1 billion classified ads placed on Dutch Marktplaats

Marktplaats, the popular online classifieds site from the Netherlands, passed the 1 billion mark in number of ads placed. Last Friday it was a man from Rotterdam who placed the billionth advertisement on the eBay-owned website, by offering his drum set for sale.

Marktplaats announced the news on its website, thereby sharing some interesting facts about the online classifieds site. For example, the first ad that was placed on Marktplaats.nl was the offering of a modem in 1999. Since then, the website grew to become the biggest classified advertising site in the Netherlands. It had to wait twelve year to reach the milestone of 500 million ads, but to reach the milestone of 1 billion ads (and thus another 500 million ads since the last milestone), it took them only four more years.

The website currently welcomes 7.3 million visitors per month, while 4 ads per second are places. This corresponds to 350 thousand per day and about 10 million per month. The average Dutch person places 7 classifieds ads on Marktplaats every year, with 9 PM being the busiest time slot, while Sundays and breaks during important soccer matches are also popular.

About Marktplaats
Marktplaats was founded in 1999 by René van Mullem. After the owners of charity shop chain Het Goed saw how many of the used stuff got offered on Marktplaats.nl, they decided to acquire the website. Frank Crébas, son of co-owner Bob Crébas, helped Marktplaats become the destination for consumers who want to sell their used products. In 2004, American ecommerce company eBay acquired Marktplaats for 225 million euros.