By popular demand…(well, sort of)
We have added a Services>>Travel subcategory. Please do not submit travel classified ads to the Services>>Small Business subcategory. The Small Business category is being inundated with travel classifieds and they are miscategorized.
Previously posted travel classified ads will be left alone (at least until they expire or are pruned from the database) but future ones will be deleted if posted incorrectly.
Sorry about the inconvenience – Mea Culpa.
I have also had a negative experience with chargeback fees. I had accepted the services of a “major payment processor.” I had reversals before but this time it was a chargeback on one of my transactions. After lengthy “investigation” duration, they reversed the charge but then they added a $10 service fee. I was miffed, especially since they “nickel and dime” you to death on even the smallest transactions. I wrote them a letter inquiring about the assessed fee. They responded, even though they found no fault of mine, the fee was standard for a chargeback. Who is protecting their customers? Needless to say, I have limited my business with this “major payment processor.” But again, this is part of doing online transactions where scammers run rampant on the Internet.
Anyone out there have a suggestion for a legitimate payment processor?
Here are my top twenty classified ads websites.
Craigslist dominates the classifieds space on the Internet and forecasted to make an estimated $80 million this year. A few years ago, they were making a lot less, but I guess they decided there was just too much money being left on the table. eBay owns a 25% stake in craigslist.
Ebay-owned Kijiji is much larger than I expected.
People Counts for March 2008: Source Compete.com
As some of you folks might already be aware, FreeAdLists.com is a free classifiedswebsite that has been in operation since March 2007. The site is growing faster than expected and I have been trying to keep up with the demands to accept classified adsvia feeds. I’m starting to field numerous external requests to ingest various ad feed formats (TAB, CSV, XML, etc), especially from real estate interests. Unfortunately, the formats submitted are quite varied to say the least.
To deal with this continuous variation, I have been customizing PHP scripts (parsers) toingest ad feeds for several clients. However, this method is hardly standardized and cost-prohibitive in terms of resources–money and TIME–in the long-term. So I am developing a fairly simple upload tool that will provide the capability to process ads feeds in a specified format. I will be providing user documentation on “how and what” can be uploaded via the interface.
The plan is simple. It is to create a tool similar to oodle or edgeio (now out of business) upload interface but hopefully much friendlier to use.
I’m attempting to get this task accomplished by the second week of January 2008 and hoping FreeAdLists users will find the capability very useful.
As always, when perusing free classified ads, please be cognizant of scammers.
Happy and Safe Holidays
FreeAdLists.com Blog – Free Ads
