This seems to be bothering eBay beginners more than PowerSellers since the last ones are already making a steady stream of profit in their eBay niches.

But finding what’s selling on eBay may be even a strategic question for experienced eBay sellers due to an ever increasing competition and need to find new niches and markets to start selling in. Besides, the online shoppers’ spending has been notably reducing due to the depression thus bringing the prices down and reducing the profit margins.

This all has made the question of what’s selling on eBay even more important than before. Many sellers have an impression they have to compete in markets of the hottest selling items on eBay. Just go to eBay Pulse and see what are the most popular searches on eBay – like ‘wii’, ‘ipod’ and ‘xbox 360’.

A big problem in these markets for honest eBay merchants is a high level of fake merchandise originating mostly from the Asia region. While it is possible to compete in such markets if you know the most effective eBay selling strategies, it’s always worthwhile to explore new niches and new profit opportunities.

A very good place to look for what’s selling on eBay is a page called Want It Now. This is essentially a separate eBay section where thousands and thousands of eBay shoppers post what they haven’t been able to find on eBay marketplace. Can you see the potential here?

In the main table you can see various posts by eBay shoppers – those are products, items and things they didn’t find using the eBay product search. In the column under ‘Responses’ you can see the amount of offers from eBay sellers.

Sometimes you’ll find people having posted in Want It Now items that can be easily found on eBay. But generally people go to Want It Now section when they haven’t been able to find what they’ve been searching for.

What you can do now is – you can browse the data throughout different categories and see if there is something mentioned multiple times. What you ideally are looking for is a trend in the people’s requests.

It isn’t, of course, a niche in the eBay market if a particular item has been mentioned just once or twice. But if you can spot a regularly occurring keyword appearing in eBay’s Want It Now section, you can take this opportunity and see if you’re lucky enough to find such products!

Browse through the categories. When you spot something that you have to offer – contact the person who wants it. Maybe he or she was just too lazy to search through the listings and is waiting on a seller to get in touch! So first start with items you already have for sale – just do a search using corresponding keywords.

When you spot a few similar requests, write down the words/descriptions people have used to describe the thing they want. Then do a search using those keywords in that category and also in related categories. If you find out that dozens of eBay buyers are searching for something they can’t find – you have an opportunity to find those items and offer them!

The research you’ll be doing using Want It Now doesn’t reveal what’s selling on eBay in the common understanding of those words. To see eBay hottest items you can use eBay Pulse and see the most searched items. But using Want It Now you can find small, hot niches eagerly waiting to be sold to!

Have a profitable eBay business,
SAT Team