On this page we catch up with and diagnose the search trends on eBay from the previous week. We get our information by matching the top 20 items spiking daily in search trends from eBay itself with other topics currently being searched on outside the eBay walls.
Top Search Trends: Week ending Friday February 3, 2012
Remember last year’s Rally Squirrel? It was the infamous rodent that ran across home plate during Game 3 of the 2011 Phillies–Cardinals National League Division series. The squirrel scurried in front of Cardinals second baseman Skip Schumaker, much to the consternation of the players, but to the amusement of the crowd and the TV-viewing audience. The squirrel became a talisman of sorts with the fans in St. Louis, who adopted it as their unofficial mascot. Some even believe the squirrel was responsible for the Cardinals winning the 2011 World Series!
So why does this story make our top trending searches? People had been searching for Skip Schumaker, in hopes of finding his 2012 Topps Series 1 Baseball card for sale. And not just any Skip Schumaker card, but one known as the “squirrel variation” card, which doesn’t feature a picture of Schumaker face (as is normal), but instead features a picture of… the Rally Squirrel.
While this card is sure to become a collectible, you may want to wait until Topps has its “official release” of the cards this weekend. There may be a few more around from which to choose.
Another search caught us by surprise, this one for a Jackie Kennedy and Jackie Kennedy Doll. It turns out the doll is part of a larger Kennedy Home collection that was recently auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York. An enterprising eBay seller, jackmsell, put several of the Kennedy items together, including the doll, Jackie’s wine glass, the Time magazine where she was featured, and more. Click here or on the photo, below, to see the listing.
Given that the Super Bowl is this weekend, we thought it was normal to see a huge spike in searches for New York Giants and New England Patriots related gear. Aside from team jerseys, we saw an increase in searches for Rob Gronkowski jerseys, Eli Manning jerseys, and even for Super Bowl tickets. In fact, one of the high-value items for last week, listed below, was a listing for four tickets to the Super Bowl that sold for $18,000.
And finally, we saw a rise in searches for Valentine’s Day and related gift items. Topping the list were searches for mens fragrances, hearts, diamond rings, earrings, pendants, and bracelets. We also saw a surprising increase in searches for chocolate ale, but we are not sure if that is for Valentine’s Day or Super Bowl Sunday. If you are looking for Valentine’s Day ideas, look no further than eBay’s own Valentine’s Day Gift Guide, full of great ideas for your special someone.
Selected high-value items listed or sold on the site this week:
2006 Monaco Signature Castle IV – $152,211
1916 Boston Store Babe Ruth Graded 40 VG 3 by SGC – $95,100
27 1oz Gold Eagles – $49,981
Unworn Men’s Patek Philippe Ref. 3712 Nautilus with Box & Papers – $45,000
Fifty (50) Nice US $5 Gold Indians – $23,750
5 Million Iraqi New Dinar 200 Bills x 25000 UNC – $4,975
Finally, we wanted to leave you with this nugget of information. While we often see many gold and silver-related high-value items for sale, and searches for the same, we don’t often see something like this:
The tip on this Huge Gold Nugget came from an eBay contributor who sent us an email to tell us about it. If you want to turn us on to a particularly noteworthy or fun item, send an email to eBayStoriesEditor@eBay.com.
