In this article we will explore what experienced eBay sellers are saying about potential hot profitable trends for 2011, and carrying on into 2012…

Social Trend: More People Staying in College Longer

As unemployment rates remain consistently high, many young people are choosing to stay in college longer in order to be more educated when they do leave and compete for a job.

Here are a couple of items which might see a spike in sales due to this new trend:

Costumes for dress up parties. No matter how much financial hardship college students seem to face, they always seem to be able to buy new fancy dress costumes. Some popular ones this year will be for Snookie, The Human Centipede, Lady Gaga and Thor characters.

Point is, extending into 2012 and beyond, this trend will still remain the same. Just the characters will be different. So keep up to date with what people are going crazy over. For example when Spiderman came out, Spiderman dress costumes that were making a killing on eBay.

Text books. These are a huge cost to students – I can remember having to fork out close to $600 one semester – so if you can provide students with a supply of second-hand text books, they will love you for it! For an expert guide to selling textbooks (which can be a highly lucrative niche) check out Used Books Big Business by used-book selling guru Adam Bertram.

Print t-shirts with funny messages. College students never seem to get enough of these. Anything to do with beer, girls, sports or nerd-culture are popular.

Other college-related items: College dorm-room posters and décor, backpacks and stationary and vintage college items like graduation rings, sweaters and t-shirts.

Social Trend: Baby Boomers Turning 60

Baby Boomers are edging towards their 6th decade with many of them entering their 60’s this year. While this brings many subsequent social changes, one of the majors is that many baby boomer couples will be selling up their three, four or five bedroom homes to down-size to one or two bedroom abode’s.

This could lead to an influx of household items such as furniture, art and home décor flooding the eBay market, meaning that this might be a niche you want to avoid!

What you can expect though is that many Baby Boomers will have a bit of extra cash to go around when they downsize their homes so they will be indulging in electronic gadgets, new clothing items, hobby items like golf clubs and sewing machines, and travel guides for overseas adventures.

Social Trend: Homeschooling on the Rise

This is perhaps another effect of the economic downturn, with more parents at home and free to home school their children. A recent report by the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics showed that around 1.5 million American children are currently being home schooled, and that number is rising.

For online retailers, this means that work desks and chairs, whiteboards, educational software and reference books could be on the rise on eBay and other marketplaces.