Mastering the Marketplace: How to Attract Buyers with the Power of the 40 Hottest Searches in Online Estate Sales

Whether you’re an estate sale company, auctioneer, consignor, or independent seller looking to sell personal property, knowing the keywords your potential customers are using to find items online can present an opportunity for increased sales and revenue. By using words and phrases that consumers are searching for, your items are more likely to be found by qualified buyers. 

While using general keyword data from Google is important, also understanding the products that are being sought in the secondhand/pre-owned and thrifted markets is just as critical as they may differ from products, brands and item categories consumers prefer to buy new. 

What Can You Learn From This Article?

Below, we’ll share some of the most popular keywords on AuctionNinja from June-August 2021 to help you:

• Learn which keywords are being used by potential customers so you can incorporate them into your item titles, descriptions or advertisements for in-person sales. 
  
  
• Predict which products may be most commonly searched for over the coming months, and items to consider highlighting in advertising for your sales and auctions to attract buyer attention.

Top 40 Searches (June 1 - August 31, 2023)

How to Use this Data to Increase Traffic to Your Sales

Here are just a few key insights and takeaways that you can begin implementing immediately:

• While ‘sofa’ and ‘couch’ can be used interchangeably, ‘sofa’ is the most commonly searched, so when listing this type of item, consider using this keyword in your item lead and/or description, or both.
  
  
• Secondhand upholstered items are not feared: the sum of ‘sofa’, ‘couch’ and ‘sectional’ searches indicate this is one of the most commonly searched items overall, so highlighting those in good condition may be a smart move to catch the attention of potential buyers. 
  
  
• According to Google, there are 368,000 total monthly searches for ‘couch’ and 450,000 monthly searches for ‘sofa’ in the US. However, if you’re located in Washington and sell locally, you may want to use the word ‘couch’ instead, since it’s a more commonly used and searched for word in that area – or use both.

• ‘Rug’ is the second most searched item. Be sure to use this in the item title vs. words like ‘carpet’
  
  
• ‘Bikes’ & ‘bicycles’ spike in popularity in the spring and summer for obvious reasons – consider using ‘bike’, as it has 3x more searches than its alternative, ‘bicycle.’ As with any synonym, it’s probably best to use both when possible.
  
  
• Brands like Gucci, Chanel, Hermes, Louis Vuitton, Prada and Tiffany lead the pack in popularity in the fashion/jewelry/accessories categories.
  
  
• ‘Mid Century’ is still riding its resurgence in popularity – if you have pieces from this era, be sure to use this phrase in your lead.
  
  
• ‘Restoration Hardware’ is the most commonly searched home goods brand. Use this in the item title – as you should with any well known brand.
  
  
• While phrases like ‘bureau’ and ‘chest of drawers’ can be used to describe case goods, be sure to include ‘dresser’ when applicable – it’s one of the most popular searches sitewide, while the other synonyms don’t break the top 40.
  
  
• ‘Patio’ and ‘outdoor’ both surge in these months. If you are listing seasonal items for the garden or patio, we recommend including both in your title. Searches for these words alone indicate buyers are looking to browse a broad selection of items in this category. (Also, as with all products, be sure to categorize these items into their appropriate category to maximize visibility-- in this case, 'Lawn & Garden').
  
  
• ‘Teak’ is the most common material searched for June-August and likely to hold a strong selling price. 
  
  
• Gaming always plays well. ‘Pokemon’ and ‘Nintendo’ are the two most popular keywords searched within this category.
  
  

Small changes like these can make a significant difference in how visible you are to potential customers. Using this information to speak the language of your bidders or customers could be a key to unlocking additional business growth.

Written by:

AuctionNinja Staff

June 3, 2022     Updated 05:07 PM

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