Top Ideas to Drive Traffic to your eBay Items

As a follow-up to my
Top Ideas to Drive Traffic to your eBay Store post, I am creating this post which will focus solely on getting traffic to the items.

This is a work-in-progress as I will keep updating this post when new cool ideas come to mind or are found :)

1) Want it Now
This is the best tip I've found so far.
Go to http://www.ebay.com/ and click on Want it Now
This is a place where buyers post things they are looking for. All a seller needs to do is search by category or keywords matching their existing items and then respond to the buyers with the item ID. Talk about getting a targeted audience, I uploaded 3 of my items to more than 100 people before, all people who are looking for what I'm selling. I also used the anonymous "ask buyer a question" to give them any advice to find what they are looking for if I found people were promoting the wrong things to them.

eBay Hot Items as at April 2006 (USA)

I've just spent the past couple of hours going through eBay's hot item PDF taking notes of which categories could possibly be made into a nice niche hot-selling info-product (based on my own knowledge & resources).

In case you're reading this after April 2006, you can always download the latest research from ebay here: Hot Categories Report.pdf

The Hot Categories report shows the most popular items sold in all main product categories over the past month (or 2). You can do your own research by downloading the file direct from ebay above, or, there might be some ideas you gather from my own research below.

Download my shortlist in TXT format here: shortlist-april-06.txt (6kb)
Download PDF that I used as basis for research: hotitems-april-06.pdf (443kb)

eBay US Hot Items APRIL 06

Baby
- Nursery Decor
- Baby Formula

Books
- Wholesale, Bulk Lots
- Audiobooks
- Catalogs
--- Clothing, Fashion

Cameras & Photos
- Wholesale Lots
- Cameras
- Digital Cameras
- Camcorders
- MiniDV

Cell Phones
- Accessories, Parts
--- Sim Cards
- Prepaid Phones & Cards
- Wholesale & Large Lots
--- Cell Phones

Clothing, Shoes, & Accessories
- Women's Accessories
--- Handbags
--- Sunglasses
--- Baby Phat
--- Louis Vuitton
- Boys
--- Accessories (Ties)
- Men's Accessories
--- Sunglasses
- Wholesale, Large & Small Lots
--- Maternity

Coins
- Scripophily (mixed lots)
- Coins: World
--- Errors
--- Asia, Middle East
--- Thailand

Collectibles
- Comics
--- Collections (Batman)
- Rocks, Fossils, Minerals
--- Shells (Cypraea)
--- Shells (Murex)
- Trading Cards
--- Comics (X-Men)
- Fantasy, Mythical & Magic
--- Magician Memorabilia
- Vintage Sewing
--- Manuals, Books

Computers & Networking
- Laptops, Notebooks
--- Toshiba (500-666MHz)
- Software
--- Spyware Removal

Consumer Electronics
- Radios: CB, Ham & Shortwave
--- Ham Radio (Transmitters)
- MP3 Players & Accessories
--- MP3 Players (Phillips-Nike)

Crafts
- Scrapbooking
--- Stickers (Borders)
--- Stickers (Travel, Vacations)
--- Stickers (Baby)
--- Stickers (Sports)
--- Stickers (Scratch & Sniff)
--- Stickers (Alphabet, Numbers)
--- Scrapbooking Albums (5x7 Albums)
--- Cutters & Trimmers (Scrapbook Cutting Sets)
--- Cutters & Trimmers (Corner Cutters)
--- Paper Punches (Collections, Mixed Lots)
--- Paper Punches (Geometric Shapes)
--- Embellishments (Fibers, Wire)
- Sewing
--- Sewing Patterns (Costume Patterns)
- Crocheting
--- Crochet Patterns (Baby Patterns)
--- Crochet Patterns (Doll Clothing Patterns)

Dolls & Bears
- Dolls
--- Gotz
--- Terri Lee
--- Doll Making & Repair (Molds)
- Bears (Antique pre 1946)

DVDs & Movies
- Wholesale Lots
--- VHS (51-100 Items)
--- DVDs (up to 10 Items)

Entertainment Memorabilia
- Movie Memorabilia
--- Presssbooks (2000-Now)
- Television Memorabilia
--- Press Kits

Everything Else
- Mature Audiences
--- Books (Gay)
--- Magazines (Fetish)
--- Magazines (Straight)
- Education & Learning
--- Elementary School (Sciences)
--- Elementary School (Mathematics)
- Information Products
--- Wholesale Lists (Bikes, Scooters)
- Metaphysical
--- Psychic, Paranormal
------- Ouija Boards

Health & Beauty
- Fragrances
--- women (Lolita Lempicka)
--- men (Issey Miyake)
--- men (Chanel)
- Health Care
--- First AId (ointments, creams, oils)
- Makeup
--- Blush (Benefit)
--- Mascara (Christian Dior)
--- Eye Shadow (Christian Dior)
- Hair Care
--- Shampoo (Bumble & Bumble)
--- Hair Dryers
- Dietary Supplements, Nutrition
--- Vitamins, Minerals (Omega-3)
- Skin Care
--- Anti-Aging Products
--- Acne, Blemish Control
- Tattoos, Body Art
--- Temporary Tattoos (Henna, Mehndi)
- Medical, Special Needs
--- Respiratory Aids
------- Oxygen Cylinders, Acc.
- Incontinence Aids (Diapers/Pads)
- Natural Therapies
--- Magnets (insoles)
- Weight Management
--- Pills, Tablets, Capsules (Xenadrine)

Home & Garden
- Bedding
--- Bed Pillows (Foam)
- Home Decor
--- Slipcovers (Loveseat)
- Home Security
--- Safes
- Pet Supplies
--- Fish, Turtles, Frogs
------ Crabs, Snails & Algae Eaters
------ Aquariums & Bowls
------ Aquarium Lighting
------ Filtration & Heating
--- Cats
------ Cat Furniture & Scratchers
------ Litter Boxes
------ Cat Food & Treats
--- Dogs
------ Dog Doors
------ Dog Flea & Tick Remedies
------ Dog Training & Obedience
- Kitchen
--- Tools & Gadgets
------ Cake Decorating

Jewelry & Watches
- Wholesale Lots
--- Rings
--- Necklaces
--- Earrings
--- Body Jewelry

Music
- Wholesale Lots
--- Records (more than 50 Items)

Musical Instruments
- Woodwind
--- Flute (Pan, Wood Flutes)
- Guitar
--- Memorabilia (Ads)
- Sheet Music
--- Rock
--- Blues, Jazz
--- Song Books (Brass & Woodwind)

Pottery & Glass
- Pottery & China
--- China, Dinnerware
--- Art Pottery

Sporting Goods & Fan Shop
- Surfing, Wind Surfing
--- Kitesurfing (Boards)
--- Apparel (Rash Guards)
--- Magazines
- Fishing
--- Apparel & Footware (Shirts)
- Golf
--- Apparel (Hats)
--- Acc. (Spikes)
--- Bags (Travel)
- Exercise & Fitness
--- Fitness Acc. (Abdominal Exercise)
--- Workout Instructional (CD)
- Fan Apparel & Souvenirs
--- Olympics (Flags)
--- Olympics (Pins-Individual)
--- Other SPorts (Billiards, Snooker)
- Cards
---- Baseball-MLB (Singles pre 1930)
---- Football-NFL (Rookies 1980-89)
---- Football-NFL (Rookies pre 1980)
---- Basketball-NBA (Singles pre1970)
---- Baseball-MLB (Rookies 1950-1959)
---- Basketball-NBA (Trading Cards)
---- Baseball-MLB (Rookies 1970-79)
---- Football-NFL (Packs)
---- Wrestling-WWE
---- Basketball-NBA (Singles (70-79)
---- Baseball-MLB (Singles60-69)
---- Hockey-NHL (Singles 60-69)
---- Hockey-NHL (Singles pre1960)
- Autographs Original
---- Racing-NASCAR (Trading Cards)

Stamps
- Asia (Collections, Lots)
- Australia (Plate Blocks/Multiples)
- Australia (Collections, Lots)
- Worldwide (Collections, Lots)
(Collections, Lots for pretty much every country)

Toys & Hobbies
- Action Figures
--- Batman (mixed lots)
--- Batman (Vintage pre1980)
- Model RR, Trains
--- HO Scale (Stewart)
--- Z Scale (Track, Accessories, Scenery)
- Electronic, Battery, Wind-up
--- Wind-up, Walking Toys (Vintage pre 1970)

Video Games
- Acc.
---- Nintendo GameCube (E-Cards)

Research Niches

Find out what's hot, what's selling, what's popular, etc. This research will find out whether your chosen topic has a potential market.

Find web sites devoted to your chosen audience - newsletters, blogs, forums, private sites, articles, e-books, books, audio, video, etc.

Use the following keywords in the Overture Suggestion Tool (and in Search Engines or Search Automator) to find out what search terms people are putting in front of that and returned you'll have hundreds of popular niche topics to choose from! Is there something different or better you can offer that market? If yes, you have yourself a niche!

1. How to


2. Tutorial


3. Guide


4. Dummies


5. Dummys


6. Idiots Guide


7. Learn To


8. Advice


9. How do I


10. Tips


11. DIY


12. How Can I


13. Ebooks


14. Book


15. Buy


16. Auctions


17. Directories


18. Forum


19. Downloads


20. Find


21. Free


22. Hot


23. Info


24. Information


25. Instructions


26. Jobs


27. Listings


28. Manuals


29. Need


30. Prevention


31. Problem


32. Purchase


33. Scripts


34. Solution


35. Step-by-step


36. Articles


37. Supply


38. Symptoms


39. Tip


40. Training


41. Wholesale

Search Automator Pro - has every decent search engine all rolled into the one program, plus added bonuses such as RSS & Blog searches plus 100 more things that you can use for your research.

Amazon.com: Top Sellers - Browse the Top Selling Books at Amazon to work out what's a hot niche

eBay Search: Find Items - Advanced Search - Keyword - Title & Description - Completed Search - sort by Highest Price First - check GREEN & RED to see if it sold or not.

Amazon.com: The Catalog of Catalogs (The Complete Mail-Order Directory) - Use to research niches

eBay Keywords - Most Popular eBay Search Keywords Queried by eBay Users

Google.com.au and Google.com - google Australia & google USA

listings.ebay.com - browse categories on ebay to research hot niches

LookSmart's Furl - Popular Headlines - see hot topics that are current at the moment, what people bookmark, look for gems that you wouldn't of thought about

About.com A-Z - See what's being written about your current niche

Overture Keyword Selector Tool - Related searches that include your keyword

Magazines.com - View all categories - click on niche, then check out what's "most popular"

Ask.com (Teoma) - Use the Root Keywords - tick search this phrase, and it will list resources & link collections of enthusiasts

BellaOnline Site Map and Site Listing - Read articles about niches