Online advertisements have literally taken the internet by storm due to its user friendliness and ease of access; not only have they made life a whole lot simpler for people all over the world; but, in fact, they have brought almost everything you could be looking for under a single umbrella.
There was a time when people had to run around every nook and corner to search for something that they wanted to buy—not anymore—because now you can just sit back and relax; while you do your searching around from the comfort of your home.
But recently I have been getting a lot of questions on my blog asking “Are these ads really trustworthy? And if there are any precautions that need to be taken while dealing with people selling stuff on these so called free classifieds websites?” So today, I will just try and explain the pros and cons associated with such websites; and what exactly you need to be wary off while dealing with the supposed sellers… But first, the pros!
# Extermination of the Middleman
This is one of the biggest advantages that online ads offer to the end user ‘The extermination of the middleman’ which simply means, that you no longer need to depend on someone else to get the stuff for you—whatever is it that you are looking for. This also serves one more purpose; you really don’t need to pay any kind of commissions whatsoever, and the only charges that you need to incur is the actual charge of the product or service itself.
Let me try and give an example “Suppose you want to rent a property. What do you do? Normally you will approach a broker and ask him to show you some properties around town, and in case you like a particular property you will have to pay the broker a commission; which could be quite high depending on the rent of the property itself. But, it is not the case when you decide to find a property to rent on these websites; as all you need to do is to contact the person who is leasing out the property and negotiate—all without having to pay any kind of commissions to any broker or middleman.”
Since most of these online classifieds websites don’t charge any money to post ads and to respond to those ads; you seldom have to shell out any money, except when you decide to buy products, services or rent things etc. from the seller. olx.com.bd is one such website which I often visit.
# The Best Deals
The one major factor that goes in favor of these websites is the fact that you can really expect to get some great deals from the best dealers around town. Since, multiple dealers post ads on a daily basis on these websites; what they are basically trying to do is outwit each other and therefore, offer the most competitive rates on the products and services that they might be offering. In the end, it’s you ‘The consumer’ who benefits from all of this. Further, you can find almost anything from apparels to handymen, from cars to bikes and properties for rent or purchase; you can literally get anything under the sun on these classified websites.
But, even though they have made lives a whole lot easier; there is a darker side to these online classifieds websites as well—Things that you should know—and should be wary about. Let’s find out…
# It’s full of Fraudsters and Spammers
It’s a known fact that the internet can indeed be a dark place if you are not careful about whom you are dealing with and the information you are sharing. There have been instances where people have been duped by fraudsters into revealing their personal details like: Bank accounts, credit card numbers and other such financially viable information; therefore, you need to be careful when sharing personal or financial information with a potential seller—you can never be too sure!
Further, spammers might get hold of your personal information like: email id, telephone number, address and so on; which they can later sell to marketing companies. Therefore, you need to be careful before you decide to share any of your personal information—trust me; you don’t want to be bombarded by cold calls that sell you everything from home loans to car loans, insurance and what not.
# It Not Always What you See is What you Get
This is one major problem with online classified ads; everyone tries to make you believe that their product is the best—but this is not always true. There have been incidences where people have been shown something and then later on ended up with something else after the deal got finalized; therefore, you need to be careful while dealing with these potential sellers and you need to make sure that you are getting what you want, and not something else.
There you go, now that you know some of the pros and cons of online classified ads; I hope that you guys would keep these tips handy and would be able to get the best deals out of these websites—without falling into the pitfalls of spammers and fraudsters– while enjoying the benefits that this online platform has to offer to you as a consumer.
