INCREASED POPULARITY OF CLASSIFIEDS

 
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Artwork by Lorraine Blasor

UBIQUITOUS CLASSIFIEDS  

IN the limitless confines of cyber space, you can track down childhood friends, meet your future spouse and travel vicariously to Earth's most elusive corners or exclusive hotspots. And you can buy and sell just about anything online thanks to the numerous classified services available to consumers.  

THESE services run organized, computer-friendly websites, and some even have a presence in social media such as Facebook, as in the case of Clasificados Online, an option that makes the business of selling and offering products and services all the more accessible and easy.  

BEST of all, online classifieds are free of cost, though expanded options are available at a price. For example, Clasificados.pr -- the online classifieds site of newspaper El Nuevo Dia -- gives users the option to print an ad both online and in the newspaper's daily edition: the online ad is free but the print ad is not. Commercial users also get deals. For example, ClasificadosOnline.com offers a special "partnership" package" to real estate agents and auto dealers for a set monthly rate. 

WHILE statistics for the Puerto Rico online classified market are hard to come by, it would appear that more people are resorting to selling online. Daniel Umaña, classifieds director for El Nuevo Dia, said that greater internet access among Puerto Ricans and increased demand has spelled growth for the newspaper's online classified service which in its five years in business has undergone several name changes until settling on its present one.

SINCE expanding the service last October, the newspaper has boosted its volume of classified ads by 65 percent, thanks also to increased marketing, he said. One improvement was to offer a package that combines running the classified ad online and in the daily edition, which means that it will be seen potentially by any of the two million readers using these two platforms, by El Nuevo Dia's own accounting. Rates are based on the product or service to be advertised, according to Umaña. If you are advertising miscellaneous services, for example, the rate is $28 for a classified ad appearing in the daily during four days and online for 20 days. Real estate ads go for $54 while car ads pay $36. 

PLACING an ad is as easy as pie but since the internet world is no less dangerous than our real world, a few words of caution to avoid complications. If you are going to buy or sell an item, do the business locally and in person, advises clasificados.online, which also suggests that you carry out dealings preferably in a public place rather than your home, to protect your privacy and safety. It also recommends that you do not accept money orders or manager's checks from any party you are dealing with. Always make sure to consult the site's security information to protect yourself in your online dealings.

KEEP in mind that if you have a problem, not all services have a phone service to handle customers. Despite its growing presence in the marketplace, as reflected by its current advertising television ad campaign, Clasificados Online has no phone service listed on its website and the only way to reach the company is by e-mail. Depending on your query, you may not be able to get a satisfying answer.

Music and silence combine strongly because 

music is done with silence, and silence is 

full of music. 

 

Marcel Marceau

Copyright ©2010 Lorraine Blasor All Rights Reserved