With school coming to an end, summer is officially here. For most parents this means that the kids will be home, full of energy and restless excitement. Many people will plan summer vacations and weekend getaways with the kids, and what better place to look for a deal than on eBay?
This month, the data shows that vacation-related tickets and experiences are popular sellers on eBay.
For most parents and kids, the first destination that comes to mind is a Disney resort. Whether it's Disney Land, Disney World, or a Disney-themed cruise, it's hard for parents to turn kids down for a request to go to what's often referred to as "the happiest place on earth."
Since these vacations can be pricey, many parents are opting for package deals that include hotel accommodations and theme park passes. Over the past 30 days, nearly 2000 theme park passes have sold on eBay for Disney themed parks. The average prices for tickets are $152.73. With an average starting price of $65.95 and a success rate of 75 percent, Disney is a popular destination. The highest priced listing of the month was for six Disney World 5-day Park Hopper tickets for $1,485.00 (the park hopper tickets allow ticket holders to access affiliated parks such as Disney's Animal Kingdom, Disney-MGM Studios, Magic Kingdom Park, and Epcot over the course of several days).
The majority of these tickets are bid on and sold around 6pm - the time most parents are getting home from work. Interestingly, though, the higher bids seem to be rolling in between 3-4:00 a.m. - when children are sleeping.
In addition to the park hopper tickets, some eBay sellers are capitalizing on the Disney summer trend by selling parking tickets. While theme parks often charge exorbitant rates for parking (as much as $40 per day per park, which can rack up quickly if you're visiting multiple parks), eBay sellers are listing discounted parking tickets and AAA vouchers to help vacationers save money on their trips. By paying anywhere from $24 to $75 for all-day hopper passes, vacationers are getting a deal by purchasing these passes on eBay.
For parents looking to get away from their kids for a vacation, vacation packages for two (with air) make up another popular category (see graphic). The spike in sales between May and June show a vacation package seller all he or she needs to know. Over the past month, 111 items have sold in this category at an average price of $2,398. The highest priced item was a trip for two to Tokyo, Japan including a room and business class flights, which sold for $6,900. Other popular locations include Maui, Hawaii, the Virgin Islands, Vail, Colorado, and London, England.
This will likely be a short-lived trend, so if you've got packages to list, you'd better get them up soon!
That's it for this week. Enjoy your summer!
Please send questions, feedback or article suggestions to databytes@auctionbytes.com.
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