
Ms Wong said the creative toys and activities category was very much dominated by kids’ stuff.
“This category is where children’s toys really took centre stage, with Hama Beads taking out the top spot,” she said.
Hama Beads are an arts and crafts toy that can develop into a hobby and likely gained popularity during the pandemic because of their ability to entertain kids without the needs for screens or too much parent involvement.
The top 100 Hama Beads listings on eBay UK are selling a combined 1,613 units per week, achieving sales of £5,367. Although 60% of sales revenue came from the under £5 price point, there are sales of larger kits being achieved in the less competitive £10-15 price range [Figure 2], representing an opportunity for savvy sellers.
Figure 2: Green bars show number of listings and the line graph shows Total $Sold/Wk by price range for the top ranked listings. Whilst low-priced Hama beads dominate, large kits are also making sales.
Other top products in this category included Role Play Kitchen Pizza Food Cutting Set and Crayola items, both targeted at children.
3. Construction & Building Toys – Star Wars Brings The Adults Back To Lego
Lego is a behemoth in the third top toy category, Construction and Building Toys, with the top 100 Lego listings on eBay UK achieving average weekly sales of 6,001 units and £64,215 in sales revenue.
“Lego’s higher-priced larger packs, such as Star Wars and Ducati technic sets, are a significant source of revenue in this category [Figure 3] but it’s very clear that adult collectors are also at play here,” she said. “Mini Figures are driving sales at the lowest price range.”
Figure 3: Green bars show number of listings and the line graph shows Total $Sold/Wk by price range for the top ranked listings. Revenue is highest for the higher-priced Lego packs.
Figure 4. Marble Run, blocks-style
Ms Wong said a growing stand-out performer in the construction and building toys category was Marble Run. The Marble Run concept has extended from the traditional plastic pipe-type pieces to a Duplo blocks-like version [Figure 4].
“Even though Marble Run isn’t new, the top 100 marble run listings have weekly sales of 419 units. Sales are relatively low compared to the other best sellers but its higher price point enables it to achieve weekly sales of £6,440.”
ShelfTrend's data demonstrates that sellers looking to get a competitive foothold in the lucrative UK toy market would be wise to keep forever young adults in mind. ShelfTrend reports consistently show opportunities – especially at the more expensive end of the market – to target adult collectors and game lovers. But don’t forget pester power! There are some great opportunities in kids’ toys as well.
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Data sourced by ShelfTrend as at November 2020.