Maximising Growth Through Product Selection

Many professional sellers on eBay reach a plateau in their business and look to grow by
adding to their product range. With so many product options available, and a fickle and
highly competitive marketplace, choosing the right product can be a challenge. Without the right tools, determining what to sell can be risky.

Choosing what to sell on eBay carries risk, especially for small to medium sized companies with limited resources.

Without the right tools, businesses tend to turn to:

• Suppliers for advice, which may be biased and limited.
• Copying their competitors, which can result in a price war in order to establish and
  maintain a high search rank.
• “Trending Now” lists, either from dubious sources, or if trustworthy, may be fiercely competitive.
• Gut instinct, which makes for a great starting point but should be backed up with facts.

ShelfTrend is an eBay competitive research tool created by senior ex-eBay employees,
Anojan Abel and Lisa Wong. Their combined 20 years at eBay focussed on eBay Search,
customer experience, and Seller growth.

ShelfTrend can provide the answers to important product selection questions, such as the following:

1. Is there a market for the product on eBay?

Existing sales on eBay demonstrates that buyers are turning to eBay as a shopping
destination for that product. To gauge the size of that market, ShelfTrend reports show
sales, pricing and inventory metrics for a keyword and category search for:

• Individual Listings
• Brands
• Sellers
• Overall Country Marketplaces.

In ShelfTrend, start with the Live Listings (Top 500) report and search by keyword or
category. In this search for scratching post in the cat supplies category we can see the
amount sold by the top 500 listings, the number of top ranking listings and their
performance by Seller, as well as by Brand and Listing.

2. Is the product growing or declining in sales?

Some products on eBay are trend-based. They can start trending in one country and then take off in other countries. Alternatively, other products might follow a regular seasonal
pattern, with the sales fluctuations able to be offset by selling to countries with the opposite season.

Using ShelfTrend’s monitor feature allows you to compare reports over time to see these recent trends and to explore them across eBay marketplaces.

3. What design features should the product have?

Product features can be used to differentiate a product from the masses, create a niche, better fulfil customer needs and to enable sellers to list their products at above average
prices.

To identify niche opportunities, ShelfTrend’s Supply Demand report reveals listings that are achieving relatively high sales at prices that have less competition – an indicator of a worthwhile niche. These listings often have specific features that make it stand out.

In our search of plant seeds using the Supply Demand report, the green bars show the
percent of listing supply by price, and the average sales velocities achieved for each listing and their price. In this case, there is a lot of competition within the £6-9 range, but there are listings achieving relatively high sales in the £9-15 range. Hovering over them reveals their listing information.

As product supply varies by country, sellers can also uncover product features that have
achieved sales in one marketplace but have not yet been introduced into others, by using ShelfTrend’s reports to compare product features across eBay marketplaces.

How competitive is the market for that product?

Competitive analysis enables sellers to create an informed product entry plan that takes
into account the competition. Competitive analysis provides both an overall view of market dynamics, as well as in-depth understanding of competitors.

Using ShelfTrend’s reports for information, the analysis may cover:

• Sellers: Assess risk by reviewing the number and the size of sellers competing. A
  fragmented market made up of many small sellers may be tolerable, however if sales
  are dominated by large competitors then it may be difficult to compete.
• Product and postage pricing – eBay buyers tend to be highly price sensitive when
  comparing similar products. By reviewing top ranking listings, sellers can assess their
  ability compete.
• New entrants – the volume of new listings entering the market may reveal if
  competition is becoming more aggressive as well as the extent of product
  innovation.

ShelfTrend’s reports show results in a table, downloadable csv file, or using ready-made
graphs for a quick overview. This search was on inflatable & kids pools and we can quickly see the biggest brands, sellers and international competition. Hovering over graphs reveals their metrics.

Armed with live eBay data, ShelfTrend can help sellers to make informed product selection decisions and determine how to best enter those product categories given the competitive landscape.

ShelfTrend’s Premium plan costs only US$14.99/month, but with a free basic plan also
available there’s no risk in trying it out.

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