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How to get over flagging in Craigslist

by Bundberg
20 replies
Hello, I was just testing how Craigslist works, I got 20 responses in 20 minutes, but then my ad was flagged, the same happened to ad in another account.

I waited a little and posted a modified ad, of course this will be flagged too but my question is:

How you guys do on CL if your ad is flagged, do you just post it over and over again and do not care about flagging or are you more careful to avoid flagging?

Share your experience,

Thanks,

Laur

(Hopefully the right category for post)
#craigslist #flagging
  • Profile picture of the author Gubaru
    I wish someone does solve the flagging issue with Craigslist. It will save alot of people headaches including myself.
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    • Profile picture of the author mohsinmallik
      Originally Posted by Gubaru View Post

      I wish someone does solve the flagging issue with Craigslist. It will save alot of people headaches including myself.
      If there is no flagging, it will turn into a heaven for the spammers.
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  • Profile picture of the author dadamson
    I would definitely be careful about your CL ad getting flagged. This is generally done for a reason and you should take steps to avoid being flagged.

    Write your posts ethically and don't over post and you should be fine.
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    • Profile picture of the author tpw
      Originally Posted by dadamson View Post

      I would definitely be careful about your CL ad getting flagged. This is generally done for a reason and you should take steps to avoid being flagged.

      Write your posts ethically and don't over post and you should be fine.

      Yes, flagging is done by other users of the CL community.

      Here on the WF, we can flag spammers and rule breakers by using the Report Button

      Be more careful with your ads, so as to not raise the suspicion of those who are happy to flag your ads.

      Of course it does help if you follow the TOS of CL... I hope you are staying within the Terms of Service...
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      • Profile picture of the author buckz55
        Welcome to the game , CL is at war with us and if all your experiencing is flagging , then consider yourself lucky because at least your getting ads to go live.

        1) If users/competition are flagging you , try to change your ad and title up to look normal and not like a marketer as much.

        2) If your posting ads and getting replies , don't reply to them right away because you'll get flagged right away obv. lol ... just let them build up or set a delayed auto responder.

        3) If your getting instantly flagged and your using a URL inside your ad , change the URL because it's most likely blacklisted , which triggers CL to auto flag.

        As for the TOS , make yourself as anonymous as you can ( proxies , forwarded numbers , VPS , VCC's , ect ) because CL is apparently going to town with these lame azz cease and desist letters ... although you gotta be pumping out alot of ads and getting reported enough to get them to notice.

        Just being on the safe side..

        I could go on but imma bout to pass out lol , those r just a few tips .. hope it helps.
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    • Profile picture of the author timpears
      Originally Posted by dadamson View Post

      I would definitely be careful about your CL ad getting flagged. This is generally done for a reason and you should take steps to avoid being flagged.

      Write your posts ethically and don't over post and you should be fine.
      Often times it is competitors that do the flagging to get your add removed.

      I used to advertise houses for sale on CL and would get my ads flagged. Who the hell would flag an ad for a house? All I had was a picture of the house and the details needed to get someone interested. But they would get flagged repeatedly. I just posted them again and said thanks, that puts my new post up top.
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  • Profile picture of the author Centurian
    I've got an idiot competitor flagging my legitimate service ads. This is happening to a number of us in one market, but we can't figure out who the jerk is. I was alerted to this by another vendor. We'd launch a flagging war, but don't know who it is. LOL
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    • Profile picture of the author rts2271
      Does Craigslist actually yield buyers? My tests into it got too many freeloaders.
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    • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
      Originally Posted by Centurian View Post

      I've got an idiot competitor flagging my legitimate service ads. This is happening to a number of us in one market, but we can't figure out who the jerk is. I was alerted to this by another vendor. We'd launch a flagging war, but don't know who it is. LOL
      For an ad to be removed it has to be flagged by multiple users. So it's not a single competitor unless the guy is using multiple accounts to make it seem like it is multiple users or has friends that help him flag ads.

      Some sections are just notorious for competition flagging ads.

      I have a bunch of friends all over the U.S., all in the same business and almost all of them get their ads flagged by the competition.

      If you want to learn how to get ad ups just do a google search. There are good forums that exist that are just about posting on craigslist and you will learn a lot.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        The secret is to read the Terms Of Service, and stick to them. Otherwise this happens.
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        • Profile picture of the author DIABL0
          Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

          The secret is to read the Terms Of Service, and stick to them. Otherwise this happens.
          That's not totally true. You can follow their TOS 100% and still get flagged all day long by your competition.

          A perfect example is if your a buyer of X and you post that you will pay Y for X and Y is more than what the majority are paying and you post in a section with a lot of competition...that ad will be flagged and removed in no time, even though it's 100% legit. I see this happen all the time!!!
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          How to Build LARGE EMAIL LISTS on a Budget and MONETIZE Like a PRO
          20+ Years Exp . . . . . . . . . . . . Email - CPA - PPL
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          • Profile picture of the author larkin
            Originally Posted by DIABL0 View Post

            That's not totally true. You can follow their TOS 100% and still get flagged all day long by your competition.

            A perfect example is if your a buyer of X and you post that you will pay Y for X and Y is more than what the majority are paying and you post in a section with a lot of competition...that ad will be flagged and removed in no time, even though it's 100% legit. I see this happen all the time!!!
            Is there a good method to avoid this?
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  • Profile picture of the author Cool Hand Luke
    Several years ago a craigslist programmer openly revealed it takes a total of 22 'flags' from seperate IPs to erase most ads. That has probably changed by now, but you get the point: without special software, no one person can get your ad deleted.

    Make sure you aren't spamming, and are following CL rules. If you aren't, well frankly I ope you do get flagged.
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  • Profile picture of the author derricks4
    What many don't realize is that Craigslist is very unreliable. People have flagging software, it's not even humans doing the flagging. My parents put an ad to sell their puppies, and it was flagged continuously.
    This is because there is TOO MUCH COMPETITION, and people take on dirty tactics to own the market. You can blame yourself and think you're not following the TOS, but in reality it's most likely you were wrongfully flagged due to a competitor.
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  • Profile picture of the author ron200
    Yea, I hate posting a great ad and start getting a bunch of traffic and then FLAG.
    Really annoying. And worse than that is getting ghosted.
    Where it shows in your account as running but when you check in the section its not there!
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  • Profile picture of the author benzwm02
    Craigslist is very hard on affiliate marketers if that is infact what you are trying to do. It is very difficult to make money as an affiliate marketer through craigslist these days. I would suggest putting in your effort in your own site or blog.
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  • Profile picture of the author Targeted Traffic
    If you find your ad being flagged, simply use the same email that you used to post your ad to edit it every so often. Each time you edit the ad, the “flag counter” is reset, meaning that you need that the small minority of vigilante flaggers has to start at the beginning.Also sometimes there are just some loonies who have nothing to do in their lives than flag people's ads.
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    • Profile picture of the author Centurian
      Originally Posted by DIABL0 View Post

      For an ad to be removed it has to be flagged by multiple users. So it's not a single competitor unless the guy is using multiple accounts to make it seem like it is multiple users or has friends that help him flag ads.

      Some sections are just notorious for competition flagging ads.

      I have a bunch of friends all over the U.S., all in the same business and almost all of them get their ads flagged by the competition.

      If you want to learn how to get ad ups just do a google search. There are good forums that exist that are just about posting on craigslist and you will learn a lot.
      Originally Posted by Cool Hand Luke View Post

      Several years ago a craigslist programmer openly revealed it takes a total of 22 'flags' from seperate IPs to erase most ads. That has probably changed by now, but you get the point: without special software, no one person can get your ad deleted.

      Make sure you aren't spamming, and are following CL rules. If you aren't, well frankly I ope you do get flagged.
      Originally Posted by DIABL0 View Post

      That's not totally true. You can follow their TOS 100% and still get flagged all day long by your competition.

      A perfect example is if your a buyer of X and you post that you will pay Y for X and Y is more than what the majority are paying and you post in a section with a lot of competition...that ad will be flagged and removed in no time, even though it's 100% legit. I see this happen all the time!!!
      Originally Posted by derricks4 View Post

      What many don't realize is that Craigslist is very unreliable. People have flagging software, it's not even humans doing the flagging. My parents put an ad to sell their puppies, and it was flagged continuously.
      This is because there is TOO MUCH COMPETITION, and people take on dirty tactics to own the market. You can blame yourself and think you're not following the TOS, but in reality it's most likely you were wrongfully flagged due to a competitor.
      I just came back and reviewed this thread. This has been a very good discussion. I really didn't know it needed up to 22 flags to delete the ads. And no, we are not spamming. Just promoting legit real estate and home improvement service ads.
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  • Profile picture of the author Alex Blades
    How to get over flagging in Craigslist
    It's an easy fix, just post legit stuff. I have bought and sold many things on Craigslist and never had any flagging problems.

    Flagging isn't a problem on Craigslist, it's the crap IMer's post on there, that is the problem. CL is so infested with scams, that people notice them right away and flag them as they should.

    If you've gotten flagged back to back, then maybe you should rethink your tactics.
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