Craigslist Gets Less Annoying, Allows Users to Multi-Post

Ed. Note: This is the inaugural post of new writer, Craig Agranoff, who will be joining us to fill for my slack time.

I have always found it peculiar why people use Craigslist.  Don’t get me wrong — I have used it myself to sell things in the past, but I have consistently found it irritating to post an item and keep it visible long enough without having to worry about re-posting it.

Now would be a good time to bring up how many fraudulent postings are there, but that is for another story.  You all have probably figured out that Craigslist only allows you to post an item once before it is deemed repetitive.  The other annoyance is being able to post in only one city at a time.  I happen to live equally in the middle of 2 cities listed on Craigslist.  When I try to post an item I am never sure which one is the right city to post in.  So I end up having to post it in one city one day, and the other the next day.  It is perplexing why they just didn’t allow us to post in two cities within a certain proximity at the same time or remove one of the cities.

The other day, I noticed that the Craigslist gods heard my complaints and consolidated my cities. Now I can post in all three at the same time. Well, not really.  I still have to post in one of the cities, but now when someone searches South Florida they will find my listing instead of having to search all three.  Upon further investigation it appears they have made this simple change for most major cities.

This is a major improvement for Craigslist. which has always been a bit reluctant to stay up with the times. Despite its anti-”traditional” culture, I think one of the things Craigslist needs to do is listen to its users more. It has proven to be an extremely valuable tool, and its gift has ended up being almost its curse — it ends up trying to be too simple and useful to the majority of its users that it forget to serve its vocal minorities. As a product, you need to serve both, and it’s great that that’s where Craigslist seems to be headed.

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  • they've got competitions.. check out oodles.com
  • craigslist is getting competitions like oodles
  • Craiglist should do something about it!
  • It's apparent Cragislist still works as good as before.
  • Craigslist still has that old look.
  • Craigslist should do something to fix that issue. :)
  • I didn't know about Craigslist. I should try it out. It sounds quite awesome to me.
  • I love Craigslist.org
    For the last 2 years they have helped me build my members and increase my sales. You can post lost of different ads on craigslist if they are just worded a little different. I like to put photos on my server and call the pics up in the posting with the nice <--img src="mysite.com/private/photo.jpg"--> tags. This also lets you click the photo and readers are sent to your site.

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  • It is best to keep the service simple and clean. A good UI will attract more loyal visitors to continue using the services and this is why it is important to understand what the users ultimately want.
  • Craigslist is an interesting situation - so many people use it to find what they're looking for (especially houses/apartments for rent, in my experience), that a real estate agent or real estate investor who wishes to rent a house/apartment (or sell one) would be foolish NOT to list it there. But, indeed, it is an issue to keep an ad in front of the proper eyeballs for any length of time. The only way to do so, it would seem, is to repeatedly post the ad. this, of course, can get your ad banned from Craigslist, so it's important to tread carefully there as well. Good to hear about the "consolidated city" approach.
  • No matter how they improve, the look and feel is still awful. All they need is to have a competitor with similar concept and a better look and feel and they'll be dead meat.
  • Though the look and feel is bad, I've used their service to make some good money selling some stuff. That's why I'm not complaining that much.
  • It's a sign that Craigslist is slowly getting it. They need to listen to their users more.
  • Craigslist better wake up or they'll be rolled over.
  • Yeah you right bro.
  • It's the flexibility that is going to keep it's customers. They have to adapt to changes and do more for their customers instead of acting so snobbish in the past.
  • I always had a problem with the interface. Is it just me or is the interface so simple that I fall asleep using it? I wish they would spurs things up a bit with more color and perhaps a better user platform.
  • anthony
    I suggest you also give dontlookanyfurther.com classifieds a go ... its a real nice and easy to use classifieds site.
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  • Good article on how Craigslist is improving. Since they are listening, how about some other suggestions:
    * Listing alerts
    * Saved searches
    * Category specific filters
  • otto D.C.
    Craig VS Craigslist? ;-)

    Interesting review indeed

    Welcome aboard Craig!
  • Star_Loving
    How more appropriate can you get ? lol Craig vs Craiglist !! hehe...;-)
  • jamieh
    Welcome!
    Great article!
    Looking forward to read more from you :-)
  • Nick, I remember posting a tickle me elmo doll and having it flagged for spam? The flagging system there is just awful and extremely inconsistent.
  • Star_Loving
    How do the spammers always get thru and the real humans always get stopped????????????
  • Jungl Jim
    Just listed some marine engines...it would not let me list in Orlando with
    the same listing.
    For bigger ticket items, Orlando is a close enough mkt.
  • That is exactly what the problem is still with Craigslist. They need to allow multiple postings within a certain proximity.
  • Star_Loving
    Be that piercing force!!!
  • Yes we agree - CL is a double edged sword. There's too much spam...yet when you are trying to post your own stuff here and there, you get flagged easily or they don't allow you to! There's got to be some sort of happy medium.
  • shey44
    As the writer's Mom, I have to say, I love this article. Great job Craig and good luck!
  • Star_Loving
    Great Article CRAIG! It was informative as well as factual! I too, have experience the same frustration with Craigslist. I believe for a company or an e-commerce site to stay competitive it is imperative for it to listen to the VOIS of its members or consumers. I hate getting automated email CSR survey's! I have a valued business experienced opinion and love to express it in my own words.

    I have also experienced the mentioned frustrations with Craigslist. I attempted to post more than one item and the location was in between the two major cities. I love the concept which drives me away from the fees of eBay but all the SPAM as the other commenter stated is a deterrent for me to spend endless valuable time searching to find what I am looking to buy.
  • Yes. Welcome.

    I've long had a love/hate thing with Craigslist. I use this a LOT to find new clients (when I'm bored). It's so frustrating to see the same "Get Rich without Working" postings in ALL of the cities. I wish those people would just go away! Searching for a job there, you are sure to find a few gems, but you have to wade through all of the terrible SPAM.

    This is good however, for selling "stuff.'
  • snorrevalp
    Welcome aboard
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