Title: 
The big purchases- buying a home or automobile

Word Count:
506

Summary:
Buying cars and homes on large Internet sites can be extremely frustrating. Look to your cities local sites for a more pleasant experience.


Keywords:
cars, homes. St. Louis


Article Body:
The Internet has allowed for the growth of many local websites that cater to their respective communities. While there are many local web sites that allow for the exchange of conversation and photographs, there are also sties that allow for the buying and selling of goods. More specifically, sites that allow you to buy or sell a car or home in your local market. Dealing with smaller websites, when attempting to buy and sell cars and homes, can offer several advantages. Unlike large sites, these small sites are usually pretty flexible and their prices for listing an item, if there even are any, will be much lower. With most big sites you need to go through drawn out sign up processes. 

	Most large sites will want bank account information and/or a credit card number. And before they even let you conduct business you will have to wait for this information to be verified. The verification time can vary from a few days to a few weeks. If you need a big ticket item, like a car, really fast, these sites will be a pain to deal with. Additionally, large auction sites that sell high value items will take a percentage of your selling price as a fee, if you happen to be on the selling end of  a transaction. For a car or house sale, this can really eat into your profits. If you are on the buying end of one of these expensive purchases, you may need to be a member for a certain number of days before you are allowed to make purchases or bids. This can be quite frustrating if you want something fast.

           In addition to having to pay fees and registration costs at many large national Internet sites, you will also have to abide by the rules governing how you are allowed to contact sellers and buyers. Most sites will want you to only conduct communications through their platforms. You will have a difficult time getting phone numbers and personal e-mail addresses. Not being able to get in direct, immediate contact with a person, will really hamper a sale, especially when trying to buy a house or a car. Most of the time, there are many parties interested in a sale, and if the lines of communication are slow, buyers usually miss out on prime buying opportunities. 

	Small local sites are becoming increasingly popular because they have less stringent rules and they have cheaper transaction fees. Most small sites will allow you to trade phone numbers with other parties so you can enjoy immediate communication. Additionally, if you have some question about how to use the site properly, such as how to upload pictures, contact buyers or sellers, or simply navigate the site efficiently, you are much more likely to get a quick answer from the people who run the site than if you were dealing with a huge company. So the next time you think about purchasing  a car or a home look to your local sites for help.