There’s an economic theory called the Lipstick Indicator — in brief terms, this is a trend observed in times of economic downturn, coined when retailers noticed women spending money on small luxury items (ie. lipstick) instead of high-end items (cars, new homes, etc). It seemed that people were compensating for lack of “big ticket” items by choosing smaller specialty goods.

Today, we can see this trend reflected in eBay sales. Terapeak has been comparing the trend-lines of middle-to-high-end luxury items, and one of our first instincts was to examine the sales of ladies’ handbags — a market we’ve been following for quite some time. Here’s a category trend taken from the past 365 days:

As you can see, there’s a decline over the past year — about 25% — though it’s by no means a “dead” market.

So then what about smaller items? What sacrifices are these buyers making, if not investing in luxury items? Instead of lipstick, we’ve selected another luxe good — anti-aging products. Check out this trend-line for the “Anti-Aging Products” category:

Pretty striking, don’t you think? It’s just one more example of how a fluid online market is near-impossible to contain, and how being forward-thinking and mindful of the Lipstick Indicator will help any seller find their niche.

We’re pleased to announce a new feature to the site – upon log in you’ll notice an occasional TeraTip! TeraTips are short snippets of information on how to use the different tools in Terapeak.

We’ll release new tips all the time, and hope that these will help you to not only learn more about Terapeak, but find new cool ways to improve your business! They’re quick and easy to read, and get you on your way to researching more efficiently!

ZOIKS! Also, our sincere apology to anyone we emailed when turning on our new system. We’ve launched a lovely new mailing program that sent a few subscribers a “test retention” email. The email was just from us, and it shouldn’t happen again! Just delete and accept it as an unexpected “high five” from us to you.