Since 2003, the Call of Duty video game series has been providing PC, PlayStation and XBox users with some of the most popular first-person shooters on any platform.

Never before, however, has a release left this kind of mark.

On November 10th, Activision released Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the sixth installment in the much-heralded series. Not only has the new release received much critical acclaim (scoring 94% on Metacritic on both consoles), it’s also broken many of Grand Theft Auto IV’s sales records — including fastest-selling game of all-time.

Not at all surprisingly, then, the keywords “Call of Duty” are doing pretty well on eBay…

The above is a 30-day total sales trend for anything that pertains to “Call of Duty” — and that spike you see represents the day after Modern Warfare 2’s release. In the seven days following release, in fact, those keywords totalled more than $1.5 million in sales across the six eBay sites Terapeak covers, with close to 20,000 listings.

Stepping away from the actual game’s sales, it’s interesting to see where eBay sellers are capitalizing on the release’s success. Other items that have sold include action figures, keychains, and — no joke — night vision goggles.

Sales will undoubtedly continue on as the holidays approach, so if you’ve got any ideas yourself of how to take advantage, use them!

When we talk of “holiday selling opportunities”, you may not think of Thanksgiving first, second, or even at all. But as we constantly stress, virtually any major or minor calendar event will create some kind of market… and Thanksgiving season is no different.

Just because eBayers aren’t bidding on turkeys and spaghetti squash doesn’t mean there aren’t Thanksgiving-themed products to sell. A quick Terapeak category search for “Thanksgiving” turns up several relevant results, including the following (365-day Total Sales trends shown below each):

#912: Collectibles > Holiday & Seasonal > Thanksgiving > Current (1991-Now)

• Example products: Festive toys, decorations, knick-knacks

#29478: Collectibles > Postcards > Holidays > Thanksgiving

• Example products: Collectible postcards, vintage artwork

#34010: Crafts > Scrapbooking & Paper Crafts > Embellishments > Stickers > Holidays & Occasions

• Example products: Stickers, gift tags, scrapbook materials

As you can see by the one-year trends pictured, each of these three categories gets quite hot in November, selling multiple thousands of dollars worth of goods every day. And by searching any category using Terapeak, you can click the “Top Titles” tab to get a clearer idea of what types of items these categories entail.

With still 10 days before turkey time, there’s likely to be further growth in all of the above categories, plus many others on eBay. So keep an eye out, and never forget: the holidays on eBay should not be taken lightly!

Earlier this morning, Terapeak product manager Denise Hogue was interviewed on Marlene Gavens’ “Tips From the Top with the Savvy Seller”, an ecommerce podcast that features top eBay sellers and service providers.

Over the course of close to 30 minutes, Denise discussed everything from seasonality to holiday sales to Terapeak’s brand new free keyword tool.  If you’d like to listen in, the podcast is available for streaming here.

Good work, Denise and Marlene!

Ready for the most painfully obvious up-trend graphic in Terapeak blog history?

Boom! Check it out!

Alright, duh, so it’s no surprise that Easter collectibles are shooting up as the big weekend approaches… But what are a few of the more in-demand listings that use “Easter” as a keyword? We ran a 30-day search for “Easter” and sorted the 296,173 (!!!) listings by bids… Apparently the following items have made good investments lately:

• Girls’ dresses
• Vintage/jeweled eggs
• Homemade candies
• Wicker baskets
• Bunny rabbit costumes

Browsing the many pages of search results, it’s hard to imagine many of these items selling so well in months other than March or April, which again goes to show the seasonality of eBay and related marketplaces.

As for selling opportunities this season, you’re likely a hair late if you’re just now thinking of getting in on the Easter game, but it’s never (ever, ever!) too early to start thinking a year ahead!

The holidays are upon us, and Terapeak’s getting giddy!

Yep, call us suckers for the holiday season, but we can’t contain our excitement any longer. So, in honor of the giving season, we’re offering 12-day free trials to anyone who wants one. That means full access to Terapeak and all its charms: 90 days of closed listings, two years of category trends, seller reports, hot research — the whole shebang!

If you’re someone who’s recently found out about Terapeak, or if you’ve been considering signing up for a while — or, heck, if you know someone who sells on eBay and might be interested in Terapeak — now’s the time to find out what the fuss is about.

To take advantage of this offer, simply visit the Terapeak sign-up page before January 2nd, and research, research, research until you pass out face-down in the gravy bowl! (What? That’s just us? So we love our turkey dinners, so what!)

Please note: You will be required to include payment information with your free trial, but you will not be billed until your 12 days is up. If you don’t wish to continue your subscription, be sure to cancel before your trial reaches its 13th day.

Happy holidays!