It’s an article about the surge in Michael Jackson memorabilia sales after his announced death. My part was on the pre-death sales of MJ items on eBay.

Still, during Jackson’s life, some recent signs suggested relatively little interest from the broader consumer market in his memorabilia. Before Jackson’s death, sellers listed an average 200 to 400 memorabilia items daily on eBay (EBAY: 17.35, +0.21, +1.22%), only 50 to 100 of which sold, according to market researcher eSeller Street. Of course, some items offered on eBay may not have been of sufficient quality to attract buyers.

I hope I get a link next time.

Over 5,000 MJ items sold during this same 18 hours.

This is 5,000% to 10,000% more than the average number of MJ items sold in the beginning of June.

See the most watched auctions for Michael Jackson memorabilia.

The Thriller LP is particularly hot.

Watch the fur (or feathers) fly on this auction at www.watcheditem.com

eBay used to be about competitive bidding and fun auctions until fall 2008 when they incentivized sellers to use fixed price listings. Fixed price listings are pretty boring – no bidding wars, no outrageous bids, no emotion. But good for us, we can still find interesting stuff on www.watcheditem.com.

WatchedItem.com’s Hall of Fame top 500 most watched listings shows you the actual number of people watching popular listings. The eBay pulse hides watcher information. Why eBay hides watcher counts is both a mystery and an opportunity for me (the creator of Watched Item).

You’re probably already familiar with the eBay pulse. Once you start watching the most popular items on eBay, you will get TOTALLY ADDICTED – like me!

The home page of the eBay Pulse shows the top listings in each category. You can drill deeper into categories on this page: the eBay pulse
Viewing the most watched listings on eBay is like using a compass. You immediately see what’s valuable and worth buying. If you are a seller, then the most watched auctions tell you what to sell.

Watched Item vs the eBay Pulse comparison
1. WI shows you the actual number of watchers. eBay does not. There is a huge difference between the top few items and the average items.
2. WI lets you view pulse items by keyword. Example: Rat Rod
3. WI will give you an opinionated answer to your questions. eBay will give you a terse canned response.
4. WI lets you filter items by fixed price or auctions. Nada on eBay.
5. WI lets you find a seller’s most watched items. Zippo on eBay.

Try it out Watched Item in a niche market. Say you love one-of-a-kind (OOAK) Artist Dolls. Take a look at this page: watcheditem.com/search Art Dolls-OOAK

Here are some other cool markets:
Breweriana & Beer
ACEO
Reborn dolls
fantasy dolls
John Deere

BTW, Watched Item is also an awesome banner maker for eBay sellers.

It’s for Reggie Bush’s motorcycle which has 443 watchers at 7 pm CT today.

Suzuki : GSX-R Reggie Bush’s Custom Suzuki Motorcycle, 2007

Free seller photo widgets at www.WatchedItem.com

Auction Watcher Counter from WatchedItem.com

RAKU FIRED SNAKE AND BOTTLE FOLK-ART by DAN

I added a suggestion box so you can tell me how to make watching easier for you.

-> Tell me how to improve the most watched eBay items page. <-

I can’t wait to hear from you!

Michelle

Go to www.watcheditem.com/?page=watchitem and enter an eBay seller’s ID. I used eBay ID “Thursday*Girl” in this example. The top 10 most popular items for that seller are shown. Check the box next to the number of bids to view the current watcher count.

• Here’s the link to eBay.com seller patr7788 who is selling a parcel of land.
  
  www.watcheditem.com/?page=watchitem&ebayID=patr7788
• eBay seller faerielady has a very hot listing for a SCULPTURE #201 – BARNACLE MERMAID (7 Days) – fita fairy (One-of-a-kind fantasy sculpture by FAERIES IN THE ATTIC).
  

You can insert this watcher counter into your listings to show your watcher count to buyers. This will make buyers more competitive in their bidding.

eBay sellers can show how popular their items are by adding watcher counters to their listings.

Or they can cross promote their other items in gorgeous banner styles.

Finally, popular sellers can display their Hall Of Fame banner which shows their items that reached the top 500 most watched items on eBay.com and eBay.co.uk.

Each banner automatically refreshes with the latest eBay information!

Watch and be watched with free banners from WatchedItem.com.

Lots of watchers on their items.

RARE REAL CAVALRY BUSTINA ITALIAN WWII ENLISTED HAT

GERMAN WWII GAS MASK CAN STRAPS NAMED UNIT MARKED WW2

GERMAN WWII BREAD UTILITY BAG TROPICAL OR LATE WAR

Update (Jan 5, 2009):
Here we go. This banner is more suitable for ItalianWarFront’s Militaria Collectibles.