Vampires, the Yankees, and Michael Jackson: eBay’s "Top Shopped” Show What Pop Culture Moments Mattered in ‘09

Over the past year, Americans have gone batty for beautiful vampires, showed their support for the Bronx Bombers and their devotion to the King of Pop, turning major pop culture moments into treasured possessions found on eBay (Nasdaq:EBAY), the world’s largest online marketplace.

For its annual "Top Shopped” round-up¹, eBay analyzed data on sales and searches across categories ranging from tech to toys to sports memorabilia to produce a portrait of what really captivated shoppers in 2009. While the headlines focused on tabloid scandal, eBay buyers were scooping up Ed Hardy, Barack Obama inauguration collectibles and plenty of Lady Gaga gear.

"If you want to know what Americans are most fascinated by, all you have to do is look to eBay,” said Karen Bard, eBay’s Pop Culture Expert and contributor to TheInsideSource.com. "Year after year, we see hot trends, topics and pop culture obsessions translating into online sales.”

With almost 200 million listings and 89 million active users, eBay gathered insight from the several million purchases made each day to take a pop culture pulse check. What they uncovered are the country’s national obsessions, favorite teams, icons, heroes, reality TV stars and "blankets with sleeves.”

Bard’s picks ² for America’s "Top Shopped” and Pop Culture Obsessions of 2009:

America’s 2009 Obsessions:

Bronx Blowout: The New York Yankees, champions of the 2009 World Series and #1 pop culture obsession on eBay, beat out the Phillies at home and online with an astonishing half-million-plus items (551,230 related items sold) versus the Phillies’ 182,840 related items sold. In a match among the pinstripes themselves, Captain Derek Jeter (84,210 related items sold) and Alex Rodriguez (50,537 related items sold) led teammates Hideki Matsui (6,202 related items sold), Mariano Rivera (5,571 related items sold), Jorge Posada (5,311 related items sold) and Andy Pettitte (2,868 related items sold). The Phillies’ Chase Utley brought in a respectable 8,802 related items sold.

A Home Run for Bloodsuckers: Second only to the Yanks, vampires were the dominant pop culture phenomenon in 2009 as Twi-hards brought in 523,429 related items sold for Twilight, while "True Blood” dragged behind with 41,964 related items sold. Although Bella might be the sexiest New Moon star, Kristen Stewart (4,183 related items sold) just can’t keep up on eBay with Edward Cullen (31,871 Robert Pattinson-related items sold), while the lone werewolf, Jacob Black, lags behind the others in the love triangle (3,514 Taylor Lautner-related items sold). And although vampires may be all the rage, Americans have another sci-fi love: "Zombies” (22,958 related items sold).

Farewell to a Pop Icon: Of the nearly half million Michael Jackson items sold on eBay in 2009, 162,670 were "Music Memorabilia,” 124,927 CDs, DVDs and records, 13,892 magazine back issues, and 2,500 original autographs. Fans also sought out unique and one-of-a-kind items from bobbleheads and lunch boxes (2,430 sold) to an autographed Pepsi can by the Jackson Five. A week after Jackson’s death on June 25, sales on items related to the pop legend were 210% higher than a week prior — a testament to eBay’s ability to track pop culture moments.

Political Newsmakers: Our commander-in-chief continues to outrank other political notables. Not only did President Barack Obama (312,980 related items sold) blow away his own ranking from last year by almost three times as much (2008: 111,546 related items sold), he also outpaced first lady Michelle Obama (4,812 related items sold).

Although Sarah Palin trailed with just 15,687 related items sold, she fared quite well against another well-known Alaskan, Levi Johnston, with a measly three related items sold (two magazine back issues and a TV interview).

As Seen on TV! Who wouldn’t want a blanket with sleeves? The infamous Snuggie commercials tout their multi-use functionality and eBay shoppers bought it! While the ShamWow towel-and-sponge-in-one may be a time saver in the kitchen and bathroom (18,892 related items sold), eBay shoppers also love The Snuggie (13,339 related items sold). Whether in a chilly office building, on a night time pub crawl or a frigid sporting event, at the end of the day, people just want to snuggle and giggle.

OMG: The girls of the OC and NYC are still telling lies, sharing secrets and getting ratings. While life in "The Hills” (6,619 related items sold) is never a day at the beach, the ladies in NYC are taking the lead. Viewers continue to emulate the fashions of the wealthy and privileged on "Gossip Girl” (9,529 related items sold) and are searching for everything from bags, headbands and shoes to capture the life of these VIPs.

Brett Beats the Manning Brothers, Again: They’ve got the endorsements and the love of fans, but the Mannings (Peyton Manning with 53,295 related items sold and Eli Manning with 24,877 related items sold) are yards away from catching Brett Favre on the online gridiron. Although he slipped from 2008’s high of 199,832 related items sold (for reasons best found in Green Bay), he still reigns as top QB with 122,408 related items sold this year.

Gossip Hounds: Kate and Jon. Jon and Kate. What mortal could avoid the combination in 2009? It seems that eBay’s trend spotters were over it from the get-go as Kate Gosselin brings in 1,202 related items sold compared to Jon Gosselin’s 39 related items sold. Ed Hardy, sailor-tattoo gear king (at a whopping 411,256 related items sold) may just want to reconsider taking on JG as one of his brand ambassadors. Even less popular: Octomom Nadya Suleman with just 38 related items sold.

Then, of course, there’s Kanye and Taylor. On eBay (and most everywhere else), Taylor Swift gets the last laugh as she blows away the blowhard with 41,038 related items sold compared to Kanye West’s 17,986 related items sold.

Material Girl Trumps GaGa: Lady GaGa may be one of the top new talents of the year, but her glam black shades, satin bikinis and fishnets are just a modern version of Madonna’s 80’s uniform of bangles, lace and leather. At 77,233 related items sold, Madonna proves that she’s got staying power against the competition: Lady GaGa (12,664 related items sold), Britney Spears (42,188 related items sold), Gwen Stefani (24,141 related items sold), Beyoncé (17,428 related items sold), Mariah Carey (17,309 related items sold) and embattled Rihanna (4,133 related items sold). Still, Madonna can’t quite keep up with Miley Cyrus and her alter ego Hannah Montana as the teen sensation brings in a combined 203,216 related items sold, making her the only femme on the "Top Shopped” list.

About eBay

Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) connects hundreds of millions of buyers and sellers globally on a daily basis through eBay, the world's largest online marketplace, and PayPal, which enables individuals and businesses to securely, easily and quickly send and receive online payments. We also reach millions through specialized marketplaces such as StubHub, the world's largest ticket marketplace, and eBay Classifieds sites, which together have a presence in more than 1,000 cities around the world. For more information about the company and our global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.

¹ The data is based on listings that included the key terms in the listing title across all categories from January 1, 2009 to November 15, 2009.

² Bard’s picks were culled from items sold pertaining to pop culture phenomena across multiple categories; additional top sold items include Apple’s iPhone (2,070,475 related items sold) and iPod (2,900,917) related items sold).

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6116121&lang=en