For a classifieds website, should we ask the user for location before or after searching?

Question

Location in this context means the current city the user is residing in.

I am designing a classifieds homepage and would like to know what which would be a better UX flow:

1. Ask for location on the homepage using some form of prompt

2. Set the location by default and show it on the homepage, allowing the user to change it

3. After the user has searched for a product, in the search results page show listings according to location and give the option to change it

For example:

X is residing in city Y. X would like to buy a second-hand car. In a real-world scenario, X would search for results in his local newspaper or search the streets for a second-hand car showroom and proceed to make his purchase. Applying this in the digital world would mean we must always show search results of classifieds catered to local listings. Is this a good approach?

If I use the approach where I ask for location, then it would add one additional step in the information flow (Homepage > Location > Search results). Whereas if I don't ask for location and use their current location to set their city, the information flow would be Home > Search results. Asking the user to set their location would provide added flexibility, but not asking for it would reduce one additional step in the process.

What would be a good approach to this problem?

Answer 1

I think that this approach would provide the most control:

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Answer 2

I think you can have both worlds in the scenario you described. First, add the "choose location" as optional input box when searching. Insert it near the search field so that it will be seen, but don't require the user to fill it.

Then, if location wasn't entered and user searched - he may receive too much irrelevant results. Then you can have a helper text at the top of the list saying: "If you want to focus results on your location, enter it here." where "here" is a link that clicking it will focus on the location input box. So:

1. You allow the location to be optional. But -
2. Help the user understand that using the location is recommended. This will stop him from leaving your site in frustration for the irrelevant results he got.