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How To Start My Own Classified Site?

Do you believe there is scope for a less spammy classified site than http://quickr.com http://olx.in in India, which is supported by paid listing and has an element of trust?

  • Basically, two biggest classified sites(which are horizontal rather than vertical) are in a complete mess. From spam to fake listings, to unauthenticated posting(without verifying phone number, email ids and other such factors) which i accept are deliberate to keep generating more pageviews. Do you feel India can have a classified site in which most listings are paid, or at least substantial sum to support it with authentic users etc. Is there any scope for such a classified portal?

  • Answer:

    The problem with Olx is as much with the website as it is with the users. Most of us still don't understand how used products work. This is partly because we are one of the first generations in India to actually have used products to sell. When I was growing up, my family - and most other families like mine - never had excess stuff. My father used the same dining table for 40 years. He still has the same stove he bought in 1972. Selling used stuff was and is unusual to them. If they moved, they moved the entire house with them - furniture, knick knacks, clothes and all. My generation is different. We have stuff to spare. We change phones every 6 months. So of course, we want to sell the old stuff off. The problem is, most of us really don't understand what used stuff actually should cost. Most listings on Olx are horribly overpriced. Do a quick search in Delhi and you'll find used Nexus 4 phones being sold for 25k (when a brand new one is available for less than that), 3 year old beds being sold for 15k (I got a brand new made for 11.5k), heck, even 6 month old cars being sold at the on-road price of a new model. Depreciation, it seems, is a concept completely alien to Olx users.

Puranjay Singh at Quora Visit the source

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I think both OLX and Quikr have improved a lot in the past 2 years or so, but your point is valid in the sense that one can still find many fake/spam ads on classifieds platforms in India. There is a clear opportunity to offer verified listings or to build-in verified listings. A platform that chooses to remain a board where anyone can just post (without moderation or verification) will cease to exist or will face extinction with new generation platforms which will focus on Content & Moderation substituting them. The challenge is how to do this inclusively and easily. Platforms today face the problem of on-boarding sellers (despite spending millions of dollars on TV), hence adding an additional layer of verification may really impact their acquisition drive hard. However, what is strange is that no one is even attempting to start small on verification front. Even today the platforms have an opportunity to show listings that are verified on top (or label them as verified) and hence educate sellers that verified listings can sell fast or get more response. Perhaps this is one reason, verticals have been very successful in India, and they seem to be having a great future as well

Saurabh Pandey

That's a very tough problem to solve. OLX is used widely in Europe and is definitely a trustworthy brand among it's users. However, when it comes to India, they tried to solve the classified problem in the exact same way they did in western country. The problem is same, however, but we need a different solution. The first and foremost is to maintain authenticity of the users. OLX and Quikr, both have failed to do it as more listing means better SEO and more business to them. But that comes at the cost of user experience which they have failed to understand. Search on "phones in delhi" on OLX, majority of the listing would be fake and you will end up pulling your hair. Same is the case with quickr.

Anonymous

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