The 2009 eBaynomics shopping report has identified the growing trend of ‘Profit Shopping’ in the UK, spearheaded by consumers who sell unwanted items to supplement their incomes. Norwich is the UK city with the most profitable casual sellers on eBay.co.uk, with residents of the East Anglian city making £17.2m through selling on the site in the past year.
The UK’s leading ecommerce site analysed millions of transactions across thousands of categories involving casual home sellers and buyers over the past year. The 2009 report reveals interesting insights into how and what we’ve been selling and buying online:
- Norwich residents make the most profit from selling on eBay, but they also have an eye for a bargain buy. East Anglian parents are among the most savvy shoppers in the country, finding bargain buys across prams, baby clothes and children’s books. £106,198 was spent by Norwich parents last year buying pushchairs and prams
- The residents of Brighton made the most money selling art, totalling earnings of £276,210 in 2008, whilst the cultured residents of Bristol were the highest spending city on art, investing an artistic £387,358 throughout the year
- Southampton was the most house-proud city, buying the most home decorations – the residents of the city spent more than anyone else on paint brushes & rollers. Their purchases for the home totalled £2,620,979, whilst Derby residents were the most proud of their gardens spending £17,501 on garden sheds
- The biggest fans of fake tan in the UK for the second year in succession were found in Wolverhampton, buying over £14,000 worth
- Perhaps inspired by Welsh icon Tom Jones, the people of Cardiff have sold the most leather trousers in the last year, making over £16,000. It seems many of these have not travelled very far, because Bristol residents bought the most pairs
From ‘Shopping Neutral’ to ‘Profit Shopping’
The move towards ‘Profit Shopping’ is the key trend identified in the 2009 eBaynomics report. Last year’s report revealed that over 50,000 eBayers were ‘Shopping Neutral’, selling to spend on the site. This year’s data, however, reveals growing numbers of eBayers are going ‘beyond neutral’ and actively profiting from trading on sites like eBay, supplementing their incomes to make a little extra cash.
The report found that more than 200,000 people in the UK make as much as £5 a day as the recession starts to stretch household incomes.
“eBay is a barometer of the state of the nation,” explains Richard Kanareck, from eBay. “As household budgets become increasingly stretched, people are becoming more value-conscious. Whether that’s hunting around for the best bargains when you’re buying, or opening up new income streams by selling on unwanted assets.”
To make selling on eBay even easier, the ecommerce site has announced new pricing for casual sellers, making it free to list items in the classic eBay auction-style format with a starting price of up to 99p. There is a flat 10% Final Value Fee when the item sells. If it doesn’t sell, there’s no fee at all.
1. 201,531(excluding Powersellers) sellers earned a minimum of £5 per day during 2008 (excluding cars & real estate sales) 2. The 2009 eBaynomics Report is based on analysis of transactions during 2008 in key categories across the UK & in the following cities: Aberdeen; Birmingham; Bradford; Brighton; Bristol; Cardiff; Derby; Edinburgh; Glasgow; Leeds; Leicester; Liverpool; London; Luton; Manchester; Middlesbrough; Newcastle; Norwich; Nottingham; Sheffield; Stockport; Stoke on Trent; Swansea; Wolverhampton. 3. Total value of eBay sales by Norwich-based consumer sellers in 2008: £17,272,389.33 4. New consumer pricing on eBay: if you list an item for sale in classic eBay auction-style format, with a starting price of up to 99p, you will pay zero insertion fee and only a flat Final Value Fee rate of 10% once the item sells - up to a maximum Final Value Fee of £40 (excluding Motors & real estate categories). If the item does not sell, there is no fee to pay, unless you choose to upgrade your listing with additional features. 5. The most popular items sold by home sellers on eBay.co.uk include: • Women’s clothing: sells ever three seconds, for an average selling price of £9.59 • Books: sell every six seconds, for an average selling price of £5.37 • Women’s shoes: sell every ten seconds, for an average selling price of £13.11 • Baby clothing: sells every 14 seconds for an average selling price of £5.79 • Mobile phones: sell every 16 seconds for an average selling price of £39.56 6. Top Tips For Selling on eBay: ? Decide what to sell. We’ve all got something - the average British home has at least £450 worth of saleable items (source: YouGov, 2008), most typically CDs, books, DVDs, clothes & toys. ? Get selling. Register as a seller. Take a photo of your item, give your listing an eye-catching title and include a comprehensive and honest item description. Start your auction-style listing at 99p or less and it’s free to list – plus, the lower you start the more bidders you’ll attract and the more likely you are to sell your item. ? Pocket the profit. Communicate with potential buyers while your item’s up for sale and post out items promptly when they sell. Offer great service and buyers will leave you positive feedback – encouraging others to buy from you in the future. Use PayPal to get your money quickly and securely.