Saving Searches in My eBay For Those Harder-to-Find Items
by Jim 'Griff' Griffith
eBay Staff Member

Q. Is there a way to "ask" for an item? What I mean is if you are in need of an item and it is not listed for sale or on auction, how can I put the word out that I need something. Surely, we have a "wanted" forum. Please advise.
Thanks.
mymarcopolo

A. Hello mymarcopolo,

Currently, eBay does not provide a "wanted" forum or category; however there is a mechanism that can help alert you should the object you seek suddenly turn up on eBay!

You can set up a search for a particular item by keyword and then save the search to your My eBay Favorites page. Once there, you can edit the preference for the saved search by indicating you wish to be alerted via an email every time a new item is listed that matches your search keywords!

To set this up:

• Go to Search on the top of any eBay page.
• Enter the keyword or words that best fit the item you seek.
• Click the link labeled "Add To My Favorite Searches" on the upper right hand corner of the results page.
• In the next window, check the box for "Email me daily whenever there are new items." Select a time duration for receiving email alerts for this search.

Now, each time a new item is listed that matches your search keywords, eBay will automatically alert you with an email!

Regards,
Griff