The Future of The Classifieds Is Here

It’s not exactly E-Bay with video, and it isn’t exactly Craig’s list with webcams. No, RealPeopleRealStuff.com mimics traditional newspaper classifieds, but online – and with video cameras replacing text as the persuasive medium. The quality of the videos will vary, of course, but you might be surprised what you’ll find. NPR composer, B.J. Liederman, for instance, pitching his custom composing.

Ad site hopes to ride the wave of Web video

By MICHELLE E. SHAW, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 2, 2007

If YouTube and Craigslist had a baby, the offspring might be www.realpeoplerealstuff.com.

The video Internet classified site is the newest place people can sell goods and services and have fun while doing it, said Alan Jacobson, one of the site's creators.

Jacobson, a Norfolk resident and newspaper design consultant who has worked for The Virginian-Pilot, is working on the Web site with Janet DeGeorge of Gilbert, Ariz., and Rachel Silver of Norfolk.

To post a classified, you make a video - something like a homemade TV commercial - to upload to the site. Interested parties can read information about the item for sale and watch the video.

Peter M. Zollman, an Internet analyst for Florida-based Classified Intelligence, said video is definitely the "hot thing" online right now, but he's not sure how quickly this idea will catch fire.

"One of the important elements in a Web site is critical mass," said Zollman, who knows Jacobson and his partners. "If we don't have enough homes, cars, jobs or stuff on our Web site, people will come once but they won't come back."

The site, which has been up for less than a week, had approximately two dozen ads on Tuesday. Postings are currently free, but fees will be imposed on certain listings in select cities in the future.

Jacobson said he's not sure how long it will take people to figure out the site is there, but he's convinced that once they do, the idea will take off. To promote it, thousands of dollars are being spent to advertise it in some markets and on other Web sites such as that of the satirical news source The Onion.

"We're putting money behind the marketing, and most sites don't do that," he said. "We think we'll ramp up much more quickly than the sites that depend strictly on viral."