Man learns hard lesson about breaking Kijiji rules

If you don't already know: Paying for an ad on Kijiji doesn't buy you the privilege of breaking Kijiji rules. If you post an ad that breaks a rule, they'll take it down, even if you paid to have it promoted.

Again: YOU CAN'T BUY YOUR WAY AROUND THE RULES. If you get caught, don't have delusions of persecution as though you're being picked on. The rules are for everyone, including you.

A poster at the Wainwright Forums writes:

I decided to advertise this Forum on both Kijiji Edmonton and Kijiji Lloydminster about 3 weeks ago. To gain more exposure, I went the Paid Ad route. Paid to have a link to this site, to have my ad the top ad, and highlight it to make it stand out. Cost $15 each. $30 total. The paid Ad features were supposed to run for 7 Days. After that, it would just be a regular Ad and would move down the list after more new ads get added.

After ONE DAY, BOTH of my ads were pulled. Received the following Email:

Dear Kijiji User,

We have just deleted one of your Kijiji Ads for violating one or more site policies.

Kijiji policies prohibit:

* posting Ads outside of one's local area
* posting Ads in too many different categories
* posting Ads with no other purpose than to drive traffic to another web site
* posting Ads over and over again to gain more exposure
* using multiple different email accounts


My Ad must have violated the 3rd one on the list. "posting Ads with no other purpose than to drive traffic to another web site".
No refund. Kept my cash. That is BULL!

Ok, so it was my fault for not reading their policies and realizing my Ad broke one of their policies. But who actually reads those policies? Do you read those User Agreements every time you install a Software product? I never do. Did you read the Wainwright Forum policies word for word before registering on this site? I doubt that you did. You probably didn't realize that you agreed to send me $10,000 cash. I'm still waiting! Only kidding ....

If they are going to do that, then they should review the paid ads BEFORE taking payment. If the Ad is acceptable, then process the payment and display the Ad. If the Ad breaks one or more of their policies, then reject the Ad. In my case, they took payment first and then pulled the Ad right away after determining that it broke one of their policies. That is fraud in my opinion. I placed both ads in good faith not realizing that I was breaking one of their policies. Completely Unintentional.

Here is another one of my opinions. If I want to place an Ad that promotes a Website, then the Ad should be allowed as a paid Ad. That policy should only apply to Free Ads.

I paid using Paypal and filed a dispute with them.

This post was written by: Gord McCord

Gord McCord, webmaster at You Suck at Kijiji, makes fun of funny things on Kijiji. Do not take him too seriously. Also do not take yourself too seriously. Follow him on Twitter