The sale of heritage on eBay

Market trends and cultural value

Bibliographic Data

ID5260576
AuthorsMark Altaweel (0000-0003-1807-3737, University College London, corresponding author), Tasoula Georgiou Hadjitofi (Walk of Truth, The Hague, Netherlands), Tasoula Hadjitofi
Year2020
Volume7
Issue2
Publication date2020-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBig Data & Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2053-9517 • E-ISSN: 2053-9517
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2053951720968865
OpenAlexW3100729239
LanguageEN
Citations received8
References cited30

The marketisation of heritage has been a major topic of interest among heritage specialists studying how the online marketplace shapes sales. Missing from that debate is a large-scale analysis seeking to understand market trends on popular selling platforms such as eBay. Sites such as eBay can inform what heritage items are of interest to the wider public, and thus what is potentially of greater cultural value, while also demonstrating monetary value trends. To better understand the sale of heritage on eBay's international site, this work applies named entity recognition using conditional random fields, a method within natural language processing, and word dictionaries that inform on market trends. The methods demonstrate how Western markets, particularly the US and UK, have dominated sales for different cultures. Roman, Egyptian, Viking (Norse/Dane) and Near East objects are sold the most. Surprisingly, Cyprus and Egypt, two countries with relatively strict prohibition against the sale of heritage items, make the top 10 selling countries on eBay. Objects such as jewellery, statues and figurines, and religious items sell in relatively greater numbers, while masks and vessels (e.g. vases) sell at generally higher prices. Metal, stone and terracotta are commonly sold materials. More rare materials, such as those made of ivory, papyrus or wood, have relatively higher prices. Few sellers dominate the market, where in some months 40% of sales are controlled by the top 10 sellers. The tool used for the study is freely provided, demonstrating benefits in an automated approach to understanding sale trends

Advertising · Archaeology · Business · Commerce · Cultural heritage · Economics · Economy · Archaeological Research and Protection · Art History and Market Analysis · Computer Science · Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification · History · Marketing

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Open DOIOpen Access