RefreshClassifieds

Hotswap.com has launched Video Classifieds to their site focused on the Automotive Classified market. The site allows both dealers and private advertisers to upload videos of the car they want to sell. The site also allows for updates on your classified ad directly to your mobile via SMS. The site recently also moved to free private advertiser listing model to encourage more content.

TechCrunch is reporting that Hotswap.com has signed a deal with Red McCombs Automotive to upload all of their vehicle listings to the site. No commercial terms were disclosed and their is no commercial or dealer based pricing packages listed on the site. We suspect that Hotswap.com will focus on generating revenue from dealership relationships and use the private advertising content to attract buyers.

In our travels to find what’s new in classifieds, we came across another video classified site, ‘Real People Real Stuff’.

The site itself, launched at the beginning of May this year and today it houses hundreds of interesting video ads. On Real People Real Stuff you can sell practically anything - ads posted on the site cover divorcees selling their wedding tuxedos, through to nifty videos advertising car pooling services. What I found most interesting about the site is the energy and effort private advertisers are putting into their video ads. Showing that not only is the site serving a utilitarian need (sell something), but people are having a lot of fun in the process.

In terms of functionality, a seller can be assured that the site supports all of the standard video hardware formats (digital camera, cell phone, camcorder and web-cam). Placing an ad is free and you are allowed 30 words, as descriptive text. As a buyer, you will find standard classified options that allow you to search by category, most recently added and by geography.

This Virginia based start up has plans to invest more of their dollars behind the marketing of the video ad site, as they understand that the classified space is a content game. Yet still, for being only three months old, the site has gone international and has not done too bad with amassing content in the US.

iMoondo announced yesterday that its launched its video classified product. Video classifieds have been available for awhile in some classified verticals, specifically dating, but the process of creating videos has only recently become easier. Even with the advances in technology its not clear if a significant portion of the classified market is willing to move to video.

For now Video Classified areprobably going to be the domain of more professional advertisers that are common in the Automotive and Real Estate divisions. It would make sense for iMoondo to focus its efforts on business that focus on advertising for these professional advertisers.

iMoondo might be on the right track by focusing on integrating its video technology into existing classified sites. This puts them in competition with Youtube and other video sharing sites which can easily be integrated with classified sites.