Technology|Wanted: A Way to Profit by Simplifying Web Classifieds
Technology | E-Commerce Report
Wanted: A Way to Profit by Simplifying Web Classifieds
By BOB TEDESCHI OCT. 2, 2006
Web sites that list classified ads have proliferated, but so far they have mostly made life easier for buyers rather than sellers.
First there is the technology hurdle: many people who want to post a classified ad may feel daunted by the mechanics. Then there is the question of where to post: is it worth it to place a listing on more than one site, or is it enough to simply cast one's lot with Craigslist, Google Base, eBay or Windows Live Expo from Microsoft?
A new breed of Web sites aims to simplify the process. The sites offer templates and step-by-step instructions for creating classified ads and then post the ads, sometimes free, on all the major listings services.
Two sites that offer this service already are vFlyer and Postlets; a third, Mpire, which plans to charge a small fee for the service, will join the fray soon. The sites rely primarily on outside advertising for their revenue.
While the proposition they are offering will probably resonate with sellers, e-commerce analysts say, it remains to be seen whether the money to be made in this market will be worth the effort.
"It's relatively easy for someone to cut, copy and paste, and slap a posting for a used couch out there," said Scot Wingo, chief executive of ChannelAdvisor, which helps large retailers and manufacturers sell on multiple Web sites. "This won't make a ton of revenue."
On the other hand, the sites could prosper by sparing users the task of evaluating local online marketplaces, which tend to be fragmented, said Greg Sterling, principal of Sterling Market Intelligence, a San Francisco Bay-area consulting firm. "This will be a good proposition for sellers," he said. "With the exception of posting an ad on Craigslist, it's hard for sellers to reach volumes of people."
On vFlyer, which is based in San Francisco and is scheduled to move from a beta, or test version, to a full-fledged one today, sellers can quickly design an ad using templates available in roughly 30 classified ad categories. The templates include checklists of attributes specific to, say, dogs for sale or vacation rentals. (VFlyer does not offer personal ads.)
The templates also include graphics that can be customized. VFlyer checks the spelling of the seller's written descriptions, and when an ad is finished, the seller can choose which sites to run it on.
To post on Craigslist, which accepts only ads submitted by users, vFlyer gives its customers some computer code that they can cut and paste into the Craigslist forms. The ad and the accompanying photos then appear as designed on vFlyer.
Oliver Muoto, left, a cofounder of vFlyer, and Aaron Sperling, the chief executive, say they want to make Internet classified ads easier for sellers to use. Credit Peter DaSilva for The New York Times
Oliver Muoto, one of two vFlyer founders, said that the service was in some ways the flip side of a recent online trend in which businesses like Oodle, SimplyHired and others have begun aggregating the ads on various classified sites to make searching easier for buyers, job seekers and apartment hunters. "Although there's a solution for buyers, for sellers the process hasn't changed," he said.
VFlyer will carry its users' ads on its computers but it will not offer buyers a way to search listings on its site, said Aaron Sperling, the company's chief executive. Doing so would put the site in direct competition with the online marketplaces it seeks to serve, he said.
To earn money, vFlyer displays paid advertisements on its own pages as visitors surf the site. Those ads are distributed by Google, which pays publishers like vFlyer a commission each time a user clicks on a marketer's offer. Mr. Muoto said that vFlyer would one day offer paid versions of its service for high-volume sellers like used-car dealers.
Like many new Internet companies, vFlyer plans to rely primarily on word-of-mouth for its marketing. Mr. Sterling of Sterling Market Intelligence said that this approach made sense, given that the ads the company will distribute will carry its brand, which will get the vFlyer name into circulation.
While vFlyer's service is the newest of its kind, it is not the first. In fact, the business closely resembles that of Postlets, another San Francisco Bay area-based company that introduced its service in April 2005, a month before vFlyer was formed.
Asher Matsuda, who founded Postlets along with Ray Chen, said that his company also made money by distributing Google ads, and that it was considering charging for an enhanced service that is now available free. That service, called Plus, allows users to create ads with multiple pages, large-format photos, maps and video tours.
Postlets currently offers templates for auto and real estate ads, with employment listings soon to come, followed by personals and other categories. Mr. Matsuda said that about 6,000 people had used the service, creating roughly 30,000 listings.
Most of the ads have been posted by real estate professionals and car dealers. "We initially thought this would be more attractive to individual sellers, so we were surprised to learn the opposite was true," Mr. Matsuda said. "It might just be an awareness thing."
Early next year there will be a third company in this space: Mpire, which currently runs a Web site that helps people do comparison shopping. Matt Hulett, chief executive of Mpire, said that his service would differ from the others in that it would charge users a small fee and would aim at more active sellers, like small businesses. Mpire already offers eBay sellers a service that helps them create and distribute ads, and the new offering will be an extension of that.
Mr. Hulett said the new initiative would indeed make little money if it focused on people who sell only two or three items a year, because such people required more customer service. But higher-volume sellers would be less needy and more willing to pay for something that saves them time, he said.
"Most sellers," Mr. Hulett said, "will realize there's some value here."
A version of this article appears in print on , on Page C4 of the New York edition with the headline: Wanted: A Way to Profit by Simplifying Web Classifieds. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe