Why do some items get a sudden spike in sales?

[chris100]

Out of 100 or so items i list, there are some which definitely sell more frequently (while other item's i'd consider as better or equal get passed by)

I sometimes get a spate of new customers buying the same item. An item that has been listed for a while suddenly gets a spike of sales from nowhere.

I'm assuming this is down to exposure? A few sales increases an item's exposure leading to even more sales in a short period?

I don't really want to list more than 100 items (flying under the radar) so was thinking of culling the oldest 10 before adding 10 fresh items.
However, if there is a pattern of Amazon listings getting more exposure and sales from being 'long established'...then this might be a foolish way to proceed?

In short, if i close a listing for a while....will i be losing a possible sales ranking (and therefore lessen future sales when i relist?)

[SaiJin]

This depends on your ranking and competition. And a lot of times it just doesn't make sense

[dallis]

You just won the Best Match Sweepstakes, but don't hold your breath, tomorrow EB may turn off the tap for months.

[phaz0rz]

^^^*Amazon

[Beautiful]

It can happen randomly if say a few of the top sellers run out of stock and you happen to be the next one up

Maybe you briefly got buy box on some listings that normally had others

You can't really predict these things and they do happen from time to time