Desert Classified Ads FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions and How-To

Please note: While creating and editing your ad, look for this symbol: . When you see this symbol while creating or editing your ads, you can mouseover it for context-sensitive help. Try it in this paragraph to see what the help "tooltip" looks like.

Basic Ad Creation Questions:
  (Click questions to scroll down page automatically to the answers)
I don't want to register for Desert Classifieds. Can I still create a classified ad? And what can I do on this site? Just sell stuff?

What are the benefits of the registration? Is it free? Does it cost anything to register?
What are the different types of ads? What do they look like, and what do they do?

Okay, I'm ready to create an ad. What do I do first?

I want to use the title "LOOK, GREAT BUY!" for my ad. Why isn't that a good idea? Won't people LOOK at that ad first?

Where do I start?

Why are there two Description Fields? What goes in those fields?

What goes in the "URL" field? What's a URL, anyway?

Wow, Name, Email and Phone Number? Do I have to put that in my ad, or is there another way for potential buyers to contact me?

Google Map Address? What the heck does that do, and why is it useful to me?

Youtube? Isn't that for teenagers? What can that do for me, and how do I use it, if I do want it?

Keywords? I see "keywords" all over the internet. What are they, and how do I use them to get people to see my ad?

Ad Type and Price? Do I really need an FAQ for that?
Why can't I put my ad in two different top-level categories, like, For Sale and Real Estate, if I have a house for sale, for example? How do I select the best category placement?

Should I use multiple areas?

Am I done now? Where are those image upload fields I see in the picture on this page?

How do I edit or delete my ads? Can I see a list of my ads, or a page that shows me what they all look like at once?

I've tried to put in my ad, but can't get it right. How do I reach you for help?

What's your privacy policy, about sharing my email address or other personal information?

Advanced Ad Features Questions:
  (Click Questions to scroll down page automatically to the answers)
I'm a registered user, and I want to use the other functions. What happens after I hit "submit" on the Basic Ad Creation page?"

What's this "Buy Now With Paypal" option? And the Paypal email, currency and price? What's that for?

How do I add pictures? I don't see how to add them on this page?

What are the "Extra 10 files" for? How are those used?

I'm a business owner. I don't have one thing I need to sell - I want a Display Ad to advertise my business. But I don't know how to put a display image in my Ad. How do I do that?

How Much Does It Cost?:
  (Click questions to scroll down page automatically to the pricing information):
Okay, enough with the sales pitch, how much does it cost to place an ad?

The Answers to Frequently Asked Questions!

I don't want to register for Desert Classified Ads. Can I still create a classified ad?
Yes, you can still create a classified ad. Registered users have extra options available to them that are not available to unregistered or guest users. On this site, you can:
Sell items like cars, household goods, furnishings, real estate, houses, or pets;
Advertise your yard sale or garage sale, using a classified with Google Maps, to make it easy for buyers to find your sale;
Advertise your item or service using Youtube video embeds to demonstrate how great it is;
Advertise your business, like restaurants, hair salons, earthmoving, landscaping, etc., using classifieds or display ads, complete with links to your own website in the ad; or,
Sell online goods like EBooks or collectibles using "Buy Now With Paypal" - you don't even need your own website. Use your classified ad here at Desert Classified Ads as your online storefront.
And registration isn't just for sellers; registered buyers can add classifieds to their favorites, to track them, make private notes about classified ads, and comment on ads posted for sale!

What are the benefits of the registration? Is it free? Does it cost anything to register?
Registration is completely free. Registered users can make use of improved classifieds ad features like adding up to ten hi-resolution color pictures, bold border, to set your ad apart; featured ads (shows up at the top of its category page listing), homepage featured ads (shows up on the home or first page of the website), highlighted (has a different background color than the other ads to call attention to it) or extra files that can be downloaded. We do not and will not EVER sell your registration information to anyone, period.

What are the different types of ads? What do they look like, and what do they do?
There are two types of ads - basic and Enhanced. A basic ad uses only text, and does not use any of the enhancements available. Of the Enhancements, there are three types; those that change the appearance of the ad, those that change the placement of the ad, and the last, attachment enhancement, which is how an ad gets photos or files. Please note that the appearance and placement enhancements affect the ad preview, or "tease" that is shown on the category pages or homepage; the attachment enhancement upgrades the ad detail page, and places a single photo in the ad preview. An ad preview, or "tease," on a category page or the homepage, looks like this:

The same ad's detail page looks like this: (click here to see the ad detail. This link will open in a new window, simply close it when you are done to return to this page.)

As you can see, the "tease" or ad preview serves to get people to look at the full detail of your ad.
The appearance Enhancements are Bold-Bordered and Highlight, or both; Bold-Bordered, or simply, a "bold ad," changes the exterior border of the ad to a heavy double-border, to draw the viewer's eye to your ad. Highlight uses a different background color in the preview, or "tease" ad, to catch the viewer's attention.
A bold-bordered ad looks like this:

And a highlighted ad preview looks like this:

The placement enhancements are Featured Category, Featured Homepage and Featured Showcase.
Featured Category ads are placed at the top of their category in which they are listed, for example, if you select "Featured Category" for your boat for sale ad, your ad will appear at the top of the Boat for Sale and For Sale category listings.
Featured Homepage places your ad on Desert Classified Ads' homepage, like the "Sample Business Directory" ad for the floor tile company on the Desert Classified Ads homepage (click here to see this ad, this page will open in a new window).
Featured Showcase places a second copy of your ad in our Showcase Ads section, increasing the odds that a buyer will spot your ad. You can see a sample Showcase ad at this link: click here. This link will also open in a new window, simply close it when you are done to return to this page.

Attachment enhancements are usually photos (up to ten high-resolution 500x500 px full color images), but may also include file uploads for people marketing ebooks or other products that use files. To see what an ad with ten full-color images looks like, click here to see our sample ad in a new window. Simply close the page when you are done viewing the ad detail to return to this FAQ page.

Okay, I'm ready to create an ad. What do I do first?
You can start a new ad one of three ways. If you're a registered user, you can click "Your Account" on the horizontal menu bar at the top of every page, and then click "New Classified Ad." Registered users and guest users can also click "Classifieds" on the horizontal menu bar, and then choose "Create." Lastly, you can simply click "Submit a New Ad" on the horizontal menu bar. Any of these three menu options will allow you to create a new Classified Ad. Please note, if you have navigated to a category page, like "For Sale," and then click "Submit a New Ad," the program automatically assumes that you want to put your ad in that specific category and its subcategories, if any.

You can start to create your new ad this way:

or you can start this way:

I want to use the title "LOOK, GREAT BUY!" for my ad. Why isn't that a good idea? Won't people LOOK at that ad first?:
There's nothing wrong with that title, but it won't help you with the search engines, like Google. The Desert Classified Ads program takes your Classified Ad title and makes it part of the name of the page, so, in other words, if you submit an ad that is titled "Look, Great Buy!", the program will generate a page that looks like desertclassifiedads.com/Look_Great_Buy, which is what the search engines will see. How will people know from that title what you're selling? If you title your ad, as an example, "1969 Buick Riviera Pristine Condition," what the search engines will see and report to people searching on "Buick Riviera" is a page that looks like this: desertclassifiedads.com/1969_Buick_Riviera_Pristine_Condition," and your Buick will show up in search results on all the major search engines as a Pristine, 1969 Buick Riviera. Desert Classified Ads submits a site map to Google constantly, and generates fresh information for the search engine spiders every single night to ensure that all the ads are picked up by the major search engines.

Where do I start?
If you are ready to create your first Classified, you should review our quick tutorial, which you can get to by clicking HERE . Our advanced tutorial starts on THIS PAGE, if you want to use photographs or other enhancements in your ad. When you first click "Submit a New Ad," the first thing you will see is this:

Select your category from the drop-down menu, and then this is what you'll see:

First, you'll want to start off with that great title we discussed in Question 4, above. "Beautiful Territorial Home For Sale" or "Stunning Thoroughbred Horse," be creative. Obviously, that goes in the "Headline" field.

Why are there two Description Fields? What goes in those fields?
First, there's a short "Description" field - you should use this like you would use the caption to a picture. Make it something interesting and descriptive, to capture a viewer's attention on the ad category pages. In our house for sale example, something like "4 BR 4 BA stunner in Scottsdale" would be a good short description.
REMEMBER, on the Category pages (like, "For Sale," as an example), what someone sees who is just browsing the site is this (see below). This is the ad preview, or the "teaser." It's like a headline in a newspaper, or a trailer at the theater. You want to make sure that you use your title and your short description to get as much attention as possible for your item. Below, the short description field says "Big Bold Beautiful Car, Don't Miss This Opportunity!"

This is the ad preview - the "teaser" for an ad.

So be clear and vivid in your title and your short description.
Next up is the long description. This is where you can really go to town, and fully describe your item or items for sale, or talk about your business. The Long Description is displayed on the Ad Detail page. The Long Description field uses a WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get") editor, so you will see as you are typing exactly how your ad will appear. You can use different formats for your text to emphasize it or make it bold. You can change the color of text. To change the color, simply highlight (select) the portion you wish to change, and then click the "T" icon with the little color bucket next to it. Feel free to experiment, because remember, you can edit your ad at any time at no additional cost. You can format lists - either numbered or bulleted, simply use the list icons, turn them on, type your list items, separating each item with enter, and then click the icon "off" when you're done with your list.

What goes in the "URL" field? What's a URL, anyway?
The next field is the URL field. This field allows you to place the name of your own website, if you have one, in the ad so it will be displayed for shoppers to see. A "URL" is nothing more than the address of a website - it's how the internet finds different websites. Simply enter your URL as you would any other, like http://www.desertclassifiedads.com. This will create a link to your website for shoppers.

Wow, Name, Email and Phone Number? Do I have to put that in my ad, or is there another way for potential buyers to contact me?
Name, Email, Public Phone Numbers are the next three items. There are two public phone number input fields available (public phone 1 and public phone 2, so you can use multiple phone numbers, like your work phone and your cellphone to make it easy to contact you about your item for sale). The phone numbers are displayed in your ad. If you are a Desert Classified Ads registered user, the name and email fields will already be filled in for you. The name and email fields are not displayed in the ad, but are used by the website to send you Contact emails from interested buyers. The Desert Classified Ads system is designed so that shoppers and buyers reach you through the Contact emails from the site, to provide you with additional layers of privacy and security. If you want potential buyers to email you directly, you should also put your email address in the Long Description field, so that the information will be public. Again, two of these items - name and phone - are not mandatory, but if you want buyers to contact you directly - not through the DCA website - you'll need to list at least one way for someone to get in touch with you. The email address is required - but remember, not displayed in the ad - so that we can auto-verify ad placement, to reduce spam and maintain the quality of ads on the website.

Google Map Address? What the heck does that do, and why is it useful to me?
The Google Map Address is probably one of the coolest features of Desert Classified Ads. You can enter a street address here for your Garage Sale, shop, store, house for sale, or your own home, if you have a household item you are selling and want people to come to your place to see it. This automatically generates a Google Map, so people can see where you are located. You enter Google Map addresses like this, very simply: Street Number Street City State Zip...as an example, 112233 N. 20th Street, Phoenix AZ 85086. NOTE: The precise address you enter for the Google Map Address does NOT SHOW UP IN YOUR AD! So you may enter this address safely if you wish to let people know your vicinity, but not your precise address. If you want an address to show up in your ad, use the "address" formatting in the Long Description box and add it there. The resulting Google Map address looks like this: click here to see Google Map in Sample ad.

Youtube? Isn't that for teenagers? What can that do for me, and how do I use it, if I do want it?
The Youtube Video code is another very cool feature of Desert Classified Ads. If you have a horse for sale, or the cutest kittens ever, simply take (copy) the embed code from the Youtube site - it's in the upper right-hand corner on Youtube, identified as the "embed" code, not the URL.

To copy it, click the embed code once on the Youtube page to select it, then copy it (right click, "copy"), and then paste it (right click, "paste") into the Youtube video code field in your create classified ad page.

It will embed the Youtube video right into your Classified Ad! You can see how it looks in the Sample Ad in the "For Sale" category. You can see a still of how it looks:

If you're trying to sell puppies, or kittens, or horses, or any other type of animal (like your kids) this tool is invaluable. If you have a Polaris ATV, use video of the Polaris running around the desert! Be creative, and really get that buyer's attention.

Keywords? I see "keywords" all over the internet. What are they, and how do I use them to get people to see my ad?
Using keywords can help you drive internet traffic to your own personal classified ad. There's nothing magical about keywords; they are exactly what they sound like: keys to getting search engines like Google to find YOUR ad. Search engines like Google, MSN, or Yahoo have programs (called "bots") that search websites for their content, but they also search for, and place greater emphasis on, the titles and descriptions of items, and for keywords to help them return the most relevant search results to their users. Let's say you're placing an ad for your Arts & Crafts store. In addition to the title, which would be something like "Sally's Arts and Crafts," and the short description, (Buy all your craft needs here!), you could add keywords in the keyword field like: arts, crafts, ribbons, bows, scrapbooking, knitting, supplies, flowerbaskets, pastels, crayons, inks, paints, glue...well, you get the picture. List everything you can think of that would be relevant to your item for sale or your store (or your garage sale!). Separate each keyword with a return - in other words, type one keyword or keyphrase (like, "arts and crafts") per line only. You'll see a reminder of this on the "Create Ad" page. Creative and careful use of keywords can help the search engines find your classified ad, which means more viewers and more potential buyers for your item or goods or services.

Ad Type and Price? Do I really need an FAQ for that?
No, you probably don't. Ad Type is simply whether you are placing ad ad for something to sell ("Offer") or something you want to buy ("Wanted"). Price is set in US Dollars.

Why can't I put my ad in two different top-level categories, like, For Sale and Real Estate, if I have a house for sale, for example? How do I select the best category placement?
Category Selection is actually an extremely important topic, and this is a good question. Although you can place your ad in multiple categories, the software does not allow you to put your ad in multiple "top-level" categories - in other words, the categories you see identified on the home page of Desert Classified Ads. You can put an item that you're selling in the "For Sale" master category, and then list it in up to four of the "For Sale" subcategories. Let's try an example; let's say you're having selling several household items. You would select "For Sale" as the Master Category, and then possibly you would pick "appliances," "Baby and Children's Items," "Home Furnishings" and maybe "Sporting Goods," to get the widest exposure possible for your ad's listed items. But, as an example of what you can't do, you cannot list a house for sale in both "For Sale" and in "Real Estate and Property," because they are both Master Categories. This is because each Master Category (and its subcategories) has different special fields to address different needs for each category. To use Real Estate as an example again, ads in that section have special fields for size of house, size of lot, number of bedrooms, number of baths, etc.; fields that would be completely useless if you were selling, say, an ATV. If you have an item that you feel absolutely must be listed under two different Master Categories, you'll need to submit two separate ads.

Now for something REALLY IMPORTANT ABOUT CATEGORY SELECTION! PLEASE READ!
If you navigate to a specific category on the website, and then choose "submit a new ad," you'll be taken to the "Create Ad" page (after being required to log-in, if you are not already). It's important to note that if you are in a specific category (like Real Estate and Property) when you click "submit ad," the program will automatically fill in the top-level category for you as "Real Estate and Property" (or whatever other category you are in when you click "submit ad.") This can cause difficulties for people if they really meant to submit an ad for a puppy, as an example. Therefore, unless you are 100% sure that you are in the category that you want for your ad, it is highly recommended that you click "submit ad" from the homepage, so that you can carefully choose exactly which category in which you place your ad. If you do click "submit ad" in the wrong category, and realize it after you get to the "Create Ad" page, simply click either the back button or the Home icon on the menu to take you back to the homepage to restart creating your classified ad.

Should I use multiple areas?
We recommend that you place your ad in as many areas as you can to maximize your item's exposure. Realistically, please don't list a home for sale in Wittmann in "North Scottsdale," or something equally silly that would waste a buyer's time, but other than that, knock yourself out.

Am I done now? Where are those image upload fields I see in the picture on this page?
Well, whether or not you're done depends on whether you're a free registered user. If you are an unregistered Desert Classified Ads user, then yes, you're done, submit your ad. Only registered Desert Classified Ads users are eligible to use the upgraded features like adding high-resolution 500x500 px pictures (up to 10!), making their ad featured on the homepage, featured at the top of its selected category, bold-bordered, placed in the ad gallery, or allowed to upload a file for users to download (like e-books). Only registered users can add "pay now" buttons through paypal. But if you are only submitting a 7-day text ad, which is free, you're done, hit that "submit" button. You'll receive an email confirming that your free ad has been submitted, and then when it's been reviewed and approved, you'll receive another email confirming that it's live on the site.
If you are a registered Desert Classified Ads user, you have other options from which to choose. After you submit your ad, you'll be provided with a menu of choices to enhance your ad's presence on the website and to draw buyers to your items or products. If you want to add these other items, or to upload images for your ad, read on, or please visit our ADVANCED AD CREATION TUTORIAL to help you create your enhanced classified.

How do I edit or delete my ads? Can I see a list of my ads, or a page that shows me what they all look like at once?
If you are a registered user, you can easily access your ads through the "Your Account" on the menu bar. When you log in through the "Members" link on the horizontal menu bar, the "Members" link changes to "Your Account." Only registered, logged-in members will see "Your Account" on the horizontal top menu. The drop-down for the "Your Account" link has these items:

To edit or delete your ads, simply select "Your Classifieds," which will take you to a page that lists all of your ads, both active and inactive. Each ad's details are listed, like this:

To see your ad "live," simply click "Classified Ad URL;" to edit your ad, select "Edit this Classified Ad;" to select optional enhanced features, or to change your ad's running time, select "Edit Extra Features." You can see how many clicks, or visits, your ad is getting by selecting "Statistics." To delete an ad that is no longer needed, simply click "delete." To see all of your ads at once, simply click the link provided below the black "Your Classified Ads" bar that says "A public page with all your ads is available at:" and that link will take you to a page that displays all of your ads.

I've tried to put in my ad, but can't get it right. How do I reach you for help?
If you need help, you can either email us by clicking here or by calling us at 623-239-1660, or 520-777-0027. We can't guarantee that we'll be here 24/7 to answer your calls, but we will return your call promptly, and on our nickel!

What's your privacy policy, about sharing my email address or other personal information?
Okay, that's an easy one: We do not share your personal information with anyone, ever. Period. You'll receive informational emails from us, telling you your ad has been approved, as one example, or you'll receive Contact emails routed through us from interested buyers, but that's it. No spam, no exceptions.

Advanced Question 1:  I'm a registered user, and I want to use the other functions. What happens after I hit "submit" on the Basic Ad Creation page?"

As a registered user, the first thing you'll see after you hit "submit" on the Basic Ad Creation page is a page that looks much like this, giving you the choice to add enhanced features, including images:

As a registered user, your ad is automatically added to the database. If you click "Thanks, I'm Done," then you've completed your classified. If you click "I want to ADD extra features," you'll be taken to the Add Features page, which looks like this:

The Features page allows you to select from a wide variety of ad enhancements. You can see what those enhancements will cost simply by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and viewing the grid chart that shows each feature, and how much it will cost to add that feature for a specific period of time. Each category's feature prices are different; for example, to add pictures in the Lost & Found category is free, but "For Sale" ads charge for added pictures. The grid chart you see in this example is simply for demonstration purposes, and does not reflect actual advertisement enhancement prices. In this demonstration, as an example, to add up to 10 high-resolution, color pictures to your ad for 2 weeks would be $2.00. To have your ad featured on the homepage for that same two weeks would be $4.00, so together, $6.00.
Simply select the features that you want to use for your ad by checking in the relevant checkboxes. You may select as many as you wish, and select the time period for those extra features to run from the drop-down menu, to continue with our example, 14 days. When you're done, simply click "submit." You'll be taken to the Order Summary Page to confirm your order, and then to the Paypal checkout cart to conclude your transaction.

Advanced Question 2:  What's this "Buy Now With Paypal" option? And the Paypal email, currency and price? What's that for?
Many internet entrepreneurs sell all of their goods online, and don't want the hassle or expense of handling their own credit card processing. Paypal provides a financial transaction service to allow buyers and sellers to safely transact business. Desert Classified Ads facilitates this process by providing the ability for sellers to set up "Buy Now" PayPal buttons. Any registered Desert classified Ads user can use the PayPal "buy now" button feature to sell goods on our site - in other words, use our site as a storefront, like Ebay or Amazon. This feature allows the seller to sell his goods, ebooks or products directly, right out of the Classified ad. The seller, after selecting the "Buy Now" feature from Paypal, enters his/her Paypal payment email address, the currency in which s/he desires to be paid, and the Paypal price (some vendors have a slightly higher price for Paypal transactions to incorporate the PayPal fees). If you have goods that you have wanted to sell online, you should consider this feature. A "Buy Now With Pay Pal" ad will look like this:

Advanced Question 3:  How do I add pictures? I don't see how to add them on this page?
When you select "Extra 10 Pictures," from the Extra Features page, the "Extra 10 Pictures" checkbox expands instantly to provide you with ten image upload boxes. This looks like this:.
Simply upload your images from your harddrive and caption them accordingly. When you are finished, you'll click "submit" and be taken to the Ad Review page. Review your ad. If you're satisfied, click "Checkout Now." If you're not happy with your pictures, you can click "edit" and be taken back to the image upload page, where you can delete images and upload new ones. When you're satisfied, click "Checkout Now."

After clicking "Checkout Now," you'll see the Ad Order Summary Page, which confirms which extra features you've ordered and for how long you've scheduled the ad to run, then summarizing your total amount due.

When you've reviewed the Order Summary and are satisfied, click "submit." You'll then be taken to the Paypal Checkout page, which looks like this:
Just click on the "Pay with Paypal" button, and pay for your ad with your Paypal account. (You can see detailed Paypal checkout pages at the bottom of our Advanced Ad Tutorial - simply CLICK HERE to open that tutorial in a new page; simply close it when you are done reviewing it to return to this page.) If you don't have a Paypal account, Paypal will show you how to set one up on their site, or to use a credit card to pay for your ad. As soon as Paypal confirms that your payment has been made, your ad posts immediately.

If you ever want to edit your ad, or add new features, or change the pictures, you then access your ad through the "Your Account" (on the top menu bar) drop-down menu. Go to "Your Classifieds," find your ad, and then click "Edit Your Classified Ad" in the link at the bottom of the ad. You'll be taken to the Edit Your Classified Ad page, which provides you with every possible editing option. When you are done with your editing changes, hit "submit" at the bottom of the ad, and you'll see the message: "Your classified ad has been edited and the changes are now visible on our pages." This means that your editing changes have taken effect and are visible on the Desert Classified Ads website.

There, you're done! You've successfully completed your first classified ad.

Your ad is already live on the Desert Classified Ads website - your ad posts automatically! You can now see a copy of your ad, or a list of your ads, if you have more than one, at "Your Account" (on the top menu bar) under "Your Classifieds" from the "Your Account" drop-down menu, or you can go to the Categories where you listed your ad to see it. If you see something you don't like, or want to change, simply go back to "Your Account," and then selecte "Your Classifieds" from the drop-down menu, and edit your ad to your heart's content - until it's absolutely perfect.
Advanced Question 4:  What are the "Extra 10 files" for? How are those used?
If you have pdf brochures or other documents for your potential buyers to see, you can add them to your classified ad by using the Extra 10 files option. Also, some sellers like to show the first few pages, or the Table of Contents, for an Ebook, and use the Extra 10 Files Option to show those pages, or you could show the first few pages of a variety of available Ebooks.

Advanced Question 5:  But I'm a business owner. I want a Display Ad, but I don't know how to put a display image in my Ad. How do I do that?
You can create a display ad in one of two ways: you can do it yourself, if you can use our fantastic WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, and position your display ad art wherever you want within the long description text block. Then you simply add whatever text you want to the long description, and any other enhanced features you want - voila! - you have a super-duper display ad. To see one sample ad, which gives you an idea of what YOU can do with your display ad, CLICK HERE. (This sample ad will open in a new window, simply close it when you are finished viewing the ad to return to this tutorial). To learn how to "do it yourself," please use our Display Ad Tutorial.

After you've taken the Display Ad Tutorial, try creating an ad, inserting your logo or print display ad as an image, and see if you can figure it out. Images used inside the WYSIWG editor use a URL address to be uploaded, so you'll need to have the image hosted somewhere, whether it's Webshots or Google's Picasa or MySpace. After you type in the url, and hit "tab," you'll work at positioning the image. There's a preview box in the image link/upload process which will help you with this, and show you where your text will go. Then try to create the rest of your ad, and don't forget to upload pictures that relate to your business, whether it's satisfied haircolor customers or images of your dinners. If you have trouble creating your display ad, click "contact us" and we'll be happy to help you create just the ad you want; that's why we're here.

Pricing Question 1:  How Much Does it Cost?
First, seven-day (one week) text-only ads are FREE.
Regular ad pricing: the image below shows the general default pricing for regular classified ads. We at Desert Classified Ads have a strict "NO HOSING POLICY," which means that unlike print advertising, we don't hose you. We don't charge you by the word, or by the column inch; every ad can have up to 10,000 characters (yes, TEN THOUSAND characters, which averages out to about TWO THOUSAND words!!) in its description, without any additional charge. Some categories of ads (like business display ads) will be slightly higher than what you see below, but generally, the ads will be priced as you see on this pricing matrix:

A 7-day text only ad is free. If you add a bold border to the ad, it costs an additional $1.00, so your 7-day bold-bordered text ad would have a total cost of $1.00. To run your text ad for a second week costs $5.00. If you bold-bordered it, the total cost would be $7.00: $5.00 for the two week text ad plus $2.00 for bold-bordering for two weeks = $7.00. If you decided to run an ad with up to 10 pictures for 30 days (one month), your total cost would be $20.00 ($10.00 for a 30-day ad plus $10.00 for 10 pictures for 30-days = $20.00). A two-week ad with up to 10 pictures is only $10.00. A pricing grid for every ad is displayed BEFORE you decide to add any additional enhancements (like placement or pictures or bold-bordering), so you won't be surprised by any hidden costs.
ALL ads have the FREE ability to add zoomable Google maps, no additional charge - a GREAT addition to garage sale ads!
All - absolutely ALL - ads for lost or found pets, including pictures and anything else, are absolutely FREE. (And we provide a "printer-friendly" link so you can print copies of your Lost or Found pet ad to put up around your neighborhood to help find your pet!). We ask only that people who find their pets please remove the ads, or let us know and we'll remove the ad.
We at DCA will also provide completely FREE ads, with pictures, to any non-profit animal rescue organization, please contact us by email (see below) or call us at 623-239-1660 to get a free ad set up. We'll set it up in such a way that your organization can self-manage the ad, changing the pictures and text as needed to help you in your animal rescue or adoption efforts.

If you have any questions or comments, or would like to give us feedback on our site, we'd love to hear from you!
Please Email us by clicking HERE.