Did I get this right? Online classifieds are the new free form of paid newspaper classifieds? Well, with fierce competition emerging between the giants of the online market, more and more online services are becoming free, benefiting the consumer, in the end. I guess, it should be the consumers who should reap the benefit of this e-race. With US economy going south, this is the least that consumers can make good use of. Looking at the prices of gas and food items, online classifieds are a breath of fresh air. People can buy and sell their used items at a reasonable price. I have recently started getting rid of clutter out of my house. I have been analyzing different classified ads, of course I use craigslist. But I have also been looking for alternatives so that I can get more exposure. There are some people who have not heard of craigslist (yes, that is true, I was surprised too!) and I would want the most exposure of my items. Here are the ones that I have used most and have been able to sell and buy (sometimes) my used items.

Craigslist Classifieds - Craigslist is one of the most heard about classifieds site. The first time I was looking for a shared room, I was informed about craigslist by a friend. Yes, this was the very first website I came to know about when I became familiar with the concept of classifieds. I checked out the site and responded to a few of them, went to see the available rooms, and finalized by the following week. They are very popular in the US and Canada.

Cons - They could use a little bit of colorfulness and charm, but simplicity works for me.

Kijiji Classifieds - Kijiji is another classifieds site that I came across when I had to move to another state and had to sublet my apartment. I was so desperate to have my place sublet at the earliest. I was in Windsor at the time. Craigslist did not have lot of listings for Windsor classifieds, so I did not get many responses. Well, Kijiji came up in search results. I posted my apartment on kijiji. I got first response within two days, but few started coming after that. And I was able to sublet my apartment within a week.

Cons - They have recently added "top ads" feature. That means, people who pay for their ads get on the top and are able to expose their ads further. It's no more free ads classifieds. Although, they do offer free posting and searching, but many people do not get to show their ads because some other people can pay for their ads. But still, I can sell my items easily; I only have to be extra careful about who to reply since many replies I get are not reliable.

Khrido Classifieds - Khrido is a local free classifieds site. I started using it recently when I was looking to get rid of items I did not want. Besides using Craigslist and Kijiji, I was looking for another classifieds site (since kijiji started encouraging users to pay to show their ads on the top, and Craigslist did not generate many results in small town where I live), I found Khrido Classifieds. I like the way they have organized their ad postings. Posting and searching ads is really fast and easy. You can also design your own K-Shop, their online store. No charges for anything. You can customize your K-Shop as you wish. Another cool feature about Khrido is that you can browse by title only, title and description and pictures only. It is so much easier to choose the items I like by just looking at them.

Cons - Currently, you can upload only two images. I think they should make it more than two. Since all the other classifieds do that.

These classifieds are only for people looking to buy and sell locally. If they are looking to trade globally, ebay and amazon are not bad at all. 

Benefits of using Local Free Classifieds - Why should you choose to buy, sell or trade on local free classifieds instead of paid advertising to get rid of clutter in your home.