The past few months have been marked by the mantra, “what’s old is new again.” Shopping behavior shows a significant uptick in activities that evoke nostalgia - from jigsaw puzzles and baking to board games and needlepoint. This renewed popularity of “remember when?” pastimes have become the new norm, almost overnight. And as you know, we’re constantly tracking and looking at the data to understand what’s trending and selling.
When I saw the latest vinyl record sale numbers, I thought it was another shift that could be attributed to COVID and added to the “comfort” category. But a closer look revealed that record sales were ticking upwards long before the pandemic hit. Last year eBay sold more than three and a half million records — and vinyl recently beat out CDs, cassettes and DVD to become the primary source of non-digital music consumption. Consumers are organically spending more money on vinyl records.
So who is buying? Increasingly, it’s a younger demographic - millennials and Gen Z. I initially assumed older consumers were indulging in sentimentality, or that collectors were on the hunt, but numbers don’t lie. To date, both new and used vinyl record sales are up. Transactions for New vinyl records are up +94%. And in the pre-owned category we’ve seen a +24% increase, which makes up 60% of sales.
When it comes to genres, classics reign supreme. Albums like Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Pink Flloyd’s “The Wall,” Led Zeppelin’s “IV” and The Beatles “Abbey Road” routinely appear in eBay’s top 10 best-selling records year-over-year.
Through October, eBay is supporting Record Store Day (RSD), which promotes independent record stores around the globe. While this year looks a little different, RSD is hosting exclusive releases and special artist performances - which fuels interest in the entire category. And starting September 28, we’ll also celebrate Vinyl Week at eBay.com/vinylweek. This dedicated shopping moment will include a series of exclusive collections sourced from RSD-pledged stores - from rare finds to staff picks.
This is all happening at a time when record stores – like so many other small businesses – are adapting to COVID-19 by encouraging collectors and enthusiasts to get their fix via ecommerce and marketplaces like eBay. Overall, it’s a cool growth story and awesome to see our Sellers out in front of not just a fad, but a consumer trend with real teeth.
Thanks, as always, for selling on eBay.
-Jordan
