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He may be 'always' on our mind' - but Prince trumps the King

He may be ‘always on our mind’ - but Prince trumps the King

One of the biggest icons of the 20thcentury, Elvis, forever known as The King, would have turned 80 on Thursday 8thJanuary.

To celebrate, eBay has looked at who is the King of Music Memorabilia on the online marketplace and found that the (Elvis) King has been trumped by Prince – and young pretenders, One Direction, who have sold nearly 150,000 items in just three months.

Nonetheless, with more than 70,000 listings for Elvis memorabilia on eBay.co.uk from mugs to masks and even his personal effects, he’s clearly ‘always on our mind’. And in the last three months*, 50,000 items celebrating Elvis have sold on the online marketplace – meaning a piece of Elvis memorabilia sells every four minutes on eBay.co.uk. Unusual items that have sold include an Elvis pinball machine and a drinking glass owned by the King, as well as more than 2,000 Elvis wigs.

Despite not having had a No 1 single since “Suspicious Minds” in 1969, Elvis is still ahead of other musical favourites including Michael Jackson (sales of 23,000) and Madonna (sales of 19,100).

See below for eBay.co.uk’s top 15 ranking of musical stars’ memorabilia sales:

  1. One Direction

 142,000

  1. Prince

 58,000

  1. Elvis

 50,000

  1. The Beatles

 36,000

  1. U2

 30,000

  1. Pink Floyd

 26,000

  1. Michael Jackson

 23,000

  1. Kylie

 19,800

  1. Madonna

 19,100

  1. Beyonce

 18,400

  1. Eminem

 14,000

  1. Abba

 11,500

  1. Led Zeppelin

11,400

  1. Britney Spears

11,150

  1. Wham!

8,850

 

Laura Wilkinson-Rea of eBay comments:

“They may have come third on X Factor, but there’s only ‘One Direction’ for sales of their memorabilia – and that’s up. But will they be as popular when they turn 80 as the original ‘pop idol’, Elvis? Only time will tell.”

 

Ends

Notes to editors

eBay delivers one of the world’s largest online marketplaces to customers via any connected device, connecting people with the things they need and love.  Founded in 1995 and opening in the UK in 1999, eBay has more than 18 million unique visitors per a month in the UK and Ireland. Around 70% of listings are for new, fixed-price items and the UK site is home to more than 100 high street brands and retailers. 

 

CONTACTS

Rebecca Williams, Yasmin Khostovan and Laura Cullinane at Launch PR – 020 7758 3900 or ebay@launchpr.co.uk.

 

*Sales on eBay.co.uk between 15th September and 13th December

Topics: Shopping, Trends & Data