This is the fourth installment of a new series I am publishing every Monday, called “IF Onlineâ€. Each article will examine an aspect of our Idaho Falls area that has an online presence. This week I will call your attention to local classified ad websites.
The critical success factor for any classified source, whether printed or online, is a large audience. It does no good to waste time or money creating listings if nobody looks at the source. It does no good to check the source if there are few listings. It is a vicious cycle, but what are you going to do? You are going to go to the major sources like everyone else.
The historically undisputed leaders in the Idaho Falls area have been the Post Register and the Thrifty Nickel/American Classifieds. Other noteworthy contenders in our area include an East Idaho section of Craigslist, and the completely free East Idaho Ads.com.
The Thrifty Nickel is great for finding local vehicles or large appliances. Their website claims “Over 328,193 Classifieds”, however it says that on every city section, so it is impossible to find how many ads they have in the Idaho Falls section. There is also confusion whether all print ads are online or not, so I would have to say stick with the Nickel’s print edition distributed every Tuesday (or is it Thursday?).
The Post Register appears to offer the same classified ads online as they do in print, and prominently link to the classified section. Their classified ads are available free online, so anyone can check them daily. Their navigation is simple and intuitive, and the online sections are the same as the print sections that we all know and love. This is definitely a great online source for sale items or job listings.
Craigslist, however, is the undisputed nationwide king of classified ad websites. Unfortunately for us, Craigslist usually centers on large metropolitan areas, so I figured we would wait a long time until we got our own section.
However, I just checked and found there is now an east Idaho section. Craigslist has been called the newspaper killer in most markets where it grows, because it cuts deeply into newspaper classified revenue. We will see if that happens here also.
I poked around most of the 400+ listings for our area, and unfortunately most of it appeared to suffer from lack of editorial control or community policing. Most of the jobs were out of area or those scam home-based businesses.
I have also heard Craigslist can be a source for, ahem, illicit sex encounters or drug deals in large cities, so time will tell if it serves our local market in ways that our main local outlets will not. I have never used any dating websites, but I have heard they are mostly garbage. The two possible exceptions reportedly are True.com (rigorous vetting process) and PlentyOfFish.com (free and most popular). We hear from many local singles on IdahoFallz.com, so please share your experiences with these ‘dating’ websites.
There is the local (and free) East Idaho Ads.com, which has a lot of promise but suffers from a small audience. I have not been able to sell an item there, but I keep hoping.
KIFI Local News 8 offers a classified section on their news site, but half the jobs listed there are also those scam home-based business ads. Their merchandise section has a few items, but they have several confusing price structures so I would advise going to the free East Idaho Ads.com before KIFI’s offering.
Better Idaho Falls Jobs.com emerged this year as a strong job listing contender. I have heard they charge employers much more to list and so they do not get as many listings. However, I have seen some good jobs percolate through there the last several months. It is definitely a source worth checking if you are searching for a job.
Everyone has heard of Monster.com, but all I ever got the three different times I’ve posted my resume to it are a few jobs from Boise and tons of spam. I advise against wasting your time or effort there. It is not a classified site, but the Idaho Department of Commerce and Labor has quite a few local job listings.
Next week’s article in the “IF Online†series will examine going online to find things to do around Idaho Falls.
What do you think of these Idaho Falls online classified ad websites? What success or failure have you experienced with them?
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Gato got runned over by Marcus many moons ago. Be ye daft, 2486? 
Let's have a new poll, alright, Joe?
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{ 45 comments }
I noticed the eastidahoads.com site sporting an Idaho Falls Magazine logo yesterday, and posted a question in the chatbox if it had been bought by IF mag or run by one of their employees all along?
Someone responded “The eastidahoads.com did not sell to IF Magazine. We approached them about running the classified section of the web page. They will maintain it and place our logo on it, in turn we will drive traffic to this [sic] site.”
That seems logical in some ways, though strange in others.
It seems logical because IF mag’s site seems to be growing as a consortium with kidk news feeds prominently displayed.
It seems strange, because clicking the link takes you to a different site URL, so it is not really “the classified section” of the if mag webpage.
I would have hoped money had been exchanged for the loss of a site’s growing brand name, but that description sounds like it was done just for visitor redirects.
Following the traditional brick road in our town tells us the desire to increase visitors at eastidahoads.com probably means more ad sales in the future.
As the account executive for Idaho Falls magazine, may I explain a little about our decision to partner with eastidahoads.com. Our decision was made because the existing site accomplished what we were looking for in a “classified” section of our on-line site. The site was already established and ready to link to.
Our snowest.com site, owned and maintained by Harris Publishing, was doing extremely well with their aftermarket classified section and over 22,000 forum members. We didn’t feel as if this layout would work as well for the readers of IF Magazine and those visiting our web site. This decision was based on what would be better for our readers. At this time we are currently working on our “Area Guide” which should be complete in the next 3 or 4 weeks. Allowing FREE links to businesses in Idaho Falls and the surrounding area. We even created a new category for “Websites/Blogs” after we received a submission from IFz.com.
Thanks for the interest in our site and allowing us to explain any questions you may have.
I guess I’m confused. I thought the editor of Idaho Falls Magazine said he had asked his staff to not visit this site about various Idaho Falls websites. Perhaps there was an update that I missed?
I think it’s a philosophical question about employees speaking about a business vs. for a business.
I am posting an article in a few days that will pose different scenarios. Hopefully it generates valuable discussion to guide our local businesses and organizations in how they deal with online discussions.
Joe,
That is fair feedback and it sounds like your article will be good.
I would like to have the ideas of the Harris employees who are downtown about redevelopment, how to revitalize etc. as they work there. I’m sure they have seen situations they would liked changed and potentially have good ideas.
I’m just trying to make sure I’m clear about Idaho Falls Magazine employees visiting here. Again, I think you summed it up well.
If one of the local stations could have as good as classified section like KSL in Salt Lake we would be better served for sure.
My sister buys and sells from there all the time and I guess it has quite a following.
A chihuahua is nothing more than a rat in a dog suit. If you look closely you can see a little zipper on the underbelly of these rats, under their hair.
Here’s a significant update to the Idaho Falls online scene: EastIdahoAds.com is closing down! As the site owner explains at
http://www.eastidahoads.com/index.php?a=22&b=30
he launched the site because there was nothing else around here like Craig’s list, and he really enjoyed Craig’s list from his time in another city. Now that Craig’s list has an east idaho section
http://eastidaho.craigslist.org/
the owner states: “I would be happy to continue providing EastIdahoAds.com if I felt it offered much more than Craigs List, but it simply doesn’t. It is free and local, just as our site is.”
Kudos to that site owner Mike Summers for doing a great job, for filling a local need with his website, and it’s pretty cool he is shutting down his service to point east idaho consumers to a more centralized location for everyone (hint hint other classified websites).
So I see these billboards around town advertising YET ANOTHER online classifieds website, cybercityclassifieds.com, with rates starting at $2.99. I think, “well that’s silly why would I spend $3 on a little-trafficked site when I can get the same ad for free at the east idaho craigslist, and I know it gets heavy traffic?”
http://eastidaho.craigslist.org/
Then I hear on z103 they are promoting the same cybercity classifieds, but they are also promoting their own “zclassifieds” at their website. I think, “what the heck are they talking about, which site is it? why would I visit one or the other?”
So I check the former, and see they have almost no listings, no surprise there given the free alternative. I check the radio website, and see they have the cybercity website loaded in a frame of the z103 website. I don’t know who thought this was a great idea, who thought this was some kind of value-added proposition, because it looks silly. The cyber city site does not even fit properly into the z103 site. Also I am leery about registering my personal information through the “morning zoo” website interface, do they get to snag my information along the way?
I advise anyone thinking of creating a new online classified website: DON’T! The marketplace is overcrowded as it is, folks and employers want to post in one place that gets the most traffic (PR and craigslist), and they want free (craigslist). Unless you have some amazing new value-added proposition, you are competing in an overcrowded and dying field.
It’s like when I hear about new online social networks. You can see the Idaho State Journal’s J-Hub is struggling to go anywhere months after they launched. They attracted a few people at the start, and those few seem to be the small heartbeat there. The online social network scene is overcrowded and you are competing with big boys like MySpace and Facebook, so you’d better have a super-value that those big guys haven’t thought of.
Another bad website idea is selling t-shirts. I read this idea once listed on a top ten list of stupid frat-boy business ideas. If you are thinking of this business, save your energy for something more original.
You can’t knock em for trying Joe. I’m sure you’re site wasn’t the most popular when you first started as well. Why would you bother putting somebody elses site down, just because YOU don’t think they’ll do well? Or because YOU think the market is crowded. The internet is a big place and theres plenty of room for everybody.
How would you feel if somebody talked bad about your site when you first started it, saying there’s no sense in starting your site because there’s already a blog site out there. It’s ridiculous and just plain rude.
Like my Grandma always used to say, “if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say it at all”.
Who are you to say what will or won’t work as far as websites go. It’s not like you’re exactly setting the world on fire yourself, you’ve only had your site up for a couple of years. That hardly makes you a professional in this field.
just my 2 cents…
Good points. However, “just because YOU don’t think they’ll do well”, actually I tried running a classifieds section here also and quickly realized the odds are stacked against new people in this particular market, especially when if you are trying to charge for what the next site is giving away for free. Traffic is also a big deal with classifieds sites, would you rather sell your product at the mall or walmart or at the Bone store? (nothing against the bone store, just an example of somewhere that does not get a ton of traffic).
Actually a lot of people have talked bad about my site, from the beginning and through today. I don’t mind because I try to improve on what I think are legitimate complaints or I ignore and respect the rest as free speech.
The marketplace for ideas is limitless. The marketplace for selling goods is finite.
Ironic the advice you give and then the words you express yourself…
Then say what cybercityclassifieds offers so much better than free craigslist. say why the radio station site format is great. don’t just criticize the criticism.
my comment was directed to Guest_007
I want to point out that last January I published an article surveying the local user-generated content scene, and encouraged people to try their own blogs. I said then that “I would like to see more user-generated blogs, podcasts, and videocasts…”
http://idahofallz.com/2007/01/08/user-generated-online-content-in-idaho-falls/
As for the classified site criticism, yes please tell me what I missed at that site, I’m happy to admit when I’m wrong. When I want to sell my stuff the choices are a free listing at a high traffic website, or a paid listing at a low traffic site. Which would you choose?
I’d have to agree with what 007 said. You DID go out of your way to diss this persons site. (but promote craigslist) Why would you do that?
Basically your reasoning is…..because it didn’t work for ME, it’s not going to work for YOU? WOW! That’s nice…
The internet wouldn’t be where it is today if people actually believed that. Look at your site…it’s pretty popular, but it took awhile to get there. Not to mention you have no formal training in this field. You don’t have a business degree or a degree in Information Technology. You’re self taught. (and you don’t really have THAT much experience) So wouldn’t it be safe to assume that if YOU can do it….ANYBODY can?
Yeah….and people thought Ebay wouldn’t work in the beginning too but look how they’ve exploded.
People also thought Overstock.com wouldn’t make it either, saying they’ll never compete with Amazon and other popular sites, yet their doing quite well also.
Sites just don’t explode with popularity overnight. It takes word of mouth, advertising and a willingness to stick it out. I give the person credit for trying.
Joe is encouraging everyone else to start a blog….well for most of us it’s just not feasible. Many of us hold full time jobs and just don’t want to use our free time to sit online. From what I understand, Joe doesn’t have a job other than his website. So he’s got plenty of time to sit online all day and nurse his site.
What you understand is incorrect AuntRose. Beyond that is none of your business. First I am criticized for trying to put down other sites, then I’m criticized for encouraging others to start sites that compete with my site. Okaaay.
Okay, I throw my hands up and hope for the absolute best for that classifieds website. I hope they buck all the history and trends and odds stacked against them and become the next great thing. I must also give them credit for trying. I just don’t think they researched it well, but I would be ecstatic for them if they proved me completely wrong. We’ll check in with them say next summer and see how it’s going.
I dont see any benefits to the paid site neither. Whoopsy-daisy i better not speak neither if I complain.
Ebay makes millions each year and you have to pay to sell stuff there. So lets not kid ourselves into thinking it won’t work.
As for Joes reponse to AuntRose: If you live your life online, it’s going to be peoples business whether you like it or not. Even I knew you didn’t have a job…you’ve made numerous comments in the chatbox over the past months. Now whether or not you got a new one, I don’t know. And you’re right its none of our business. But thats what happens when you put personal info online. It becomes everyones business.
As for cybercityclassifieds….maybe their trying something new and their looking to make a buck doing it. Anything is possible online. There are numerous examples where people thought there was no way an online company would do well and make money, and the opposite has been true. You just never know.
Just a note on Craigslist, which we affectionately call CL in the SF Bay Area: You mentioned it being known in larger metro areas as being a hookup for illegal activities.
This is true, but the upside is that Law Enforcement has equal access to CL, and in fact peruses it, and uses it to post info, for example if they are seeking the whereabouts of a suspect, etc.
I once stumbled upon, through an unlikely series of events, a registered sex offender who was advertising various services ranging between window washing and personal therapy, and, having verified his identity, was able to report this to the appropriate authorities.
CL rules, without a doubt. My home is furnished with free items posted on CL. My job was obtained through CL. My boyfriend (an upstanding public servant) was found via CL.
Now that my primo moving boxes have been obtained via CL, I’m praying CL gets growing before I get there!
My daughter got a CA King sized bed from CL. Interesting place.
For free stuff, has anyone tried that freecycle board?
On our Idaho Falls Links page, ordered alphabetically, named “Freecycle Group”.
http://idahofallz.com/linksidahofalls/
You have to have a free Yahoo user name, and have to apply to get in the group. It sounds complicated but it’s really not. You can use any free yahoo email address, or get one in ten seconds if you don’t already. They let anyone into their group.
This morning I look at it and people are offering for free: rabbit with a cage, a 48″ wooden student desk with 2 large drawers and a keyboard drawer, catfish, guppies, and algae eating fish, a working fridge and freezer, 2 pairs of girls shoes sizes 12 1/2 and 13, a child sized bike, an RCA wireless head set, etc. Seems like decent stuff if you login once a week and check on it.
CL wins out over freecycle in sfba, more user friendly, more effective, CL is just the best!! IMO
Girls shoes that are size 12 1/2 & 13?? WOW~! Now THATs scary!
It does sound a bit creepy. I wonder how that transaction would take place? Hopefully anonymously.
There used to be a site called “disturbing auctions” that listed weird things that had been listed or bought/sold on ebay, etc…
The creepiest “item” I personally saw was a change purse….made out of a frog. A real frog.
Yowza.
Here is my website idea… the free classifieds that craigslist offers…but it includes your local news and weather as well…check it out!
If there is enough interest for Idaho Falls let me know and I will add it as a city on the site…
Is “Josh” Joe Eagle?
In #28 Josh said “If there is enough interest for Idaho Falls let me know and I will add it as a city on the site…”
What site are you referring to?
Joe Vandal mentioned that there was a Freecycle site for Idaho Falls. I’m going to check it out.
I visit here frequently from Denver and there are many thriving Freecycle groups in that city. I have given away tons of stuff that was just too good/specialized/perishable to send to a thrift store. In return, I’ve gained a large indoor birdcage for my daughter’s lovebird, a large outdoor bird cage which I used for my iguana’s summer cage, firewood, landscaping materials, and sundry perennials.
There’s just an incredible quantity of stuff to wade through on CraigsList for the Denver/Boulder area, the competition is too great for the real bargains, and with the price of gas as high as it is, you can travel way too far to make it worth while in a large city.
Freecycle centers on particular suburban areas closer to home. I’ve met a lot of nice people in my area too.
Last week, however, I bought a car through Craigslist in Denver/Boulder, and my husband bought another one on Sunday! We sold our old truck there too a couple of years back.
comment 27: Disturbing auctions is still alive and well, check out the daily entries for the weirdest stuff out there ; )
I’ve used bc freecycle quite a bit to get new homes for things. I haven’t had much luck finding anything that I needed yet, but now I’ve signed up for the Idaho Falls freecycle, and hopefully that will change.
May be they should partner with more free global classified ads websites like http://www.adsglobe.com/ for the benefit of the end users.
Can’t make a post with “classified ad” in it nowadays…damn spam bots.
So, rather than a discussion of a classified site here, other people have started advertising and some of it looks like scams. Joe – can you clarify, are people supposed to be advertising here? Because a lot of it looks like garbage! Should the thread be closed? I wouldn’t mind if real people we recognized, like the regulars, advertised something from their homes but the last few posts don’t seem legit. BTW, I have a great condo in Florida if anyone is interested…….
Re-reading this thread, I just re-checked http://eastidahoads.com/ it looks like they don’t do classifieds anymore, only google ads wrapped around a few pictures (none of which appeared to be in Idaho Falls).
So much for that idea?
I agree, most of the ads in this thread seem suspect, and I don’t understand how they make any money.
Of course, I can’t comprehend why spammers make any money. Is there really anyone left out there that doesn’t know the risk they take by trying any of the garbage that arrives in their in-box?
The sheer fact that they are still spamming, which means they are still making money from innocent people tells me that we need to pay way closer attention to everyone in our family that has an internet connection. Someone is paying these creeps.
Capital punishment for spammers!
**yes, i get a lot of spam**
Is there really any reason to keep this thread open?
Just wondering…
Why would anyone bother to purchase a PS1, let alone for 120 bucks? You can purchase a new PS2 now for 99 bucks and Blackberry Storms are buy one get one free through Verizon .
Sure are a lot of people selling Iphones in online classifieds these days. I’ve got a couple of friends with Iphones and they hate them. They like all the cool features it has but when it comes to call quality it’s the worse. They’re constantly getting their calls dropped, etc. And isn’t that the point of a cell phone afterall, to be able to communicate with others? What a waste.
Iphones are great depending on where your service area is – SE Idaho isn’t the absolute best, but it’s a top notch phone without a doubt.
Too bad we can’t keep the advertisers/spammers off of here.
I don’t know anyone around here that has one but I have friends in a few different states and they all complain about the same thing with their Iphones. I used to have ATT and my Razr phone never dropped a call. But that was back when people mainly used their cell phones to make calls. I’m with Verizon now through my company. Something about the Iphone and making an actual phone call, but they’ll wipe your nose and do everything else great. Theres an app for that!
http://www.eiplace.com/
New one for the thread.
We have all brands of Mobile Phones,Ipods,Sidekicks,Nextels phone,Laptops for
sell at cheap and affordable prices, they ranges from Nokia/Samsung/LG/Sony Ericsson/Motorola/Alcatel/panasonic/iphone With Bluetooth, all Brands and Models of
Nextel Phones, we want you to get back to us with your quote so that we can
begin a good business relationship. Note they are all Brand New T2 Euro specs,
unlocked, no operator logo, come in their original sealed box, With 1 year
international warranty from the manufacturer, English & Spanish manual,
Finland made.
Kindly acknowledge the reciept of our mail and get back to us at:
Email:euronet_inc@hotmail.com
Samsung P520 Armani====$330usd
BlackBerry Storm 9500…..$350usd
BlackBerry Curve 8900 …$300usd
Nokia 8800 Carbon Arte..$600usd
Nokia 8800 sapphire arte…$500usd
HTC Touch HD ……….$500usd
HTC Touch Pro ……….$400usd
HTC Touch Diamond …$350usd
Samsung omnia i900…..$400usd
Apple iphone 3G 16gb……..$300usd
Sony ericsson C905………$500usd
Nokia n96 16gb…$400usd
Apple iphone 16gb..$350usd
Sony ericsson xperia x1..$350usd
Apple iphone 8gb…..$300usd
Nokia n95 8gb…….$300usd
Ps3 60gb………….$300usd
Samsung U800=====$380USD
Samsung G900====$350usd
Samsung U900=====$350usd
Samsung i780===$340usd
Samsung Serenata====$400usd
Email:
euronet_inc@hotmail.com
euronet_inc@yahoo.com
Oh……calling Joe here……this thread is kept open because???
cuz everybody wants to buy cheap electronics from Nigeria.
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