The Home and Garden category attracts millions of buyers across the platform’s marketplaces and is currently one of the key contributors to eBay’s growing annual GMV.
Still, seasonality is one of the category’s primary drivers, as its search volume peaks in March, with keyword searches hitting 37 million in regional markets like the UK.
Yard, Garden, and Patio searches on eBay’s US market increase by 70% MoM between March and April, while during the same period, the search volume in this subcategory rises by 55% on the German market.
Although products in this category are in demand, reaching potential buyers and establishing a strong presence on your domestic or international marketplaces within the category is becoming increasingly challenging, as the category currently features between 150 and 250 million active listings.
Let’s look at the best-selling Home and Garden subcategories, explore how seasonality impacts sales in this category, and look at the tips to manage your eBay business more efficiently.
Key takeaways
- On average, eBay sellers need between six and twelve months to secure a steady stream of sales in the Home & Garden category.
- Active small businesses in the Home & Garden category generate roughly $1,450 in monthly revenue, while high-volume stores can generate between $5,000 and $15,000.
- Roughly four-fifths of total annual outdoor living sales on eBay occur in a tight five-month window between March and July.
- Around 20% of Home & Garden products sold on eBay throughout the year are in Used or Refurbished condition.
- Adding the Open Box Warranty badge to Home & Garden product listings provides quality assurance for potential buyers and increases conversion rates by 15% to 30%.
The overview of eBay’s Home & Garden category
The rising popularity of the Home & Garden category can be traced back to the global pandemic. During that period, the searches for DIY kits, power tools, home maintenance gear, or seeds increased dramatically, creating ample growth opportunities for sellers.
Years later, Home & Garden is one of the platform’s fastest-growing product categories. However, its continued growth is fueled by price-conscious shoppers who adopt sustainable living trends and favor refurbished and pre-owned products over new ones.
eBay’s recently released Recommerce Report reveals that 35% of the platform’s users worldwide buy pre-loved items at least once per month.
Still, only 13% of sellers in the Home & Garden category cite passion as the primary driver for including pre-owned products in their inventories.
This statistic shows that most sellers within the category are motivated by utility, inventory turnover, giving products a second life, and increasing their revenue.
Let’s take a closer look at Home & Garden subcategories that consistently attract a vast volume of buyers and generate high overall sales.
The best-selling Home & Garden subcategories
The category features over twenty primary subcategories, including Home Décor, Yard, Garden, & Outdoor Living, and Major Appliances, that attract millions of sellers worldwide.
The Average Order Value (AOV) varies by subcategory, as items from the Major Appliances or Furniture subcategories generally have a higher AOV than products from Lamps, Lighting, and Ceiling Fans or Bedding subcategories.
Here’s a quick overview of the best-selling Home & Garden subcategories on eBay.
Yard, Garden, & Outdoor Living
Patio furniture, grills, mowers, and seeds are some of the most sought-after products in this subcategory, and the primary reason the Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living is the most profitable subcategory in terms of total GMV in the Home & Garden category.
The high sales volume is driven by seasonality, as the demand for products from this subcategory traditionally peaks in Q2 and Q3.
Furthermore, refurbished outdoor power tools like pressure washers and trimmers have high turnover due to the platform’s Open Box program, which enables sellers to build trust and move high-value items at high volume.
Power Tools & Workshop Equipment
Unlike products from the Yard, Garden & Outdoor living subcategory that draw seasonal interest, items from the Tool & Workshop subcategory attract year-round interest.
Power tool sets, hand tools, and air compressors are just a few of the countless products in this subcategory that generate high AOVs year-round, enabling sellers to secure steady revenue streams.
Furthermore, this Home & Garden subcategory offers plenty of room for growth to sellers featuring refurbished products in their inventory.
Home Improvement (DIY)
As a natural magnet for shoppers undergoing structural home maintenance or overhauls of their home’s electrical installations, the Home Improvement subcategory offers a steady demand for products like roofing materials, circuit breakers, and smoke detectors throughout the year.
Consequently, sellers in this subcategory can scale their sales more quickly because seasonality doesn’t significantly impact demand for their products.
Still, the subcategory’s AOV ranges from $40 to $180, which is why sellers must use volume-bundling techniques to protect their profit margins.
Navigating the Home & Garden category’s seasonal demand cycles
As noted earlier, sales in the Home & Garden category are driven by seasonal spikes in product demand.
The search volume for snowblowers jumps by 102% throughout January and February, while the swimming pool queries grow by 123% between May and July. On the other hand, shoppers often buy items like patio furniture and gardening tools in the off-season to get better prices.
Anticipating these seasonal shifts is paramount for Home & Garden sellers, as it enables them to ensure their best-selling items are in stock before the demand for specific products spikes.
In other words, to maximize their profit, sellers in this category must follow the seasonal ebbs and flows of product demand to ensure their products are ready to reach buyers when they’re most likely to buy.
Sellers can lessen the impact of seasonality on their revenue by diversifying their inventories across multiple Home & Garden subcategories.
However, spreading the product portfolio over too many subcategories can dilute a store’s focus and make it more difficult to build niche authority.
Recommerce in the Home & Garden category
eBay’s Recommerce Report shows a significant shift in consumer behavior, with 68% of consumers saying they feel good about giving an item a second life.
Still, for most consumers, saving money is the primary reason for purchasing pre-loved products.
According to the same report, 40% of eBay’s GMV since 2024 has been generated by sales of preloved and refurbished products. Hence, for Home & Garden sellers, recommerce offers a huge growth channel.
Tapping into this trend by adding open-box power tools or pre-owned patio furniture to their inventories can benefit Home & Garden sellers by attracting price-conscious shoppers.
A look at recent data shows that over a third of eBay shoppers purchase pre-owned products monthly, and that millennials and Gen Z consumers plan to increase their spending on pre-owned items.
That’s why, including refurbished or pre-loved items in their inventories can help sellers capture a younger audience that regularly searches for products in Open-Box or Used conditions.
The impact of sustainability on sales in the Home & Garden category
Although most consumers buying second-hand products are motivated by savings, 45% of shoppers cite sustainability and waste reduction as key reasons for purchasing pre-owned items.
What’s more, green keywords, like reclaimed wood or upcycled, attract significant organic traffic and can help merchants improve the positioning of their product listings in the search results.
Over the last couple of years, eBay has shifted its focus toward circular commerce, which has unlocked major growth opportunities for sellers in the Home & Garden and other high-grossing product categories.
Adapting to these consumer preferences allows sellers to capitalize on a rapidly growing market segment that equally values savings and sustainability. Additionally, the platform favors circular economics by offering incentives to sellers who embrace the recommerce model.
- Regional fee reduction: From July 2026, sellers with business accounts on eBay’s German domain will benefit from a flat 5% Final Value Fee for eligible Used condition items, while private sellers from Germany have already been exempt from Final Value Fees for such items since 2023.
- Trust badges and warranties: In addition to reducing Final Value Fees for pre-owned items, eBay launched the Certified Open Box program in May 2025 to encourage recommerce across its marketplaces. Home & Garden sellers who meet the eligibility criteria can use Open Box product listings to build trust and increase conversion rates.
5 Tips for scaling an eBay business in the Home & Garden category
The shifting fee structure and the emergence of new programs that make it easier for businesses to establish trust are clear signs of eBay’s dedication to making its marketplaces recommerce-friendly.
Using the incentives eBay offers makes starting or scaling a brand in the Home & Garden category smoother, but to achieve sustained growth, merchants must find ways to remain competitive in this fiercely competitive category.
Let’s take a quick look at the tips that can help Home & Garden sellers to grow their businesses.
- Build relationships with local or regional wholesaler liquidators – Direct sourcing gives sellers access to lower cost-per-unit inventory that can be stored locally in their target market, cutting shipping costs and boosting profit margins on every order.
- Avoid shipping penalties by standardizing warehouse packaging – Around 30% of online shoppers report delivery issues with their Home & Garden orders. Standardizing 3 to 5 box sizes across inventory speeds up fulfillment, protects the eBay Late Shipment Rate, which must stay under 3% for Top Rated status, and prevents costly post-sale carrier rate adjustments.
- Increase your profit margins with replacement parts and components – Don’t discard damaged or incomplete inventory. Harvesting individual OEM components from non-functional lawn tools, outdoor appliances, or furniture can help you increase your profit margins. Replacement parts command up to 80% gross margins, ship cheaply in small boxes, and capture high-intent search traffic from DIY buyers.
- Review your inventory to capture eBay’s structured tiers for pre-owned items – Defaulting to a generic “Used” tag for all second-hand inventory can cause them to be filtered out of search results. Categorizing items accurately under eBay’s structured condition descriptors, such as Certified Refurbished, Open Box, or Used – Excellent, unlocks higher search visibility.
- Utilize automation to facilitate international expansion – Success in the Home & Garden category often depends on the volume of inventory turnover. Webinterpret and other eBay listing tools automate the process of creating and localizing listings of new inventory additions, enabling sellers to scale their operations on domestic and international eBay marketplaces.
Building a Home & Garden business on eBay
All signs indicate that eBay’s Home & Garden category will continue to grow through the end of the decade, driven by the rising popularity of recommerce and steady demand for home improvement items, power tools, surveillance cameras, smart lighting, and other smart home devices.
Home & Garden remains one of the most competitive categories on eBay, so to keep up with competitors, businesses must adapt to the category’s micro-trends, such as seasonality and recommerce, and optimize their operations to emphasize efficiency.
Did you know that over 4,000 of Webinterpret’s users are sellers in the Home & Garden category? Schedule a call to find out how you can increase your sales in this category with Webinterpret.
About Webinterpret
Webinterpret supports merchants selling on eBay.
Our AI-based solutions enable more effective selling through automated listing localisation, optimisation, advertising, and returns, and ensure all products placed on EU markets are GPSR-compliant.
By giving your international and domestic customers a full, end-to-end local shopping experience, Webinterpret improves your conversion rates and helps establish your business locally and globally.
