New eBay Sports Card Report: Kon Knueppel and Winter Olympics Dominate
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Another month has gone by, and the latest eBay search trends have become available. February was a busy month in the sports world, with NBA rookies continuing to shine, and the All-Star break happening. Not to mention, many trades took place prior to the deadline. The Winter Olympics were also ongoing throughout the month, with the US Hockey team taking home their first gold medal since 1980. These are the two main areas that collectors focused in on within the hobby.
Here are the names that collectors searched up the most on eBay, and what that means within the hobby.
Rookies, All-Stars, and Traded Players Highlight NBA Searches
Since the start of the NBA season, the top five most researched rookies include: Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel, VJ Edgecombe, Dylan Harper, and Ace Bailey. In the case of Flagg and Knueppel, they are locked in a battle to determine who will be the rookie of the year. Flagg has been injured as of late, and Knueppel has been setting rookie three point records. It will be interesting to see what happens as the season progresses, and if their battle gets more intense.
The All-Star break in the NBA brought some increased attention to certain players, most notably Kawhi Leonard. His searches on eBay were up more than 190%. Anthony Edwards was also the beneficiary of a solid performance, as his searches were up more than 75%. Chris Paul announced his retirement during All-Star week, and his search history on eBay was among the highest spike - 220% more than average.
Traded players prior to the deadline also saw increased interest among collectors on eBay. Some notable names that saw an increased spike include: Luke Kennard (+590%), Jose Alvarado (+590%), Ivica Zubac (+410%), Bennedict Mathurin (+210%), Rob Dillingham (+200%), and Coby White (+130%). The percentages are compared to the average searches on a normal day for a player on eBay.
Winter Olympics Draws Interest Among Collectors on eBay
One of the biggest names to see a spike due to the Winter Olympics is Jack Hughes. This is in large part to the US Men's Hockey team winning the gold medal. His searches were up 6,000%. The day he scored the game-winning goal, users searched for him more than 75 times per minute on average. Connor Hellebuyck also saw a sizable 4,200% spike, while Matt Boldy and Quinn Hughes also saw spikes above 400%.
Skating also saw increased interest in the hobby. Alysa Liu saw a search spike on eBay of 1,000%, and Ilia Malinin got a spike of 380%. On February 22nd, the final day of the Winter Olympics, searches for Team USA were up 340% more than average. Therefore, many collectors were tuned into the Olympics, and were looking to add cards to their collections.
The latest eBay search trends show that collectors were heavily focused on the NBA and the Winter Olympics. Names such as Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel continued their dominance, while names like Alysa Liu entered the hobby spotlight for the first time in a while. eBay continues to be one of the biggest marketplaces for collectors, and that trend looks to continue.
Dylan is a collector based in Central Pennsylvania, and sports fan rooting for the Indianapolis Colts, Pittsburgh Pirates, and LA Lakers. He is currently attempting to collect a complete run of Topps flagship sets across football, baseball, and basketball. He is passionate about the history of the hobby including its continual growth and evolution.