Check out the following scenarios for advice and guidance on knowing when a "take it" price is the price you should take--now!

Fast Sales for Tight Times
Timing is an element that makes a big difference in the online auction market--to both sellers and buyers. Sometimes, when a seller needs to unload some items quickly--either to make fast cash or to clear out some storage space--there's a motivation to achieve a speedy sell-through. In such cases, the buy-now approach is often adopted, along with pricing that is usually enticing enough to hook the speedy exchange. Alert buyers should keep their eyes peeled for such offerings, not necessarily to take advantage of the seller's situation, but then again, why not?

On the other hand, sometimes it's the buyer who's in a bit of a pinch, perhaps looking for a certain item to be given as a gift (or whatever other reason) and time may be running out. If, as a buyer, you need an item in a hurry, look for those instant-purchase opportunities where the fixed price you pay might not be as potentially low as possible, but could be well worth it in easing the stress of a ticking clock. And, if you use an online payment service, you can complete the entire transaction in mere minutes, getting the item in transit to you within a day or so.

Fill the Hole, Fast
Consider this: You're a collector who has been working on a collection for years (or maybe months) and you've found just about every piece you need--except one. It might be that the one elusive piece is the most desirable, rare, or difficult to find of the lot and whenever one does happen to show up at online auction, so does an army of competing bidders. Then along comes the buy-it offering where, yes, the price is a bit higher than you'd like, but there it is ready for the taking. What do you do?

Here, it all comes down to nonmonetary expenses--the expense of your time, the expense of passing this one by and (hopefully) finding another, the expense of losing out on a good price for an item that could appreciate quickly. Talk to other collectors in this situation and the majority will say, "Buy it the moment you see it." Check the fixed price, and if it's in the median to high end of the accepted market range, you're smart to pull the trigger and grab the goods. If the seller's price is too steep for you, then at least place a bid on the item via conventional auction style and try your luck against the other bidders. (Placing a bid on a Buy It Now listing on eBay immediately ends the fixed-price option.) Of course, you'll be kicking yourself it the item goes for more than the original fixed price, won't you?

Buy It Below the Market
And then there's the good old-fashioned bargain. Whether the seller is motivated to make a fast sale or simply might not be aware of an item's present or future market value, there are plenty of below-market value items to be snatched up in fixed-price sales. Not much more to say here except when you find these bargains grab 'em while you can. If you dilly-dally over it, perhaps deciding to play a game of chicken with other potentially interested buyers, you open the door for others to pluck the deal right from in front of your face.

Try It, You'll Like It
Certainly, the fixed-price format is one that irritates auction purists. No doubt, fixed-price sales have little to do with auctioning. However, there comes a time when some buyers grow a bit weary of waiting out the auction time clock. They grow disillusioned when they're beat out by yet another last-second snipe. And, they curse at themselves when they forget to place a late bid because they lost track of the auction they were watching. Fixed-price buying, then, is merely another alternative that savvy buyers should be quick to embrace when the situation calls for it. And don't worry that fixed pricing might drive up market prices. Though you're bound to see some highs and lows in the buy-it realm, it all still balances out in the end.

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