Directory/classified pages advice

Site URL: http://www.not-yet-established.com

I'm looking into building a collection/directory containing upwards of 30+ classified pages for a variety of businesses, ranged by category, and having them stored on one page (screengrabs of the lead page and classified pages I would like to build are attached). Users could collapse/expand the listings based on categories selected.
I'm curious to know:
(1) If I build these using the blog feature I can set each up by category, but then I'm confused about setting up a lead/landing page to house everything and whether a blog is really the right mechanism for this type of directory;

(2) The commerce/store feature of Squarespace works perfectly for what I want to achieve. I could setup classifieds using this feature and then hide/delete pricing and "add to cart" buttons. While this works, am I silly to work this way? I'm concerned that the commerce pages weren't built for this purpose and might somehow be limiting, plus this would also push my site into a commerce payment bracket that might be unnecessary.

(3) I'm aware of third party plugins like Community Box but my client is unlikely to want an ongoing fee for services such as this, so I'd prefer an upfront setup cost, if any at all. However, I'm also disappointed that Squarespace doesn't offer a solution for directory style pages.

Any advice about best ways of working are appreciated.

4 hours ago, DallasDesignsStuff said:

I'm looking into building a collection/directory containing upwards of 30+ classified pages for a variety of businesses, ranged by category, and having them stored on one page

Looks great. You could build this using any collection page - blog or products. It's a popular way to do this on Squarespace.

For your needs, a product page (now called 'Store' page) may be best because the category filtering is built in. You won't need a commerce plan, unless you actually want to take payments via the site. 

Of course a product collection will only be useful if you can layout the product detail page (PDP) to meet your needs. That's the page when one product is shown in detail, rather than the Product List Page where all products are shown. I say this because store/product pages are less flexible than other pages/posts.

My advice is to add a store page, add a 'product' and then try to layout the PDP to match your requirements. If it meets your needs, everything else should be straightforward. A line of CSS (or a Site Styles tweak on 7.0 Brine) will remove the Add to Cart button.

If you have specific concerns or issues, do post back.

Thanks for the feedback Paul. The product/store page is fairly rigid so the approach to use this as a solution may come down to my client's preference. But thanks for providing this info. I'll do some experimenting!