onbob.com - get what you want, pay what you want

Successful Onbobbing Part 1

Hello,

My name is Jordache Perozzo co-founder of onbob.com. At onbob.com we want all users to have the easiest and most productive time on the site possible. That is why we will be bringing you updated news and lessons on the site as often as possible. With that said, let's begin the first lesson on successful onbobing.

Search

1. Every transaction is going to start with a search of some kind -- either a search for what you want, or a search for people that want a particular item that you have. For now, we are going to talk only about searches for items you want. It's as easy as it sounds, simply type in what you are looking for, and "Voila!" you'll find a list of items that correspond to your search. It's as simple as that.

*Search Tip: Be sure to not use the plural form if possible. This will often increase your hits. Our search engine is designed this way.

Compare

2. Finding how much something is worth is important. Both parties, especially you, want to get the most for what they have to offer. Very often when you search a key word, like "xbox" you will see 4 small ads to the left of your screen. This is my personal favorite feature of the site. These ads all relate to what you have just looked up. It is good to check to see what these ads are advertising, and the value that they assign to the items you’re interested in. This allows you to make a compelling offer that is reasonable for the other user. And, if you get turned down by the other user you will know what sites have what you are looking for, and at what price, although this may be a more costly route. Always remember this, though: just because someone rejects your offer, doesn't mean that the hopes of a successful transaction is over. You can always make a completely new offer, or they might come crawling back when they realize that you're offer was better than the other 3 they received afterwards.

*Compare Tip: "Punishing" someone for not taking our first offer is a tricky process, but it can save you a lot over time. Since they are crawling back for your offer, you can expect that you've made the best offer so far. Which means you should feel free to counter offer with just a bit less. Be careful though! You don't what to lose the deal altogether.

Offer

3. The compare feature I motioned earlier is also helpful in the offering stage for a couple reasons. But first, it's always smart to ask how much they would take for it in cash. This will tell you immediately how much they think their item is worth, give or take. With that in mind, you can compare it to the sites listed to the left of the search results screen. With all these numbers running though your head, it may be a good idea to write them down.

Once you have a good grasp of what you think the item(s) is/are worth, find a category on their wish list that might closely match up to something you have. The most wonderful part about bartering is the principle of need and want. Need and want mean different things to different people. It's best to try and make you offer something they need, or to convince them that they need what you have to offer and that it will satisfy them. If you can accomplish this, you will have made your offer more valuable. Simply put: [NEED+want+SATISFACTION+actual worth>want+satisfaction+actual worth] Users that can succeed at this will benefit the most from each and every transaction.

The second reason the compare feature can help, is because you can make clear cut argument as to why you think they should accept your offer, or why you think their counter offer wasn't good enough. It's much harder to argue the facts. Users that can play the "facts card" the best are the one's that will avoid being ripped off.

*Offer Tip: Use the compare feature often; it's designed with you in mind!

YOURS!

4. The best part of onbob is getting what you want. To do this well, you'll need to do 3 important things:

1) Make the best wish list possible. People will be looking for people to trade with, make sure they can find you!

2) Search the site often! Because there is no minimum amount of time an item can be up, it's best to check back regularly. This will improve our chances of beating someone else in making the first offer or closing the transaction before you can get involved.

3) Make offers right away and often. onbob.com allows users to make complete transactions in just minutes. This means that you could see that there are a few items you want and put off making an offer only to come back and notice that they're all gone. If you make an offer, someone might be willing to see if you'll accept their counter-offer before they accept an offer they already have waiting for them.

*YOURS! Tip: "onbob early… onbob often"