The other day I chose to clean out my garage, and was amazed at the amount of unwanted items I'd collected over the last couple of years. There was a couple of cell phones, ski boots, my old laptop, pieces of furniture and even the old salt water system from the pool. All were in fantastic working order and far too good to throw away. Thinking that they would certainly be useful to someone somewhere, I decided to advertise them on the internet. But where would I find the best free advertising online?
I decided to research the main websites... Like Craigslist, US Free Ads, and eBay before choosing which would be the best place to sell my unwanted items. Key criteria was going to be ease and speed at which the items were sold, and of course how much I would get from the total sales. A quick visit to each of the sites had me acknowledging there was no simple answer when it comes to selling your unwanted items. Finding the website offering the best free advertising online was to be no walk in the park.
I commenced by categorizing all facets of the selling process, making a note of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the online advertising services I was to research. Here's a few notes on my findings.
Craigslist - Free Advertising Online
The Craigslist web site works in much the same way as an old fashioned classified ads portal, with the main big difference being that you are able to add images with your text, and buyers are able to browse advertisements in their own physical area (city and state) by category or simply by the date, making contact with the seller either online or by phone number, assuming one is provided. Sellers choose a city area, and category, create an ad (with or without photos) adding their phone number if they wish. The seller's email address is hidden from would be consumers. Contact with the seller is made through internal email. The seller thereby controls how they wish to be contacted by prospective buyers. The great thing about Craigslist is it's free, with no charges for seller or buyer. Shipping costs are rarely an issue as the web site works locally giving potential buyers the opportunity to visit, inspect and collect merchandise. A couple of down sides with Craigslist are firstly your advertisement is limited to one particular city area, and secondly, because of the open nature of the bulletin board, it has become a haven for spammers and con artists usually, so you need to be on your toes and never release any goods until you've been paid in cash.
US Free Ads - Free And Paid Online advertising Services
US Free Ads has been featuring free advertising online since 1999, and the web site offers both free and paid online advertising services to its 800, 000 members.
I decided to research the main websites... Like Craigslist, US Free Ads, and eBay before choosing which would be the best place to sell my unwanted items. Key criteria was going to be ease and speed at which the items were sold, and of course how much I would get from the total sales. A quick visit to each of the sites had me acknowledging there was no simple answer when it comes to selling your unwanted items. Finding the website offering the best free advertising online was to be no walk in the park.
I commenced by categorizing all facets of the selling process, making a note of the strengths and weaknesses of each of the online advertising services I was to research. Here's a few notes on my findings.
Craigslist - Free Advertising Online
The Craigslist web site works in much the same way as an old fashioned classified ads portal, with the main big difference being that you are able to add images with your text, and buyers are able to browse advertisements in their own physical area (city and state) by category or simply by the date, making contact with the seller either online or by phone number, assuming one is provided. Sellers choose a city area, and category, create an ad (with or without photos) adding their phone number if they wish. The seller's email address is hidden from would be consumers. Contact with the seller is made through internal email. The seller thereby controls how they wish to be contacted by prospective buyers. The great thing about Craigslist is it's free, with no charges for seller or buyer. Shipping costs are rarely an issue as the web site works locally giving potential buyers the opportunity to visit, inspect and collect merchandise. A couple of down sides with Craigslist are firstly your advertisement is limited to one particular city area, and secondly, because of the open nature of the bulletin board, it has become a haven for spammers and con artists usually, so you need to be on your toes and never release any goods until you've been paid in cash.
US Free Ads - Free And Paid Online advertising Services
US Free Ads has been featuring free advertising online since 1999, and the web site offers both free and paid online advertising services to its 800, 000 members.
Basic membership is free, but is limited to private non-commercial use. Once you've registered, you are entitled to free advertising online, and can choose to either go country wide or stay in your own city area. You can place a new advert at any time and you are able to advertise most products, items and services, as you would expect to find in a regular newspaper classified section. As a seller you can place your advertising with images, and. prospective buyers can contact you through internal email so even though you might receive the odd spam mail, security is pretty good.
Right at the end of the day, I guess I was unable to discover which was the best free online advertising portal. My advice to anyone interested in cleaning out the garage, looking for a new job, buying a used car, selling your old bike, lining up a babysitter, or simply heating up to your kids' plea for a puppy, is to keep your options open. Use all three of these fine online advertising companies to full advantage, and I'm sure, like me, you'll be ecstatic with the results.
For Information: Free Advertising
Right at the end of the day, I guess I was unable to discover which was the best free online advertising portal. My advice to anyone interested in cleaning out the garage, looking for a new job, buying a used car, selling your old bike, lining up a babysitter, or simply heating up to your kids' plea for a puppy, is to keep your options open. Use all three of these fine online advertising companies to full advantage, and I'm sure, like me, you'll be ecstatic with the results.
For Information: Free Advertising