Articles

Learning from Competitors and Market Trends Using the Best eBay Data

Increase your eBay sales with data-driven SEO listings. Learn how to optimize titles, images, and pricing to stand out in your niche. Indications provides the raw insights you need for real success.

Learning from Competitors and Market Trends Using the Best eBay Data
Victoria L.
February 10, 2025

How to analyse competitors on eBay

To create a successful and profitable eBay store, it’s important to understand the market that you’re in and the competitors that share your customer base to create an adequate competitive analysis on eBay. 

Whether you’re a seasoned seller, or just starting out on your journey, you’ll need to do your research. This helps you get to grips with which products sell and the most effective price points for each. 

Having data on your competitors will help you to analyse the best strategies to optimise your eBay listings. 

Most importantly, reviewing the listings of your competitors will give you some insider knowledge on the types of offers and techniques they use. For example, are they using free shipping or add-on purchases to attract attention? There’s no shame in copying the techniques from other sellers if the eBay data analysis shows that they work. 

A man is dressed in boxing sports gear sitting in front of his laptop ready to take on the competitors in his niche. 

How to create your eBay competitor analysis

There are a couple of ways to uncover your greatest competitors through competitive analysis on eBay. 

The first is to search for the products that you intend to sell. Make a note of any sellers that come up frequently. If you have more than a couple of products in common, then those sellers are likely trying to make a name for themselves in the same niche as you. 

You should also look at the seller’s location. Although people across the globe can sell similar products, the eBay market trends in certain countries may differ. So, even if a product sells well to a US audience, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the same will apply to the UK. 

To get a feel for the market, you should find a couple of sellers who sell products in common with you. 

This can take time and patience. However, there are services, such as Indications, that can do all of this research for you to provide up-to-date data from your competitors. This avoids the extra stress and time it takes to find the right listings for comparison.

Two people sit in their warehouse reviewing their eBay competitor analysis on a laptop. They aim to understand the best selling products for the coming quarter.

Understanding eBay marketplace trends

eBay is one of the largest global online marketplaces with millions of active buyers each day. 

This can make it tough to stand out as a seller. You’ll need to keep on top of the eBay market trends to ensure you’re always the first choice when your buyers need something.

Trending information comes from data regarding seasonal purchases, customer preferences and new and emerging category popularity. These things can also be influenced by changes to the eBay algorithm. 

When you’re looking at the data, these are the types of things to look out for:

1. Seasonal Trends on eBay

There are always fluctuations in purchase numbers around specific periods throughout the year. For example, purchase demand may seem higher in November and December as people purchase Christmas presents or make the most of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. 

These eBay market trends are something you’ll need to compare with your competitors. It might be an opportunity to sell more products or utilise faster delivery options to ensure your product just pips your competitors’ to the post. During these periods, customers are looking for the cheapest deal and delivery in time for Christmas.

Wrapped presents sit on a festive background with a small shopping trolley to symbolise online shopping on eBay at Christmas.

2. Trending Products and Hot Categories on eBay

New products evolve every day, and as a result, the popularity of your items can fluctuate depending on the current economic and social climate. For example, right now, collectibles and sustainable items are in high demand, largely due to news coverage and social media discussions surrounding sustainability and upcycling.

But these trends change fast. What’s popular now may not be in a few months' time. It’s your job to stay on top of these changes and predict what’s coming next. 

For this, keep a close eye on the data of competitors, monthly or even weekly. This will give you an indication if certain products start to decline in the eBay sales trends. 

It’s also a great idea to keep up to date on social media trends. These can give you an idea of what’s coming up. 

3. eBay Algorithm Updates

The search algorithm on eBay determines the visibility of your listings based on popularity, price and performance. It’s a good idea to revisit the parameters every few months. Even a slight change could affect how visible your listings are. 

If Cassini believes your listings or products are outdated, you may notice a drop in clicks or purchases. If you regularly pull the data for your own account, you’ll see products that are dropping and be able to fix it before it’s too late. 

A man reviews graphs on his laptop to show how the algorithm has affected his eBay trending data. 

How to track eBay competitor pricing

It’s essential to track the pricing of products that your eBay competitors are selling. If someone lowers their prices, you don’t want to be left behind as the most expensive option. 

You can do this by using eBay’s ‘saved searches’ feature. This allows you to set up dynamic pricing. It will also automatically show you when a product has changed price so that you can approve a price change on your own items. 

However, this may not be the most reliable way to track your eBay pricing strategy, as the automation could leave you at a price that’s still higher than your competitors.

To avoid this, raw data will give you a better indication of the reasons prices are dropping or increasing. This will allow you to predict where your prices should sit based on the eBay market trends.

A trophy sits amidst chocolate coins to show that a good competitor analysis on eBay helps to bring in more money.

Using data to optimize eBay listings

By using the raw data to form a competitive analysis on eBay, you can optimise your listings. This will ensure you get the best results based on current information, helping you avoid the mistakes that your competitors have made. Ultimately, you'll cut straight to making the most money possible from your products.

Why raw data matters for eBay seller insights

Raw data can give you completely unbiased insights and extra eBay market intelligence. Furthermore, it gives you the upper hand by providing an up-to-date view on any changes around your products. 

You’ll be able to:

  • Set competitive pricing - By monitoring competitor’s data and historical sales throughout the year. 
  • Optimise your listings - Discover the most successful listings and take away eBay selling tips based on the top performers. 
  • Identify the top sellers - Those products that have the real wow factor will stand out in the eBay data analysis. You’ll even see the best times and dates for selling. 
  • Find customer demographics - From your competitor’s data, you can visualise the target demographic that you’re aiming at and sell products based on the things that you think they’ll like. This avoids extensive research into that target audience. 
A sheet of raw data pulled from a system showing the monthly conversion based on specific trending eBay products. 

Leveraging the data effectively will help you to make smarter decisions on your eBay pricing strategy. It will reduce guesswork and enhance your sales performance ahead of other sellers in your niche.

The best place to find eBay data for sellers

To source the most relevant raw data, Indications stands out as the best choice for both new and experienced eBay sellers. 

We provide insightful data to aid your eBay niche research. We’ll have a quick discussion about your needs and the areas you’re keen to improve. Then we’ll provide timely data from your closest competitors to help you make the best decisions about your eBay store. 

If you’re keen to gain a competitive edge on eBay, contact Indications today for data solutions that set you up for success.  

​​Ready to Outsell Your Competitors? Book your call now.

Let’s talk for 15 minutes. We’ll gather the data that makes a difference.

Get Your Dataset
tick icon

20+ years in eCommerce and data analytics

tick icon

$3M+ in revenue growth for eBay sellers

tick icon

Proven accuracy and reliability

tick icon

Trusted by top eBay sellers

tick icon

Scalable solutions for any seller - solo or enterprise

Want to improve your eBay Product Research?
Book your call now.

Let’s talk for 15 minutes. We’ll gather the data that makes a difference.

tick icon

20+ years in eCommerce and data analytics

tick icon

$3M+ in revenue growth for eBay sellers

tick icon

Proven accuracy and reliability

tick icon

Trusted by top eBay sellers

tick icon

Scalable solutions for any seller - solo or enterprise