If you have searched for an item and there are no items to be found of this type, you can add that item to your wish list. When you do this you will get a notification if anybody ever adds that item and you can then claim it. By adding items to your wish list you get the inside track on item availability.
When you add a wish list item other members are also notified of your needs.
Watch list
The watch list is a bit different to the wish list. Whereas the wish list is designed for items that are not on the system yet. The watch list is for when members find an item they require but it is not available yet. Why might an item not be available? The member advertising the item may be using it up until a certain point. The item might be part of a building clearance, which is not going ahead until a certain time. Or the item may be being advertised to another priority group first- for example internal staff in the primary organisation are always prioritised over external staff.
By adding an item to your watch list you will get a notification when the item becomes available. Once you receive the notification you should then log in to claim the item. This second action is necessary because you may have changed your mind since adding the item to your wish list! If there are a number of members watching the item- they all get the notification at the same time and it is the first member to click claim who gets the item/s.
If you are watching an item and it gets claimed by a priority member- you will get a notification.