Terapeak on eBay: How to Use Product Research to Find Products

You've heard other sellers mention Terapeak, but when you search for it you land on something called Product research. Is it the same thing, does it cost money, and how do you actually use it to decide what to sell?

Short version: it's the same tool, it's built into Seller Hub, and it's the best free source of real eBay sales data you can get.

Quick answer: Terapeak on eBay is now called Product research. You open it from the Research tab in Seller Hub, and eBay doesn't list a separate fee for it. It covers the last three years of eBay sales and shows average sold price, price range, shipping costs, total sellers and sell-through rate for searches covering 90 days or less.

What is Terapeak on eBay?

Terapeak started as a separate research tool. eBay folded it into Seller Hub and renamed it Product research, though eBay's own help page address still uses the word "terapeak." The data comes straight from eBay's sales records, so you're not relying on a third-party estimate.

According to eBay's Product research help page, the tool gives you access to the last three years of eBay sales data, and you can pick any date range from one day up to three years.

For each search it shows:

• Sales trends over the period you choose
• Average sold price and the sold price range
• Average shipping cost and how many listings offered free shipping
• Total number of sellers who sold the item
• The selling formats used (auction or Buy It Now)
• Sell-through rate, the share of listings that sold, for searches of 90 days or less

How do you open Terapeak (Product research) on eBay?

1. Sign in and go to Seller Hub. Anyone with Seller Hub access can use Product research.
2. Click the Research tab.
3. Type a product into the search bar. Be specific: brand, model and size give you cleaner numbers than a vague phrase.
4. Set the date range. Use the last 90 days if you want sell-through rate, and a year or more if you want to see seasonal patterns.

It also works in the eBay mobile apps, which is handy if you're checking a product while you're out sourcing. If you have helpers on your account, eBay's team access feature lets them use Product research without your password.

How do you search so the numbers are accurate?

Product research matches your keywords closely. Unlike regular eBay search, it doesn't pad results with related items, so every word you type has to appear in the listing title. That's useful, but it means sloppy searches give misleading averages.

A few search tricks from eBay's help page:

• Exclude words with a minus sign: wireless mouse -broken -parts keeps damaged items out of your average price.
• Use OR for variations: iPhone 13 (128GB OR 256GB) pulls both storage sizes into one search.
• Search by product code: UPC, EAN, ISBN, MPN or ePID give you an exact product match.

Then use the filters. Condition matters most: a used item and a new one are different markets. Format matters next, since auction prices and Buy It Now prices often sit far apart. Once you pick a category, eBay adds extra filters like model and color.

How do you use Terapeak to find products to sell?

Here's the order we work in when we test a product idea.

1. Check demand. Look at total sold over the last 90 days. A handful of sales means there's no real market yet, no matter how cheap the item is to buy.

2. Check competition. Look at sell-through rate and the number of sellers. Lots of sales with a low sell-through rate usually means too many listings chasing the same buyers, and prices tend to slide.

3. Find the real price. Ignore the highest sale. Look at where most sales cluster, and add shipping, because buyers compare the total they pay. Product research shows the actual sale price even when a Best Offer was accepted, which regular sold searches can hide.

4. Look back further. Stretch the date range to a year or more. If sales spike every November and die in February, you want to know before you stock up in January.

5. Do the profit math. Subtract your cost, eBay fees and shipping from the clustered price. If there's not much left, move on.

For quick checks without Seller Hub, the Sold items filter in regular search works too. We cover that in our guide on how to see sold items on eBay.

A worked example: is this product worth listing?

Say you're testing a stainless steel lunch box. These numbers are illustrative, not real data:

What you check (last 90 days)	Example result
Total sold	150
Sell-through rate	60%
Sellers who sold it	22
Most sales clustered at	$40–$44, free shipping
Your cost to buy and ship	$24

At a $42 sale, eBay's 13.6% final value fee applies to the total sale amount, which includes sales tax. With about $3 of tax, that's roughly $6.10, plus the $0.40 per-order fee, for about $6.50 in fees. That leaves around $11.50 before returns, ads and packaging. Our breakdown of eBay fees shows the full math.

A 60% sell-through rate with 22 sellers and a steady price is worth a test listing. If sell-through were 15% and prices were drifting below $35, we'd pass.

What is Sourcing insights, and do you need it?

Sourcing insights is a second part of the tool. eBay describes it as a way to research categories with high demand and low inventory, and to see which items are in or out of stock across sold single-quantity listings. In other words, it points you at gaps where buyers are searching and few sellers are listing.

The catch: per eBay's help page, Sourcing insights is only available to business sellers with a Basic Store subscription or above, at no extra cost. If you're deciding whether a Store is worth it, our post on the eBay Store subscription walks through the tiers and when each one pays for itself.

FAQ

Is Terapeak free on eBay?

Product research, the tool formerly called Terapeak, comes with Seller Hub access, and eBay doesn't list a separate fee for it. Sourcing insights is included at no extra cost for business sellers with a Basic Store subscription or higher.

How far back does Terapeak data go?

eBay's Product research covers the last three years of eBay sales data. You can set any date range from one day up to three years.

Why doesn't Terapeak show a sell-through rate?

Sell-through rate is only calculated for searches covering the last 90 days or less. If your date range is longer, switch to 90 days or less to see it.

Can you use Terapeak on the eBay app?

Yes. eBay says Product research and Sourcing insights can be opened from the Research tab in Seller Hub or in the eBay mobile apps.

The takeaway

Terapeak, now Product research, answers the only question that matters before you list something: did people actually buy it, how often, and for how much. Spend ten minutes in it before every new product and you'll skip most of the bad buys.

It's also the first step in how we pick products for the stores we manage, before any listing goes live. Want to see what a store could earn? Try our profit calculator.