Entries Tagged 'Product Trends' ↓
September 3rd, 2008 — Product Trends
A country music legend has died. Yesterday it was announced that Jerry Reed passed away last week. He is known for songs such as When You're Hot, You're Hot, She Got the Goldmine (I Got the Shaft), and the theme from (and starring in) the movie Smokey and the Bandit - East Bound and Down.
Jerry Reed is in the top ten Google trends today. In fact, when I looked, he was number one. Who knows, maybe the last time he reaches number one as his star fades. My little boy will likely never know what it's like to feel the excitement of a new Jerry Reed tune.
Popularity: 8% [?]
September 2nd, 2008 — Product Trends
In my month of posts I'm going to have to get creative some days. Today is the big day Google is set to release it's new browser, "Chrome." So today's eBay items, will feature "chrome" in the title. (see below)
Download Chrome, and see how it treats your eBay listings, your blog, your ecommerce website, etc. Make sure as people adopt this new browser that what you've worked hard to build will appear normal.
Conspiracy Theorists! On your mark...get set...
Let me just take this opportunity to tell the people who (have already begun to) say Google will use Chrome to take over the world. They are already saying how Google will peer into your computer and get your top secret information. They'll no doubt read every one of your important "please pass this on to ten people" emails. They will look at the pictures of you, dressed as the Riddler, at the comic book convention. And there's no question that Google will steal your credit card and banking information, they need the money.
This mind set has two big problems. First is, you are a geek. You are not that important. No one wants to look at your stuff. You are in more danger when you're up gaming with your BFF in Romania at 2AM. Calm down.
The second point is, no one is forcing you to use it. But you will...because Google and Microsoft have put things in your water.
Look at all the cool chrome things on eBay. Shiny - you're getting sleepy - veerrrry sleeepy...
Popularity: 11% [?]
September 1st, 2008 — Product Trends
Ok, I'm getting bored with almost a week of no changes from eBay. Can you believe it?
I've decided to try a month of posts - all based on Google Trends. In the old days, almost anything could be found on eBay. It was fun. It's still pretty rare to come up completely empty-handed when searching for an item on eBay, and it should be fun to try.
Follow me as I look for something every day, related to the top ten Google searches of the day.
Today's search is obvious, with Hurricane Gustav making landfall today: Hurricane items on eBay.
Popularity: 9% [?]
August 20th, 2007 — Product Trends
[tag]Paramount[/tag] Pictures and [tag]Dreamworks[/tag] Animation have just announced they will not continue to support [tag]Blu-ray[/tag] technology on future releases from their studios, opting instead for the less-expensive [tag]HD-DVD[/tag] format. There has been much talk of a "war" between these two [tag]high-definition[/tag] video technologies recently. This is especially bad news for Sony, who has thrown their support behind Blu-Ray technology.
If Blu-ray eventually gets pushed aside it won't be the first time for [tag]Sony[/tag]. Many remember the old VHS vs. Sony Betamax video wars of the early video recorder days. While this current battle is far from over, it's very interesting to see what's taking place on [tag]eBay[/tag]. Over the past 90 days, HD-DVD and 
Blu-ray players have been nearly identical in the sell-through rate within the Consumer Electronics category. Here are some other comparison points:
Is Blu-ray the new Betamax?
While we can see the sell-through rate is practically the same for players, HD-DVD outsold Blu-ray by over 30%. In a marketplace like eBay where people are looking for deals, a nearly $200 average price difference makes the HD-DVD players much more appealing to shoppers. When looking at the movies for sale in the Movies and DVDs category on eBay, we see a flip-flop of the numbers. There were nearly 30% less HD-DVD movies sold in the same period, and with a lower sell-through rate. There are approximately 50 more titles available on Blu-ray than on HD-DVD.
The world of [tag]VHS[/tag] vs. [tag]Betamax[/tag] is long gone. I don't think this digital format war will be a war to the finish as the tape wars of yore. For one thing, there are many players available which will play both types of discs. Secondly, in the early '80s we only had a couple of choices when it came to buying or renting movies. Remember the video stores that had an ever-dwindling "Beta" section? Now we have eBay, Amazon, and so many more places to find the obscure products to fit our needs. In fact, you can still find plenty of Betamax players and movies on eBay. The "war" seems up in the air at this point. As long as one side doesn't start making discs ½-inch bigger than their rival, we may just all be able to get along and play everyone's disc in the same player.
Strategy for sellers
Sellers may want to think twice about getting in very deep with inventory that only plays one of these formats. This is a type of product that could see profits drop quickly if other corporations make announcements similar to Paramount. While both formats may be around in the future, the best bet for eBay sellers for the near future seems like the players that play both Blu-ray and HD-DVD.[tags]trends,eBay sellers[/tags]
Popularity: 5% [?]
