eBay has become a market research goldmine. The activity on eBay for MP3 players reached $152.5 million for 2006, with more than 1.4 million MP3 players sold. With 2.2 billion transactions per year, 220 million users and 50 thousand product categories, eBay is the world’s largest marketplace with the population of the world’s 5th largest nation.

No longer can marketers and manufacturers afford to ignore the impact the eBay sales have on the traditional retail marketplace. And eBay is not only a sales venue, it’s an exclusive window into the mindset of the consumer. Some have called the eBay marketplace the world’s largest focus group, because the buying, selling and timeframes in which this happens reflects, better than almost all other indices, the factors that motivate someone to buy a product - price, features, brand, time of the year, etc.

With Packaged Facts’ groundbreaking new MP3 players: Online Market Insights powered by eBay data, market research in the field of MP3 players has never been more precise, up-to-date or relevant. Packaged Facts gets the data directly from the source, for this series is produced in conjunction with DataUnison, the authorized and exclusive seller of eBay’s market data.

What the Report Contains
MP3 players: Online Market Insights powered by eBay data is an executive summary profile of the eBay activity for MP3 players in 2006. The report provides an in-depth analysis and extensive tabular and graphic data on MP3 player sales generated through eBay from sellers based in the United States, but with customers worldwide.

The report examines sales based on:

• Volume (annually and by month)
• Revenue (annually and by month)
• Gender of Seller
• Geographic Location of Sale (U.S., by state, and internationally, by country)
• Brand

The report looks in-depth at the data, and the factors behind the data. What was going on in the MP3 player industry in general? How does that relate to eBay activity? What does this mean for MP3 player marketers?

No other market research reports on such an extensive set with such up-to-date information

You’ll benefit from extensive data, presented in easy-to-read and practical charts, tables and graphs. In fact, the total package includes greater than:

• 200 charts and tables
• 200 graphs
• 5 geographic maps

All presented in easy to understand and use illustrations of the data.

Scope
Data in MP3 players: Online Market Insights powered by eBay data are derived from eBay transaction data. DataUnison is the authorized reseller of eBay data.

At the time of this printing, eBay has over 220 million registered users, transacting more than $50 billion of business per year, and is growing. Therefore eBay sales data are statistically significant and representative, making it useful in determining industry specific trends.

The data in this report is specific to sales through the eBay.com platform, which comprises sellers with U.S. addresses. The purchasers can reside anywhere in the world, but the seller must have a U.S. address. Therefore, the report offers sales in U.S. dollars of MP3 players within the United States, as well as for sales of MP3 players to purchasers in countries worldwide, from sellers with U.S. addresses, expressed in U.S. dollars.

The MP3 players report contains information on completed eBay sales transactions for 2006. This includes all available data for MP3 player sales transactions within the date range.

Methodology
DataUnison receives eBay data from the eBay's Market Data Program, aggregates and cleans it, then processes it in a custom reporting engine.

The data processing process consists of the following steps:
1. The item specific set (item catalog data) that applies to the report is identified.
2. Completed transactions within the date range with the matching item specific set are identified.
3. Item specifics are attached to each transaction
4. Seller-entered item descriptions are parsed and regularized based on common abbreviations, alternate spellings, etc.
5. Item specifics, item description, and eBay category title are compared. Some heuristics are applied to ensure the item is correctly identified, and errors are corrected
6. Wholesale lots are excluded.
7. Item prices that lie outside a reasonable range, approximately 4 standard deviations, are excluded.
8. Items with identical catalog data are aggregated.
9. Cleaned and aggregated data is pushed through the standard template in the reporting engine, generating PDF, Excel, and other formats.

The entire process is automated and once configured can run unattended. Periodically the catalog data and item descriptions processing is reviewed and new situations are identified and incorporated in the process.

The data are then analyzed and put into context by a Packaged Facts analyst to create a written analysis summary of the data you find at the beginning of this report.

On-Demand Data
The 20 terabytes of data we draw our results from is a whole new level of market research. Executives, for the first time, can view the entire industry to a granular level by extracting the extrapolating the activity on eBay to the whole industry.

Packaged Facts presents you whole new levels of interaction with the research in MP3 players: Online Market Insights powered by eBay data.

In addition to the report, there is a fee-based “Beyond the Report” section that also ties into real-time systems that decision makers can receive updates, slides, referenced data files and our new real-time querying and reporting systems on actual eBay data.

How You Will Benefit from this Report
If your company is already competing in the MP3 player industry, or is considering making the leap, you will find this report invaluable, as it provides a comprehensive package of information and statistical insight not offered in any other single source. You will gain a thorough understanding of the current market trends for MP3 players, the competitors and the buyers from global and local viewpoints.

This report will help:

• Marketing Managers identify market opportunities and develop targeted promotion plans for MP3 players
• Research and development professionals stay on top of competitors and explore demand for MP3 players.
• Advertising agencies working with clients in the MP3 player industry understand the product buyer to develop messages and images that compel consumers to purchase these products.
• Business development executives understand the dynamics of the market and identify possible partnerships.
• Information and research center librarians provide market researchers, brand and product managers and other colleagues with the vital information they need to do their jobs more effectively.

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