Posting an advert#
You can post an advert whether you are signed in or not. The only difference is what you later edit it with — your account if you are signed in, an advert password if you are not.
Steps#
- Click Post an advert.
- Choose a category. Only then does the rest of the form appear.
- Fill in the fields that appeared — the title, description, price and whatever else the category asks for.
- Enter your contact email and region.
- Add photos.
- If you are not signed in, set a password for later edits.
- Submit the form.
- Check your email — what arrives depends on how the site is configured (see below).
The form is empty until you pick a category — and that is correct
Every category has its own set of fields: a car needs different details than a book. Until you choose one, the system does not know what to offer you.
What happens after you submit#
The site has two possible settings, which you can tell apart by the email you receive:
| The email that arrived | What it means |
|---|---|
| with an activation link | the advert is waiting for you — until you click the link it is not published |
| only a confirmation of posting | the advert is posted, the site does not require activation |
The activation link is the only thing that publishes the advert
If the email does not arrive or you overlook it, the advert exists but nobody sees it — and nothing warns you. If it has not arrived within a few minutes, look in your spam folder.
If it is not in spam either, there was probably a typo in the address
Post the advert again with the correct email. The unconfirmed one cannot publish itself.
Do not post the same thing again when the advert does not appear immediately
On a site that approves adverts, publishing can take a while. Duplicate adverts get deleted.
The password for edits#
If you post without signing in, you set a password. Without it you could not edit the advert — the system would have no way of knowing it is yours.
If you forget it: the advert's edit page has a link for sending a new password. The system generates one, sends it to the email given in the advert and includes links to the advert's detail and to its edit form.
The password can be recovered, you do not have to post the advert again
The new password arrives at the same email that is in the advert — it cannot be sent anywhere else, otherwise anyone could take over someone else's advert.
After entering the password you have two hours of access
Then it closes and you enter the password again. It is not a bug, it is protection in case you walk away from the computer.
Lose access to the email in the advert and you lose the advert
The new password goes only there. So put an address you can actually reach into the advert — not a work one that will be closed in a month.
The contact email#
Interested people write to you through a form on the site; your address is shown neither in the listing nor in the detail.
A typo in the email means nobody will ever reach you
Replies from buyers, the activation link and any new password all arrive here. Check the address before you submit — afterwards you cannot change it without the password.
Photos#
The first photo decides, because it is the one shown in the listing
Photograph the whole item in daylight against a plain background.
Photograph the flaws too
A scuffed corner in a photo saves disappointment at handover — and a buyer who drives over and leaves again.
The title and description#
The title should hold what people type into search
"Author 26" mountain bike" reaches more people than "Bike for sale". The brand, the type and the size do most of the work.
Contact details belong in their own field, not in the description
The site may strip blacklisted words and links from the text, or not approve the advert. A phone number or email in the description is not processed as a contact either.
State a price even if you are willing to negotiate
People skip adverts without one — and the price is also what sorting and filtering work on, so without it you do not appear in price-range results at all.
How long an advert lasts#
The validity is counted from posting and is driven by the category the advert belongs to; if the category has no period of its own, the site's default is used.
Before it expires you get a warning; after it expires the advert disappears from the listings.
You can extend it through the advert's edit form
You do not have to post it again — you would lose the replies it has already received.
Where to go next#
- Managing my adverts — editing, extending, deleting
- Replies to an advert — where messages from buyers appear
- Tariffs — paid promotion
- Posting while signed in — why to register