backpage.com – An Up and Coming Classified Website!
We all know that Craigslist is the towering giant among free online classified websites. Over 50 million unique visitors land on Craigslist each month making it the 8th largest website in the U.S., and the 24th largest in the world.
Does this mean that you should rush out and post your car, truck, or SUV only on Craigslist? The answer depends on where you live. Classified websites offer a local approach for selling to local buyers. This means that Craigslist is not the leader in all U.S. markets. In fact, it comes in number three in some markets.
One of the up and comers giving Craigslist a run for their money is backpage.com.
I like working with backpage.com because I have an affinity for my local San Francisco Bay Area alternative weekly. backpage.com is owned by the original alternative newspaper, New York’s Village Voice, but your ad may be displayed along with classified ads from the back of many local papers including my SF Weekly, the LA Weekly, City Pages (Minneapolis), and the Seattle Weekly.
backpage.com online ads are free, but you have the option of paying a fee to add your post to the local, printed newspaper and to post online in multiple cities.
I recommend using Craigslist as a strategic site to post your online vehicle ad, but don’t forget about backpage.com. Remember the “mud on the wall” theory:
You never know when that last post on some obscure website will generate a phone inquiry about car.
Be smart and begin with the largest, high-traffic sites in your area, but why not use as many free sites as you have time and energy for. That includes backpage.com. After all, it’s free, right!
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L. James Johnson’s new book, HELP! I Gotta Sell My Car NOW! New Rules for Selling Your Vehicle Online! is available for download at BayAreaCarGuy.com.
Why Americans Hate Buying Cars – Part II
The Dilemma
Consumers are in a bind when it comes to buying their vehicles: The majority of Americans love the cars that they drive but they hate the process of buying them. It is this specific issue that moved me to begin this weblog because I prove every day that buying a car, truck, or SUV does not have to be a painful experience.
The consumers I work will tell you that their car buying experience was “informative,” “constructive,” and at the very least they will report that the experience was not as “stressful” as they thought it would be. In fact, a few customers have actually described their car buying experience with me as “fun.”
Don’t get me wrong: It is not always bliss, and not everyone leaves having successfully negotiated a vehicle purchase. However, buying your next vehicle does not have to be so stressful that it ranks as one of the worst experiences that you will go through this year.
There Is Another Way To Do Business
Earlier in my life I was a business owner and operated three businesses simultaneously: A regional modular home sales & service center, along with two property management companies. A significant part of my job was learning how to provide topnotch customer service in a variety of business environments. This process had its own learning curve, but in time I was able to make real contact with my customers, and to work with them to resolve issues in an intelligent, transparent, and fair manner.
After moving back to the San Francisco/Bay area a few years ago, I chose to enter automotive sales and worked with both Honda and Ford dealerships. In both cases I was an Internet Sales Manager who specialized in developing online marketing of pre-owned and Certified pre-owned vehicles, as well as selling and leasing new vehicles.
Skill are transferable, and it was in the auto industry that I was able to transfer the professional customer service experience that I developed in other industries. This, at a time when the auto industry is enduring major—and, at times—turbulent change.
It seems that life is not always easy for either customers or car dealers in this age of evolving automotive markets. The severe economic downturn, combined with more limited lending practices, is drastically impacting society in general, and the automotive industry in particular. More on these issues in another article.
For now, suffice it to say that life goes on and here in the Bay area this means that we need good, reliable transportation that we can afford to buy, that we can afford to maintain, and that we can afford to put gas in. We also need vehicles that are comfortable enough—and safe enough—to spend the long hours that we invest each week in our commute. This is often done in less than ideal driving conditions.
The bottom-line is that our jobs, our livelihood, our safety, and, at times, our very sanity rests on good, reliable transportation that we can afford to buy and maintain. Our ongoing dilemma is figuring out how to buy the cars that we love in such a way that lessens the stress in our life rather than adding to it. The good news is that there are practical options available to you that will move you towards this end.
Tomorrow: Real solutions for Americans who hate the process of buying their cars.
The Most Stolen Cars!
Each year the National Insurance Crime Bureau releases their Auto Theft Study. The latest figures are from 2007. Honda is particularly popular among the thieving crowd these days. The Toyota Camry and Ford trucks aren’t far behind.
Here is the list:
- 1995 Honda Civic
- 1991 Honda Accord
- 1989 Toyota Camry
- 1997 Ford F-150
- 1994 Chevrolet 1500
- 1994 Acura Integra
- 2004 Dodge Ram
- 1994 Nissan Sentra
- 1988 Toyota Pickup
- 2007 Toyota Corolla
Where Are They Stolen From?
Four of the top five cities for car theft in the United States are in California. Las Vegas, NV has the honor of being the only non-CA city that broke into the top five award territory.
Here is that list:
- Modesto, CA
- Las Vegas, NV
- San Diego/San Marcos/Carlsbad metro area, CA
- Stockton, CA
- San Francisco/Bay area, CA
There appears to be some good news in the report, however. Auto thefts on a national level appear to be down by as much as 9% when compared to data from 2006.
