eBay Terapeak 2026: Free Guide, Step by Step, Alternatives

Terapeak is eBay's free product research tool, now called Product Research, and it lives in the Research tab of Seller Hub and in the eBay app. It shows up to 3 years of real eBay sales data: average sold price, price range, shipping, sell-through rate and how many sellers sold an item. Product Research has been free to every Seller Hub seller since April 2021; its companion tool, Sourcing Insights, comes with a Basic eBay Store or higher, from $21.95 a month on a yearly plan.

This guide covers where Terapeak is now, how to use it step by step (search syntax, filters, date range, sold vs active, sell-through), what it cannot tell you, and which Terapeak alternatives are worth adding. Every eBay fact below was checked against eBay's own help and policy pages in November 2026.

What Is Terapeak on eBay?

Terapeak is a market research tool that reads eBay's own transaction records to show what sold, for how much, and how often. It started as an independent Toronto analytics company, eBay completed its acquisition of Terapeak in December 2017, and the tool has lived inside Seller Hub ever since.

Today Terapeak is two tools:

When people say "Terapeak," they almost always mean Product Research. Sourcing Insights is the category-level tool most sellers never open.

Does eBay still have Terapeak?

Yes. eBay still has Terapeak, it just stopped using the name. When eBay put the tool in its mobile app in May 2024, its own announcement called it "Product Research (formerly Terapeak)." The data, the filters and the 3-year history are the same tool sellers used before the rename. If you look for a Terapeak tab in Seller Hub and can't find one, open Research instead.

Is Terapeak free?

Terapeak Product Research is free for every seller with Seller Hub access, with no Store subscription needed. eBay made it free in April 2021; before that, Terapeak was a paid subscription. Sourcing Insights is the only paid part, and you can't buy it on its own: it comes with a Basic Store or above. There is no standalone Terapeak subscription or Terapeak login anymore. You sign in with your normal eBay seller account.

Does Terapeak work for Amazon?

No. Terapeak covers eBay marketplaces only. The pre-2017 company also had Amazon data, but eBay dropped that after the acquisition. Product Research tells you what sold on eBay, not on Amazon, Etsy or TikTok Shop.

How to Access Terapeak in Seller Hub and the eBay App

You open Terapeak from the Research tab in Seller Hub on desktop, or from the Selling tab in the eBay app.

On desktop:

• Sign in to eBay and open Seller Hub.
• Click the Research tab in the top menu (or go straight to ebay.com/sh/research while signed in).
• Choose Product research. Store subscribers also see Sourcing insights here.

In the eBay app (iOS and Android): update the app, open the Selling tab, scroll down to the Product Research section and tap it. The mobile version searches the same 3 years of sold data, which makes it handy when you are pricing an item away from your desk.

If you give staff Team access to your account, they can use Product Research too without your password.

How to Use Terapeak Product Research, Step by Step

Terapeak only returns sales that exactly match your search, so the way you search decides the answer. eBay's Product Research help page says it plainly: a listing or sale must match your keywords and filters to be counted, while normal eBay search pads results with "related" items. Here is the order that works.

Step 1: Search like a buyer, then tighten the words

Type what a buyer would type, for example wireless meat thermometer. Then clean it up with eBay's search logic:

• All words must match. nintendo switch oled only counts sales with all three words in the title.
• Exclude with a minus or AND NOT. nintendo switch oled -case -dock drops accessory sales that would pull the average down.
• Group variants with OR. iphone 15 pro AND (128gb OR 256gb) covers both storage sizes in one search.

For an exact product, search by UPC, EAN, MPN, ISBN or eBay product ID (EPID) instead of keywords. That removes the noise of similar titles.

Step 2: Set the date range

Product Research accepts any range from one day to 3 years. Use the last 90 days for current prices and sell-through (sell-through only appears on ranges of 90 days or less). Use 1 year or more to see seasonal peaks, such as heated blankets in November or pool gear in June.

Step 3: Apply filters

Filter by item condition, listing format (auction or fixed price), sale price range, buyer location, seller location and eBay marketplace (eBay.com, eBay.co.uk and others). Pick a category to unlock that category's own filters, such as brand, model or color. If you plan to sell new items at a fixed price, set those two filters first. Auction sales and used items skew the average.

Step 4: Read the Sold tab and the Active tab separately

Terapeak splits results into two views:

• Sold shows what already sold in your date range: average sold price, sold price range, average shipping, free shipping share, total sold, sell-through, total sellers and total sales.
• Active shows what is listed right now: average listing price, listing price range, shipping and how many listings are promoted.

The gap between the two tabs tells you where the market sits. If the average sold price is $24 and the average active price is $31, sellers are asking more than buyers pay, and the listings at $31 are the ones sitting unsold.

Step 5: Read these numbers first

The accepted Best Offer detail matters more than it looks. A normal eBay search shows the listed price on a Best Offer sale. Terapeak shows the price the buyer actually paid, which can be well below the listing.

Step 6: Study the top listings, not only the averages

Sort the sold results by total sold and open the top five. Their price, photos, title structure, item specifics and shipping policy are the pattern buyers respond to. Copy the structure, never the title or photos word for word. Listings that sold in the last 90 days, and active ones, open when you click them; older sold listings may no longer be viewable.

Step 7: Check seasonality on a 1-year view

Set the range to 1 year, or 3 if the product has been around. A product with 500 sales that all landed in November is a seasonal item. Listing it in February means paying for stock or listing fees during the dead months.

What Is a Good Sell-Through Rate on Terapeak?

eBay doesn't publish a "good" sell-through rate, so read it as a comparison, not a pass mark. Terapeak's sell-through compares how many listings sold with how many were listed in your search window, and it only appears for ranges of 90 days or less.

The useful move is to compare like with like. Run the same search for two variants, two conditions or two price bands, and stock the one that sells through faster. A reasonable starting filter before you list anything new: sell-through around 50% or better on the last 90 days, a stable or rising 1-year trend, and no single seller holding most of the sales. A product that fails two of those three goes to the bottom of the list. That is a judgment call, not an eBay rule, and a tight niche can still work below it.

Terapeak vs the eBay Sold Listings Filter

Both are free. The sold listings filter on a normal eBay search is fine for a quick check; Terapeak is better when you're about to spend money on stock or listing time.

For a walkthrough of reading individual sold listings and pricing a single item from them, see our guide to eBay sold comps.

Does Terapeak Show Keyword Search Volume?

Terapeak Product Research does not show how many buyers search for a keyword. It shows sales for the keyword you type. Search volume only appears in Sourcing Insights, and only at the category level: searches, active listings and the search-to-listing ratio for each eBay category, not per keyword.

That is why "Terapeak keywords" searches often end in frustration. If you need the words buyers use in their searches, a separate keyword tool does that job; the free eBay keyword tool lists keyword ideas for any product. Then take the best phrases back into Product Research to check what they sold for.

Terapeak Sourcing Insights Explained

Sourcing Insights shows which eBay categories have more buyer demand than listings to meet it. Product Research works one item at a time; Sourcing Insights works one category at a time. If you need a shortlist before you research, start with the best things to sell on eBay by category.

For each category and subcategory it shows search volume, active listings, the search-to-listing ratio and sell-through, plus trend charts over time. Categories where searches far outnumber listings get a "Great Opportunity" flag. eBay also lists two uses on its help page: finding categories with high demand and low inventory, and sourcing from sold single-stock listings to see what is out of stock.

Is a Basic Store worth it for Sourcing Insights?

A Basic Store is worth it for Sourcing Insights only if you'd want the Store anyway. A Basic Store costs $27.95 a month on a monthly plan or $21.95 a month on a yearly plan, and it also brings more free listings each month and lower final value fees in many categories. If you already run one, Sourcing Insights is a free bonus. If you'd subscribe only for Sourcing Insights, skip it: the category numbers point you to a neighborhood, and you still need Product Research to check every single item.

How to Turn Terapeak Data Into a Buy Price

Terapeak tells you the sale price. What you need to decide is the most you can pay for the item and still make money. Work backwards from the average sold price:

For a dropshipper, "delivered" means the supplier price including shipping to your buyer. Leave room for promoted listing fees and returns if your category needs them. Run your own numbers in the free eBay fee calculator, which uses current final value fee rates by category.

Terapeak Limitations: What It Can't Tell You

Terapeak is the best free eBay research tool because it reads real transactions. It is still built for a general seller, and it has gaps that cost money if you don't know them.

• Exact matching hides sales. A spelling variant or a missing model number drops sales from the count. Run a second search with different wording before you trust a low number.
• Small samples mislead. Ten sales can produce a misleading average. Widen the date range until the sample is big enough to trust.
• Sell-through needs a short window. It disappears on ranges over 90 days, so you can't read long-term sell-through directly.
• No supplier side. Terapeak can tell you a garlic press sold 300 times last month at $12.99. It has no idea whether a supplier stocks it, what it costs there, or whether the top seller is another dropshipper.
• No profit math. Sold price is revenue. Fees, supplier cost and returns are on you.
• No saved tracking or export. There are no alerts or watchlists. Tracking a product over time means rerunning the search and copying the numbers.
• The past isn't a promise. New sellers piling in, a new model release or a brand complaint can move prices fast. Check again before you relist or restock.

None of this makes Terapeak weak. It makes it step one.

Terapeak for Dropshipping: The Policy Risk Terapeak Won't Show

Terapeak shows that a product sells. It does not show whether you are allowed to sell it the way you plan to. That gap is where dropshippers get suspended.

eBay's drop shipping policy is short: "Dropshipping, where you fulfill orders directly from a wholesale supplier, is allowed on eBay." What is not allowed is "listing an item on eBay and then purchasing the item from another retailer or marketplace" to ship to your buyer. eBay lists the consequences as listing removal, warnings, selling restrictions or account suspension. Our eBay dropshipping policy guide covers what counts as a wholesale supplier.

Two more risks come straight out of Terapeak results:

• The top sellers are often branded items. A product that tops Product Research may belong to a brand that files VeRO reports. Listing it can get the listing removed and put a strike on your account.
• The winners may be retail arbitrage. If the cheapest source you can find for a top seller is a retail store's product page, that model breaks the policy above, however good the sell-through looks.

So Terapeak answers half of the dropshipping question: is there demand on eBay? The other half, is there a policy-fit supplier with room for margin, needs a different tool.

How to Find Dropshipping Products Safely With Terapeak

Use Terapeak to confirm demand and a separate supplier-side tool to find products you can actually source. The order matters: supply first, then demand check, then list.

• Start from supplier products you can ship. The SuperDS Product Finder works from this side. The Product Finder algorithm picks products that are selling well at the supplier right now, drops anything on the SuperDS VeRO list, and shows each product's supplier cost and recent supplier sales. Each product you order is reserved to you, so no other SuperDS seller gets the same one.
• Check eBay demand in Terapeak. Search the product, set the last 90 days, read the average sold price, sell-through and top listings.
• Do the buy-price math. Average sold price, minus the final value fee, minus your target profit, has to be above the supplier cost.
• Import and list. In SuperDS, Import as draft builds the eBay listing from the live supplier page with your pricing strategy applied.

The Product Finder is part of every SuperDS plan, from $29.99 a month on Basic; each product costs 25 SuperDS coins, and coin packs start at $4.99 for 500 coins. It is not a general eBay analytics suite: it won't track a competitor's store or show 3 years of eBay history. Pair it with Terapeak, don't replace Terapeak with it.

Best Terapeak Alternatives in 2026

No alternative has Terapeak's data source, because eBay doesn't share its transaction records with outside tools. Third-party tools compete by adding what Terapeak lacks: competitor tracking, supplier matching or a faster workflow.

Prices checked November 2026 from each tool's pricing page.

ZIK Analytics

ZIK Analytics is a paid eBay research suite built around competitor tracking. You enter any eBay seller and see their best-selling items, plus product, niche and keyword research. ZIK's sales figures are estimates built from listing data, not eBay's transaction records, so check a big decision against Terapeak before you commit. Pick ZIK if your strategy is finding and following successful eBay stores.

SuperDS Product Finder

The SuperDS Product Finder starts from the supplier side, which is the half Terapeak doesn't cover. It suits eBay dropshippers who want products they can import as drafts the same day. Its real gaps: SuperDS does not place supplier orders for you (Orders sync copies the eBay order so you place it with the supplier), the Product Finder sources from one supplier today, and it gives no eBay sales history. Use Terapeak for that.

eBay sold listings filter

The sold listings filter is the fastest free check: search eBay, tick Sold items, read the prices. It covers about 90 days and makes you do the math. Fine for a single item, slow for a product decision.

Google Trends

Google Trends is free and answers one question well: is interest in this product rising, falling or seasonal? It knows nothing about eBay prices or competition, but 30 seconds there can save you from stocking last year's fad.

Which to pick: if you resell thrift or wholesale stock, Terapeak plus the sold filter covers most of what you need. If you build your strategy on studying competitor stores, add ZIK. If you dropship on eBay, use Terapeak for demand and the Product Finder for supply, and skip paying for two overlapping research suites.

Terapeak Quick-Start Checklist

• Open Seller Hub, then Research, then Product research (or the Selling tab in the app)
• Search like a buyer, then tighten with -word, OR and a UPC or MPN where you have one
• Set the last 90 days for price and sell-through; 1 year for seasonality
• Filter condition and format to match how you'll sell
• Compare the Sold tab average with the Active tab average
• Open the top five sold listings and note price, photos, title structure and shipping
• Work out the most you can pay: sold price minus 13.6% final value fee minus target profit
• Dropshipping? Confirm a wholesale supplier ships it and the brand isn't on a VeRO risk list before you list