If people dont have or cant spend a few bucks to become elite members in order to take advantage of the classified ad's i cant imagine them having the money to buy anything in the first place.
Here's another thought for guy's trying to sell stuff,do you really want to deal with a prospective buyer who is so tight he refuses to spring for a membership that supports the site ?
Here's another thought for sellers,do you really want to answer 100 emails every day from guys (kids) using turtle water or shooting a wad of splooge in the soil for ferts,all over a $100 light?
One thing ive learned from selling on ebay for years is that for every sale there are 1,000 tire kicking question askers, who think a seller has nothing better to do with their time,except to answer questions from people who have no real intention on buying anything, IE window shoppers.