Auction Inspector

I purchased Auction Inspector, and I'm currently not impressed for a couple of reasons. I think that the 'Want to Buy' field is ok, but it is not utilized enough by eBay buyers.

Another problem is that the 'want to buy' posts are way too specific. One person may enter 'face plate' while another may enter 'phone cover' but mean the same thing. Some other person may even enter 'protection for my cell.' Although those could technically be considered one item, Auction Inspector will list it as 3.

What I would love is for Auction Inspector to not only inspect the 'want to buy' but also inspect completed auctions for those items. Mainly, I like to see not only prices but INTEREST in items. I love eBays MarketPlace research because I can calculate INTEREST in items (through average bids), percentage of items that sell, and average price.

I just find Auction Inspector's search to be way too specific, but mostly I just think that not enough buyers use the want to buy and they are too specific...

Even when I do a BROAD category search on Auction Inspector, once you get past one or two words, there just isn't any real 'niche' to be found.

'Size 12' may be in 500 posts with only 120 answered, but when you go to 3 words you suddenly realize that these are 500 different items.

So as a question, do you find Auction Inspector useful, and if so, do you use it in a different way? Am I doing something 'wrong?'

And for fun, I'll add a poll question.

Hey trrek, If you are looking for something that is a little more in depth, you might want to give 'hammertap' a try...: Link hidden: Login to view

It does deep analyses and is based on the ebay market...It will also give stats for the same items on the other major auction sites..

Wow, I heard of Hammertap but thought it was just a more expensive version of eBay's Marketplace Research tool. As a real-life researcher, I am big on all the STATS I can get. Hammertap is a lot closer to what I was looking for. Thanks so much!

It's mostly a convenient tool to use that saves you a lot of time instead of manually looking in the want it now section yourself.

Very useful overall!

It's mostly a convenient tool to use that saves you a lot of time instead of manually looking in the want it now section yourself.

Very useful overall!

That's what I now use it for. It is great for responding to people who post there--it is a fast tool and easy to sort.

What I don't think it does is provide useful information to figure out what to sell (with potentially a few rare exceptions). If it was easier to search by subcategory, that may be useful. Or if it were 'smarter' and could figure out what items are related, it owuld be a much more useful tool.

Seems to be pretty user friendly.I find it useful in my searches of what is in demand.Thanks.