The most frequent question that we get from our prospects “Is it worth starting a classifieds website in 2018?” We share our customers’ concerns and understand that the online classifieds industry has been developing for years and some may think that most of the niches have already been taken.
While our job is to develop and maintain our script, we are also interested in the classifieds market and its prospects for new customers. In this post, we will attempt to explore the state of the classifieds market in 2018 and whether it offers any prospects for new customers. For this post, we’ll be using statistical data from various reports on classifieds in public access.
Top Classifieds Niches
Before you start your classifieds business, it’s good to know the top niches for classifieds which have been bringing a steady income for webmasters. According to Industry Today, a UK’s largest publishing platform, the top players in classifieds remain Craigslist, Backpage, Gumtree, Ebay and others whereas top classifieds niches are various classifieds, like Craigslist or Ebay, Auto sales, Employment, Real Estate, Rental Properties and Pets. As you can see, you are unlikely to go wrong if your website targets all classifieds types, like Ebay or Amazon. While they are major global players, you can still get an audience if you offer your users the local approach.
Classifieds Highlights in the United States
As time goes by, more and more classifieds sites across all possible niches emerge on the market. But you should also know that even more websites are required to meet growing online consumer demands. Online shopping is a multi-billion dollar industry that is constantly growing. According to Business Insider, the number 1 business publication in the United States, US consumers spend around $427 to $443 billion yearly shopping online and this figure is expected to reach $632 billion in 2020. Billions of dollars spent on online shopping turn into millions in revenue for classifieds site owners. According to Statista, classifieds site owners are expected to earn $3.873 million in 2018 and this figure is going to reach close to $5 million by 2022.
Source: Statista – The Statistics Portal.
Classifieds Highlights in Europe
If we look at the classifieds segment in Europe, from where we have a lion’s share of our customers, the revenue in the classifieds business segment amounts to $6.654m in 2018 according to Statista. It is expected that the revenue for classifieds will show an annual 3% increase at least up to 2022. According to the report, an average Internet user spends around $13.71 on classifieds sites whether for buying a membership, adding or promoting a listing or other premium services, these costs will rise as more and more users prefer to shop and buy things on the Internet through classifieds sites.
Global Highlights for Classifieds Market
As the transition from print advertising to digital media is continuing, more and more people rely on digital media when looking for goods and services, and very soon print media advertising will be a thing of the past. As more and more people turn to online classifieds in search for goods, the revenue in the classifieds market continues to grow, according to Statista, and is expected to increase from $20.055 million in 2018 to $27.425 million in 2022 representing an $8 million increase.
Source: Statista – The Statistics Portal.
How should I start my Classifieds Site?
Now that you have seen the statistics and see the prospects for classifieds market, you’re probably wondering how you should proceed and what advice we can give you. If you’re planning to start a classifieds website, the most practical advice we can give is to use the local approach. By this, we mean that you should first start a website for your local community, for a town where you live in where you know all the ins and outs of the market and buyers’ preferences. Once you capture the local market, you can go on and promote your website country or even worldwide.
In fact, users in Europe prefer to use local classifieds sites to find all types of goods and services. Users in Norway choose finn.no which is the number 1 go-to website for classifieds items, Sahibinden is unrivaled in Turkey, Allegro in Poland, lenoncoin.fr in France, and Avito in Russia. As you can see, the local approach dominates the classifieds market and you are more likely to succeed if you start your website for the local community. More and more users prefer to buy things on the local market where they can meet the seller face-to-face without the need to wait for shipping.
Summing up, the year 2018 is definitely a great year to start your classifieds site in light of the promising statistics and increased online shopping. We, on our part, believe that our classifieds script will help you jumpstart your classifieds business and start earning.