Launching Classified Ads

To launch or not to launch

[lorax]

I'm planning on launching some classified ads for a website I own. The site is new and the traffic is low. I haven't even written the content that the classifieds pertain to though it will be completed this fall.

My questions are:

1. Should I wait until the traffic reaches a certain level before putting the classifieds up or launch them from the get-go.

2. Should I get a bunch of advertisers in advance of the launch to seed the ads? I know I'd hesitate to pay for an add if the classifieds were bare.

3. What - if anything - should I do/worry about as far as the SEs are concerned?

[korkus2000]

I launched free classifieds on a site and it took a while for people to use them. There is a negative effect when you have only a few ads. Getting over this hump is the hard part. Once you reach a certain point people are more comfortable about using and even reading them. I can only imagine paid ads will be 10 times as difficult.

I wouldn't wait. You have to start somewhere.

[lorax]

Do you think it makes a difference that this is an on-topic classifieds? My plan is to have particular categories of the classifieds appear within on-topic content but be a part of a larger classifieds engine.

[Robino]

I have a classified section on one of my sites. I started it three years ago and have sold over $3M in used equipment. The average sale is about $10K. It's now the most popular area of the site and a great lead generator. So I think it can be very worthwhile.

We knew the demand was there because we were constantly getting calls from people looking for used equipment.

We actually gave free ads to some of our existing customers. This was a great way for us to get it off the ground.

And now, when someone wants to buy a new piece of equipment, we'll post their old stuff for free.