A WIN-WIN Scenario On eBay For Buyer/Sellers: Tips For Hunting Want It Now Postings

"Ask And You Shall Receive" Policy Works!

You're one-of-a-kind baby clothes sat for the last month on eBay with no buyer. Why? Perhaps your item is so specialized that buyers have a hard time finding you. After all, how many buyers are looking for a handmade rubber ducky sweatshirt for an infant? You'd be surprised, if you knew the right venues to bring those buyers to you. Maybe sitting around eBay with your item listing isn't the right approach. Perhaps what you should be doing is going out there and finding your buyer!

Until now, the only option on eBay was to hope someone would make general searches for items and stores like yours. However, many Buyers get lost in the great web that makes up eBay. Fortunately, for these Buyers, they have a new route to explore - "Want It Now", or also affectionately known as WIN.

The easiest way to enter "Want It Now" on eBay is by going directly to "Want It Now" online (http://pages.ebay.com/wantitnow/). Once you enter the home page of WIN, you can either enter as a Buyer making a post or as a Seller browsing postings. The steps from there follow the basic eBay protocol.

The beauty of "Want It Now" is Buyers can list their requests, referred to as posting, for free at this eBay special service. The Buyer's posting fits into one of over 30 categories. Inside these postings, many Buyers include an exact description of this wanted item, along with purchasing restrictions. Rather than wasting their time searching through pages and pages of general Seller listing for the exact item that they really want, these Buyers are hoping a Seller notices their "classified want ad" and points them in the right direction.

Sellers have long believed that in the eBay listing practice of "If you build it, buyers will come". However, in the highly competitive market of eBay, sitting still in one spot can lead to sitting still in one spot for a really, really long time. A wise Seller is willing to go out and find his customer and make a deal that increases the odds for a quick turn-around. "Want It Now" is chalk-full of Buyers who truly are looking for what you're selling. Simply put, WIN is an eager market of willing customers. The cost for a Buyer to browse around these classified ads is free and the benefits are outstanding if you can convince a Seller of your match.

"Want It Now" hasn't been around a long time, under a year; still, this format's concept is an old familiar one. Many people's perception of this service is it's a lot like an auction, whereby bidders ask what's available before the actual sale to get a feel for what's out there. Other people compare this set-up to a newspaper's classified want ads, whereby someone is searching for a service or product and wants the sellers to come compete for their business. Even though "Want It Now" is packed with numerous categories, the best performing categories from the Seller/Buyer perspective is for highly specialized products & services (such as tickets and collectibles), highly sought-after items (such as electronics and clothing), and extreme deals (such as used book & CDs and bulk shopping).

Below is a sample of some WIN categories:

Antiques; Art; Books; Business & Industrial; Camera & Photo; Cell Phones; Clothing, Shoes & Accessories; Coins; Collectibles; Computers & Networking; Consumer Electronics; Crafts; Dolls & Bears; DVDs & Movies; Entertainment Memorabilia; Gift Certificates; Health & Beauty; Home & Garden; Jewelry & Watches; Music; Music Instruments; Pottery & Glass; Real Estate; Sporting Goods; Sports Memorabilia, Cards & Fan Shop; Stamps; Tickets; Toys & Hobbies; Travel; Video Games; Everything Else; and eBay Motors.

The primary reason that Buyers use WIN is to find a match. For a Seller who works on commission, "Want It Now" is a ripe venue for drawing very interested customers into your eBay store. Much like a special mailing announces a busyness's presence, informing a Buyer of your services and items on eBay is employing WIN as a valuable marketing tool. Upon checking out a Buyer's posting, the Seller has the ability to "respond" to the posting. Responding entails entering your product or service's item number from eBay. The Buyer then receives an email regarding this item number and has the prerogative of following up or not on this lead.

Do you want to know if a market does exist for your service or product? WIN is one way to conduct an easy and inexpensive informal market research. A Seller curious about what's hot or in demand can quickly scan these posting for confirmation. What could be better for a new business or reviving an existing business than staying ahead of on up and coming trends!

Although from the Seller's perspective, "Want It Now" requires a more assertive approach to finding Buyers than waiting around in your tiny corner of eBay, Sellers can use WIN to their advantage and improve their profits. Buyers like the ease of using WIN and not fiddling around with potentially getting an item that doesn't meet their needs. After all, what could be better than a source that announces your intentions clear and loud to a captive audience!

Jackie McCutcheon is the author of a new eBook titled "What to Sell on eBay to Make a Pretty Penny," a step-by-step guide to increasing your eBay profits. Learn more: http://www.jackiemccutcheon.com

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