OT help with direction on a 'for sale' web site.

[Mcgyver]

I've had it with Craigslist and kijiji. Craigslist you can never delete the ads so it becomes unmanageable as things expire and you need to renew - the ones you want to renew get lost in sea of things that have sold (and you can't delete) but that CL keeps presenting thinking they to should be renewed. A stupid system imo (unless its a stupid operator and you can delete the ads). kijiji now caps listings in tools at 14 ads unless you pay per click, and I have good reason to suspect overt click fraud if you go that route. Based on experimenting with it would be many dollars per day per ad. Facebook marketplace (which I don't really know) doesn't seem to have groups by type of ad just geography so to see a micrometer you scroll through a page of used sneakers. Varage seems like a mess all around. Varage and facebook also require someone to join to see them so they're out.

Those my reasons for existing services not working. Having said that if you disagree, hey, peace.....but please start a new thread on it. It was just a bit background (and gripping).....what I am hoping to get at here is ideas on the easiest way to create your own single poster classifieds site.

I don't need ecommerce and will happily take out a domain and hosting so it doesn't have to free. I've written sites before but its tedious as I have to figure everything out for the first time. So I'm hoping for some ideas on how to get a least a walking start. I'd like a format similar to the online classified - categories, then a list within categories and when you click on each item in list you can look at multiple photos and a description.

I tried getting going with wordpress but all kinds of trouble getting it working locally.

One big feature i'm hoping to find is a way to easily create (and delete) listings - drag and drop, vs the tedium of separate html pages.

Ideas?

[polaraligned]

Craigslist you can never delete the ads so it becomes unmanageable as things expire and you need to renew

I have never had a problem deleting ads. If you have a Craigslist account (easy and free), go to your My Account page and delete to your hearts content.
Craigslist gives you three times to renew an ad and put it at the top. After that, I copy and past the older ad to a new ad.
That said, when I sell stuff I always list on both E-bay and Craigslist. I list on Craigslist for 15% less because I don't have to cover any fees like E-bay. 80% of the time I sell a local pickup item on E-bay before I sell it on Craigslist.
Selling stuff is all about getting traffic. You will have a difficult time with your own stand alone website.

[flylo]

Craigslist works fine except people not showing up, offering 25% without ever seeing it, etc but C/L itself has been flawless for me.

[Mcgyver]

It doesn't work for me, you can't delete if an item is expired and even when you delete it, it is still is in the list.

If it works great for you, great..... its a problem for me so i was hoping the IT savvy types would have some good ideas for a web platform or site template, anyone? Thanks

[softtail]

You can delete craigslist ads. Works the same for everyone . Need to have a craigslist account, and log into it as opposed to just hitting 'post' and confirming posting through your email account.

[J Tiers]

It doesn't work for me, you can't delete if an item is expired and even when you delete it, it is still is in the list.

If it works great for you, great..... its a problem for me so i was hoping the IT savvy types would have some good ideas for a web platform or site template, anyone? Thanks

I also have no issues with deleting old expired or sold item posts.

As for alternatives, you have to go with what exists and gets traffic. People look at Craig's list, they look at ebay. You have to go where the customers are, they are not looking at "Bubba's Stuff I am Selling".

There are one or two others I have heard of that I know little about, but they do not seem to get the usage.

[Mcgyver]

You can delete craigslist ads. Works the same for everyone . Need to have a craigslist account, and log into it as opposed to just hitting 'post' and confirming posting through your email account.

you guys must think I'm really clueless (perhaps I am lol). I have an account. You only get the delete option on active listings. When you delete something it still sits there. If it expires there is no delete option. Here's what I see:

What am I missing all guys you claim you can delete - how????





Regardless, I'd rather have a site that I can control. So no one has any ideas on roll your own?

[J Tiers]

Repost, then delete, if you have to.

I delete as soon as I sell the item.

In some cases, I save the posting, usually for bigger ticket items, with a "save site as webpage complete". That is if I think I might need proof for some reason. I suppose I could leave it up to expire, but the pictures do not seem to always survive an expiration.

[Mcgyver]

but even deleting doesn't delete them, it just marks them as deleted so it ends up very cluttered. I to try and delete right away, but sometimes thing get missed.

I'd like my own thing where I have control. There's lots else I don't like about CL, but the thread and question are for ideas on making ones own classified/garage sale site. There has to be an easy way, I just haven't found it - some great wordpress template maybe?

[Ohio Mike]

Ok, I have to ask... Why would you want to delete an expired item? Its already gone...

[01-7700]

you guys must think I'm really clueless (perhaps I am lol). I have an account. You only get the delete option on active listings. When you delete something it still sits there. If it expires there is no delete option. Here's what I see:

What am I missing all guys you claim you can delete - how????





Regardless, I'd rather have a site that I can control. So no one has any ideas on roll your own?

I also have not been able to delete (make disappear completely) any listings from CL - I get what you're saying. I have not found this to be a problem but I don't sell many items on CL.

[wierdscience]

When you select to delete a listing you should receive a confirmation e-mail with a link to click confirming you wish to delete the listing.If you aren't getting those or aren't clicking the link they contain,then that's your problem.

[CCWKen]

I noticed you haven't mentioned the two largest sites in the world--Ebay and Amazon. Why? Who's going to buy from a one-off private site with no history? I wouldn't. But that's the freedom of the interweb. Anybody can do it.

[01-7700]

There used to be a FAQ explaining that CL does not provide the functionality to clean up your listings, eg delete deleted items.

[Mcgyver]

ok, just remembered what a major issue is with CL. When you repost, it leaves the Expired record there! So now there are two. When the second expires, and you repost, now there are three. If you sell the thing and delete it, you now one deleted record and 2 expired. If you have a lot to sell it becomes a nightmare trying to keep track of duplicate expired records that have actually sold.



It becomes a real problem if you have a bunch of ads. if its not for you, awesome, but it is for me.....so

....back on topic - any roll your own ideas from the IT experts?