I’m currently in the process of moving. Not just moving, but downsizing as well. That means I have a lot of stuff that I need, and a lot of stuff that I’m looking to get rid of. What a better way to raise funds and save money by buying used items than an online classifieds site?
From apartment hunting to seeking services, you can find just about anything you want on an online classifieds site. However, not all classifieds sites are created equal. Some are broad versus niche, others are geared towards certain user needs such as comparison tools and privacy settings. Below is a short list of some of the top online classifieds sites out there.
Craigslist – The site name has become synonymous with online classifieds advertising. Its simplicity has become familiar to its users, and has proven efficient for navigating the site. Whether you’re posting ads or perusing through them, the process is easy on both ends of the spectrum. Search by keyword and narrow down results based on additional parameters such as price minimum and maximum. Further filter by which ads have attached images. Share ads with others or yourself, primarily by email. Craigslist is heavily focused on the local market, so you’ll likely have to go see the item yourself and arrange payment accordingly. This removes the online payment factor from Craigslist, lending a sense of tangible immediacy to Craigslist as well as a buyer-beware mentality users must take into account.
Kijiji – Now part of the eBay family, Kijiji has steadily gained traction over the years. Acquired as a potential competitor to Craigslist, Kijiji offers many similar features. Having launched overseas, Kijiji has a more global reach, which could be useful to some site visitors depending on their search needs.
Kijiji takes a family-friendly approach, looking to avoid some of the adult ad-related issues Craigslist has faced, particularly in the past two years. Aside from this, Kijiji is a bit more socially aware, giving you the option to share and add across several social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.
Oodle – Considered a classifieds aggregator, Oodle presents search results based on scouring multiple classifieds sites. This leaves more resources on Oodle for analyzing your findings. To this end Oodle has some comparison features, as well as stats that it has learned from over the years in order to provide you with probable expectations regarding particular products.
For Oodle, the added analysis features means that its classifieds aggregator helps you make a decision. This moves Oodle beyond a mere access point for connecting buyers with sellers. The data Oodle is able to collect based on user behavior, reviews and other third party resources means that Oodle is able to become a decision-making aide and an advanced search mechanism for finding the items and services you need. Oodle has broadened its base offerings by powering other classified sites like Facebook Marketplace, MySpace Classifieds, and Walmart Classifieds.
Yahoo – After becoming a portal for much of its users’ online activity, Yahoo Classifieds was one of the many tacked onto the email client’s growing list of services. Basic, Yahoo doesn’t offer many additional features for its classifieds service. As with many of the additional services within Yahoo’s portal, Classifieds has little integration with other services and acts as a simple extension of your Yahoo experience.
The traditional Yahoo Classifieds site has been removed and now it is integrated with Yahoo Directory. Yahoo Classifieds is now described as “an online classified advertising service”. The search and search filters could work better, and users would be able to navigate Yahoo Classifieds better if duplicate ads were better filtered out. While Yahoo has been looking towards a more inclusive Yahoo experience built around its email client, the benefits of such plans have yet to be seen when its comes to Classifieds.
iList – iList represents a new era of online classifieds, searching Twitter’s marketplace for results. Type in your keyword and iList will return search results based on things people have tweeted. As Twitter continues to grow into a marketing platform and a real-time search engine, it’s up to third parties to catch all the broadcast data as it pertains to you. A service like iList comes in handy as several other classifieds sites are realizing they can increase their reach by enabling sharing mechanisms for socially aware sites like Twitter.
Though limiting in a sense, iList is embarking on a unique and real-time approach to the classifieds industry. Additionally helpful by being available for users on the go, iList offers an easy way for people to tweet about items they have for sale as well as items they are looking for. I imagine a great deal of features, including advanced search filters and improved alerts, will be added to iList and similar services in the coming months.
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In my local town I am starting a online local classified ad service to combat some of the big boys out there. I found most of the major online classifieds are filled with scammers and spammers and most dont offer anything other than text and a few pictures. I would have to say of all the one’s you listed oodle was the best service for free out there.
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