The saying goes, “One person’s junk is another person’s treasure.” How many items seen as “junk” are thrown out every day and destined for a landfill? How many people are looking for that those “junk” items but cannot find it? That obscure component of a device that someone else is searching for on eBay….an old abandoned cd in the house that no one listens to that winds up in the trash can , or even a broken iPhone could be sought after by someone else somewhere in North America….. You could throw this stuff away or post it on a marketplace site and wait for a buyer.

But while you are waiting for the item to sell, you could also check out a new website called “Wishmay.” Wishmay is a website dedicated to people posting items that they want to buy. There’s actually nothing for sale on the site. Instead, those seeking out items, no matter hard they are to find, post them in hopes of receiving offers from sellers with these items. It is the opposite of buyers browsing a site for sale items. Instead , buyers post the items and sellers respond to these posts. Just a little disclaimer about Wishmay — I am the founder and with the help of talented others, we created this web app.

The site works in a similar way for buyers. If a buyer 1) doesn’t have time to shop on typical e-commerce sites or 2) is not in a hurry for the item or 3) cannot find the item anywhere else, then Wishmay is a perfect solution for these buyers.

I know what some of you may be thinking: “What a stupid idea! Why would anyone do transactions like this?!?”

I think that’s a fair comment. After all, how many sites are like Wishmay, compared to how many sites operate like the typical marketplace with things to buy? I have to admit even when I came up with this idea ( I was out on a 7 mile run at the time), I wasn’t so sure it was a good idea. I have dismissed many of my ideas as boneheaded, but with Wishmay, it lingered, and I kept pondering it until I acted on it. Also just look around on sites like Reddit and Craigs List, and you will find posts from people posting messages about things they want to buy.

So why did I execute on this? The more I thought about it, the more I realized it could actually be a great idea. I kept thinking of more scenarios where it could be utilized. Here are some examples:

1. Someone has spent a great deal of time looking for an item that they cannot find and posts to Wishmay in hopes they find it that way.
2. Collectors/dealers post both things they are looking for and browse to sell things others want.
3. A person that doesn’t have time to search for something and would rather have the sellers come to them.
4. A person that is good at finding items browses Wishmay items and then tries to find those items to sell to the people wanting them (we call these users “Hunters”).
5. Someone is cleaning out their house and have a bunch of things to throw out, but before tossing it, they check Wishmay to make sure no one is looking for these items.
6. One of my favorite applications is for those that love yard sales. Prior to going to yard sales, a person browses through the Wishmay site to note the things people want to buy. They can then keep an eye out for these items at yard sales for a quick sale. How cool would it be to know you already have a buyer waiting for that yard sale item!

This site is still pretty new, so there are not a lot of “wanted’ items posted yet, but here are a few examples:

Bed, Bath, and Beyond trash can — willing to pay $30

Nickelodeon Victorious 3.0 CD and Magazine —willing to pay $50

Pete’s Pirate Life V2 Coin — willing to pay $200

These are a few examples listed, and of course as the word spreads, we are expecting hundreds of items to be posted this year. We are excited to see the items posted and how this site will be utilized. By the way, if you have any of these items to sell, there are real buyers waiting. We also included a price negotiating system on the site for agreeing to a price. Mobile apps will be introduced at some point in the future. See our website at www.wishmay.com for more details.

Wishmay is currently being operated under LivestockCity, Inc., but eventually it might spin off into its own company. There is no cost to post things you are looking for — see website for details.

Follow me on Twitter @ejameswhite1 or on my blog site, www.ejameswhite.com.

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