eBay Exposes America's Pop Culture Obsessions in 2007

By snapping up everything from a toothbrush taken from Paris Hilton's trash to an O.J. Simpson rubber Halloween mask, Americans turned pop culture obsessions into commerce this year* on eBay where you can find and win practically anything.

By examining the volume of items sold relating to pop culture phenomena in categories ranging from celebrity scandals to blockbuster films to tech gadgets, eBay has identified exactly what Americans were most fascinated by in 2007.

"What Americans buy and sell every day is one of the best indications of what they're obsessed with," says Karen Bard, eBay's pop culture expert. "When someone or something is being written about in tabloids or reported about on CNN, if it revs up the American public, you're bound to discover a bidding frenzy for related listings on eBay."

America's Obsessions

Hot, Hard-to-Get Tech: Despite the iPhone frenzy that swept the nation this year, Apple's iPod remained the number-one gadget on eBay, with 2,781,243 iPod-related items sold. There were 532,390 Nintendo Wii-related items sold, followed by 272,852 Sony PlayStation 3-related items and 158,132 Apple iPhone-related items. Additionally, 96,508 Guitar Hero-related items were sold, 63,851 Microsoft Xbox 360-related items were sold and 50,182 Halo 3-related items were sold.

* The data is based on listings that included the key terms in the listing title across all categories from Jan. 1, 2007, to Nov. 19, 2007.

SOURCE: eBay Inc.