Which eBay Product Categories Bring in the Big Money? - and Much More: Parcel2Go Releases Online Trading Survey Results 2014

MANCHESTER, England, June 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

Online auction marketplace eBay has topped the poll for most popular trading channel of 2014, according to an online trading survey conducted by Parcel2Go.  

With 461 of the 607 respondents reported to sell online using the channels of eBay, Amazon, Etsy, Abebooks, Yahoo shopping and Craigslist, a remarkable 96.7 per cent listed eBay as their preferred trading channel.

When analysing the selling habits of those taking part in the questionnaire, 18.4 per cent detailed online selling as their main source of income; with 17.7 per cent of these full-time traders admitting to taking on additional staff.

Rob Mead, Management Assistant, said: "While we knew that eBay had a strong presence in the trading sector, we had no idea just how much it had dominated the marketplace."

"Due an increased usage of mobile phones and handheld devices over the past few years, eBay has recognised the importance of mobile retail and embraced this concept - tailoring its activities to meet the needs of its worldwide community. Additionally, its payment division of PayPal has also greatly contributed to eBay's success - and thanks to eBay's one-click payment solution, has provided a seamless and quick means for customers shopping whilst on-the-move."

The infographic (which can be found at http://www.parcel2go.com/blog/revealing-the-selling-habits-of-top-online-earners-parcel2go-releases-results-of-online-trading-survey-2014/) also highlighted security concerns expressed by sellers, with nearly a third losing money as a result of fraud. Amazon users suffered the worst, with 40.6 per cent of its members experiencing fraud; compared to just 6.7 per cent for Etsy.

Yet while more than half of traders (53.9 per cent) were worried that online fraud was not being seriously dealt with by the authoritative bodies, a large proportion of sellers (67.3 per cent) felt that the online marketplace they were conducting their operations in had "taken reasonable steps to protect sellers from fraud".

Rob Mead, Management Assistant, added: "With the figures for online trading set to rise, it will be interesting to see how technology advances and adapts to this trend. And with competitors raising their game, we look forward to seeing what eBay has hidden up its trading sleeve!"