Zillow charging for rental ads!!!

[Christine Kankowski]

It finally happened, they are charging a weekly $9 or so for rental ads. This is way too much. I need to find another way. Thoughts?

The MLS wont allow watermarked photos. The watermarking prevents the scammers from taking out photos and posting fake ads, so we do need those.

Any ideas?

[Joe Splitrock]

@Christine Kankowski when I first entered the business, we spent $15 a week for a newspaper ad and thought nothing of it. Then Craigslist came along and was free, which was ultimately it's down fall. Without revenue stream and no barrier to listing, it became overrun with scammers and junk ads. You mention watermarks, but the only reason they are needed is because scammers can use them on sites for free. If a scammer had to give their credit card and pay $9 per ad, it would stop most every scam. On top of scammers, charging money keeps people from posting properties multiple times and leaving up properties after they are rented. 

Zillow is the most visited site for people looking to rent properties. That is where your customers are, so that is where you want to be. It would be like complaining about the cost of Google ad words and instead advertising on Yahoo or Bing search engines. It may cost less money, but NOBODY uses them. 

You are running a business. Consider costs based on return on investment. Let's say your property rents for $1200 a month. That is $40 per day. If you can get a tenant in one day sooner using Zillow, it pays for a month of Zillow advertising. 

That being said, if you can get it rented as fast or faster using other sources, all the better. Facebook, Apartments.com and yard signs are all good options. I advertise everywhere I can, because vacancy is my highest expense.