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Craigslist is working so well - but it's also frustrating!

by abbot Banned
18 replies
Craigslist has always been a channel of marketing that brings me leads. Bad days cold calling, failed ppc campaigns, and dud direct mailings, one thing I can always count on is craigslist scrubbing a lead up for me on a regular basis.

I post regularly on CL but lately have been having some issues.

When I'm posting LOCAL my ads are fine. I move downstate to a higher population about 200 miles away and post as well...still no problems.

But when I move 200 miles further and post in the largest city, my ad has no chance. Half the time I never even see it post.

New account, do the same steps, try it again, and nope...nothing. It seems like I can't post in the larger cities period, hell..I'm having a hard time posting anything outside of my local area.

I use to post all over the us with ease. Up until 2 months ago.

Whats the deal?
#craigslist #frustrating #working
  • Profile picture of the author NewParadigm
    What is Flagging on Craigslist? Or Ghosting on Craigslist? | Jeanine DeOre - Succeed In Your Business

    [quoteTips to Avoid Ghosting and Flagging on Craigslist by Craigslist Staff
    Basically, Craigslist is trying to avoid marketers “spamming” the site and wants to make sure the ads are unique and from different people to create a fair community. Unfortunately only Craigslist staff knows how they determine if an ad is suitable or not, but here are some of the elements they are likely using:][/quote]
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    • Profile picture of the author abbot
      Banned
      Originally Posted by NewParadigm View Post

      What is Flagging on Craigslist? Or Ghosting on Craigslist? | Jeanine DeOre - Succeed In Your Business

      [quoteTips to Avoid Ghosting and Flagging on Craigslist by Craigslist Staff
      Basically, Craigslist is trying to avoid marketers "spamming" the site and wants to make sure the ads are unique and from different people to create a fair community. Unfortunately only Craigslist staff knows how they determine if an ad is suitable or not, but here are some of the elements they are likely using:]
      [/QUOTE]

      I've been through all of that. I have an ip rotator, I post from tons of Ip's on many PVA accounts. Idk why I can't post anywhere but local...
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      • Profile picture of the author kenmichaels
        I've been through all of that. I have an ip rotator, I post from tons of Ip's on many PVA accounts. Idk why I can't post anywhere but local...[/QUOTE]

        Shot you a PM, hopefully you find it useful.
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  • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
    IP rotators don't help. Are you saying that you have never been able to move further than 200 miles? I'm able to post coast to coast with 1 IP address and multiple accounts.
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    • Profile picture of the author abbot
      Banned
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      IP rotators don't help. Are you saying that you have never been able to move further than 200 miles? I'm able to post coast to coast with 1 IP address and multiple accounts.
      When I create a new account I post in my home town, then a little bit further, and further, until I'm about 400 miles away. I'm good within that 400 miles but as soon as I step out of that radius, my ads are doomed.

      I should note however, that I did just get an ad to stick roughly 2000 miles away.

      This has me so confused. I'm going to try some different techniques because SOMETHING I'm doing is not working. It's just a matter of finding out what.
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    • Profile picture of the author eperkins153
      Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

      IP rotators don't help. Are you saying that you have never been able to move further than 200 miles? I'm able to post coast to coast with 1 IP address and multiple accounts.
      You made this claim a few different times in posts that I have seen of yours but none of them actually explain how you are able to do that without being ghosted.
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      • Profile picture of the author abbot
        Banned
        Originally Posted by eperkins153 View Post

        You made this claim a few different times in posts that I have seen of yours but none of them actually explain how you are able to do that without being ghosted.
        might have something to do with the actual geographics and craigslists filters and permissions.

        When I lived in Jacksonville FL I was able to freely post anywhere except major northeastern cities like NY.

        Now my ip's are all in small areas. It could be an array of things.
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        • Profile picture of the author eperkins153
          Originally Posted by abbot View Post

          might have something to do with the actual geographics and craigslists filters and permissions.

          When I lived in Jacksonville FL I was able to freely post anywhere except major northeastern cities like NY.

          Now my ip's are all in small areas. It could be an array of things.
          Yes I know craigslist tracks ip's but I've never heard of someone being able to post coast to coast using just 1 ip address without being ghosted.
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          • Profile picture of the author iAmNameLess
            Originally Posted by eperkins153 View Post

            Yes I know craigslist tracks ip's but I've never heard of someone being able to post coast to coast using just 1 ip address without being ghosted.
            It's pretty easy. Think about it... if someone is using their phone, and they have 3g/4g service not connected to wifi and lets just say they're in Arizona, the data center would provide them an IP that could be in Philly, Chicago, NYC, wherever.

            You just have to understand how Craigslist works. It isn't about IP addresses. You have to know how their filters work, and their filter is based off cron jobs. So, you post an ad... wait for it to go live, clear out your cookies, and start the process again. You have to vary your ads.

            The ghosting algorithm, has nothing to do with IP addresses, but everything to do with posting frequency, content of the ad, and flagging ratios. If you get flagged enough then certain elements of the ad will start causing you to be ghosted. Like a phone number, a phone number in the ad could be ghosted, but if you space out your number like 555 555 - 5555 then it works again. There are a lot of possibilities why you can be ghosted, but the algorithm doesn't prevent you from posting just based on your IP address.

            Your first 2 ads should always be in your local area. If you switch between accounts you have to clear your cookies. Clear your cookies before you log out, and then before you login. You want to log out, then navigate to the area of CL you want to post in, then log back in with cleared cookies.

            There are account level ghostings that happen too...

            I could go on and on about craigslist forever, I've been through hundreds of accounts, tons of ghosting, etc. Really, the information I've shared on craigslist is maybe 10% of what you need to know. I used to have posts on EVERY city every 3-5 days.
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            • Profile picture of the author abbot
              Banned
              Originally Posted by iAmNameLess View Post

              It's pretty easy. Think about it... if someone is using their phone, and they have 3g/4g service not connected to wifi and lets just say they're in Arizona, the data center would provide them an IP that could be in Philly, Chicago, NYC, wherever.

              You just have to understand how Craigslist works. It isn't about IP addresses. You have to know how their filters work, and their filter is based off cron jobs. So, you post an ad... wait for it to go live, clear out your cookies, and start the process again. You have to vary your ads.

              The ghosting algorithm, has nothing to do with IP addresses, but everything to do with posting frequency, content of the ad, and flagging ratios. If you get flagged enough then certain elements of the ad will start causing you to be ghosted. Like a phone number, a phone number in the ad could be ghosted, but if you space out your number like 555 555 - 5555 then it works again. There are a lot of possibilities why you can be ghosted, but the algorithm doesn't prevent you from posting just based on your IP address.

              Your first 2 ads should always be in your local area. If you switch between accounts you have to clear your cookies. Clear your cookies before you log out, and then before you login. You want to log out, then navigate to the area of CL you want to post in, then log back in with cleared cookies.

              There are account level ghostings that happen too...

              I could go on and on about craigslist forever, I've been through hundreds of accounts, tons of ghosting, etc. Really, the information I've shared on craigslist is maybe 10% of what you need to know. I used to have posts on EVERY city every 3-5 days.
              We post on a much smaller scale, but regularly. Basically everything you said, I do. I'm going to try some new solutions out. I used to be able to post anywhere I wanted as well. But over the past 2 months things have really bombed.

              My idea has never been to spam and spend a lot of time on craigslist, more so just make regular postings in my chosen cities. From my experience, that's all I really need to keep a nice steady stream of leads coming in each week.
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  • Profile picture of the author Highway55
    Excellent information from Iamnameless - the ghosting algorithm can be tricky, and I have found that I can post across the country from one end of it as well - clearing cookies is one fraction of the process. But then if you keep clearing cookies from the same ip Craigslist gets weary of a clean browser every time you post... this triggers another level of ghosting in my experience and a lower percentage of live ads.

    If you can deal with the math (and remove your emotional response) you do not need multiple ips.
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    • Profile picture of the author djhickory
      that's why you need to install vmware ,
      it's a headache, but the faster puter you have, the easier it is, setup 10 machines the other day with 10 different ad's / content / geo located ip's / pvas etc

      and there's craigsflagger post 2 ads for every 2 days for a week, then setup craigs reposted, and leave it alone, they all say install these on xp laptop, i say an ole xp desktop, with tv out card, then just change your input on tv every time you want to check the desktop . throw a 3 TB hd on the side of the tower, and now you got your self a nice media player too
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      • Profile picture of the author donhx
        I'm amazed that people are having trouble posting. In the last year or so, CL has become useless because of the spamming and it never seems to get deleted.

        I have seen up to 14 of the exact same ad placed one after another in one category. People are constantly trying to get jobs in gigs, rather than offering jobs. People are trying to sell stuff in all categories. Get-Rich-Quick ads also invade nearly every category.

        My opinion: Craig doesn't care about his list anymore. Time to look for other options if for no other reason than to stay away from the low-balling and scamming that goes on there. It has become a bad neighborhood in the Internet, IMO.
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  • Profile picture of the author Highway55
    donhx - disagree. Mister Newmark does care about his list quite a bit. There have been several safeguards added over the last year that would support my statement. Nonetheless, you will have people slipping through the cracks. ...

    But as a whole - CL is a LOT cleaner than it used to be. And it's also a very effective way to advertise legitimate services. Yes, spamming will always be around... that's life.
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    • Profile picture of the author donhx
      Originally Posted by Highway55 View Post

      donhx - disagree. Mister Newmark does care about his list quite a bit. There have been several safeguards added over the last year that would support my statement. Nonetheless, you will have people slipping through the cracks. ...

      But as a whole - CL is a LOT cleaner than it used to be. And it's also a very effective way to advertise legitimate services. Yes, spamming will always be around... that's life.
      We're going to have to disagree about this. In my expereince, CL has become a very seedy neighborhood, in a steep decline for the last couple of years.

      Hopefully, if safeguards have been instituted they will kick in soon. Today I took a look at 3 cities in my area and the get-rich-quick spam out-numbered regular posts by 10 to 1.

      However, people ought to visit CL and decide for themselves. In my view its day is done.
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  • Profile picture of the author antzman1414
    Hey, if you are looking for quality forwarded phone numbers contact me on skype at anthony111414 for phone numbers 100% guaranteed to work with ANY phone verification system that accepts voice WITH INSTANT delivery! Free trial available to our exclusive user portal.
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  • Profile picture of the author oneano
    When posting to a local only site, you need to appear to be local.
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  • Profile picture of the author MarketMaster13
    I would recommend, use a proxy server or create some craigslist phone verified accounts with different ip addresses then you can stay away from craigslist redar.

    Keep in mind if you keep posting ad more then 2 times a day, you'll get ghosted
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