Cost and Features to Build a Classified Website like Craigslist from Scratch
Buying and selling things have always had their own market. But with the advent of technology consumers now turn their heads online to do the same. This trend has become a massive wave by itself with sellers trusting a classified website like Craigslist to sell their products and services.
As per our observation more and more products and service owners are investing in classified portal development solutions. Creating such a web portal requires a lot of expertise and experience.
Therefore, we decided to bring you this blog that offers insight into the important features and costing structure related to the same. Read till the end and make the most of it.
Few Important Feats Achieved by Craigslist
- Platforms you target
- The platform supports 13 languages and so you can post ads in multiple languages.
- The website made a record of 50 billion page views.
- 100 million ads are posted every month.
- Craigslist is present in 70 countries with its 700 sites.
- Craigslist follows the same design it did 25 years ago, yet has gained massive popularity.
Most Important Features for a Website like Craigslist
The online app world has become very competitive. In order to gain popularity and growth from the start, you will have to include the necessary features that the users can use intuitively. They should make your website easy to surf. Such that your consumers don’t have to visit other websites.
Here’s a list of the most prominent features for your classified app.
Registration/ Log in
As you know this would be the first page your users interact with. Therefore, it should be designed with precision. You don’t want to make it too congested. Ask only for the most important detail when registering for the first time. Users don’t like long forms that ask for unnecessary information. You can also provide social media accounts to quicken the registration process.
Categories
Categories are the most essential part of your portal. From a hairband to a motorbike, a user should be able to sell anything that they want to sell. A particular category can also have numerous sub-categories. This bifurcation helps a user save time when they’re searching for something.
Advanced Filters
In many categories, there can be thousands of listed products. Consumers generally have other filters based on price range, location, and more that you can inculcate pertaining to the product categories. This will also save a lot of user’s time when searching for a particular product or service.
Multiple Language Support
Language is the basis of any app. If a user doesn’t understand that, how will s/he communicate with your portal? Hence, it’s imperative to offer multiple language support. This will directly increase your user engagement and retention. It will allow consumers to connect with your portal in a language they know and understand.
Security
One of your portal’s primary duties would be to offer top-class security. As users will share their confidential data, you must protect that information. You can include a two-step verification option or entering an OTP and more to provide for additional security.
Online Payment Options
Online payment is the most preferred form of payment option today. You will have to integrate secure payment gateways to conduct the same effectively and safely. You will also have to include various third-party APIs to offer users payment options from various fintech apps.
Ad Management
Ads can be the primary source of earnings for your platform. So, if you classified software solutions are thinking of earning via ads you should include a feature that manages the revenue earned in one place.
Ad Moderation
Many users don’t prefer viewing certain kinds of ads. This is a challenge for platforms like these but your app should offer the option to reject or ban the ads that they don’t want to see. This is a great feature from the user’s perspective.
How much can it Cost to Develop a Website like Craigslist?
Before we reveal the final cost of creating a website like Craigslist, you must know that cost of classified app development is dependent on various factors. We list below some of the most prominent ones.
- Development type
- Features
- Complexity
- Region for website development
- Tech stack
Development Type
Do you wish to create this website yourself using a CMS like WordPress or do you wish to hire a classified portal development company? The choice you make here will be a huge deciding factor for your venture. DIY can be extremely cheap but you will have to put in a lot of time and effort.
Features
Including features will affect your development cost. More or complex features would need more time for development and so it will directly affect your final cost.
Complexity
Your app can have a few features but they can be complex to program. If they’re complex to code, they will surely consume more time with development and testing. This will increase your app development cost.
Region for Website Development
There can be a massive difference in app development cost depending on the region you choose for the same. For instance, the hourly development rate in the US can range anywhere between 250 USD – 300 USD while the same can be 25 USD – 60 USD in India. So, you can calculate the difference.
Tech Stack
In today’s day and age, you don’t have to stay limited to using native techs like Java and Objective C. You can also try cross-platform tech stacks such as Flutter or React Native to create your web or mobile app. Apps made for native platforms use different code bases and therefore are more costly as compared to cross-platform apps. They use a single code base which decreases the development time and resources needed for a dual code base.
How much does it cost to build a classified website like Craigslist from Scratch?
Based on the preceding factor the cost of building a web app like Craigslist from classified portal developers can be anywhere between 10,000 USD – 30,000 USD. There can be an increase in the overall budget if we include additional features. One can also opt for app development using native techs, this will cost you somewhere between 15,000 USD – 40,000 USD depending on the platform you choose. Cross-platform apps on the other hand can cost you anywhere from 10,000 USD – 35,000 USD.
Best Classified Apps in 2023
Here’s a list of the top apps that are ruling the market in 2021.
OLX
OLX is one of the most renowned platforms for buying and selling things. It allows its users to post classified ads that other users can see in a short period. Many useful features give users a hassle-free user interface for buying and selling goods while saving money.
Let Me Know
Do you remember, how you bought that skating board after watching that YouTube video but never used it? Well, don’t worry, if it’s occupying space in your closet, you can sell it on Let Me Know. The platform targets its other users in your area and shows your ad to them. Yet the stand-out feature of this app is the notifications. The app will send you notifications when someone’s interested in your item even when you’re offline or not logged in via email or text message.
Quickr
Quickr is perhaps the only platform that has a free section. You can buy items for almost nothing. Using the same you can buy items that are as good as new. However, a user isn’t limited to buying stuff as one can also rent stuff from Quickr. This is a cool feature as it allows you things before you make the final purchase. The platform’s motto is that a user should only buy a product if they’re satisfied after using it. This would save their money while offering quality products. A win-win situation.
OfferUp
OfferUp offers the simplest way to buy or sell items. You just have to verify your email and you can start selling items for free. The platform makes efficient use of a user’s location to conduct its business. If an item you’re searching for isn’t available in your area, the app will search for similar items in your immediate neighborhood. Sellers outside of your local area can also post ads. In case of a purchase, sellers will ship you the item for a small fee.
Afterword
We hope our blog offered you a brief on how classified websites like Craigslist work. If you’re an entrepreneur pondering over your next business idea, this could be it.
Technource is an on-demand app development company that can assist you by creating classified apps for Android and iOS. Our team of developers and designers is an expert in creating classified software solutions that enhance your businesses’ productivity and recognition. Thank you for reading.
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