gumtree.com

Gumtree is a site for local community classifieds and which covers 60 cities across 6 countries. Whatever it is you might be looking for - whether it be a 5 string bass or NSA sex - then these are sorted into several sub-categories (under 'Flats & Houses', 'Business Services', 'Friends & Dating', 'Cars for Sale', 'Stuff for Sale', 'Community' and 'Jobs') for browsing through. The search engine allows for finding something specific fairly quickly, as well as getting back to a previously visited ad instantly via the posting reference number. Although you can also save the ads.

It is free to post an ad, but for a fee you can have an ad featured at the top of the category listings albeit below some sponsored links and for a number of days, with the price to pay also depending on the category. The recent inclusion of the Ad viewed stat does show that these ads see to higher number of reads, but the deals are nothing special - 7 days works out cheaper than 2 x 3 days whereas 2 weeks is exactly twice the price of just a single.

The site has a cream and green colour scheme, however, along with the sponsored links, it's not Java-ad free - with there being up to three Java-ad banners. What is helpful is that on posting a postcode the mini-map of the location for pick-up is shown. The layout of the listings seem to have been revised recently - when it comes to 'stuff for sale' perhaps they should have stuck with the price being on the same side as the picture and title. The URL of a Youtube video can be added as well as 3 images (JPF or GIF format), but these are scaled to 358 x 268 pixels.

As expected, a site like this is targeted by scammers, hence why Gumtree encourages face to face trading. Supposed scams are brought to attention in the forum stickys - you do not need to be a member to read through the topics - but because of a lack of moderation it means that the forums are flooded with spam. It can take from a few minutes to a few hours before an ad is added to the listings, but they sometimes seem to struggle with sorting out spam yet would contact someone about an ad which they feel needs be left in the right category.

ou can manage the ads if it needs edited, deleted or reposted. Whilst the musicians my band have met up with have not been the right members, I have managed to sell and give away some stuff that I did not need. Do feel free to look at the freebies on the site but watch out for time wasters (I have come across a few).