> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.8bitedge.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Use demand signals to find what retro game buyers want > Learn how to use the 8bitedge Demand & Intent API to identify trending games, unmet search demand, and condition-level buyer preferences. The 8bitedge Demand & Intent API translates buyer behavior into actionable seller signals. Rather than guessing what to stock or how to price, you can read directly from the data — clicks to eBay, price-alert watches, and search queries — to understand what retro buyers want right now. This guide walks through every demand endpoint and maps each one to a concrete seller question. All demand endpoints require the **`demand-intent.read`** scope on your API key. Requests with a key missing this scope receive `403 insufficient_scope`. ## What's a demand signal? Every demand endpoint is built from one of three underlying signal types, or a combination of them. **Intent** — a buyer clicked through to an eBay listing. This is the strongest proxy for purchase intent available without transaction data. Intent rows carry: * `redirects` — total click-throughs in the period * `distinct_users` — unique buyer reach * `mobile_share` — fraction of intent from mobile devices (useful for listing-format decisions) **Watch** — a buyer saved a price-alert notification for a title. This captures *latent* or unmet demand: buyers who want the game but haven't found a price they'll pay. Represented as `watch_count`. **Momentum** — a derived signal that measures whether interest is accelerating. It compares the recent daily pace to the 30-day baseline. Labels: * `rising` — recent pace is at least 20% faster than the 30-day baseline (momentum value 1.2 or above) * `steady` — recent pace is within 20% of the baseline (between 0.8 and 1.2) * `cooling` — recent pace has slipped more than 20% below baseline (below 0.8) * `null` / `unknown` — no 30-day baseline is available yet **Demand score** — a single 0–100 index that blends all three signals into one number. Weights: intent 50%, reach 20%, watch demand 30%. Scores are normalized within the current period and console scope, so the top game always scores 100. *** ## "What should I stock?" Use the **demand leaderboard** to see which games have the highest buyer activity across the platform. ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/games" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` By default the endpoint returns the top games for the last 7 days, sorted by redirect intent. Each row in the response looks like this: ```json theme={null} { "rank": 1, "game": { "id": 412, "name": "Chrono Trigger", "slug": "chrono-trigger", "console_id": 19, "console_name": "Nintendo SNES" }, "intent": { "redirects": 980, "distinct_users": 712, "mobile_share": 0.41 }, "watch": { "watch_count": 64 }, "momentum": { "value": 1.4, "label": "rising" }, "pricing": { "loose": "40.00", "complete": "95.50", "new": "300.00" }, "demand_score": 100 } ``` **Sorting options** — use `?sort=` to change how the leaderboard is ranked: | Value | Ranks by | Best for | | ------------------ | ------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | | `intent` (default) | Redirect volume | Finding the highest-traffic titles to source immediately | | `watches` | Watch count descending | Finding titles buyers want but can't yet find at the right price | | `momentum` | Momentum ratio descending | Getting ahead of demand before it fully peaks | ```bash theme={null} # Sort by watches (latent demand) curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/games?sort=watches" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq # Sort by momentum (fastest-rising first) curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/games?sort=momentum" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` *** ## "How is this specific game performing?" Use the **game profile** endpoint to pull all three time periods — `day`, `7d`, and `30d` — side by side for a single title. Pass the game's numeric `id` (from a catalog lookup or leaderboard row) as the path parameter. ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/games/412" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` ```json theme={null} { "data": { "game": { "id": 412, "name": "Chrono Trigger", "console_name": "Nintendo SNES" }, "pricing": { "loose": "40.00", "complete": "95.50", "new": "300.00" }, "periods": { "day": { "redirects": 140, "distinct_users": 121, "watch_count": 9, "rank": 2 }, "7d": { "redirects": 980, "distinct_users": 712, "watch_count": 64, "rank": 1 }, "30d": { "redirects": 3120, "distinct_users": 2380, "watch_count": 210, "rank": 1 } }, "momentum": { "value": 1.4, "label": "rising" } } } ``` The endpoint returns `404` if the game ID is unknown or disabled. *** ## "What's heating up?" Use the **trending** endpoint to see games whose recent daily pace most exceeds their 30-day baseline. The response has the same leaderboard row shape as `/demand-intent/games`, but `sort` is forced to `momentum` — you cannot override it here. ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/trending" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` Trending is most useful for getting ahead of demand before it fully peaks. A `rising` game today is often a `rank 1` game next week. *** ## "What are buyers waiting for?" Use the **watched** endpoint to find games with high watch counts even when redirect intent is relatively low. These are titles where buyer demand exists but supply — or price — hasn't yet met it. ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/watched" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` The response uses the same row shape as the leaderboard. The key difference from the standard leaderboard: this endpoint is built from the watch table first. Redirect intent is left-joined and shown, but may be zero — a game can appear here even if no one has clicked through to eBay recently, as long as buyers are setting price alerts for it. High watch count + low redirects is the clearest supply-gap signal in the API: buyers exist and are waiting, but aren't finding listings they'll act on. *** ## "What condition should I sell in?" Condition demand is available at three levels of granularity. ### Per-game condition breakdown To find out whether buyers for a specific title want it loose, complete-in-box, new, or don't have a preference: ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/games/412/conditions" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` The response returns all four conditions (`loose`, `cib`, `new`, `any`) sorted by rank, each with `watch_count`, `condition_share` (this condition's fraction of all alerts for the game), `distinct_users`, and `mobile_share`. The `any` condition represents buyers who set alerts without specifying a condition — they are effectively condition-indifferent. ### Market-wide condition mix To understand what condition the broader market is searching for right now: ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/searches/conditions" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` This returns an aggregate across all active searches — not tied to any single game — showing `condition_share` for each condition. Use this to inform your sourcing strategy at the portfolio level. ### Top games wanted in a specific condition To see which games buyers most want in a particular condition, use `/demand-intent/conditions/{condition}`: ```bash theme={null} # What are buyers most wanting CIB? curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/conditions/cib" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq # What are buyers most wanting loose? curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/conditions/loose" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` Valid values for `{condition}` are `loose`, `cib`, `new`, and `any`. The endpoint returns `404` for any other value. Rankings restart within each condition, so the same game can rank first in CIB and fifth in loose. *** ## Search demand Search demand is keyed by **free-text query** rather than game ID, because a single search like "chrono trigger snes" spans many potential listings across the catalog. Use these endpoints to understand what buyers are actively typing — and where supply gaps exist. ```bash theme={null} # Full search leaderboard, sorted by volume (default) curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/searches" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` **Sorting options:** | Value | Ranks by | Best for | | ------------------ | ---------------------------- | -------------------------------------- | | `volume` (default) | Combined search count | Highest-traffic queries overall | | `momentum` | 7d-vs-30d search pace | Searches gaining traction fast | | `unmet` | Zero-result share descending | Supply gaps and sourcing opportunities | **Quick-access views** — these are pre-sorted shortcuts that use the same response shape as `/searches`: ```bash theme={null} # Rising searches (momentum-sorted) curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/searches/trending" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq # High-volume searches returning little or nothing (supply gap signal) curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/searches/unmet" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` `/searches/unmet` is one of the most actionable endpoints for sourcing decisions. A query with high `search_count` and high `zero_result_share` tells you buyers are actively looking for something the platform can't supply — find that inventory and list it. *** ## "Which platforms are hot?" Use the **console leaderboard** to see which platforms have the most buyer activity overall. This is useful if you trade across multiple systems and want to focus your sourcing budget on the most active markets. ```bash theme={null} curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/consoles" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` Each row in the response includes the console's `rank`, redirect `intent` (volume and distinct-user reach), and `momentum`. The leaderboard can be sorted by `intent` (default) or `momentum`. To filter the game-level leaderboards by a specific platform, use the `console_id` values returned here. *** ## Filtering by console Most demand list endpoints accept a `?console_id=` parameter to focus the results on a single platform. This is useful when you specialize in a particular console or want to compare demand within one ecosystem. ```bash theme={null} # Top SNES games (console_id 19) by demand curl -s "https://api.8bitedge.com/api/v1/demand-intent/games?console_id=19" \ -H "Authorization: Bearer $TOKEN" | jq ``` Use the `/consoles` endpoint to look up valid console IDs. *** ## Period and date parameters All demand list endpoints accept two time-control parameters: | Parameter | Values | Default | Notes | | --------- | ------------------ | --------------- | --------------------------- | | `period` | `day`, `7d`, `30d` | `7d` | Time window for the metrics | | `date` | ISO date string | Latest computed | Override the reference date | The response `meta` always includes the resolved `period`, `period_date`, and `sort` so you can confirm which window your data reflects. *** ## Next steps Full reference for all `/demand-intent/games` endpoints and their parameters. Full reference for `/demand-intent/searches`, trending, and unmet endpoints. Full reference for condition breakdown and per-condition game rankings. Full reference for the console leaderboard and console profiles.