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User Safety – Netads Classifieds

| Site News | September 3, 2012

Following a week of online classifieds Horror stories, I thought now would be a good time for a new Blog post! The topic…. ‘user SAFETY’!

Just a few ‘MUST READ’ safety tips for our Users.

Meeting places:

- When going to view an item being advertised or meet up with a prospective buyer, PLEASE be safe, take a friend, Family member or neighbour with you! Let your family and friends know where you are going! More often than not, if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is!

- A good meeting place for prospective Buyers/Sellers, would be your local Police Station!

 

We have also been inundated with ‘Scam Pet ads’; here are a few pointers when purchasing a pet via Netads Classifieds!

The DO’S and the DO NOT’S when buying a pet on the internet.

If you are buying a pet on the internet please do not send any money for any pet or pay for any shipping of a pet until you have carefully checked out the seller of your new pet.
Scammers are getting very greedy. They not only want you to pay for a pet that does not exist but they want you to pay for shipping and insurance for a pet that does not exist.

* Never buy a pet from a broker, or any third party agent.
* For a happy, healthy pet only purchase your pet direct from a registered breeder.

* If you are interested in buying a puppy check out the breeders listed on the website ShowDog.Org.

This website only lists reputable, registered dog breeders. Sites have been carefully checked and manually added.
You will also find links to breed clubs and dog breed rescue.

* Most reputable breeders will have a website.If you only have an email address, be VERY cautious .

ANALYZE THEIR WEBSITE:

* Look for inconsistencies, poor grammar and misspelled words on the website.
* As general rule poor breeders or puppy millers/ farmers will not have any champions on their website listed.
* Avoid buying from this “breeder” if the website has paypal signs and other instant payments option signs flashing everywhere.
* Only purchase you pet from a breeder who is active in the breed.
In case of buying a puppy only purchase from a breeder who is active in exhibiting, or doing obedience or is involved in breed rescue.
Ask your breeder what breed clubs he or she belongs to and if concerned contact that breed club for a reference for your breeder.

* Only purchase your pet from breeder who has a sales contract.
* Ask for the details of registration what association the seller is a member of.
* Ask for the registration of the breed and what association the seller is a member of.
* Ask for the breeder’s home phone number and make a call to the breeder.
* Ask for phone numbers and email contacts of previous pet buyers.
* Ask for more pictures of the pet and a printed pedigree back 3 generations or more.
* Make payments only by direct credit from your bank into a bank account in the country that your pet is coming from.
NEVER pay with WESTERN UNION , PAYPAL, MONEY BOOKERS etc.

* Don’t purchase a puppy that is listed on one of these bulk all breed and x breed puppy sales portals on the net.
Deal directly with a reputable registered breeder.
The sites that list puppies for sale are full of scammers.
Often the puppies listed do not exist.
I know this to be a fact as I have found photos taken from my website on these puppy sales portals.
My photos where being used to scam buyers.

* Do not be in a hurry. Carefully check all details BEFORE you send any money.

GENUINE SELLERS WILL ALSO WANT TO ASK YOU MANY QUESTIONS.

* Ask for the Shipping company that the seller uses. Contact the shipping company before sending any money.
* Ask for references from other buyers in your state or country; then contact them.
* Common scams include a puppy in need that you only need to pay the freight for.
The seller offering to send the puppy if you only send part of the funds.
No breeder wills end a pet until you paid for the pet in full and the shipping costs.

* If it sounds too good to be true it usually is.
* Use extra caution and commonsense when making any purchase over the internet.

From our side, we are always looking for new ways to validate ads placed on our site, and we’ve decided to start by validating the physical location of the ‘ISP IP address’, from where the ad originated from:

‘REAL example’:

A pet scammer placed the following ad ‘Bengal kittens now ready at 8 weeks old’, which was reported as a Scam by a User who lost out on her deposit and courier costs, by the same ad on Gumtree.

We removed the ad from Netads, and traced the physical location as follows:

Ad originated from a Vodacom 3G card

The Physical location turned out to be from a Parking lot, outside a Bottle store in Boksburg!

Physical location traced with the help of 'Google maps'

Our ads might take a bit longer to appear live than other classified sites, but we take user safety seriously!

 

Mike Smith

Netads Classifieds co-founder

183 total views, 1 today

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You win some, you lose some

| Site News | February 19, 2012

Just as the heading goes, you can’t win everything all the time, but when you do win there is nothing more satisfying. And having said that I’m proud to announce some new partnerships with a few companies we’ve been talking to for the last few weeks. It might not be anything significant for a start, but it lays down some solid foundations for Netads Classifieds which will surely stand in good stead for the next few months or so.

A partnership can only mean good. Not only does it involve two parties with similar interests, but it also shares a common goal, which is to benefit is most cases, the ‘customers’, who in a nutshell pay the bills and drive revenue – that’s me just being honest. Anyone in business will tell you they’re in it for the very same reason.

A strategic partnership is a formal alliance between two commercial enterprises. Typically two companies form a strategic partnership when each possesses one or more business assets that will help the other, but that each respective other does not wish to develop internally.

Enough of the serious stuff. On to the fun stuff. And in fun I mean we’re reached the eve of our competition draw that comes to an end. We will make the official draw tomorrow and announce the winner shortly after that. If you’re sadly missed out we’ll definitely run more competitions so don’t fret.

Also on the horizon will be launch of our first quarterly newsletter so watch your inbox.

Oh yes, did I mention those partnerships are with up and coming job portals that plan to shake-up the industry?  I’m not going to say anymore on the topic but I guess it’s onwards and upwards. As the old adage goes: let sleeping dogs lie.

Till next time.

Craig Wagner

Netads Classifieds co-founder

294 total views, 1 today

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Back on track

| Site News | January 13, 2012

It’s been a while since my last blog post!

I know I promised to post one every week to update you on the latest developments at Netads Classifieds HQ, but to be honest I would’ve surely bored you all to death, as I’m sure the festive season was much more fun and games then an online classifieds website during this time?Right? Not? Oh, ok then…by the way we have an awesome competition on the go so be sure not miss out! Freebies galore.

Anyway, this is just a short and schweet one to give you the latest. We plan to roll out some extra bells and whistles to go with your bits and bobs to enhance your online experience. Nothing too hectic, just keeping it real for now. Our techno freak, Mike Smith, has been hard at work looking at ways to speed up the site, whilst I’ve been working on a few strategic partnerships with a few local businesses to promote things and allow you and your ads to get more exposure. At the end of the day it’s all about website traffic so do your bit and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Even better – tell your friends and family about Netads Classifieds.

And that’s it from me until next time. I’ll try for an update next week so watch this space. Again, be sure to check out the competition as we’re giving away an tablet PC and a few other goodies.

Till next time.

Craig Wagner

Netads Classifieds co-founder

372 total views, 1 today

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We came, we saw, we conquered!

| Site News | December 11, 2011

Well not really. In terms of hitting our short-term goals with Netads Classifieds we have though. This week’s blog post is going to be short a one as not much site-wise has transpired since the blog post from last week.

Other than the usual website tweaking and cosmetic enhancements we ‘re currently working on, we’re glad, wait, over the moon,  to announce that we’re struck a partnership with a local and international advertising company that well help us and advertisers reach relevant customers through their network of over 22,000 websites. I can’t divulge too much as this stage because it’s still early days and we prefer to keep our feet firmly grounded.More to follow shortly.

Just so you know and before I forget – we’ve now added an option for you to upload a personal or company logo to your profile so you can keep it real and personal! More cool stuff to follow over the next few weeks.

In terms of numbers we hit just over 5000 page-views in web traffic in less than a week, about 50 new users signed up and about 25 live ads are currently running,. That’s not major in terms of numbers but at least we’re heading in the right direction.  As I said last week there is no real marketing campaign to speak of so the numbers are not unexpected. Of course we’re hoping that this picks up over the next few weeks, but that will only happen with some aggressive marketing strategy we’re lining up so you should see more ads soon.

So, as promised it’s a short and sweet one from me. In ending some new features planned over the next few days are: why Netads Classifieds?; a comparison sheet to show why we knock the socks of our comepetitor’s; a ‘Be Safe’ guide to placing ads without compromising your security and safety, and a ‘How-to-Guide’ to help you manage your ads better and get them more noticed.

Till next week.

Craig Wagner

Netads Classifieds co-founder

672 total views, 1 today

1

Ok so we’ve taken off…WHOOSSSSH!

| Site News | December 1, 2011

Netads Classifieds has unofficially launched. And I say ‘unofficially’ because we’ve taken off without any huge fireworks display or any fuss we didn’t really want to be associated with.

But, that’s how we roll without trying to sound to ‘cliche’. It’s simple. We don’t have to shout it out from the rooftops or mass overload you with launch announcements some of the other folk (can’t really divulge any names at this stage but they know who they are) tend to revert to in desperation to get noticed, as Netads speaks for itself if you compare us with the current offerings out there. Right now we’re a small fish in a very big pond and we’re splashing about in our quest to ‘revolutionize’ the industry.

Verb 1. revolutionise- fill with revolutionary ideas

indoctrinate – teach doctrines to; teach uncritically; “The Moonies indoctrinate their disciples”
2. revolutionise- change radically; “E-mail revolutionized communication in academe”

alter, change, modify – cause to change; make different; cause a transformation; “The advent of the automobile may have altered the growth pattern of the city”; “The discussion has changed my thinking about the issue”

We planned to launch today (1 December 2011) and we’ve managed to pull it off after some blood, sweat and tears, and some late nights. Credit has to go to Michael Smith for his effort and hard work, and especially for his determination to get the project up and running after many, many years of my very own deliberation. The NetAds domain was registered way back in 2002, way before any of the high-profile online classifieds had conjured up anything,  and the original plan was to create a combination or mix of an online classifieds website crossed with a community-based noticeboard with paid-for business ads and listings, plus with the added benefits of viral advertising that creates a ‘Groupon-style’ effect, that would in turn offer big discounts to multiple users. But, that was way back then, and as they say the rest is history now.

On a more serious note the site is still in a ‘Beta’ phase which will only last a few days/weeks. A few things are still being tested before we activate them such as payment gateways and some other site enhancements I can’t mention here as we want to keep you guessing.

Lastly, we promise not to bore you like the other folk tend to do with their traditional, mundane and rather out-dated online classifieds sites. We will constantly look to improve your web experience and take on board any feedback you might have, so don’t hesitate to get in touch with me on craig@netads.co.za

That’s it from me from my inaugural first blog post. I’ll update the blog regularly with tips and tricks to get your ads noticed. Don’t forget to subscribe to the RSS feeds to stay updated.

Craig Wagner

Netads Classifieds co-founder

961 total views, 2 today

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