Method

Not a black box — here is exactly how every number is calculated.

What does AltaTrend measure?

We track the speed at which sellers list new products by topic, across multiple marketplaces at once (currently Amazon + eBay, expanding). A topic is a cluster of products around the same idea — formed automatically by grouping (clustering) similar titles. The trends sellers are piling into fastest surface before they saturate.

The signals

Velocity

The number of new products entering a topic each day (smoothed over the most recent window). This is a trend's heartbeat.

Saturation

How far a topic has already been taken over by long-standing best-seller shelves — measured by keyword overlap with Best Sellers. High = crowded, hard to break in.

Opportunity Score

Opportunity = velocity × (1 − saturation). A trend rising fast + not yet saturated = the freshest opportunity. This is the feed's primary ranking column.

Trend Score

A display score of 0–100 (an easy-to-read curve) — it doesn't change the ranking, it's just to sense how hot something is.

Topic lifecycle

candidate → new → rising → watch → stable → cooling. State changes with age + velocity acceleration: just discovered (candidate), confirmed (new), accelerating (rising), going sideways (watch/stable), cooling down (cooling).

Cross-marketplace

A trend that appears simultaneously on multiple marketplaces is a far stronger signal than one on a single marketplace — it shows real demand, not local noise. Each topic clearly shows which marketplaces it appears on.

Trademark safety

Each topic is checked against active apparel trademarks (USPTO Class 25). If a topic's phrase matches a trademark, we attach a ⚠ / ⛔ TM warning and name the trademark.

For reference only — not legal advice. An official search before printing in bulk still requires a lawyer (USPTO + EUIPO).

Data sources

Amazon (New Releases = velocity, Best Sellers = saturation) and eBay (Browse API). Updated ~6×/day. Expanding to add Etsy and other marketplaces.