How to Utilize eBay Pulse to Your Advantage

EBay Pulse is eBay’s in-house tool to help marketers figure out what to sell. As the name suggests, it is designed to help you figure out the ever-changing “pulse” of eBay. What’s selling right now? What do people want? What’s popular and what’s making money? EBay Pulse can be found at: http://pulse.ebay.com/

Here’s how to use this tool to find profitable new markets:

Popular Searches and Largest Stores

While the popular searches are interesting to look at, they generally won’t give you much useful information. Most of these markets are completely saturated. Many of the sellers have very close relationships with wholesalers or even manufacturers, and the profit margins will be razor thin.

On the other hand, it is often quite educational to look at the largest stores to determine what products they are selling, how they are selling, and what kind of tactics they are using.

Most Watched Items

The most watched items change a lot faster than popular searches and can be worth tracking regularly. Here you will quickly get a sense for what people are interested in. If you spot a market that seems to have demand and isn’t oversaturated, jump on it right away.

Using EBay Pulse in Categories and Sub-Categories

This is how eBay Pulse is really best used. Start by selecting a category from the category drop-down box. Take a look at the most popular searches, largest sellers and most watched items in the overall category. Then, select a sub-category. Again, look at the popular searches, largest sellers and most watched items. Often your most useful data will come from looking at smaller sub-categories rather than larger top-level categories. These are the places where you will find under-fulfilled markets with potential to make money.

Watching eBay Pulse over Time

The most effective way of using eBay Pulse is to check it regularly. Glancing at eBay Pulse just once or twice usually won’t tell you all that much. But when you look at it regularly, you will be able to spot trends fairly quickly.

Look for new items to show up on popular searches or most watched items. See if an item is gaining in position or losing position. If it is rocketing up in popularity quickly, do some research. Did something happen to spark interest? Is it a new item, or an old item that somehow caught the attention of the public? Can you find a wholesaler or manufacturer for the item?

EBay Pulse is an extremely powerful tool for finding new profitable markets in which to sell your products. Start by browsing the site-wide and top-level categories for general trends and ideas, then drill down into specific sub-categories to really find untapped niches.

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Author: jm

Joan Mullally has been doing business online for more than 20 years and is a pioneer in the fields of online publishing, marketing, and ecommerce. She is the author of more than 200 guides and courses designed to help beginner and intermediate marketers make the most of the opportunities the Internet offers for running a successful business. A student and later teacher trainee of Frank McCourt’s, she has always appreciated the power of the word, and has used her knowledge for successful SEO and PPC campaigns, and powerful marketing copy. One computer science class at NYU was enough to spark her fascination with all things digital. In her spare time, she works with adult literacy, animal fostering and rescue, and teaching computer skills to women.