A free tool you can use is eBay Pulse. It contains several dynamically created lists showing popular searches, stores, products, and more. These lists are a great way for you see what is hot in the eBay marketplace. You can find it here: http://pulse.ebay.com/

If you just want to get a feel for what may sell, click on the BUY button at the top left of any eBay screen. The link will reveal a HUGE list of categories of items. Find a few categories that interest you – example clothing, dolls or cameras.

From there you will be able to select your search criteria; choose Price – High to Low. The results will show the higher priced items first. You can also refine your search to show only completed auctions, which gives you a more accurate picture of what actually sold.

Finally, if you merely want to see if the gadget you have sitting in your basement is hot, type in the name of whatever it is in the search box and see what comes up. You may be surprised to find that it is selling for $100 or you may find that there are multiple listings for the same exact thing - yet no one will enter an opening bid of $2.99.

It is one thing to see current auctions, however since much of the bidding doesn’t occur until the final few minutes, it is better to look at closed auctions. Then you’ll see if your rock collection is really worth anything. Or you’ll see that your old baseball cards had 23 listings and not one of them sold.

The bottom line is research. If you want to find out what’s hot and what’s not, do your homework first. It will pay off in the end.

Until next time…