How to find people looking to buy your products
Short answer: write down the five ways a buyer would ask for your product, search those exact sentences on Reddit, Facebook groups, Quora and forums, and reply to posts from the last few days. Most buyers never use your product's name, so searching it alone misses them.
The example posts and replies on this page are illustrations of common post types, not real customer leads.
The five ways people ask
Take a store selling no-pull dog harnesses. Here is the same buyer, asking five ways:
| Type | What it sounds like | What to search |
|---|---|---|
| Named product | "Where can I buy a no-pull harness for a large dog?" | "where can I buy" harness |
| Problem first | "My lab drags me down the street on every walk, help" | dog pulls on leash help |
| Comparison | "Martingale collar or harness for a strong puller?" | collar or harness puller |
| Gift | "Gift ideas for a friend with a new rescue dog?" | gift new dog owner |
| Bulk | "Our shelter needs 20 harnesses, who does group pricing?" | bulk harness shelter |
The problem-first posts are the ones competitors miss. The person doesn't know your product exists, so a helpful reply can introduce it without feeling like a pitch.
Build your own list in 10 minutes
- Open your last 5 customer messages or reviews and copy the exact words people used.
- Write one sentence for each of the five types above.
- Add buyer phrases: "recommend", "looking for", "where to buy", "anyone know", "best".
- Note your limits, such as where you ship and your lowest order, so you can skip bad fits.
Where to search
- Reddit: the best volume of public questions. See our Reddit search guide.
- Facebook groups: use the search bar inside groups you belong to. Google finds only some public group posts.
- Quora and forums: slower, but posts stay findable for longer.
- Google: use your phrases with
site:reddit.comorsite:quora.com, then filter by the past week.
How to tell a buyer from noise
Ask three questions before you reply:
- Are they asking to get something, rather than make it, discuss it or sell it?
- Is it recent? After a few days most people have decided. Old threads are rarely worth it.
- Could you actually serve them? Check price, shipping and timing.
A 20 minute daily routine
| Minutes | Do this |
|---|---|
| 0 to 10 | Run your 5 best searches, filtered to the newest posts |
| 10 to 18 | Reply to the 2 or 3 best fits with something useful |
| 18 to 20 | Log each reply in a sheet: link, date, product, and whether it led to a sale |
After two weeks, your sheet shows which phrases bring real conversations. Drop the rest.
Where Lead Harbour fits
Lead Harbour does the searching and the filtering. It reads your store, looks for these same kinds of posts across public communities, removes sellers and non-buyers, and drafts a reply for you to edit. You can keep doing it by hand for free, and many stores should start that way to learn how their buyers talk. When it stops being worth 20 minutes a day, see pricing.
Common questions
How do I find people who want to buy my product?
Search public communities for the phrases buyers use, such as "where can I buy" or "any recommendations for", plus your product or the problem it solves. Sort by newest and reply to recent posts.
What if nobody is asking for my exact product?
Search for the problem it solves, or the gift or occasion it suits. Many buyers describe a need without naming a product.
Is it okay to reply to these posts with my store?
Often, if you are helpful first and the community allows it. Read the group or subreddit rules before you mention your store.
Let Lead Harbour do the searching
Paste your store link and see someone asking for what you sell, with a reply ready to send. First search free: 1 buyer, opened in full.
Get 1 buyer free