Virginia's Community Classifieds

How To ...

How To Join Us
How To List an Item
How To Browsing & Searching
How To Use the Extra Features
How To Take Good Photos

HOW TO JOIN US

To begin your registration, click here or on the "Register" tab at the top of the Browse page.

Now fill in the registration information. Only the First Name and Email fields are required fields. However, if you include the other information now, it will make it easier for you when you create listings, as the contact information from your account will be filled in for you. You may edit this information on any listing at the time of listing, or later. You may change the address of a listing to show the actual location if it is not the same as your registered address. Note: Your information is only for use on the site and will not be used for any other purpose, or sold to anyone (please see our Privacy policy).

You may choose to enter a Region and a Community within that Region if you like. When these are entered in a listing, they will be shown on the listing information, and will also make it possible for buyers to search for your item by Community.

The email address must be an active email, and there may be only one account per email address. If you don't want to use your current address, you could sign up for a free email at various sites such as Gmail, or Yahoo.

A Note on email privacy: As a seller, you may choose to have your email address kept private, by going to "Message Settings" on the "My Account" page. This feature is used to prevent your email address from being "harvested" by computer "spyware" looking for email addresses to send "spam" to. With the private setting, if someone contacts you by email, you will receive both a standard email on your email program, and will have a copy stored in your My Account messages section. If you choose to respond to the email through your mail program, your email will no longer be "private" to that buyer. If you wish to remain anonymous on the reply, you can reply through the site messages program, and this reply will not show your email address. Of course, you do not have to be contacted by email at all if you want to just put a phone number in your listings.

Choose a Username and a Password. The Username will be used as the "Posted By" identifier on your listings. It may be upper and lower case for looks, such as "UserName", but it may be entered in the log-in either way. The password, however is case sensitive. Choose a Username with 6 to 25 letters only (no numbers, no spaces or special characters). Pick a Password with 6 to 12 alphanumeric characters and no spaces or special characters.

Next please read and agree to the Terms of Use Agreement. If you cannot agree to this you may not register.

LISTING YOUR ITEM

Listing an item for sale is very easy. With up to 12 photos and plenty of room for a good description, you can make the best of the listing and provide all the details an interested party should have to make a buying decision.

First Step: After you have registered for an account, click on "New Classified" on the left in the "My Account" page to open the listing details page. The first step is to select the most appropriate category and sub-category (if any). If you prefer to list in the main category without selecting a sub-category, click on the name of the main category at the bottom of the sub-category list.

Duration: Next choose the duration for your ad from the drop-down choice of 3 or 6 months. It you are purchasing upgrades with your ad, the best value is a six month listing. Your ad may be renewed as many times as you like, but upgrades are charged at each renewal. If you are listing a sale of a limited time, please delete the listing when the sale is over. If your item is sold, you may either delete it or mark it "Sold." Ads will be deleated from display upon expiration, but will remain in your account under "My Expired Listings," and may be renewed within 30 days of expiration.

Title: Pick a good Title for your item, with a concise description. The wording in the title will be used to by "search engines" to find your listing. There may be up to 50 characters in the title.

Description: Write a detailed description. You may use up to 2000 characters, so make the most of it. The more detail you can provide, the fewer questions you will have to answer. Note that some categories, such as Real Estate and Vehicles have descriptive items that can be selected at the bottom of the listing form. You may want to select these first and then write your description to avoid having to enter that same information. Also note that you can upload a document in PDF file format, along with your photos. This is a good way to provide more information about your listing, for instance when listing a car, you could include a copy the window sticker. Businesses may use this feature to post coupons, sales flyers, menus, etc. See Selling Tips for more information on writing a description.

Price: Enter the price for the item. You may make a choice from the drop down menu to the right of the price field if you want to add "OBO" (or best offer), "Make Offer", or "FREE."

Contact Information: Check and make any changes you would like to the address and contact information for the listing. You may enter a phone number and hide your email (if it was not set as Private) if you would prefer to be contacted by phone. If the item is not located at your registered location, you may want to change the address.

A Note on email privacy: As a seller, you may choose to have your email address kept private, by going to "Message Settings" on the "My Account" page. This feature is used to prevent your email address from being "harvested" by computer "spyware" looking for email addresses to send "spam" to. With the private setting, if someone contacts you by email, you will receive both a standard email on your email program, and will have a copy stored in your My Account messages section. If you choose to respond to the email through your mail program, your email will no longer be "private" to that buyer. If you wish to remain anonymous on the reply, you can reply through the site messages program, and this reply will not show your email address. Of course, you do not have to be contacted by email at all if you want to just put a phone number in your listings.

My website URL: This feature will display a link to your website. It will open in a separate window so it will be easy for a viewer to return to your listing. Enter the full URL as in: http://www.mysite.com. If you do not enter a website URL here, there will be no reference to a website on your listing (no empty box). The second URL box may be used for a video of your item (such as on YouTube) or a virtual tour.

Photos & Documents: Click "Next Step" to go to the photo entry page, where you may upload as many as 12 photo and document files (such as a brochure or a coupon for printing) for your listing (6 if it is a free listing). Decide which photo you would like to have as the 'thumbnail" photo for the listing, and upload this one first. This is the one that will show up in the browsing window and should be a good general photo rather than one showing detail. Upload one image at a time, by selecting the file to upload, enter the file title (if one is desired), then click the upload button. You can change the order of the images by clicking and dragging on the title bar for that image slot. You can also switch out which photo will be used for the lead photo this way, to change which is used for the thumbnail while users browse the site. Photos will be uploaded one at a time. If you do not have photos, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "continue" to proceed. How to Take Good Photos has tips on taking digital photos, file types and sizing for uploading, and information on uploading a PDF document for your listing.

Upgrades: The next page allows you to add upgrades to your listing for a fee. Click on the "?" for an explanation of the feature. These upgrades may be added later, within 7 days of the start of the listing, if you don't select them now, and the listing duration will be reset to start from that time.

Check out: Click on "Next Step" to go to the shopping cart page. Here you may select "Preview" on the top right to see how your listing will look. You may also click "Edit" to go back and make changes, or "Delete" to stop the listing.

If you would like to place another, or several more listings, and pay for all at one time, click the "add to cart" text under the "Check Out" button, then click "Add New Classified" and enter the next listing. Clicking the "Check Out" button will take you to the payment page where you will select the type of payment and confirm your order. Of course, if your listing is free, you will not pay, and your listing will be instantly activated. Check to make sure the information is accurate, and then choose your payment option.

There are four payment methods:

PayPal account
Credit Card through PayPal (no PayPal account needed)
Send a Check or Money Order
Charge to your account balance

Using PayPal, or the account balance method (with a sufficient balance) will activate your listing automatically. PayPal will offer you the option of payment by credit card or a PayPal account on the secure PayPal site. If you would like to mail a payment, select either "Check" or "Money Order" and mail the payment to Exceptional Properties, Inc, PO Box 132, Moneta, VA 24121. Reference the item number and your user name on the payment. If you are making a payment to add to your account balance, no item number is needed. Your listing, subscription, or account balance will be activated after the payment is processed. You will receive an email message letting you know your listing is now active, with a link to your listing. Please allow for the processing time required for payments by check or money order.

Check your new listing: See how it looks and if you have included all the details you would like. If you want to edit your listing, open it by clicking on the listing under My Active Listings. If it is within 7 days of the start of the listing there will be a "+" symbol for adding listing upgrades. Click the eraser symbol to edit the listing.

There you did it! It was really quite easy, and it will be easier the next time. Please let us know if you have any problems or suggestions.

BROWSING & SEARCHING

You do not have to register to Browse & Search!

Browsing:
To browse by category, just go to the category list on the left side of most pages. If the page you have open does not display the categories list, click on the "Browse" tab to open the Classified main page. You will notice numbers next to each category, indicating the number of items listed for that category and any sub-category. "New" next to a category indicates that a listing has recently been entered in that category. Clicking on a category will open the main category with a list of the sub categories, if any, and the items listed. The featured list displays the items that have been listed with the Featured option. To open the listing page for a view of all the details click on the title. A full page will open and provide thumbnail size photos (if any were submitted with the listing). Click on the photos to open a larger image and click "Next" to view each of the other photos.

The "Do Something!" window on the right of the listing display provides an easy way to send the listing to someone who may be interested, with "Tell-a-Friend." Keeping track of interesting listings is also easy with the "Add to Favorites" link. My Favorites is a personal list of those listings, as long as they remain active.

Searching:
You have the option from the Browse page of using either the Full Search, or the Quick Search. When you enter a word or phrase in the Quick Search box, all listings on the site will be checked and any with those words will be found and displayed. If you prefer to narrow your search, open the full search window by clicking on the Search tab or the Advanced Search link under Quick Search.

The Full Search provides several criteria to help find just what you are looking for. Select a category if you wish to search only one category. Note that the box is checked to include searching sub-categories within the main category you select. You may uncheck this box if you would like to only search the main category. Choose All Categories to search all the categories on the site. If you select a category such as "cars" there will be additional search criteria specific to that category.

Next enter keywords you would like to search by. Use a comma ( , ) or the word "or" to separate search terms. A search result will be returned if a listing title and/or description matches either (or both) of your terms you have entered. You may string together as many 'or' terms as you wish. For example, search for: red or blue or green...will return all listings that have 'red' or 'blue' or 'green' in the title or description.

Use an "and" between terms for a multi-conditional search. This will return only listings with the title and/or description having all of terms you have entered. For example, search for: red and blue...will return all listings that have both 'red' and 'blue' in the title and/or description.

You may choose to search by "Match Whole Word" or "Partial Word Match." For example if you search for "some" the search would match 'here is something' in a partial word match, but would not in a whole word search. The term 'some' would match 'here is some stuff' in a whole word match.

To search by Item # only, enter the item number and click the button below.

Check the next box to limit your search to new listings within 24 hours.

You may also choose a price range to limit your search, by entering figures in either or both of the price limit boxes. If you would like to search only listings placed by individuals or by businesses, make this selection with the button.

You may search for listings by the Community they are listed in. This search box is populated with these fields dynamically generated from those with listings in them. If the Community is not in the list, there are no listings in that Community. Results are returned if they match the condition of your search text statement and are in the Community, or if only a Community is chosen, then every listing meeting the other search criteria within that Community is returned. You may want to search other communities to broaden your search. If you do not make a selection in the community box, listings will be searched statewide based on the other criteria you have selected.

EXTRA FEATURES

The Extra Features available help make this site both interesting and useful!

Listing Filters: This feature makes it easy to find what you are hunting for and to keep up on what's happening. When a newly entered listing matches one of your search filter terms, you will immediately be notified by email....sort of a high-tech opportunity knocking! The email will contain the listing's information, as well as a direct link to view the new listing. Listing filters allow you to screen new listings for search terms as they are entered onto the site regardless of whether or not you are logged in. This is similar to performing a "search", but the search "filter" terms you enter will be screening the site for listings that have not yet been entered. Suppose you want to know when a Ford Mustang is listed in the Central Virginia area. Just make this your filter criteria and you will receive an email when that happens! Set up as many filters as you would like.

My Favorites: If you would like to mark several listings to recall at a later time, add them to your "favorites list". You can do so by simply clicking on the "add to favorites" link located within the display of each listing. Once saved, the listing will stay in your favorites list until the listing has been removed from the site, or you remove it from the your list.

My Messages: The messages table is a list of the current messages sent by other users of the site concerning listings you have placed or replies you have chosen to make through private messaging. If you click on "message settings" on the My Account page, you may choose to have your email either private or public. Select the button for private or public communication and then click "save configuration."

Print Signs & Flyers: This is a time saving feature if you would like to post flyers and/or make a sign for your listing. On the My Account page click on the "print signs & flyers" link, then in the row of the appropriate listing, click on "build sign" or 'build flyer" and a window will open with information filled in. You may edit the information if you like. Since browsers and printers vary in their settings and output, use your printer's preview window and make adjustments as necessary.

HOW TO TAKE GOOD PHOTOS

Good photos are very important for a successful sale. They will first create an interest in your item, and then provide most of the details the buyer needs to make a decision. Taking good photos is not difficult with an inexpensive and easy to use, automated digital camera. Here are a few tips to help get the best shots for your listing.

The Camera:

Your camera does not have to be a fancy one with all the gadgets. Any digital camera with auto exposure and focus, and a good lens will do. You should not have to spend more than $100. If you prefer to use your film camera, you will have to convert the photos to digital files that can be transferred to your computer. Most film processing services will do this for a small charge along with the developing, and you will not need to have the photos printed. If you are selling small objects such as coins or stamps, a scanner may be used instead of a camera.

Read the Manual:

Your camera's manual should have good tips for using the camera for all types of photos and conditions. These include the type of lighting, and the quality and file size of the photos. For your listing photos, try to keep the file size under 1mb with a good or high quality setting. On most cameras there will be a close up, or macro setting (flower symbol) for the detail shots. This setting will let the camera focus at the short distance required for a good close-up detail photo.

Pick the Best Spot:

The best lighting is soft, natural light such as outdoors on a cloudy day or indoors in the natural light of windows. The flash should only be used if necessary to fill in shadows, because it will tend to wash out color, and produce glare and background shadows. For ideal lighting of small objects, you may want to purchase or make a light box . Search online under "photo light box" or "photo tent" for more information. The background should be uncluttered and in a contrasting color, but a bright white background may tend to produce over exposed photos, if it is not compensated for. To avoid confusion and distraction, your subject should be the only object in the photo, if possible.

Ready and Steady:

Make sure you have just what you want it the photo. Normally for your listing photos, your subject would be centered. Hold the camera steady as you take the shot. Most cameras will focus with the shutter button held half way down. Give the camera a second or two to focus, and then carefully add the pressure needed to take the photo without moving the camera. A tripod may be helpful in low light with slow shutter speed, and if you have trouble holding the camera steady.

Preview, Upload, and Edit:

Take advantage of all the great digital photo features. Digital photos cost practically nothing, so take plenty. Preview the photos on your camera to make sure you have several good possibilities. Get some good overall shots, and others showing all the details. You can take as many photos as you want, pick the 12 best and delete the rest. Upload the photos to your computer in a folder created just for your sale items, so they will be easy to find and they won't be mixed up with all your other photos. Make sure the photos are in one of these file types: JPEG (.jpg file extension), BMP (.bmp file extension), GIF (.gif file extension), TIFF (.tif file extension), or PNG (.png file extension). Adjust the file size of the photos to a dimension that is not more than about 800 x 600 pixels (similar to standard print size) and at a resolution of 72 px/inch, for the best upload and display speed. You may want to improve the photos with your computer's photo edit software, but limit the improvements to cropping and lighting improvements, without changing the appearance of your item, no matter how tempting that may be.

Document Upload: If you would like to offer a document for viewing and printing, create it in a .pdf file format. Most newer printers and scanners will save a document as a PDF from the Print settings. You may then upload it as one of your photos (see Listing Your Item above). It is suggested that you make the document the last item in the photo upload, and include a Title to indicate what the document is. The document will be shown along with the photo thumbnails, as an Adobe PDF icon, with the title below it. When a viewer clicks that icon, they will open the document (providing their computer has the free Adobe Reader program) for viewing and printing.