Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with classifieds

Classify Me

DarlingBri — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 01:50:59 -0800

Wanted: Flexible PHP classified ads or listings system that actually generates attractive, table-less output. I have a client who wants to start a site that allows people to sell their used widgets for charity. She has a budget of about fifty cents, but I'm all for charity so sure, let's just do that.

I would, however, like to reduce dev time by not having to roll my own backend. My thought was that I could start with a basic classifieds system, one that would:

* Allow sellers to register.
* Allow them to place an ad with some defined fields (size, age, condition), a number of photos auto-thumbnailed on the fly, and a description of the widget.
* Allow buyers to contact sellers if they have questions.

I can manage the buying and payment bits on my own without a problem, and I'm willing to do a lot of front end redesigning, but I would love suggestions for any classified or listing system that:

* Does not output tables
* Does not look like complete ass out of the box
* Is not geared towards paid listings or auction based sales
* Ideally, generates an RSS feed

If anyone has used anything that was fairly flexible on output, approached some sort of web standards and wasn't completely painful to use, I'd appreciate any suggestions.

RSS reader optimized for Craigslist and Kijiji

Chuckles — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 13:29:33 -0800

Wanted, an RSS reader optimized for Craigslist and Kijiji. Willing to program myself, if necessary. I'm looking to optimize my use of RSS feeds when perusing online classified adds. I've been using Thunderbird, and I've set a few message filters to save me some time, but it isn't enough. Some of the features I need:

Sophisticated kill scripts, to avoid spam, duplicate listings, and items I'm simply not interested in
Permanent storage of the listing and pictures for market research purposes. This would include monitoring changes, and recording the date of listing removal.

I'm sure there are a million features I haven't thought of, but those two are really key, and they are not at all typical for RSS readers, as far as I can tell.

I'm a junior programmer, but I'm happy to take this on as a project. Hopefully, as a plugin for existing software, or a modification of an existing open source RSS reader. Happier still if somebody has already made it, of course!

And as an adjunct question, I'm very interested in recommendations for ebay software. Again, looking for permanent caching and tracking of auctions. I've heard of some ebay market analysis services, but paying a subscription isn't really an option, unless it is very cheap.

Help me find some adults!

youthenrage — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 14:46:44 -0800

Where online can I find people who want to work in the adult industry? Are there any good websites/forums/online classifieds where people in the adult entertainment industry can post job openings/gigs and (obviously) interested potential employees can go to look for them? I already know about adult gigs in craigslist, and backpage. I've had a a hard time searching for any other places and getting anything but porn sites as a result on google.

What is the best paid dating website with ACTUAL results?

wildrain2008 — Sat, 17 May 2008 13:52:36 -0800

What is the best paid dating website with ACTUAL results? So it's sad to say that the dating scene for an average Joe has been virtually eliminated. Unless you have fantastic looking body (Bruce Lee's, football player, or Antonio Banderas [for guys] / supermodel or a twig-thin [for girls]), you're in for a slow let down.

Having said that, I'm diving into the online dating scene. For a few months now I've been using Craigslist, Plenttyoffish, and OKCupid sites. Not much results there either. By that I mean that 95% of personal adds on CL are carefully generated spam/email-hunters, the women that I have met for dates on Plenttyoffish turn out to have serious issues, and OKCupid has produced 0 responses.

The next step I figure is to try a paid dating website. I'm currently testing out Yahoo Personals. Anyone has any other suggestions that have worked for them and won't leave me broke?

Austin Newspapers for NYC?

pedmands — Wed, 07 May 2008 06:38:59 -0800

What is the best Austin, TX newspaper? I've been checking out The Statesman, The Chronicle, Daily Herald, and even 360 online, but I was hoping that a local Austinite would be able to help me determine which to subscribe to.

I like in NYC, but am moving to Austin in October. Before then, I would like to be able to:

a) look at local listings for apartments (craigslist has become tired)

b) have a weekly resource for activities (to start planing how to immediately integrate into the community)

c) receive insightful news on the Austin area.

I'm not sure a daily publication would be viable, considering the delay having it delivered half way across the country would cause. Other than that, what tips can you give me?

Polish Craigslist?

mdonley — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:28:59 -0800

What is the Polish equivalent of Craigslist? I'm going to be in the market this fall for a bunch of things like a bicycle and some used housewares. A site that includes the whole country and not just, say, Warsaw and Krakow - I'll be in the Bydgoszcz-Torun area - would be great. Polish-language sites are, of course, fine.

Dziękuję!

I want to run my own web classified ads

furtive — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 16:10:49 -0800

Looking for free online classified ad software/web application similar to Craigslist, etc. that I can host myself. Ideally I'm looking for something ready made that works on a LAMP stack although I'm fine with python or ruby/rails too.

Simplicity is key, buy/sell/trade/give away with email confirmations. Photo uploads would be nice too. No shopping carts needed.

How can I find young musicians to hire in London?

gfrobe — Thu, 24 May 2007 09:02:44 -0800

I'm interested in hiring some musicians for some steady part time work in the West London area. Other than Craiglist and Gumtree, are there any free or inexpensive places I could advertise? It's performing for kids so I don't necessarily need pro musicians but rather just some good amateur ones looking to earn a few bucks. I tried Gumtree and Craiglist and the response was pretty light so just wondering if anyone has better suggestions.

Craigslist Mashup Thing

smithygreg — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 22:55:21 -0800

What is the website that takes craigslist and other local online classifieds and aggregates them into one? I can't remember what it is called, but it was this great little mashup that took craigslist and all the local classified ads form the papers and other online sources and made one interface to search them all...
Do you know what I am talking about?

Waking up Craigslist Calgary

Milkman Dan — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 20:49:05 -0800

How can I awaken Craiglist Calgary? I’ve been using Craigslist Vancouver for barters and job listings while I’ve been here, but now I’m off to Calgary, Alberta. The ’list moves slooow out there – too slow to be practical at all. Any ideas how to rally more users to the site? I'm not trying to "advertise" on behalf of the service. It's simply that a community-oriented site is only as good as its community. I bet Calgary's got a lot to Craig about, but maybe nobody knows about it.

Cheap Local Advertising

ndillon — Thu, 11 May 2006 08:09:41 -0800

What is the best way to go about advertising locally? I am working on a local online classifieds website. When I am ready for launch I plan to advertise the site around town. Have you had any experience or success with local advertising.

I am looking for effective and possibly cheap ways of getting local traffic to the site.

How expensive would a Direct Mail campaign be? Flyers on windows? Any ideas?