I still remember the first time I felt the sickening drop of a bad buy in my stomach. It was late 2018, and I was standing in a Goodwill outlet with a pristine-looking espresso machine in my cart. It was heavy, shiny, and looked like something that would cost $400 at Williams-Sonoma. I paid $40 for it, convinced I had just made a week's worth of profit in ten seconds. I rushed home, listed it on eBay, and... nothing. Crickets.
Six months later, I sold it for parts for $25. After shipping and fees, I lost $30 and gained a permanent backache from moving it around my garage. What went wrong? I had bought based on "perceived value"—what I thought it was worth—rather than "market value"—what people were actually paying. If I had spent thirty seconds using Terapeak product research before checking out, I would have seen that the specific model had a known heating element failure rate and zero recent sales.
That failure taught me the golden rule of reselling: Data doesn't care about your gut feelings. Whether you are a weekend flipper or running a six-figure warehouse, Terapeak is the difference between investing in inventory and gambling with it.
What Is Terapeak Product Research? (And Why You Need It)
If you are new to selling, you might see the term and assume it’s some expensive third-party software. It used to be. But a few years ago, eBay bought the company and integrated it directly into the platform. Now, terapeak product research is free for all sellers.
It answers three critical questions:
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Does it sell? (Sell-Through Rate)
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For how much? (Average Sold Price)
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How fast? (Sales Velocity)
Opinion Statement: I honestly believe that listing an item on eBay without checking Terapeak is like driving a car with your eyes closed. You might get where you're going, but you're probably going to crash.
Accessing Terapeak Product Research eBay Seller Hub
Finding the tool is the first hurdle because eBay loves to move menus around. To find terapeak product research - ebay seller hub:
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Log in to eBay Seller Hub (you must have a seller account).
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Look at the top navigation bar.
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Click on the tab labeled "Research."
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Select "Product Research" (formerly labeled specifically as Terapeak).
Here’s where it gets interesting... If you have a Basic Store subscription or higher, you will also see a second option: "Sourcing Insights." We will get to that later, but for 90% of your daily work, "Product Research" is the button you want.
Analyzing the Data: Sell-Through Rate Is King
Most beginners look at the "Average Sold Price" and get excited. "Wow, this VCR sells for $100!" But they ignore the most important metric: Sell-Through Rate (STR).
How to calculate STR with Terapeak:
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Search for your item (e.g., "Sony VCR SLV-N750").
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Look at the Total Sold number (e.g., 50 sold).
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Switch the filter to look at Active Listings (e.g., 500 active).
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Do the math: 50 sold / 500 active = 10% STR.
The Reality Check: A 10% STR means you have a 1-in-10 chance of selling that VCR in the next 90 days. It doesn't matter if it sells for $100 if you are stuck holding it for a year. I only buy items with at least a 50% STR unless the profit margin is massive enough to justify the storage fees.
Honest Failure: In 2021, I bought 100 units of a specific "collectible" mug because they were selling for $40 each. I didn't check the active listings. There were 5,000 other sellers with the same mug. I ended up donating 80 of them to charity two years later because I couldn't move them. Lesson: Always check the competition, not just the sales.
The "Tarapeak" Typos and Search Precision
A common mistake I see is sellers getting lazy with their search terms inside the tool. Whether you type terapeak, terepeak, tarapeak, or terrapeak, the tool will likely load, but your results depend on precision.
If you search for "Nike Shoes," the data is useless. It’s too broad. You need to search "Nike Air Force 1 Low White Size 10." Terapeak ebay product research is literal. It only shows you sales that match your keywords exactly.
Pro Tip: Use the MPN (Manufacturer Part Number) or UPC whenever possible. Scanning the barcode into the eBay app on your phone (which now has mobile Terapeak integration) is the most accurate way to filter out "similar" items that aren't actually the same model.
Terapeak Free vs. Paid: What Do You Get?
People often ask about terapeak free features versus the paid upgrades. Since eBay acquired the tool, the core "Product Research" feature is free for everyone with a seller account. You do not need a Store Subscription to see what sold.
However, the "Sourcing Insights" upgrade (Paid): This is reserved for Store subscribers (Basic tier and up). Sourcing Insights doesn't look at one item; it looks at categories.
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It tells you: "Vintage T-Shirts are trending up 20% this month."
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It highlights categories with High Demand / Low Supply.
Opinion Statement: For the average thrifter or garage sale picker, the free version is all you need. "Sourcing Insights" is powerful, but only if you are buying wholesale or looking for new niches to enter. If you just want to know if that blender is worth $5, stick to the free tool.
Sourcing Smarter: The Prediction Gap
Here is the limitation of ebay terapeak product research: It is a history book. It tells you what already happened. It cannot tell you what is about to happen. If a new trend is exploding on TikTok today, it won't show up in Terapeak for another 2-3 weeks until those sales actually close on eBay.
To bridge this gap, I use Closo Demand Signals. While Terapeak validates the past, Closo predicts the future.
How Closo Demand Signals works: It analyzes search intent and social velocity across the web to predict demand spikes 6 weeks in advance.
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The Scenario: I saw "Digital Cameras" were steady on Terapeak. Nothing special.
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The Signal: Closo showed a massive spike in Gen Z searching for "Y2K aesthetics" and "CCD sensors."
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The Action: I bought up old Canon Powershots that were sitting in junk bins for $5.
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The Result: Three weeks later, the trend hit eBay. The cameras I bought for $5 were suddenly selling for $150. Terapeak showed the price spike after I had already stocked up.
I use Closo to automate my "trend watch" – saves me about 3 hours weekly of trying to guess what the next big vintage revival will be.
Using Terapeak for Pricing Strategy
The most immediate use for terapeak product research is pricing. Please, stop pricing based on "Active Listings." I see sellers list an item for $50 because "everyone else is asking $50." But if you check Terapeak, you might see that every sold listing was $35. The people asking $50 are just storing inventory for free.
My Pricing Workflow:
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Check Average Sold Price: Let's say it's $35.
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Check Trend Line: Is the price going up or down over the last 90 days?
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Undercut or Hold:
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If the trend is down, I price at $32 to exit fast.
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If the trend is up, I price at $40 and wait.
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Parenthetical Aside: (I once held a rare video game for six months because Terapeak showed a consistent upward trend every December. I listed it in July for $200—way above market—and it sat. In December, it sold for $225. Patience pays, but only if the data supports it.)
Advanced Filtering: Finding the Hidden Gems
Terapeak allows you to filter by more than just keywords. You can filter by Condition (New vs. Used) and Format(Auction vs. Buy It Now).
The "Broken" Strategy: One of my favorite tricks is to filter for Condition: "For Parts or Not Working." Why? Because I want to see if broken items still have value.
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Search: "Nintendo Switch."
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Filter: For Parts.
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Result: Broken Switches sell for $70-$90.
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The Action: If I find a broken Switch at a yard sale for $20, I buy it instantly. I don't need to fix it; I just resell it as broken. Most people assume broken = worthless. Terapeak proves them wrong.
Expanding Beyond eBay with Closo
Sometimes, ebay terapeak product research tells you bad news. You scan an item, and the eBay market is flooded. Prices are tanking. Does that mean you leave it behind? Not necessarily. eBay is not the only marketplace.
I use the Closo 100% Free Crosslister to arbitrage between platforms.
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The Scenario: A specific brand of jeans (e.g., Miss Me) might be saturated on eBay with low prices.
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The Pivot: I check Poshmark. The same jeans might be selling for $20 more because the audience is different.
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The Workflow: I buy them, list them on Poshmark via Closo, and ignore eBay entirely for that item.
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The Lesson: Terapeak only tells you the value on eBay. Don't let it dictate the value on the entire internet.
Common Questions I See
People always ask me... Does Terapeak work for Amazon?
No. Terapeak is exclusively for eBay data. It does not see Amazon sales, Walmart sales, or Facebook Marketplace transactions. If you try to use Terapeak data to price items on Amazon, you will fail, because the markets are completely different (Amazon prices are usually higher due to Prime convenience).
Common question I see... Why doesn't Terapeak show the "Best Offer" price?
Actually, it does now! This is the biggest advantage of Terapeak over checking "Sold Listings" on the public eBay search. If an item listed for $100 sells for a Best Offer of $60, the public search just shows a line through the $100 ($100). But Terapeak shows you the actual transaction price of $60. This transparency prevents you from overpaying for inventory based on fake sticker prices.
People always ask me... How far back does the data go?
Terapeak currently shows data for the last 365 days (1 year). some other tools go back further, but honestly, in the reselling world, data older than a year is irrelevant. Trends change too fast. I focus 90% of my attention on the "Last 90 Days" view to ensure the demand is current.
Conclusion
Terapeak product research is the compass for your reselling ship. It removes the emotion from the transaction. It stops you from hoarding "cool" junk that nobody wants. It forces you to confront the reality of the market price. But remember, it is only a compass for the map you are currently on (eBay). It doesn't see the storms coming (future trends) or the other oceans (Poshmark/Mercari).
My honest assessment is that if you aren't opening the Research tab before every single buy, you are leaving money on the table. Start today. Look up the last five items you sold and see if you underpriced them.
If you are ready to combine historical data with future predictions to become unstoppable, use the Closo Seller Hub to complete your toolkit.
For more on where to sell items that Terapeak says are "dead" on eBay, read our Pages Similar to eBay Guide
And if you want to know what the next "fidget spinner" craze will be before it appears on Terapeak, check out Trending Products Forecast 2026
