Free online newspaper classifieds

A step in the right direction.

Take some traffic away from Craigslist. Get a bit of revenue from ads. It's better than losing the revenue all together.

http://www2.indystar.com/free/login

 

how?

 

Given how many Craigslist ads are bogus or scams, it's hard to swallow the impact the site has had upon newspaper classifieds.

 

Job sites and car sites are a bigger problem.

 

Yep, and many of the job sites are scams too, as I've learned the hard way.

 

God I hope the masses will realize they get what they pay for. If online job sites and car sites and classified sites keep leading people down scam-covered paths, then maybe they'll come back to newspapers where there is a little a thread of credibility left.

 

Hate to say it, because I'm on your side here (and it affects my livelihood), but I just don't see it. There's enough quality out there that, if you have the intelligence to sort through the crap, you're getting a far better deal with Craigslist, Carmax and these other places than you ever did with newspaper advertising.

 

Placing an ad is obviously better, because you know you're legit, and it's free. Wading through the ads if you're shopping is another story.

 

You sound like you're trying hard to convince yourself of that, J_D.

Obviously, there are scams out there but, like I said, if you know what you're doing online, that's not really too much of a concern. Just have to keep your BS meter high and avoid anything that sounds fishy. But there's a ton of quality out there -- buying and selling; on eBay, Craigslist, Carmax, Half.com or anywhere else -- and, depending on what you're shopping for, you're not limited to a local audience (the newspaper's readership) if you don't want to be.

There's plenty of credibility out there. It's not Scam Central on every corner, as much as newspapers are trying desperately to get people to believe. Just have to know where to look and keep your eyes open.

 

I'm not in denial. I should have said my experience is limited to Craigslist. Just not worth it to me anymore, and unless you've had my history with it I don't expect you to agree with me.

 

Even if there are some bogus things, the traffic is going to the website, which would be creating revenue through ads.

 

so we bitch about giving the content away for free and now the answer is to give away something else for free?