New flameslist website allows students to buy, sell

Every semester mass emails for rides, buying books, selling books and other transactions pass through Liberty University classes, much to the annoyance of some recipients.

Freshman Stephen Baird is one of those receivers. After wading through the emails his first semester, he decided something needed to change. The idea of Flameslist.com came into existence.

“I just thought there had to be a better way for people to get word out that they are trying to sell things or get rides or tutoring in the student body,” Baird said. “So I decided to build a website that would allow the students to be able to communicate among themselves so that nobody would be annoyed by these emails anymore.”

On the website Liberty students can buy or sell essentially anything including books, electronics, clothing and bicycles. They can also offer or ask for rides, tutoring and local jobs. Flameslist is free to use and easy to navigate, according to Baird.

“So far we’ve had over one hundred posts,” Baird said. “A lot of people are return users. I have no idea how successful the site is, I can only guess based on the number of hits it gets, but I feel like it’s actually working.”

Jessica Grigg, a junior Journalism major and investor with Flameslist.com, helps Baird advertise around the city with different businesses and on campus. She is enthusiastic about where the website is headed.

When setting up the website, Baird said he conducted research to determine the best format for his website. He looked through several similar formats to eBay but was not satisfied that there was no place for students to list carpooling on many of them. After deciding to go with a format like Craig’s List, his next step was to name it and launch it. Flameslist.com came into existence early February.

“I created it in such a way that if you want to post an ad, you don’t have to go through and create a profile like eBay,” Baird explained. “You can just go on there and post what you want to.”

The website only requires an email address to post so that follow-up email with links and offers can be sent to the address. There are also options to edit or delete a post once it is created.

As well as providing a place for transactions to happen, Baird said he also is very open to suggestions to improve the website. One suggestion he is planning to follow up on is adding videos.

“I take suggestions very seriously. I’ve had a couple people email me about adding different categories. If I think it’s something that several people can benefit from I put it on the site immediately. There may be things I haven’t thought of,” Baird said.