eBay released data today showing collectibles trends it identified using eBay marketplace data from 2025. In recent years, it has invested heavily in returning to its roots as a place to buy and sell collectibles as part of its focus category strategy, including acquisitions of auction house Goldin, marketplace TCG Player, and sneaker authentication service Sneaker Con. It has also attempted to take advantage of the popularity of live-streaming commerce with the launch of eBay Live.
eBay Collected is a “year-end shoppable trend report highlighting the athletes, characters, and artifacts that captured global attention and drove collector demand in 2025,” eBay said.
Adam Ireland, eBay’s head of Global Collectibles, was quoted in the announcement: “For 30 years, eBay has been the destination for collectors and fans to find, sell, and shop for the things they love, and it’s fascinating to watch trends emerge and evolve. This year saw collectors seeking blind boxes and rare Labubus, search spikes for rookie talent alongside demand for icons like Shohei Ohtani staying strong, and of course, the continued popularity of Pokémon across vintage cards and new releases.”
If the executive’s name sounds familiar to readers, it’s because Ireland had headed eBay Americas Operations from 2019 through August 2022 when he was then named head of eBay US Market. Last year, he was appointed Vice President and General Manager of Global Collectibles.
Included in the eBay Collected page is a list of the top-10 collectibles searches of 2025 “based on searches in eBay.com’s Collectibles category from January-October 2025”:
Pokémon
LEGO Star Wars
Pokémon Cards
Hot Wheels
LEGO
Pokémon PSA 10
PSA 10
Michael Jordan
PSA
Football Cards
Trading cards – especially sports-related cards, has been a priority for eBay within the collectibles focus category. eBay reported that, “Compared to five years ago, a diverse array of sports cards captured attention in 2025, fueling surges in resale value” and gave the following examples:
AVERAGE SALES PRICE INCREASED BY:
WNBA: +130%
WWE: +125%
NHL: +40%
F1: +35%
eBay said it based the percentages on average sales price (in US dollars) of global sold items in eBay’s Trading Cards category from January-September 2025 vs. January-September 2020.
In covering today’s release of the data, Sports Illustrated noted, “Despite a year filled with breakout rookies and viral trends, the top-searched collectible terms of 2025 were dominated by brands and categories such as Pokémon, LEGO Star Wars, and PSA. The lone athlete to crack the top 10 was Michael Jordan, underscoring his unparalleled longevity and influence in the hobby.”
