The Top Sites like Craigslist To Buy and Sell Items

Craigslist

Craigslist is a great website that allows people to buy and sell literally everything. When I say everything, I mean it. You can find items from antiques to goats(by a breeder) on Craigslist. People advertise their garage sales and even find the right guy who can walk their dogs in there.

Since its launch in 1995, Craigslist has quickly become one of the most visited websites in the US. However, nothing is perfect. There are things we love about Craigslist while some other things make us don't like it.

During the years Craigslist also evolved very much. They have improved their algorithm and stopped aggressive marketers, and spammers from gaining the advantage of their platform. They have removed using HTML codes when creating ads and made it more difficult to leave a link in an ad.

Most people using Craigslist complain about their adds are get flagged pretty quickly. You may be using the platform as a regular user, for complete legitimate goals. But still, your ads may be removed or account shut down anytime without any reason.

Craigslist's very strict rules are encouraging people to look for other sites like Craigslist that allows them to sell items online with less hustle. The edge of craigslist is being the pioneer in the local buy and sell market. They started their business around the times when internet use about to skyrocket.

They offered people a very easy-to-use platform to buy and sell items locally which they still keep it like that. To sell stuff locally, Craigslist still looks like the best option since it doesn't require any technical skills to set up an ad.

The real edge of Craigslist comes from the opportunity to sell used things online. There were not many websites to sell stuff online when Craigslist initiated its business.

But still, we are going to look at what other Craigslist alternatives exist that allow you to buy and sell items, especially the used ones online.

1. FreeAdsTime

Freeadstime can be a good alternative to Craigslist

FreeAdsTime has been a destination site for those who are looking for a Craigslist alternative. It gives you the vibe that you get from Craigslist, and it has been around for close to a decade.

The classified sites tend to start charging you for placing ads on some of their categories as they become more popular; however, this has not been the case for FreeAdsTime.

It has kept its services free of charge regardless of its traffic growth. A main contributor might be that it has the term free ads as part of its domain name.

Yet again, this is the place to be for those who want to find or post items on a local classified ads site. It covers over 40,000 cities, and it has hundreds of categories and subcategories. I highly recommend visiting the site now!

2. WallClassifieds

WallClassifieds is a must-visit site if you're in the market to find a Craigslist alternative. It is rather easy to use classified ads site, and it's very local. The posting ads process is pleasant, and finding items can be done in minutes.

You will spot the browsing options right on the home page. You can either use their filters or the site search to start your shopping journey. The categories they cover are rather the standard categories that you expect to come across on a classified site.

Its intuitive design and its ease of use made it a top candidate for this list here. Go ahead and give it a visit right now!

3. ClassifiedAds.com

ClassifiedAds.com is an entirely free classified ads website that is very similar to Craigslist. You can buy and sell a very diversity of items, and services on this platform. They strive to provide to monitor and filter the content posted on their website to deliver the most relevant listings.

ClassifiedAds.com

The company has been chosen as a top 5 start-up in Seattle. Also, they are on the list of Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Company. I would definitely recommend checking out the website if you need a good alternative to Craigslist.

4. Locanto

locanto

The Locanto Classifieds are run by the Wiesbaden-based German startup company Yalwa. The Locanto was started in July 2006 with a local classifieds site for New York City. Today every major US city can benefit from Locanto's classified platform. The platform is available in 5 languages and operates for more than 60 countries.

5. USA Today Classifieds

USA Today is one of the prestigious newspapers that is widely circulated. It has a classified section called “USA Today Classifieds“, that is very practical intuitive. If you are looking for a Classified ads website, it can be a good replacement for Craigslist.

USA Today Classifieds

It allows users to create ads in most major categories like auctions, automotive, market place, real estate, services and so on.

6. Trovit

Trovit is a classified ads website with a particular focus. When you visit their website you are shown to choose in between 3 categories.

The categories are:

  • Homes
  • Cars
  • Jobs
trovit

Once you choose your category, you can narrow down your search to find the most relevant homes, cars or jobs to what you are looking for. When you visit the homepage, by default, you will be on the local Trovit page of your residence. However, you can change the country to look at other ads in a specific location if you want to.

7. AdsGlobe

Adsglobe is a free classifieds ads website serving over a million locations globally. It is active in over 150 countries worldwide. The platform can help both individuals as well as businesses. What that means B2C, C2C, and B2B advertising are all hosted under one single platform.

Adsglobe.com

Users can post for free in most categories like Real Estate, Merchandise, Local Events, Business Pages, B2B, Jobs, Autos, Dating/Personals, Services, Pets, Travel and Community Corner.

If you have privacy concerns, you can post your ads anonymous, and let users contacting you through Adsglobe.

8. Letgo

Letgo launched in January 2015. It is developed to target the U.S. market, competing against eBay and Craigslist. From its launch, it quickly grew in the number of users visiting the platform every day.

Letgo

Using Letgo, you can make money while getting rid of the stuff you no longer need. The platform works like a mobile classified that allows people to buy/sell stuff online easily. It is much like a local sale site rather than a Global site like eBay.

Letgo operates in a dozen countries around the world. However, its largest markets are the US and Canada. Selling stuff on Letgo is a piece of cake. You take pictures of the thing you want to sell directly in the Letgo App, add a few lines description of your item and post your ad.

It literally takes seconds to post a live ad on Letgo that makes it very easy to find potential buyers for what you want to sell. Letgo is completely free to use. It neither charges asks a listing fee, nor ask a commission from the sales.

9. Swappa

Swappa allows users to buy and sell items directly with the other users cutting out the middleman. That means you join a community market that offers the highest value for the best prices.

swappa

Users can securely make the transaction using PayPal. Swappa assures the exchange between the buyer and seller to be done safely.

Swappa cares about its reputation and doesn't allow broken items to be listed on its platform. Every product should meet with the listing requirements in order to get listed on Swappa. Sellers are not required to pay fees for the transactions. However, a small fee is charged from the buyers that are included in the sale price.

The listing is not considered sold until the seller is paid. For the first time sellers, you get paid before you ship the item. Swappa's support is very friendly and they usually respond to support requests pretty quickly.

10. Booko

Booko is a local classified platform that allows people buying and selling items in their neighborhoods. It is a site like Craigslist. However, it works a little differently. We can say Booko is more localized than Craigslist and focused on buying and selling items in your very near environment.

booko

People want to buy and sell stuff to meet at a convenient location to exchange money and stuff directly. Hence, there is no payment, shipping-related problems will happen.

11. OfferUp

OfferUp is a mobile app that you can use to buy and sell stuff online in your local area. It has quickly gained popularity since it provides a reliable yet intuitive platform for the users.

According to Business Insider, even in 2016 people spent just as much time on OfferUp as they do on Snapchat or Instagram. This should give you a clear idea of how popular OfferUp is today.

Offerup

Due to a large number of users, listed items are usually sold very quickly.

Buyers and sellers can directly communicate to discuss the product information using the chat or call modules in the app. Sellers can also upload the photos of the item which they want to sell by using the inbuilt camera functionality.

Buyers and sellers can rate each other which can be helpful to work with more reputable people when buying or selling items.

12. Close5

Close5 is formerly known as eBay Classifieds can be a good alternative to Craigslist. The downside of Close5, they are not serving in every city across the US.

Close5 is currently available in San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego, Las Vegas, New York, Washington, D.C, Boston; Los Angeles, and Phoenix.

ebay classifieds group

Creating an account on Close5 is free, and takes about half a minute. You can sell stuff locally within a 5-mile radius. Hence, if you need a for sale sites like Craigslist, Close5 can be a good replacement.

13. Mercari

Mercari is a mobile app to sell stuff online instead of meeting with the buyers at a physical location. However, you can still sell stuff online securely on their platform. If you are worried about meeting with people face to face Mercari is for you.

mercari

Listing items are very easy. Just take a photo of the item you want to sell, and write a short description together with the price you are asking for. Mercari charges 10% of whatever item you sell using their platform. Hence, it may not be a true alternative to Craigslist if you are concerned about the fees.

14. Poshmark

Poshmark started by the company's CEO Manish Chandra in 2011. It allows users to buy and sell used-items like clothing, shoes, and accessories. By May of 2019, it reached a $1 billion mark in sales.

Poshmark

It's important to know Poshmark's fee structure before start selling anything on Poshmark. For sales that are below $15, the seller pays a commission of $2.95 and keeps the rest. For sales of $15 and more, Poshmark takes a 20% commission while you get to keep %80 of the total sales.

So, how does basically the Poshmark selling process work?

After making the sales, earnings are automatically released to the buyer on the 4th day of delivery. What you can with your earnings is totally your choice. You can either spend it in the app, withdraw outside the platform.

Customers pay a flat fee of $6.49 as the shipping cost. Buyers can negotiate shipping fees with the sellers. In some cases, buyers only pa the fees after the delivery is completed.

15. Facebook Marketplace

Facebook Marketplace is pretty much like what Craigslist and Amazon have been offering for many years. Marketplace allows users to sell their used items, collectibles, and many other products directly on the platform. The problem with the marketplace is the lack of privacy.

People who mind their privacy very much will not likely enjoy this platform.

16. Oodle

Oodle is an online market place founded in 2004 and currently available in the following countries only.

  • United States
  • Australia
  • Canada
  • India
  • Ireland
  • New Zealand
  • United Kingdom

Oodle classifieds aggregator aggregates listings from sites like ForRent.com, eBay, BoatTrader.com, local newspapers, and local websites.

The platform encourages users to include their Facebook profiles to their listing. The reason behind simply improving the transparency and trust in the platform since people like to work with other people at least they have some information about them.

17. Gumtree

Gumtree is a British online classified ad and community website. Posting ads are either free or paid for depending on the selected product category and the geographical location. By November 2010, it became the UK's biggest website for local community classifieds, and was in the list of top 30 websites in the UK, receiving 14.8 million monthly visitors.

Gumtree

The largest category listing on Gumtree is “goods for sale”.

Gumtree has a very active social media presence on Twitter and Facebook. The company uses social media to create more brand awareness and connect with its existing users, to announce competitions and promotions.

The site primarily works as a free classified listings website. However, there are paid options for those who want to improve the visibility of their ads to reach a larger group of audience.

Gumtree also offers classified advertising packages for the companies that are looking to employ people. Companies can post their job vacancies on Gumtree paying a certain amount of fee.

18. ADLANDPro

AdlandPro as a Classified Ads and Community Network around since 1996. It offers both free and paid advertising and networking services. Its solutions are very affordable for small businesses and home entrepreneurs.

adlandpro

If you plan to promote your business to reach out to a large audience in your local area Adlandpro can be a good alternative to Craigslist.

19. Geebo

geebo

Geebo is a classified ads website to advertise almost all types of used items for sale across the United States. Geebo is a site like Craigslist in terms of functionalities if offers.

20. Hoobly

Hoobly is a classified ads website that is very similar to Craigslist in terms of visual design, and functionalities it offers. You can find pretty much every category to sell your stuff locally.

The only downside of this website is the large banner displayed above the fold on every page on the website. It is quite an aggressive monetization technique that is definitely lowering the user experience on the platform.

Although this website seems quite easy to use, it gives the impression that the website is incomplete. I couldn't find on home page the links of essential pages like Privacy Policy, About us, contact information, etc.

21. PennySaver USA

PennySaver USA is a privately-owned classified ad company, that has been a leader in local advertising for more than 50 years.

Pennysaver USA

The company offers advertising solutions and full-service marketing across all print and digital channels via its digital services and local publications. The California PennySaver is one of the nation’s biggest local shopper publications reaching more than 9 million California households.

22. City News

City News Classifieds gives the impression of a site from 1998 since it is launched at that time. However, it looks like design didn't change much from that time.

Citynews classifieds

I like their business description on their home page. “Locally focused news and classifieds”. I am not sure if it is one of the best places to sell online. However, you can easily navigate used things for sale. I am not sure if City News Classifieds could a viable option to Craigslist, but hey you can give a try and learn with first-hand experience if it worths your time.

23. 10 Day Ads

10dayads.com is a platform you can buy and sell used items online. They don't charge or add a percentage fee on the actual price. They promise to eliminate tire kickers not to waste your time.

The idea behind 10-day ads is quite simple. If an item cannot be sold in 10 days, it will be relisted a new post, and newly listed. They eliminate the problem of “item is sold” ads that are already outdated and wastes most buyers' time.

They promise to provide a great place to buy and sell used items effortlessly without charging you large fees that hurts your pocket.

10dayads.com

On the about us page of the company, there is a %100 satisfaction guaranteed badge. Although I am optimistic about this website, I need more evidence to believe what they say. Because they are not very clear how do they achieve what they have promised.

24. AdToad

Adtoad is a website that works pretty similar to Craigslist. It is a collaboration between LaHitech and US Media Publicity Inc.

It allows people to sell their stuff simply by creating an account and writing a few lines of description. I have seen almost all classified ad categories on their home page.

Final Recommendations

All classified ads sites have different rules and regulations they expect users to comply with. Some of them very easy to start while others more stringent to let you start posting your ads.

If you are looking for a true alternative to Craigslist, you need to invest your time with those sites to find out which ones can work best for you.