Online shopping for the holiday season began in earnest over the weekend in the U.S., with Apple’s iPod nano music players, LeapFrog Enterprise Inc.’s Fly Pentop Computer, and point-and-shoot digital cameras among the hottest items, according to eBay Inc.
Sales of black iPod nano 4GB music players shot up 95 percent, while the white version leaped 88 percent between Friday, Nov. 25, and Saturday Nov. 26, compared to a week earlier, according to eBay Marketplace Research, an eBay service that tracks purchasing behavior.
Eastman Kodak Co.’s new 5.0 to 5.9-megapixel digital cameras were also hot items during the two days, with sales leaping 163 percent compared to the same time a week earlier, eBay said.
Sales of Fly Pentop Computers, pens that can keep a schedule, play music, calculate math problems, translate languages and more, increased a more modest 31 percent, similar to Star Wars Lego sets, which rose 35 percent, eBay said.