eBay Advertising has launched its 2026 UK Marketing Trends Calendar, positioning it as a practical planning tool for brands and sellers who want to time campaigns around when shoppers are most likely to buy – not just when the retail diary says they should.
Built from an analysis of UK marketplace data, the calendar maps out major seasonal moments, emerging micro-trends and high-intent shopping windows across the year, with the goal of helping advertisers stay visible and perform strongly during peak periods.
Rather than treating demand as unpredictable, the calendar is framed as a “pattern spotter”: a way to anticipate the repeatable surges that show up year after year, and to plan earlier than competitors who wait for the rush to arrive.
Turning Marketplace Behaviour into a Planning Advantage
At the heart of the calendar is a simple promise: demand doesn’t spike at random.
According to eBay’s leadership, the difference in 2026 is the level of discipline required to capitalise on those predictable moments. Planning cycles are getting longer, competition for attention is getting fiercer, and brands that build stock, creative and budgets around proven surges are more likely to win the click – and the basket.
The company’s Senior Director of Enterprise Seller Development & Brands underlined that buyer behaviour follows clear seasonal rhythms, and that sellers now need to prepare earlier and more deliberately.
The calendar, they said, uses marketplace signals to show when demand typically rises across categories – so brands can show up at the moments that matter most.
What the Demand Spikes Look Like Across the Year
The calendar doesn’t just highlight tentpole events; it zooms into the specific products that surge at specific times – the kind of detail that’s easy to miss until it’s too late. Several examples illustrate how practical and granular these shifts can be.
In Electronics, demand for SIM card accessories rose by +76% across January to February, which eBay attributes to a post-gifting “setup phase”. After the festive rush, shoppers aren’t done spending – they’re activating new phones, optimising devices, and buying the smaller add-ons that complete the upgrade.
For advertisers, it’s a reminder that Q1 can be less about big-ticket items and more about the supporting cast that follows.
In Collectables, the calendar flags a striking February spike: Sealed Sticker Cases increase by +500%, driven by post-Christmas collecting behaviour.
In other words, the gifting season creates a wave of new collectors – and the follow-on demand arrives weeks later, when people start building sets, chasing rares, or buying sealed formats for long-term value.
In Fashion, sunglasses rise +32% in April, aligning with longer daylight hours and warmer weather.
It’s a neat example of how “seasonal” doesn’t always mean a national holiday; sometimes it’s simply the point in the year when people look in the mirror, look at the forecast, and decide their wardrobe needs a small refresh.
In Home & Garden, repellents and deterrents climb +119% in May, ahead of peak insect season and increased travel.
This is classic pre-emptive shopping: customers don’t wait until the problem becomes unbearable – they buy when they anticipate the first wave of it. The opportunity here is to lead the category early, when urgency is building but competition may still be ramping up.
In Parts & Accessories, demand for leak detection tools rises +158% across July to September, linked to higher vehicle usage and preventative checks during peak summer travel.
The calendar’s point is clear: when the roads get busier, maintenance gets more serious – and shoppers become more proactive about small tools that prevent big disruptions.
Why This Matters for 2026 Marketing Performance
Taken together, these patterns tell a broader story about how people shop now: they move in bursts, they act on small moments of intention, and they reward the brands that anticipate their next step.
A calendar like this is designed to influence more than just ad scheduling – it can shape stock planning, promotional timing, creative themes, landing page priorities and even which products get featured in bundles.
And because the insights are drawn from what customers are actively doing in-market, the calendar is being presented as a performance tool as much as a trend report: plan earlier, align to intent, and be visible when demand lifts.
Conclusion: Predicting Peaks Instead of Chasing Them
With its 2026 United Kingdom Marketing Trends Calendar, eBay Advertising is effectively telling sellers to stop treating demand as a surprise and start treating it as a repeatable pattern.
By using UK marketplace data to spotlight seasonal surges – from SIM accessories in early Q1 to leak detection tools in late summer – the calendar aims to help brands plan with more confidence, arrive earlier to high-intent moments, and maximise results when shoppers are ready to buy.
In a year where attention is expensive and competition is constant, the advantage may simply go to the sellers who prepare before the peak, not during it.
