What Sells Best on eBay: The Best eBay Product Categories for Dropshipping

It is up to you if you want to dropship on eBay or if you want to build a dropshipping store on Shopify. 

Over the years, I realized that our ideas are not always aligned with what people want. Because of this, I want to share with you the best-selling items on eBay based on data. 

Here are the things you will learn: 

• The best items to sell on eBay and their sales stats
• How to validate if these items sell outside of eBay 
• How to market these items appropriately

In the end, you will know which items are in demand. You can therefore make wise business decisions, knowing that the items you chose have a huge market. 

10 Categories That Sell Best on eBay 

1. Art Drawings

2. Baby Feeding Items

3. Women’s Clothing

4. Collectible Comics

5. Sewing Crafts

6. Dolls

7. Vitamins and Dietary Supplements

8. Watches

9. Dog Supplies

10. Hunting Goods

1. Art Drawings

Although AI is now a dominant source of art nowadays, real art still has its place in the marketplace. AI art is also a best-seller, provided that you create something amazing with it. 

There are many types of art drawings you can sell on eBay, and below are some examples: 

• Pastel drawings
• Nude art
• Colored pencil drawings
• Charcoal drawings

Although art only has a sell-through rate of 0.08% on eBay, one should take note that there are almost two million listings in this category. 

As you can see from the stats above, the success rate of this category is 82%, which means that out of all the sellers, 82% made at least one sale.

Here is a screenshot of the best artworks sold on eBay: 

To some degree, you can use AI to convert images and make them look like charcoal or pastel drawings. What you can do is sell them as canvas prints. I suggest that you use either Printify or Printful to do this. 

Below is an example: 

There are several types of prints to choose from. Depending on your supplier, you can ask them to print your art on:

• Canvas
• Paper poster
• Metal

You can create art yourself or rely on free templates and artwork found on many websites. If you want, you can sign up for a paid plan in online art galleries. I suggest that you use Creative Fabrica for this, as they have hundreds of artworks that you can use for print-on-demand products. 

One thing I need to reiterate is that artists offer their work in various forms of licenses. Some require that you modify the art, and some don’t. Whatever it is, know that you are not buying the right to own the art, but rather the license to print it and use it for commercial purposes.  

2. Baby Feeding Items

There is always going to be a new baby, and the reality is that parents rarely recycle baby-feeding goods. Parents will always buy these items. 

Here are some examples of what you can sell: 

• Breast pumps
• Baby bottles
• Feeding sets
• Food catcher
• High chair
• Food bibs

At first glance, it would seem that the market is small and that these products do not move quickly. The sell-through rate is only 0.68%. However, the successful listings rate is 72%. As you can see, there are over 154,000 listings for baby feeding.

It is no wonder that baby feeders are expensive because many of these are hypoallergenic. A lot goes on in the manufacturing process, and these extra processes are what drive the prices so high. 

Here are the best-sellers for this category: 

If you decide to dropship baby feeding items, I suggest that you work with manufacturers that comply with high standards, especially for products made of plastic. 

I also recommend that you create your very own videos highlighting the benefits of the product. A product in use (in a video) is much more convincing than those that only have still images.

It would also help if you bundle your products together, which you can do if you find a supplier willing to do the same. 

The one thing that is difficult to do with baby products is testing. For example, it is not easy to find a lactating woman who would test a breast pump. Without testing a product like this, you will never know how effective it is. 

At best, start your baby product dropshipping business with universal items such as baby chairs, bibs, bottles, containers for powdered milk, etc. Once you have a way to test breast pumps, only then should you buy a sample and test it before selling it in your dropshipping store. 

3. Women’s Clothing

Of all the clothing categories on eBay, women’s clothing is the dominant niche, as you can see below: 

In addition to this, women’s clothing is the first thing you’d see in eBay’s clothing category. See this screenshot:

I did some more digging, and I found out that the sell-through rate of women’s clothing is only 0.46%, not because it is not in demand, but because this keyword, women’s clothing, is not the main keyword that eBay sellers use in their listings. 

So, what I did was search for a blouse, and here are the results:

As you can see, the sell-through rate is much higher at 536%. Now, there are many types of women’s clothing, so you need to decide what specific niche you want to target. 

Here are some examples: 

• Tunic
• Stilettos
• Rubber shoes
• Yoga pants
• Jeans
• Formal wear
• Sunglasses
• Knitted shirts
• T-shirts

There are so many to choose from. As such, you may begin to think that the more niches you cover, the more likely you are to succeed. 

It is possible, but I would advise you against it. it is always better to niche down. Why? A small niche is easier to control and manage. If you build a big general store, chances are you cannot fill it up with products, even if you are merely dropshipping.

In addition, you will be working with dozens of suppliers, and there is no way you can test all these products.

The best approach is to start small. For example, concentrate on the yoga niche only. This way, you can sell: 

• Yoga pants
• Yoga mats
• Yoga shoes
• Yoga tops 

Not only is your store easier to manage, but your store will also have better credibility. Consumers who visit your site will immediately think that your store is an authority when it comes to yoga stuff. 

4. Collectible Comics

Collectibles will always have a market, provided that your offers are not easily available online. To be able to do this, you must be the first to buy limited-edition comic books. Once the sale is over, you can sell your items at a higher price than what you bought it for. 

But then, this is no longer dropshipping, right? I will show you how to dropship comics in a bit. For now, let us look at some stats. 

The sell-through rate of comics on eBay is 489%. If we dig deeper, we can see that some sellers do not even sell limited edition copies. Instead, they sell comics by the lot. 

Take a look at this: 

We can also say that around $30 is just about right for the price. While some comic books are more expensive, they are also harder to sell. 

One thing I can tell you is this: you cannot sell comic books unless you are a fan. You need to have a degree of expertise about this. If you don’t, you may wrongly price your comics. 

As a dropshipper, you will not find suppliers for branded comic books. The comic books you can dropship are indie ones or those that do not belong to DC or Marvel. 

What you can do is contact DC and Marvel comic book sellers, or those that sell in physical stores. You have to work out a deal with them so you can get the comics at a lower cost, and then sell them at a higher price. 

You can also go to AliExpress and Alibaba to source manga comic books. However, these may not be original copies. People who buy comic books do not like rip-offs or copies—they want the real comic book from the publisher. 

5. Sewing Crafts

Sewing crafts cover a wide variety of niches. Here are some examples: 

• Knitting 
• Crochet
• Cross-stitch images
• Beads Jewelry
• Mosaic

Like the comic book niche, you need some degree of expertise to succeed in dropshipping these items. There are many suppliers you can find in AliExpress, but the first thing you need to decide on is the niche. 

I took a look at how cross-stitch is doing on eBay. Here is what I found out:

The sales data may not tell us much, but actual performance shows us otherwise. Take a look at this:

As you can see, some products sold over 5,000 units. At the top is a glass bead type of sewing. Embroideries are also hot, as several of these sold over 2,000 units. 

At best, you cannot price these items for more than $10. As such, you must look for suppliers who can sell you these items for less than $5. Anything higher than that, and you will have problems with profitability.

The alternative is to sell these items at a higher price, and it could work but you must sell them in your dropshipping store. This way, your consumer will have no other point of comparison. 

I went to AliExpress to see some products, and here is what I got: 

Most of these are selling already at almost $10, so you have little room for profit if you sell it on eBay. However, you can price these items for $19.99 if you sell them on your website. 

Do not forget to show demonstrations of finished products and sewing videos. Videos and images of this sort convince a consumer to make the purchase now—these videos work better than a typical image of the finished product.

6. Dolls

There are many types of dolls that sell well on eBay. The leading ones are: 

• Dollhouse Miniatures
• Teddy Bears
• Bear Making Supplies
• Paper Dolls

At first glance, it may seem like dolls are not in demand, but a closer look reveals that some sellers sell thousands of these. 

I realized that selling branded dolls is difficult. You are competing against other sellers selling the same thing. Worse, the manufacturers themselves sell these toys online.  

What I suggest is to sell doll-related items, such as:

• Dolls shoes
• Doll clothes
• Dollhouses

You can also sell dolls that have no brand. I headed over to AliExpress and found out that there were all sorts of dolls. Some dolls are even scary. Then, some dolls work great for kids.

You also have the option to dropship dolls that cater to a specific market. There are many types of dolls, and here are some examples: 

• Antique
• Vintage
• Collector’s items
• Waxed dolls
• Wooden dolls
• Play dolls
• Utility dolls
• Matryoshka dolls or nesting dolls

It is up to you to target a specific market. What I can tell you is that like comic books, you need to have some degree of expertise in this niche, particularly if you want to target specialty dolls. 

On the other hand, you can work with the common doll that functions as a gift for anyone. You can use print-on-demand suppliers for this, like Printify or Printful. 

Below is an example: 

There are six designs from this provider. The wonderful thing about print-on-demand or POD is that you can upload your design, which the provider would print on the shirt of the doll. As such, you can even offer personalized designs, which can improve your conversion rate. 

7. Vitamins and Dietary Supplements

Vitamins belong to the health and beauty niche. On eBay, the sell-through rate of vitamins is only 14.66%. However, the success rate is 96%. 

So, why is this a good product to sell? 

People who buy vitamins will become repeat buyers, which is important. It is cheaper to get repeat buyers than to acquire new customers.

You can also sell food supplements and not limit yourself to vitamins. Your success now depends on the kind of marketing you do. At best, you must have demonstrations of what your product can do for the consumer. 

To give you an idea of the top sellers on eBay, take a look at this screenshot:

One thing worth mentioning here is marketing. Facebook, Instagram, and many other platforms are too strict when it comes to ad copy. For example, you should not make unbacked claims about your product. 

What does that mean? Do not say that your food supplement “will” make a person healthier. Do not make any therapeutic claims about the product, or Facebook will shut down your ads and even ban your ad account.

Second, do not make it appear that one trait is bad. For example, do not attack black skin saying that white skin is better. It is racist, and it is never right to make claims about beauty and health standards when there is nothing wrong with it in the first place. 

Always focus on facts when advertising your food supplements and vitamins. Limit your statements to what everybody already knows. Focus on facts. For example, it is alright to say that each capsule of your product contains 75 milligrams of vitamins.

Another approach I can recommend with drop shipping vitamins is a subscription. You can sell subscriptions at a lower rate. It means that the buyer will get three bottles, and you will ship each bottle every month. The alternative to this is to sell the vitamins in bundles.

8. Watches

Some say that you will only make money from watches if you sell luxury brands. This claim is not true. Many people want to wear a watch but will never splurge a huge sum of money for it. The watch I am referring to is the common wristwatch, not the smartwatch. 

On eBay, watch and watch accessories are some of the bestsellers. Surprisingly, the sell-through rate is low. Upon further investigation, I found out that it is a competitive niche. 

As you can see from the screenshot, there are 1.8 million listings for watches. It may seem that the items are not moving that fast, but then you have to take into account the volume of products listed on the platform. 

Now, if we look at the success rate, we can see that it is 100%. All sellers who posted a watch product sold at least one item. The average price is $95, which means that as a dropshipper, you have enough room when it comes to profit margins. 

Do watches still sell? Yes, they do. Looking at the screenshot above, we can say that digital watches are making a comeback. Many of the items here sold at least a thousand units. 

Are there suppliers for watches? You bet there are. Here is a sample: 

Some watches are only $11, and some are lower than $5. It is up to you which ones you want to sell. The cheap ones are of really low quality. 

What I suggest is that you find something that is not that cheap but also not expensive. A retail price of $50 is reasonable. In addition, I suggest that you look for suppliers who do engraving.

Wristwatches are no longer a commodity of need. These are commodities of luxury and personalization. These products no longer solve a problem—anyone has a cellphone that can tell the time. As such, focus your marketing efforts on “desire.”  

9. Dog Supplies

Dog supplies will always be a bestseller. The pet market is getting bigger annually, so you must get in now and make the most out of it. 

There are so many things you can sell in the dog supply niche. Here are some examples: 

• Leash
• Nail clipper
• Brush
• Food bowls
• Harness
• Toys

In a niche like this, I suggest that you sell all of them. However, do not mix cat supplies. Just focus on dogs only. Make your website an authority site for dog supplies. 

How is the sales? Take a look at this: 

The dog supply niche is severely competitive. Because of this, you must find a way to separate yourself from other sellers. As a dropshipper, you must also apply copywriting and marketing techniques that will make people buy right now. 

What should you sell? Here are some ideas:

I sorted all the products here from highest to lowest based on sales volume. As you can see, the top sellers are all harnesses. As such, you can start from there. 

What is the best way to approach the marketing side of this business? Real-life usage is the best way. My suggestion is you get a sample and create a video of it with a real dog. Publish that video on TikTok. In addition, concentrate on funny or entertaining videos. 

If you think about it, there is nothing too special about dog supplies. What matters in marketing is to appeal to the viewer’s emotions. If you can create funny dog videos that showcase your dropshipping products, the videos will become viral, and your products will market themselves.

10. Hunting Goods

Hunting goods works well if you target countries where hunting, is a common hobby. The United States is the biggest market for this.

Although the sell-through rate is low, you will find the sales volume of the products in this category amazing.

As you can see from the screenshot above, the top seller sold over 10,000 units. That device is nothing more than a laser light. 

Now, there are many branches of hunting that you can focus on. Here are some examples: 

• Tools
• Gears
• Clothing 
• Knives
• Lamps
• Tents

The hunting niche is huge, like women’s clothing. It would be best if you chose a few sub-niches so you can concentrate on a specific market. For example, you can focus on tents only. 

I am not saying that this is the only way to go. All I am saying is that it is better to start small, and then fill your dropshipping store with more items later on. 

Where can you find suppliers? AliExpress is what I recommend. Take a look at this: 

As you can see, there are so many products that you can dropship. As always, I strongly recommend that you try these products yourself. The last thing you want is to sell a product that cannot withstand the ruggedness of nature.

How do you market these things? I suggest that you must be a camper yourself. The best way to market these camping and hunting gears is to demonstrate them. For example, you can create a video about setting up a tent, and then publish that on TikTok.  

As always, entertainment provides better value than traditional sales videos. Combine both, and you should be able to make sales. Do not rely on the videos of the product supplier. I strongly suggest that you create videos yourself.

How to Use Dropship.IO to Find Winning Products

Now that we know what products sell the most on eBay, it is time to validate these ideas outside the eBay universe. In this section, I will show you how to use our tool, Dropsdhip.IO, to find winning products. For this example, we will use vitamins.

The first thing we should do is go to the product database area of our tool. Then, we will type the keyword vitamins and hit the Search button. 

Once the results are in, we can now filter them by sales volume. If you want to filter them by revenue, you can do so. 

The screenshot above shows us that the top seller is a Vitamin E product. In the last month, the seller sold over 3,000 units, making $45,000 in revenue. 

Next, let us click the URL of the seller, and the browser will open the site of this seller. Please note that at this point, we only track Shopify stores.

Since it is Brazilian, we cannot do further exploration. However, there is something else that else can do. We need to track this store, and we can do that by clicking on Sales Tracker, and then pasting the URL of this seller. 

Here is what it looks like: 

Once you have the store in your dashboard, click it, and you will see this: 

From here, we can investigate the following things:

• How long the store has been in operation 
• The sales volume of the store
• The number of products sold in the store 
• The social media channels that the seller uses

In addition, you can click on the VIEW LIST link to show the apps that this store uses. 

A seller

As you can see, this store has many apps. One thing that glares at me is its supplier—DSERS. If you know a seller’s supplier, you can visit that site to look for your own supplier, too.

From all these, you can validate if your idea would work outside of eBay. What you can do today is take a closer look at the top 10 product categories discussed here. Then, brainstorm and list many product types. 

Next, go to Dropship.IO, sign up for a free trial account, and test your ideas. If the sales volume of the particular product you want to sell is low, it only goes to show that there is no market for it.  

Summary

The next step after deciding what niche to focus on is to try our tool, Dropship.IO. We offer a 7-day free trial from which you can test all our systems. I suggest that you do the same process I did in the last section. This way, you can validate your ideas even before committing to dropship them.