Classifieds site launches with flat annual fee

The service enables individual users and companies to buy, sell and swap products through one site.

Consumers pay £5 a year for an online account, while small firms can pay a £25 annual fee to upload their entire product range to the site. Larger companies are charged £100 for the same service.

Account holders can control the products and services they offer, the items they look for, who contacts them, and how they're contacted.

The firm said that unlike eBay and Amazon Marketplace, there are no additional costs and no commission fees associated with the site.

Users can place wanted ads and search for goods and services on The People's Web for free. Categories currently include Home, Vehicles, Jobs, Services, Going Out, Property and Travel/ Holidays.

The firm said it search engine does not use any sponsored links to avoid any bias, and searched are based purely on the type of product and location of the seller.

Tim Hayes, chairman of The People's Web said: "The People's Web is a matchmaker, not a middleman - we don't profit from any sales made through our site, we simply provide a community where buyers and sellers can meet and arrange their own transactions.”

The People's Web began a trial period in October last year, claiming that 50,000 products were uploaded onto the site, including the inventory of retailers such as Volkswagen and Crabtree & Evelyn.

However online research by Netimperative found only a limited number of items in key areas like cars - implying that the up-front charge to post a listing may put off customers more used to the pay-per-sale model of auctions.

Hayes added: "Small businesses are losing the online battle as they can't afford the technology to build and maintain effective websites. Once they have a website, they can't pay the expensive search optimisation fees demanded by search engines to get their products and services seen by consumers."