Start up in classified ad website

[Vlavoie]

Hi everybody,

I am 18 and I am currently in college. I identified a need for a classified ad website in a certain niche. It doesn't exist and the market is huge. These products get lost in the stream of ads on other classified ad website. The price of each article range from 10$ to 200$. This niche is something that a lot of people buy and use a certain amount of time, but have difficulty to get rid of it when they don't need it anymore.

I am currently making the website with Joomla. I bought an extension for classified ad website. I already bought the domain name. I only want to make the website functional. Then I will be able to test the market without spending too much. If the traffic is good and I see it is working, then I will hire a programmer to improve it.

To monetize the website I will probably charge a fee when you place an ad. Maybe like 2$/ad because the price of the products is not huge. I will also add a little bit of publicity on it. For the first months, I think I will not charge the fee to be able to attract the first sellers and buyers.

For marketing, I can promote the website easily in my city. But to make my website known for the big mass, I will use social networks and maybe ppc campaign. I am not an expert in marketing so if you have some ideas it would be great.

For legal side, I don't know anything yet, I will search for information soon.

What do you think of this start up? Do you have any advice?

 

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[brycer9]

I personally wouldn't pay to list an ad, but I wouldn't mind a small final value fee.

Have you talked to your market and asked them if they would use your service?

 

[sk24iam]

Don't forget to have a system to show buyers which sellers they can trust. For example, ebay has a feedback system. Also consider payment solutions that are easy for sellers to setup. I agree with Brycer9, don't charge a listing fee, charge a percentage of the selling price if it actually sells. Make sure the website it easy and quick for both sides of the transaction.

 

[TheBlackLion]

Yes, I do have some advice for you. For starters, your entry level is practically non-existent, so I'd recommend that you make your site irresistible for your target customers. Now this can mean something so simple as making their first transaction free (I don't know how recurrent your services will be, so that's up to you) and make it explicitly clear that your website sells that particular product or service better than anyone else out there. Period.

Like Brycer mentioned above, I wouldn't pay the fee for an ad, specially if it's not 100% clear what I'll be getting out of the deal. I'm your customer, you should be lowering or reversing the risk for me all together.

This can start as a small-time venture, but it doesn't have to stay that way if you play your cards right, kiddo. Good luck.

 

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[AmyQ]

You mention possibly using PPC for your site. Given the small revenues, I worry that you might end up losing money.

Let's say you pay 50 cents per click, just to keep the math easy. Let's say you have a 10 percent conversion rate, for most industries that is an optimistic number. You will have paid $5 for a $2 sale.

Let's say your niche is cameras. I know it isn't, but labeling your market will make things easier.

If I were you, I would be joining every major photography and camera online community that I could. I would try and post things that offer value and learn from the other community members. If you post in communities where 1. the host is not a direct competitor and 2. you become a member of the communities and offer value, you will be able to introduce your site once it is launched. It will also be a way to get feedback from your market/customers.

 

[Vlavoie]

Thanks for all the answers !

brycer9 : Yes I talked to my market and almost everybody said they would use it.

Sk24iam : The transaction will not be on the website. The seller and the buyer will need to meet and make the transaction themselves. The website will be middleman. The products are different from an area to another. It is a little bit difficult to explain without knowing what is this niche.

TheBlackLion : The service is very reccurent. I plan to make it completly free for the first months to get traffic and ads.

AmyQ : Ok, PPC may not be a good way for my website. There is not really a community around this niche. It is something that a lot of people need to buy, use a certain amount of time and then 90% of the people want to sell it after.

All of you said that the listing fee was not a good idea but I can't charge a final fee on the transaction if the transaction is not on the website.

I live in Quebec, in Canada and there is a big classified ad website in my area. This website is not specialized in a niche, it sells everything. Their listing fee is 3,50$/ad. There is 2,8M users and there are 35000 new ads/week. This website only place ads in my province (state). The population of Quebec is around 7M people. This shows that a lot of people are willing to pay for a listing fee if the website is well established. This is why I don't want to charge at first. But, maybe I am wrong... I will think of another way to monetize it.

Do you think should I just make the buyers pay online and sellers ship their product? (a little bit like ebay). But if I go this way, the website will be a lot more complicated to manage.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

I live in Quebec, in Canada and there is a big classified ad website in my area. This website is not specialized in a niche, it sells everything. Their listing fee is 3,50$/ad. There is 2,8M users and there are 35000 new ads/week. This website only place ads in my province (state). The population of Quebec is around 7M people. This shows that a lot of people are willing to pay for a listing fee if the website is well established. This is why I don't want to charge at first. But, maybe I am wrong... I will think of another way to monetize it.

In the world of online marketing and sales, traffic is the golden rule. He (or she ) who has the traffic, makes the rules. Just take a look at Google. Just about the entire internet bends to the whims of each Google algorithm update because they have a ton of traffic.

Figure out how you're going to be the most incredible, value-packed, no-brainer resource for whatever your niche is. Make it so that you have some kind of advantage (such as free listings), so that sites even bigger than you are your customers' second choice.

Then, once you become the "go to" site for whatever your classifieds are about, and you have a ton of traffic, you can monetize it in tons of different ways. Such as:

- Featured listings: Offer to highlight ads for a fee. Everyone's background is white? We'll make yours blue for $1!
- Your own affiliate ads in the listings: Find an affiliate program and advertise your affiliate link throughout your site.
- Adsense: Properly placed adsense can do well on classified sites.
- Sell monthly ad slots: Pick a few prime pieces of real estate on your site and sell those slots for a flat monthly rate.
- Premium Section: Make a section where only paid ads are allowed and make that area more prominent on your site.

In this case, I'd worry about the traffic first and monetization second. Good luck.

 

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[jayo2k]

Hi everybody,

I am 18 and I am currently in college. I identified a need for a classified ad website in a certain niche. It doesn't exist and the market is huge. These products get lost in the stream of ads on other classified ad website. The price of each article range from 10$ to 200$. This niche is something that a lot of people buy and use a certain amount of time, but have difficulty to get rid of it when they don't need it anymore.

I am currently making the website with Joomla. I bought an extension for classified ad website. I already bought the domain name. I only want to make the website functional. Then I will be able to test the market without spending too much. If the traffic is good and I see it is working, then I will hire a programmer to improve it.

To monetize the website I will probably charge a fee when you place an ad. Maybe like 2$/ad because the price of the products is not huge. I will also add a little bit of publicity on it. For the first months, I think I will not charge the fee to be able to attract the first sellers and buyers.

For marketing, I can promote the website easily in my city. But to make my website known for the big mass, I will use social networks and maybe ppc campaign. I am not an expert in marketing so if you have some ideas it would be great.

For legal side, I don't know anything yet, I will search for information soon.

What do you think of this start up? Do you have any advice?

Well, the problem is that nowadays, internet means "free", people can get almost anything for free. For instance me, when I am looking for something (SEO tips, reviews, ads...) and I land on a paying website... Well, I do not even bother and leave right away, sometimes even free registration turn me away... And by keeping on looking I fin a free solution... The best you can do is taking a cut on the sales but not charging and since your website is new, no one will put money on it.

 

[Thriftypreneur]

Well, the problem is that nowadays, internet means "free", people can get almost anything for free. For instance me, when I am looking for something (SEO tips, reviews, ads...) and I land on a paying website... Well, I do not even bother and leave right away, sometimes even free registration turn me away... And by keeping on looking I fin a free solution... The best you can do is taking a cut on the sales but not charging and since your website is new, no one will put money on it.

While you are right about the overwhelming amount of free "everything" on the net, underestimating how incredibly lazy people are will have you leaving money on the table.

 

[Vlavoie]

Thanks for all the answers. I think I will make my website free for now and see how it goes. When I will have good traffic, I will try to monetize it.

 

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