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eBay 2018 UK Retail Report

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You might think that we have over three months left of 2018, and you’d be right. But that hasn’t stopped eBay releasing it’s 2018 Retail Report. Full of juicy information about what people were buying, when, we’re here to bring you the highlights.

Passion for…

Fishing. The water-edge sport is coming back into fashion, according to the growing number of searches made on the eBay marketplace. 49 people per hour are searching for fishing related gear – it’s a catch.

Fashion

Fashion is not entirely out of passion though, with self-expressionism, individuality and inspiration being the “go-to requirements” when buying new clothes and accessories, according to the eCommerce giant. eBay saw its sellers sell 669,688 fashion and accessory items last year and that wasn’t our only hobby spends.

With sheer dedication to fit into our new clothes, eBay sold 489,784 running and 575,048 cycling items.

In total, Brits spend £73 billion per year on their passions.

Keen for screen

Winter is a’coming in the UK, along with box sets, films and merchandise. At its peak, six Star-Wars related items sold every minute. Other top purchase-inspiring entertainment programmes included:

Thor – inspiring the sale of thousands of comic books

Love Island – yes, the skimpy show saw a rise in the sale of water bottles, among phone cases and women’s clothes

Peaky Blinders – tripling searches for flat caps

The Greatest Showman – causing splurges in fancy dress shopping and makeup purchasing

Tick-tock

How do eBay know that up to seven searches per minute are made for Apple Watches? Because watch sales are booming. Smart watches, normal watches and item watches (see what we did there?) – all perfect for timing your opponent’s next move because:

Board games have seen a revival, alongside family arguments, recounts and remembering why we don’t play Monopoly anymore. 500 Scrabble sets sold per day in April – triple word score.

Why did the chicken cross the road?

Not to get to eBay, unfortunately. Confusion amassed over the UK, as chicken-giant KFC ran out of chicken and people headed to eBay to search for it. Searches peaked on 22 February with 12,000 scouring eBay for KFC – unfortunately, no results were returned.

And they lived happily ever after

Royal wedding mania spurred online shoppers to commit the rest of their lives to more than 14,000 related products in May. One lucky buyer who didn’t want the sweetness of the day ever to end spent £7,300 on a Meg and Haz Pez dispenser, in aid of Make a Wish Foundation.

It’s coming home

Despite not achieving their own happily ever after, the England football squad did achieve 100 searches per hour for football shirts and a 25% increase in waistcoat searches after each game. Thanks Gareth.

Around the world in a couple of clicks

British eBay sellers (and their products) are a huge hit across the globe, especially for:

Fashion – Americans, Germans and Australians are loving UK clothes and accessories. – we tip our hat to you

Vehicle parts – the French and Italians can’t get enough of eBay Motors UK, which is causing a sale every second of the day

Ho-ho-hold on, that’s not what I wanted

This eBay report comes out just in time for Christmas, a busy time for the eCommerce platform, both before and after the event. Last year, more than 9,000 unwanted Christmas presents went on sale in the final days of 2017, with Boxing Day being the most popular listing day.

Multi-channel selling

With 24 million people in the UK and Ireland now shopping on eBay per month, eBay is a crucial marketplace in your online sales strategy. Find out how you can easily integrate your eBay account with your other sales channel(s) by contacting multi-channel management software provider Expandly, today.