I want to know what newspapers and classified ad papers in the United
States will run a classified ad for free, and what criteria need to be
met to run the ad for free. The type of advertisement I will be
running will be to sell items. (not employment ads, or used car ads).
An example of the type of ad I am interested in listing with these
companies is:

"Used DVD player, Sony, single disk. black, still under warranty.
$32.00, call 800-555-1234."

I need to know the following information with each newspaper or
classified ad:

1. What is the name of the paper. (the recycler, the pennysaver, the
los angeles times, the wall street journal, the new york times, etc)

2. how do i contact them to place a free ad, and any other contact
info they may have (website, email, phone numbers, extentions, names
of people to ask for...etc)

3. What is the geographic area that the paper is in distribution? (Los
Angeles, New York City, all of the state of Florida, etc.)

4. What is the number as far as circulation per issue, and how often
does each issue come out (1,000,000 distributed every day, every
sunday...5,000 distributed once a month...etc)

5. How long will a free classified ad run in their paper? (a day, a
week, a month...etc)

6. Will they only run a free ad for a private party? and if
so...define "private party" (ie, someone who places an ad once a week,
a month, a year... someone who doesn't write a business check...etc)

7. Will they only run a free ad for a business once a week, a month, a
year...etc. I need papers that I will be able to run dozens, if not
hundereds of advertisments for free, each and every week.

Ideally, the answer I am looking for is I need to at least 20 print
media
publications that have a combined circulation of at least 1,000,000
that will run free classified ads for a business (not a private
party), without limitation as to the number of ads that can be run.

Also, I will be willing to pay more money in the future to anyone who
can provide reliable answers, and will be willing to continue further
research to expand this information in the future.

---

Request for Question Clarification by bcguide-ga on 14 Jan 2003 05:04 PST

Hi eremarket1-ga,

Are you looking for free classified or classified ads that expect you
to pay a portion of the sale price if and when a sale takes place?

bcguide-ga

---

Clarification of Question by eremarket1-ga on 14 Jan 2003 12:05 PST

To be honest, I didn't know there was newspapers that would list an ad
and then charge by a percentage of a final sale. I don't know how they
would monitor if an advertisment even sold (how would they know who
called the seller).


So, I would strongly prefer newspapers that would make it completely
free. HOWEVER, I would be interested to know of print media that would
charge based on a final selling price. I would be willing to pay for
such answers as long as they were less than 5 of the 20 resources, and
less than 300,000 of the 1,000,000 circulation that I require.

---

Request for Question Clarification by bcguide-ga on 19 Jan 2003 00:24 PST

Hi,

I haven't located any print source that allows multiple free
submissions by commercial entities. I have found additional newspapers
that offer free classified ads - one at a time for under $100 to
individuals. Do you want that list?

bcguide-ga

---

Clarification of Question by eremarket1-ga on 19 Jan 2003 11:43 PST

What I am looking to do is see if it is possible for me to open a
business that I can use to sell advertising at a very low price to
people who want to advertise in free newspapers. So, I need to be able
to place dozens of ads (if not more, each week. I will be satisfied
with an answer that lets me place ads in at least 20 publications,
that have a 1,000,000 circulation in the U.S. and that I can place as
many each week as I want to.

I hope this clarifies any question

The Want Advertiser (www.thewantad.com) is one that uses a commission
on sales. I think the approach is based on the Honor System and I
imagine some type of screening. It is printed and is online, and it is
distributed in the New England area as far as I know. It does well for
buyers and sellers. Researchers might look for other similar
publications around the U.S.

vitalmed-ga

www.adn.com is the web page for Alaska's anchorage daily news, the
largest newspaper in alaska. When I was living in anchorage, they had
a freebies section that ran as space permitted (meaning it could take
some time for your ad to show up) whereby you could advertise personal
items such as the ones you describe up to $100 in value. It is
supposed to be for private individuals, and likely would not allow
dozens of ads from the same party. Although if you had varying phone
numbers for interested parties to call to respond to each ad, they
wouldn't know the difference since the method to place an ad is pretty
informal.

Hi eremarket1-ga, 

I’m posting this as a comment rather than an answer. I don’t think
that I have located what you are looking for. I’ll keep at it and see
if I find anything that allows free classifieds for multiple
submissions in print. I will continue this for a while to see if
anything turns up through additional searches.

The best bet may be the directory for $19.00 listed below, although
I'm questioning whether they have accurate info. It might be worth the
$19 to find out.

In the meantime, you may be able to use some of this and if not
someone else might benefit from my time and effort :-)

If it does meet your needs, let me know and I’ll post it as an answer.

It seems that the attitude is that if you’re going to be making a
profit from the ads, you can help to defray printing costs…

The newspapers classify “private” as an individual selling items.
Commercial listings are products or services for sale by businesses. A
used DVD player would not be a “commercial” listing unless you were
somehow specializing in this, for example, a shop that refurbishes
electronic equipment and then resells it. The fact that these papers
allow a new ad to be submitted weekly means that you can sell multiple
items without moving into the commercial area. You just can’t add more
than one per week. It is permissible to add a new item while the
original item is still running. It looks like a lot of record keeping
to track which items have been submitted to which paper, which ones
need renewal and which ones are finished with the free run.

They seem to all fit this definition:
•	enterprises or individuals whose profit is derived from this type of
exchange ad (i.e. real estate ad from a real estate broker appearing
in the Real Estate Exchange)
•	individuals selling three or more of the same type of item within 6
months (i.e. cars, etc.)
•	those who continuously deal in the same type of product (i.e. rental
of apartments which they own)
enterprises or individuals listing of short-term rentals of vacation
property.
•	offering goods or services for intended profit on a regular or
seasonal basis, including:
o	plumbing, electrical and other professional trades 
o	trucking 
o	tutoring 
o	flea markets, antique sales 
o	firewood 
o	horse stall rentals 
o	kennels and breeders 
o	collectibles (e.g. stamps, coins) 
o	sales of animals (more than $75.00) 
o	housecleaning 
o	business ads offering auxiliary products or services in exchanges
(e.g. an auto repair company offering services in the Automobile
Exchange).



The limit per newspaper seems to be one for free per week. The details
of how long the ads runs can be found on the web sites.

You have the two leads from the comments previously posted.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Free Want Ads -- These are available only
for private individuals who live in Arkansas. No free ads are accepted
from out-of-state.
http://www.ardemgaz.com/info/clasinfo.html

MN Sun News publication.  West St Paul , MN USA  
http://www.mnsun.com/paper.asp?city=West_St_Paul  
FREE CLASSIFIEDS
One Item for Sale, $150 or Less • Mail or FAX in only Tuesday -
Thursday
One ad per customer per week. Additional zones are $6.00. Three line
maximum. Price must be in ad.
This site covers 41 local community newspapers. 
http://www.mnsun.com/data/forms/ppsrw.pdf

Abilene Reporter-News  
Abilene , TX USA  
http://www.texnews.com/  
http://www.reporternewsclassifieds.com/free/

The Journal is a daily newspaper that emphasizes coverage of local
news, school events, sports and business happenings in Northern
Virginia. The four Northern Virginia editions, The Alexandria Journal,
The Arlington Journal, The Fairfax Journal, and Prince William Daily
Journal, are published Sunday through Friday.  The two Maryland
editions, The Montgomery Journal, and The Prince George's  Journal,
are published Sunday through Friday. No circulation information is
available.
Free Ads must not exceed 15 words (including PHONE NUMBER). Free Ads
exclude Beanie Babies, Real Estate, Pets, Food, Beverages, Tickets,
Autos, Firewood & Commercial.
https://www.jrnl.com/cfdocs/new/ads/newtakead.cfm


ATHENS DAILY NEWS/ATHENS BANNER-HERALD  
ATHENS, GA USA  
Circulation information:
Daily (Monday-Thursday)  27,214
Friday  31,126
Saturday  30,074
Sunday 34,572
http://www.athensnewspapers.com/  
Sure Sell Merchandise $50 & under: FREE
What's a "Sure Sell Ad?" We'll schedule your ad for 14 days. At the
end of 14 days, if your item hasn't sold, call to reinstate your ad
for 7 additional days for FREE.
(1 item per ad, 4 lines per ad max, 3 ads max)
http://www.athensnewspapers.com/classifieds/classorder.shtml

Black & White
1312 20th Street South 
Birmingham, AL 35205
More than 113,000 readers use Black & White to find out what's
happening in Birmingham.
Black & White, Birmingham's City Paper 
1312 20th Street South 
Birmingham, AL 35205
One free ad per week for non-profits or other noncommercial concern.
http://www.bwcitypaper.com/1classifiedbody.lasso

*Augusta Chronicle  
  Augusta , GA USA  
  http://augustachronicle.com/  
*http://www.augustachronicle.com/classifieds/special/4lines-7days.html
*NOT APPLICABLE TO BUSINESSES.

Augusta Metropolitian Spirit  
Augusta , GA USA  
http://www.metspirit.com/  
*Items for sale by an individual may be placed in our Guaranteed
Classifieds. The same ad will run continuously for ten weeks or until
the item sells, whichever comes first. You must call by 5PM on Friday
every two weeks to renew the ad or The Metropolitan Spirit will assume
the item has been sold and will delete the ad. There is a $5
reinstatement fee if you forget to renew your ad. All items must
indicate price. Guaranteed classified ads are offered to individuals
only and are not offered to commercial companies. Guaranteed
Classified ads do not include any automotive vehicles, real estate or
pets.
FREE ADS For Merchandise Under $250 
http://www.metspirit.com/pages/gcclassy.html
*NOT APPLICABLE TO BUSINESSES


*The Bakersfield Californian 
Bakersfield Californian  
  Bakersfield , CA USA  
  http://www.bakersfield.com/  
Run 3 lines of copy FREE 
for Merchandise totaling $75 or less to run one Tuesday. No phone
calls please. For private individuals only. Limit: one entry per
household weekly. In order to publish, ads must be received with name,
address, phone number and cost of items.
https://secure.bakersfield.com/classified/adplacement.asp
*NOT APPLICABLE TO BUSINESSES

The Pennysaver, Maryland
The East Coast's largest independent weekly shopping publication, is
delivered to over 1.3 million homes and businesses throughout Maryland
each week. More than 3 million readers use the Pennysaver's targeted
neighborhood editions throughout Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Baltimore
City, Harford, Howard and Prince George's counties, Southern Maryland
and Northern Virginia.
Place Free Ad - Ads available to non commercial advertisers selling
merchandise @ $100 or less. 1 per week.
Or call 410-684-2700 or 301-621-1400 to place your ad through a
Pennysaver representative.
http://www.mdpennysaver.com/freead.cfm

The Florida Pennysaver
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pennysaver/about_us2.html demographics
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pennysaver/free_ad.html explains ad - 1
item per week
http://www.gopbi.com/partners/pennysaver/online_req2.html submission
form

EZ Buy & EZ Sell Recycler Corporation of Southern California
(affiliated with Los Angeles Times)
http://www.recycler.com/asp/infocorp.asp - demographics
Private Party Ads: 
Basic ads are FREE and run for one week. 
Ads run online and in one of our papers! (Deadline: 3PM (PST) Monday
to run in Thursday's paper)
Free registration
http://www.recycler.com/asp/infoHowTo.asp#2 - how to submit
http://www.recycler.com/asp/submit.asp#information - submission

http://www.newspapers.com/
This site lists 3010 local and online papers in the US. The entries
above were compiled from this listing and I only got through the first
few pages...

ClassyNET classifieds are posted by Member newspapers.
No direct submission to ClassyNET is allowed. 
However, ClassyNET will forward your classified request to the
specified publication - there is no mention of payment which may mean
that it is free - OR that the individual newpaper will contact you for
billing info.
http://www.webmediainc.com/*ClassyNET2001/ClassyNET2001.taf?function=EnterClassy

This site sells a downloadable listing of places that accept free
advertising for $19.00:
"We have compiled a list of publications from all over the world
including
such countries as Argentina, Mexico, Australia, India, and even Russia
and
the People's Republic of China along with almost every state in the
United
States and province in Canada."
http://www.alh.tj/autoresponders/free-ads.net

Here’s one from England
http://www.freeadmart.co.uk/freead/about.cfm

For free online classified sites:
http://www.reference.com/Dir/Business/Classifieds/Free_Classifieds/

http://dir.yahoo.com/Business_and_Economy/Classifieds/

http://members.tripod.com/~lnevil/adresource.htm - Star Wars theme
plays while you browse…


This site carries free online classified ads and at the bottom lists
other sites with free classified ad programs… some like yahoo are very
busy places to place an ad.
http://www.adlandpro.com/default.asp?rep=adland

Andover Journal-Advocate 
Appears to be online and not print although it is listed as a
newspaper.
http://www.andovernet.com/classifieds/cgi/classifieds.cgi?PostAd


Baraboo Interactive Services  
  Baraboo , WI USA  
  http://www.baraboonow.com/  Since our beginning in 1997
BarabooNow.com continues to provide the only free online directory
listings for all of Sauk County and cities normally associated with
the region including Portage, WI. Dells, Richland Center etc.
http://www.baraboonow.com/directory/directorysubmissions.asp

Pennysaver,Inc. has free online ads – the print version is not free.
Our web site (PennySaverUSA.com) offers numerous promotional
opportunities. Our readership is audited by Media Audit, Houston
Texas, one of the largest syndicated research companies in the
country. The following statistic is a result of the most recent
demographic study in Southern California:
There are 4.2 million users online in Southern California
https://www.pennysaverusa.com/advertise/privateparty/pp1.asp

http://www.n-net.com/ lists almost every newspaper in the US. A great
resource, but no info on free classifieds.

Hot-Ads database combines several papers ads. I couldn’t find any way
to submit an ad or info on cost. I doubt that it’s free.
http://hot-ads.com/


search terms used: 
advertising resources lists print media free ads

Tough one, but I'm determined to find out what that $19 book has
found...

bcguide-ga

Since you already have someone working on the free ad papers and
contact information, if your question goes unanswered it its entirety,
perhaps you might consider posting a new question regarding
circulation numbers alone.

If you do, I have what I believe are current circulation numbers on
ALL of these in the United States (and several sub-types in each
catagory):

Consumer Magazines

Business Publications

Farm Publications

Newspapers

Here is a sample of a search I did on a specific type of magazine
(there are many in each catagory). This list is only a few of the ones
in the actual list. This can be done with magazines, newspapers,
periodicals or whatever by name, location, or several other types of
criteria. I can give you the numbers you need to just give you the
whole searchable database and let you have your way with it:

NRTA AARP BULLETIN 21,712,410   
AARP MODERN MATURITY 17,538,189   
CONDE NAST GROUP 15,536,487   
READERS DIGEST 12,212,040   
TV GUIDE (U.S.) 9,072,609   
BETTER H & G 7,602,575   
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC 6,890,852   
GOOD HOUSEKEEPING 4,708,964   
FAMILY CIRCLE 4,671,052   
WOMAN'S DAY 4,167,933   
TIME THE WEEKLY NEWSMAGAZINE 4,114,137   
LADIES HOME JOURNAL 4,101,280   
MY GENERATION 3,846,955   
PEOPLE WEEKLY 3,617,127   
ROSIE 3,503,993   
WESTWAYS 3,328,280   
HOME AND AWAY 3,313,966   
SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 3,252,896   
NEWSWEEK 3,248,097   
PLAYBOY 3,217,269   
PREVENTION 3,131,814   
COSMOPOLITAN 2,963,351   
GUIDEPOSTS 2,747,626   
VIA 2,655,203   
AMERICAN LEGION MAGAZINE 2,644,518   
MAXIM 2,569,172   
SOUTHERN LIVING 2,546,471   
GLAMOUR 2,509,566   
SEVENTEEN 2,431,943   
REDBOOK 2,380,410   
MARTHA STEWART LIVING 2,323,129   
O OPRAH 2,275,599   
YM 2,262,574   
AAA GOING PLACES 2,191,629   
PARENTS 2,092,443 

Regards;
tutuzdad-ga