Picture this. You spend 20 minutes carefully putting together a listing - description, photos, contact details. You pay for posting. And the next day it's gone. No warning, no explanation, no refund. Just gone.
If that sounds familiar, you're not alone. On sūdzības.lv (a Latvian consumer complaints portal), ss.lv has accumulated over 450 complaints, and one of the most common themes is exactly this - listings getting deleted without a clear reason.
What users are actually saying
Most complaints repeat the same story. A listing got deleted by the administration. The user writes to support asking what went wrong. No reply. Or they get a generic reference to the terms of service, but without specifying which particular rule was broken.
Some users describe paying for a listing only to have it deleted without a refund. Others talk about blocked accounts with zero communication. And there are business users too - car dealers and real estate agents - who lost dozens of listings in a single day.
The platform's trust rating on sūdzības.lv sits at 2%. Out of a hundred.
The Competition Council ruling in March 2026
This isn't just user perception. On March 5, 2026, Latvia's Competition Council ruled that SIA "SS" - the owner of ss.lv - had abused its dominant market position.
What actually happened? Between March 2020 and May 2021, ss.lv blocked user accounts and deleted listings when users published their ads on a competing portal called pp.lv. The electronic correspondence uncovered during the investigation confirmed this was done deliberately and purposefully.
The practice mainly targeted commercial clients - car dealers, brokers, and real estate agents. For this violation, ss.lv was fined 186,780 euros.
It means one simple thing - if you ever felt like your listing was unfairly removed, it might not have been your imagination.
What are your rights?
First - you have the right to know why your listing was removed. A vague reference to "rule violation" without specifying which rule is problematic, especially when you've paid for the service.
Second - the Competition Council's decision requires ss.lv to develop clear and objective criteria for cooperation with clients. That should mean less arbitrary deletion going forward.
If your listing gets deleted and you don't receive a clear explanation, you can:
- File an official complaint with ss.lv administration requesting a specific reason
- Submit a complaint to the Consumer Rights Protection Centre (PTAC)
- Report to the Competition Council if you believe the conduct is unfair
Why does this matter?
ss.lv holds over 60% market share among all classifieds platforms in Latvia by listing count. The next competitor - Facebook Marketplace - sits below 15%. When one player is that dominant, their behaviour affects the entire market.
If people are afraid to post listings elsewhere because ss.lv might block their account - that's not a healthy market. And that's exactly what the Competition Council found.
What are the alternatives?
Most people don't even realize how many options exist in Latvia. We've already written about them before, but in short - there are at least five or six portals where you can post listings for free.
AdSnap is one of them. We're a newer portal, and we're building it with exactly these problems in mind:
- Built-in chat - you don't need to share your phone number with strangers. You can communicate with buyers or sellers right on the platform.
- Free listings - no hidden charges and no fee for basic posting.
- Transparency - if there's a problem with your listing, you'll know about it. We don't delete listings without an explanation.
We're obviously not ss.lv in terms of size. We don't have that kind of traffic, and it would be silly to claim otherwise. But the market is getting more diverse, and we believe competition is a good thing for everyone - buyers and sellers alike.
What to do right now
If your listing on ss.lv got deleted and you feel stuck - know that you have options. Post your listing on multiple portals. It takes a few extra minutes, but you're no longer dependent on a single platform.
And if you want to try something new - come have a look. Posting is free, and maybe your next buyer is already waiting there.