What buyers buy on eBay using Gixen
eBay buyers still buy... everything
I have to admit, I haven't looked at this in a long, long time. When I launched the service back in 2006, I was fascinated by this, and really curious as to what Gixen is used for. But as the years went by, my interest shifted completely to providing features to users and making sure everything runs as it should.
So, now in 2021, when I looked again (only at the last 30 days), what did I find? Buyers still buy everything you can imagine. Top 20 eBay categories represent less than 50% of the items, which confirms this. However, looking at these top 20 categories, I am still surprised by what I found.
The champion is - sports cards
The absolute champion when it comes to categories is - Sports Cards. I never expected ebay sports card auctions to represent 18% of all the snipes being scheduled on Gixen. It is also one of the categories with the best outcome for Gixen buyers - on average sports cards were won for 71.3% of user's maximum bid, and ebay sports cards' median value was around $36.
Cell phones & Smartphones are 1% of all the snipe scheduled, and Laptops 1.1%, both of which I expected to be higher. However this may be explained by the fact that items in these categories were won (on average) for 87% of the user's maximum bid, as opposed to 71% for sports cards. While some benefit is obvious here, there is less of it compared to other categories.
Take a look yourself and let me know what you think. Keep in mind - these values are only from the last 30 days, and numbers may look different in a different time period, especially top values.
Gixen bids on eBay statistics
Total: 656871
| Category Name | Percent of Total | Median Value | Top Value | Won for % of max bid (average for win items) |
| Sports Trading Card Singles | 18.1 % | $36.25 | $123,100 | 71.3% |
| Collectible Card Game Singles | 4.3 % | $27 | $202,700 | 79.4% |
| Vinyl Records | 3.0 % | $28.5 | $14,900 | 71.1% |
| Video Games | 2.7 % | $36 | $35,600 | 77.7% |
| Video Game Consoles | 1.9 % | $129.99 | $12,200 | 84.3% |
| Wristwatches | 1.7 % | $123.5 | $16,600 | 80.5% |
| Non-Sport Trading Card Singles | 1.6 % | $35.94 | $16,726 | 65.4% |
| Comics, Graphic Novels & TPBs | 1.2 % | $38 | $24,100 | 68.9% |
| Cell Phones & Smartphones | 1.1 % | $212.5 | $1,720 | 87.5% |
| PC Laptops | 1.1 % | $235.5 | $3,550 | 87.2% |
| Camera Lenses | 0.9 % | $335 | $9,120 | 88.4% |
| Women's Bags & Handbags | 0.9 % | $207 | $7,099 | 78.2% |
| Digital Cameras | 0.8 % | $305.5 | $4,950 | 90.0% |
| Morgan Dollars 1878-1921 | 0.7 % | $56.1 | $10,302 | 90.9% |
| Computer Graphics Cards | 0.7 % | $415 | $14,000 | 90.0% |
| Music CDs | 0.6 % | $7 | $1,005 | 63.3% |
| Action Figures | 0.6 % | $40 | $4,605 | 77.4% |
| Golf Clubs | 0.6 % | $172.5 | $1,365 | 90.4% |
| Men's Coats & Jackets | 0.6 % | $79 | $3036 | 75.1% |
| Pocket Watches | 0.5 % | $84.0 | $4,800 | 78.7% |