Here's the list of most frequently asked questions. Click a question to see the answer:
The Basics
To place an ad or respond to an ad via the CONTACT SELLER link you must REGISTER for a free account.
The only personal information we ask from you during registration is your e-mail address. You create your own Username and Password. (Your Username does show on your ads as "Posted By"). We don't spam our members or sell or lease our membership list. For convenience's sake, when you register for classifieds, you are also registered to use our online forums. This gives you a single login for Castanet, instead of two separate ones to remember. See our PRIVACY POLICY for more details.
Please note that once you have completed the registration form and clicked on SUBMIT, you will receive an account activation link via e-mail. You MUST click on that link (or copy and paste to your web browser) before you attempt to log in for the first time.
If you do NOT receive the activation e-mail within a few minutes, please check your junk/spam folder and, if you still don't see it, check your spam settings. The default setting for some Internet providers is to automatically delete junk mail before you are able to view it.
Service and Wedding Supplier ads have a base cost of $14.50 per ad for 30 days (effective Feb. 26, 2013). (Services Needed ads are exempt from this fee).
Employment ads posted by EMPLOYERS have a base cost of $20 per ad for 30 days. (Non Profit Employment, Volunteer Opportunities and Employees seeking Employment categories are exempt from this fee).
There is an optional charge to Pin and/or Highlight your ad. Pinning your ad will give it precedence in the category. Highlighting will display your ad in blue to make it more visible. These options will automatically expire after 30 days.
Pin Option: $5 for 30 days
Highlight Option: $2.50 for 30 days
Both Options: receive a 15% discount
(The above rates are for EMPLOYMENT, SERVICE & WEDDING SUPPLIER ads only). For all other ads, see notes below.
NOTE: Should you choose to cancel your Employment, Service or Supplier ad prior to the 30 day expiry period, Castanet will not be responsible for reimbursement of any fees paid.
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For all other sections all ads are FREE. Pictures are also free with all ads.
There is an optional charge to Pin and/or Highlight your ad. Pinning your ad will give it precedence in the category. Highlighting will display your ad in blue to make it more visible. These options will automatically expire after 30 days.
All prices are indicated at the bottom of each ad.
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Both Options: receive a 15% discount (must select both options in same transaction)
All prices are clearly stated at the bottom of ad entry screens.
The display order of paid ads is as follows:
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Pinned and highlighted (both options) are displayed first in the category, in date order.
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Pinned only are displayed next, in date order.
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Highlighted only and free ads are then displayed in date order.
**Important Note: You may NOT repost or cancel and relist your free ads for the purpose of giving them precedence in a category. Using this tactic is in violation of our services and unfair to other sellers. Should we suspect that this is the case your account will be suspended and your ads will be cancelled immediately!
For Real Estate and Rental ads, if you choose both options, your ad will also show up under Featured Property or Featured Rental Property as an added bonus. These ads are displayed on the right-hand side of the category and rotate approximately every 60 seconds.
**Please note: If you select the incorrect option or category, Castanet will NOT refund your fee or change the option to the alternate choice.
**Retailers/Merchandise and businesses are not allowed to advertise in our regular classifieds. For those we have a "stores" option. If interested please contact our classifieds staff at classifieds@castanet.net
Home based/warehouse type retail accounts will be required to purchase a Home Retail Classifieds Store. The cost will be $24.95 per month plus tax.
Ads are approved several times per day including holidays and weekends. Ads are approved during working hours only (approximately 8 AM to 4 PM). All new and edited ads must be approved before they are allowed on site. Even though you may be making only minor edits to your ad, it will still be temporarily removed from the site until it is re-approved.
Ads stay on site for 30 days. Three days prior to your ad expiring, you will receive an e-mail reminder. You will have two options, one to RELIST your ad and the other to CANCEL your ad. You just need to be logged in and simply click on the appropriate link.
If you would like to RELIST, CANCEL or DELETE your ad prior to the expiration date, please see further instructions in the list.
Anyone can view an ad, but you must have an account to respond to an ad where a phone number or e-mail address is not stated in the ad. Why do we do this? Our system protects the seller from getting on a spam list by using our system as a middleman to pass messages through. For the buyer's convenience, we advise all sellers to include their phone numbers in ads, but not everyone is comfortable with that advice.
To contact a seller:
Login with your USERNAME/EMAIL and PASSWORD. Go to the ad you are interested in. Click on the ad to open it up completely.
Click on the blue EMAIL SELLER button under the CONTACT SELLER heading. This is directly under the ad description. Enter your message and SUBMIT. An e-mail will be sent to the advertiser.
The seller's e-mail address is not displayed unless they choose to reply to the sender.
Please note that we do NOT send messages to the seller on your behalf.
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Login with your USERNAME/EMAIL and PASSWORD.
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Click on the MY ADS tab at the top of the page.
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You will see your ads listed by All Ads, Active Ads, Inactive Ads. Choose your desired option.
EDIT: Under the EDIT column, click the "pencil" to make any changes. Click UPDATE at the bottom when complete. Please remember that your ad will be temporarily removed from the site until it is re-approved.
When adding pictures to your existing ad, you will see (6) BROWSE buttons. Simply click on the first browse button (this will be your main and thumbnail picture). You will be directed to your computer files. Locate your picture file and simply double left-click on the jpg image. This will upload the file name to your ad. Repeat for each Browse button.
RELIST: Free ads can only be updated 7 days after posting. Ads that have been paid for may be relisted whenever you choose. If your ad is available for relisting you can relist by using the green arrow under the RELIST column, or if you have clicked on the edit option, you will see UPDATE + RELIST at the bottom of your ad. Your ad will automatically go back on the site, bypassing the approval queue and renewing the list date.
CANCEL: To cancel an ad, click the box on the left-hand side in your ad list. Then click on the CANCEL SELECTED button at the bottom of your list. Your ad will remain in your MY ADS listing but will no longer be visible on the site.
Please note that after 90 days, cancelled ads will be purged from our site. These ads are NOT retrievable.
DELETE: To delete an ad forever, such that it never shows up in your MY ADS listing, click the box on the left-hand side in your ad list. Then click on the DELETE SELECTED button at the bottom of your list.
Please note that once the ad has been deleted, it is not recoverable by Castanet.
The WATCH-LIST is a feature that allows you to easily return to ads that you are interested in. Think of it like a bookmark for classifieds.
Say you were shopping for a car. You searched through 50 cars, and found five you were interested in. When you were on each of your five favorites you would click the ADD TO WATCH-LIST button under the ad description. At any time you can view your watch-list by clicking WATCH-LIST tab at the top of the screen. Watch-list makes it easier to compare items and find them again in the future.
Simply click on the REMOVE FROM WATCH LIST button if you no longer want to track an ad.
Common Questions
Once you are logged in and click on SUBMIT AD, make the following category selections:
To post Lost & Found Items and Pets:
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Click on the SUBMIT AD tab
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Log in (if not already logged in
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Choose COMMUNITY
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Choose the correct Lost and Found Category
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Complete your ad details.
To change your e-mail address or password, log in to Classifieds and go to the MY PROFILE tab at the top of the page. Go to the EDIT ACCOUNT SETTINGS tab, make your changes and click on UPDATE ACCOUNT SETTINGS button.
For security reasons, you will receive an e-mail verification with an activation link. You MUST click on the activation link prior to logging in with your new details.
To change your account USERNAME please contact our Classifieds Moderator.
If you have a question not answered in this Help Guide, please e-mail us at classifieds@castanet.net We will get back to you within 24 hours. E-mails sent to any other @castanet.net address regarding classified issues will not be forwarded or returned.
Classifieds telephone support is available on regular weekdays from 8 AM to 4 PM. Please call 250-860-5050. As our Classifieds are a free service as such, we do NOT return telephone messages.
Common Problems
1. Click on main CLASSIFIEDS tab.
2. Click on LOGIN in the light grey tool bar at the top of the page.
3. Click on the "Forgot Your Password?" link or on the "Forgot Your Username" link.
The appropriate information will be e-mailed to you.
For new passwords you MUST click on the password activation link in the e-mail prior to logging in.
If it appears that you have logged in, but you keep getting sent back to the "unlogged in" Classifieds page, there is a strong possibility that your browser has been set to not accept cookies.
Our classifieds system needs cookies turned on in order to work. (Don't worry, we don't track personal information or sell data used by cookies.) To turn cookies back on in Internet Explorer, click TOOLS, then INTERNET OPTIONS. Click the PRIVACY tab. Move the slider to the MEDIUM HIGH or lower position. Sometimes cookies are blocked by third party security software such as Norton.
If that doesn't work, pleased click the DELETE MY COOKIES link on the login page and try again.
Our site uses cookies to track which edition of Classifieds you are using: Kelowna, Vernon, Penticton. If your browser's security settings are set to block cookies, you won't see any ads as our system won't know what edition to show you. To allow cookies in Castanet Classifieds, in Internet Explorer do the following:
1. Click TOOLS then INTERNET OPTIONS. Select the SECURITY tab. Click the DEFAULT LEVEL button.
2. Next click the PRIVACY tab, click the DEFAULT button and then click OK.
We typically receive this question from users who have just submitted their first ad, expecting it to show up immediately on the site. All new ads or modified ads must be a approved by the Classifieds Moderator before it shows on site. Chances are, the ad has not yet been approved. Let us review your ad and within 24 hours or shorter it will be put on the site.
If you still can't find your ad, are you looking for it in the right edition? Kelowna? Penticton? Vernon? Be sure that your ad, via the MY ADS link, is in the right edition you would like it to appear.
Also note, depending on the category, the number of ads may be substantial. Many users choose to highlight their ad which pins it to the top of a category. Please remember that non-paid for ads are placed below the highlighted ads and then in date order.
In order to use Castanet Classifieds you must verify your e-mail address with us when you register. After your registration, you should receive an e-mail from us within minutes. The e-mail will have a link that you must click on to activate your account. If you didn't receive this e-mail, contact our Classifieds Moderator and we will manually activate your account. Please include your account username so we can quickly access your account.
If you are using a webmail e-mail address service like Yahoo, Hotmail, or Gmail, we strongly advise you to add "@castanet.net" to your service's spam filter whitelist before you sign-up. Otherwise, e-mail from potential buyers could be blocked and you may not receive our verification e-mail to activate your account. Users of ISP accounts or corporate accounts like shaw.ca and telus.net are not affected by this.
You may upload up to six images with your ad. Photos must be in a JPG, GIF, or PNG format. No other photo file type will work.
Our photo uploader requires Adobe Flash. You may need to download the most recent version of Adobe Flash by visiting that website.
If you have repeated trouble with a photo, try renaming the picture's filename before uploading. If the problem still persists, try uploading one picture at a time in the EDIT AD screen.
Our system does not allow users to connect from IP addresses outside of Canada. This is due to the overwhelming scam attempts that originate from other countries.
Even though you may reside locally, many computer applications connect through IP addresses in the US. Or, your company head office may reside in another country.
Please forward your username to classifieds@castanet.net and we will verify your account and add you to our "Exceptions" list so that you can access our Classifieds.
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