What happened to Craigslist? The only responses I get to my ads now are scammers. More and more spam is piling up and not getting removed. It seems like less real ads are being posted, I guess everyone is so sick of spam and scammers that they have given up on CL for now.

For a while I saw a big increase in use of the site in my area, now I’m only seeing about half of the amount of real ads being posted that I was seeing last month. I think one of the big problems is with new users - they don’t know much about CL and when they try to post a legit ad, they do it wrong and get ghosted of flagged off…there needs to be a good tutorial that everyone can read thru before posting for the first time. Reading the Terms of Use won’t help, it’s too hard to understand for beginners. People don’t know how to categorize, spell, put a price, etc. Can anyone do something about this? These people don’t come back after they get flagged and going to the discussion forums isn’t a solution since these people don’t know enough about CL to get an ad posted, they’ll never figure out the forums.

Today I got really lucky. I responded to an ad for some computer speakers and sound card. I ended up buying some Logitech X-530 5.1 surround speakers, a Creative Soundblaster external USB sound card, a 15 GB external USB hard drive and some nice Sony headphones for $40 total.

Last week was pretty tough…I have so many ads up for everything I’m selling but nobody is interested. Could it be the gas prices forcing potential customers to stay home and/or save their money? My prices are really good — my ads are fine and not getting flagged or removed - just no takers.

I just heard about a new site that’s supposed to compete with Craigslist, it’s called ChosenList.com. They allow you to post videos of what you are selling…sounds like a good idea, but it’s not. Look at the site, right now they’re only working in Arizona and Texas but they plan to roll out more cities this summer - 100% of the ads were spam and/or scams. I didn’t see a single real ad.

The only good thing is maybe this site will attract the craigslist spammers and they can waste their time on that site and have less time to spam craigslist.

Well last night I was able to sell that tennis bag I found for $10. I also sold some books that were given to me for $8. Today I’m hoping to sell an old iMac that I got from the free section (only getting $8 because it doesn’t work).

I responded to a couple ads this morning, one for a Nintendo 64 with games for $50 (worth a lot more than that) and some free stuff that I’m not sure of exactly, but hopefully those will both end up in some good resales for me.

So for the past couple days I’ve been reading a lot of complaints about craigslist’s new phone verification for ads posted in services. I think its a great idea, but I don’t know exactly how it works because I don’t post ads in those categories. It’s meant to keep the scammers and spammers out because you need to have a CL account which also needs to be verified using a real phone…not a throw-away cell phone or a VOIP (Vonage) phone which is apparently what the scammers are using. They need this tool in the Jobs section.

Here’s what I think they should do to prevent spammers…there’s been some discussion the last couple weeks about CL’s new idea to limit HTML in ads to limit spam…but I don’t think they do enough. There is absolutely no reason for HTML in craigslist ads. Many people will disagree, but that just means they are a spammer.

Think about what CL would be like w/out HTML options for posters….what would we miss? All it does is allow spammers to post their affiliate links, post large images with text that can’t be filtered by CL’s filtering system, it lets the scammers post keywords using light colored text that most people can’t see in the ad. There’s a million other  ways that HTML helps the spammers and scammers.

All you need in any CL post, For Sale, Jobs, Services, etc is plain text, with no special characters (^*#@!+) and the normal 4 photos you upload through craigslist. Why do you need anything more than that? People always argue that they need HTML to make their ads stand out among the rest…what makes you so special? All ads should look the same. If you are offering something that people want, they will e-mail you. If you’re trying to scam them, then fuck off! All ads should be created equal. Nobody should get the upper hand.

Plain text only, no special characters, no posting links, no more than the standard 4 photos. Craigslist would be completely different. Also, you should be required to have an account to post ads and you should be forced to select only one city to post ads in for that account. If you move to a new city, start a new account.

Another idea, require posters to fill in Location when creating ads. If they leave it blank, there should be an error page telling them to fill in the damn box! And stop ghosting my ads! If I did something wrong, tell me what it is and allow me to fix it.

I’ve seen a lot of shit on craigslist that has pissed me off so I made up a list of CL rules (for buying/selling)…if I missed something, let me know (leave a comment).

1. Delete your post after the item is sold - don’t put “GONE” on the post, it’s easier to just delete it!

2. Don’t post in the wrong city - if your state has multiple CL cities, only post in the one closest to you…if you have another one within 30 minutes, that’s fine too, but if you post an ad in a city/area that’s 2 hours away, you’re wasting your time and the time of others who will have to look at and flag your ad.

3. Put a damn photo of your shit on there! And make sure you turn a light on so we can see what it is. If you don’t have a camera, use google search to find a stock image.

4. Cash or trade only (or Free) - do not ever accept a check, especially if it’s a money order or cashier’s check - they are ALWAYS fake.

5. Do not sell broken electronics or dirty old furniture. Give them away for free. Computers that aren’t working are OK since many people know how to repair them. The Free section is your best friend. If your TV doesn’t work, give it away - don’t try to scam people into buying your big TV or old fridge which you would have to pay Waste Management to haul away either. If they’re willing to take that risk of having it be garbage, let them have it for free.

6. Don’t ever use stupid special characters in your post’s title (&(#%�*#@_#####$$@@$$$ - that shit is just annoying and NOBODY is going to click on it!

7. When creating a post, when it asks for Price, do not put $1 unless you only want $1! You have 2 options - put the price that you’d like (i.e. $235) or leave it blank! And don’t try putting 40-50 in that box, it will end up looking like $4050.

8. For Specific Location, when you’re creating a new ad, just put the name of your city please! You can also put in things like “Chicago - North” or something more specific, but never, ever leave it blank or just put the name of your state in that little box. No one will click on your ad if you leave it blank.

9. OBO - NO! If you really want to sell an item or items, do not ask for best offer. This is not eBay - give them a specific price, if they decide to make you a lower offer, that’s fine, but never say you’ll take the highest offer or say “$50 or best offer” - you will never get $50 if you let the buyers know you’ll go lower.

10. Post your ads under the correct category. If you are selling a computer, it goes under “Computer”, if you’re selling a TV, it goes under “Electronics” - an XBOX 360 goes under “Games and Toys” not “Electronics”. If you are offering to fix computers, post that under Services>computer, if you want free computers, that goes under…WANTED!

11. Garage Sales - this seems pretty self-explanatory, right? Wrong. Everyone seems to think that the garage sale section is the place to post all your random shit…no, that would be “General” (anything that doesn’t fit under the other categories FOR SALE). If you post under the garage sale section, people will assume you have a garage (or yard) that will be open to the public for browsing - they will not be looking for people selling single items like ice skates or Nintendos.

12. I’ll just go through all of the different categories and tell you what should be posted there:

barter - trades (i.e. trade laptop for moped)
bikes - bicycles and accessories (not motorcycles)
boats - speed boats, fishing boats, canoes and boating accessories
books - books and magazines
business - items that you would use in a business (shelving, cash registers, security cameras) — not merchandise
computer - desktops, laptops, Mac, accessories, monitors, printers
free - anything that you want to give away for free — no wanted ads or pets allowed
general - items for sale that do not fit under the other categories
jewelry - bracelets, necklaces, watches, earrings
material - lumber, building materials, shingles, bricks, flooring
rvs - recreational vehicles, motorhomes, travel trailers, snowmobiles, 4-wheelers
sporting - sporting goods (hockey equipment, baseball gloves), workout equipment, skis, no guns
tickets - tickets to events, must be face value or lower
tools - hand tools, power tools, shop tools
wanted - asking for a specific item that you’d like to buy (or beg for it for free)
arts+crafts - fabric, buttons, sewing supplies, patterns, scrapbooking stuff
auto parts - tires, CD players, seats, accessories for cars or trucks
baby+kids - items that would be for babys and young children like clothing, strollers, baby formula
cars+trucks - sell your car or truck, van or El Camino (no motorcycles or RVs)
cds/dvd/vhs - CDs, DVDs, VHS tapes, record albums, 8-track tapes, cassette tapes, no porn
clothes+acc - shirts, pants, hats, shoes, purses, socks, underwear, jackets
collectibles - beanie babies, knick-knacks, coins, stamps, trading cards
electronics - TVs, home stereos, DVD players, PDAs, no computers, no car audio, no cameras
farm+garden - farm tractors, farming supplies, plants, seeds, lawn mowers, garden tools
furniture - couches, chairs, tables, beds, desks, shelves
games+toys - game systems (PS2, XBOX, Wii), children’s toys (not baby toys), stuffed animals
garage sale - open to public sales in a garage or yard with address and date/times listed - no virtual sales
household - kitchen appliances, utensils, rugs, wall art, things you would have in your house that aren’t furniture
motorcycles - Harleys, mopeds, dirt bikes, scooters
music instr - guitars, drums, saxophones, musical accessories and carrying cases
photo+video - still cameras, video cameras, camera cases, tripods and other accessories for cameras

12. If you’re buying something, please don’t no-call, no-show. If you decide you don’t want it or can’t make it, at least e-mail them. I have waited so many times, having to change my own plans because these people never showed up.

13. Learn how to spell or else don’t use words you cannot spell. Use spaces between lines, don’t describe your item in one big paragraph with no puncuation. Actually describe your items! If you’re selling a computer, don’t just post, “Computer for sale” - tell us what exactly you have (i.e. Dell X45566 desktop with 40 gig hard drive, 1 gig ram, 17inch Samsung LCD monitor model 443566).

14. If you are selling an item, do not post something like this: DVD Player for Sell. You’ll sound like a moron. It is for SALE. I see this every day.

15. Flag the scammers and spammers. If you see an ad that is blatantly a scam or the same item is being posted many times per day, just flag it! It’ll take you 2 seconds and it will help clean up CL.

Today I found a nice Wilson tennis bag full of tennis balls and golf balls next to a dumpster at my apartment complex. Someone was moving out. I put the bag and balls together on CL for $10 and got someone that wanted it within an hour - but the guy wants to come get it this weekend? It’s Tuesday, I’m not holding it, I want it gone today.

I hate this question…10 minutes after I post a for sale ad, I get someone who asks, “is it still available?”

Maybe it’s because nobody removes their old ads? If you’re going to ask that question, then give me a little more info. Tell me that you’d actually like to purchase the item and give me your phone number. I’ll e-mail these people back and they never get back to me…why bother if you don’t want it? Seems like at least one person every day no-shows. No call, never shows up, doesn’t e-mail me and doesn’t respond to my e-mails. That’s why I keep my ads up and wait till it actually sells, a lot of times I have 2 or 3 people who say they are coming for the same item, but only one person ever shows up, if anyone does.