Some things will get your ad shot down in a hurry. Maybe not every time and maybe not if it gets posted at some odd time when few people are watching and maybe not if a whole lot of worse ads are right ahead of yours and catching all the heat. But often.
Some examples of stuff users flag, the long shots:
Your ad might not get flagged off over some single big no-no. It can be a number of smaller irritants catching people in different ways that earn you the honors. Death by paper cuts. These items are some of the less common or less likely things that could draw some flags to your ad. But some of them could draw enough to do you in. One clue is that your ad runs several days or more before falling. Consider carefully.
It's an animal ad! Problems with selling animals, breeding animals, rehoming animals, offering animal services and more: Go Here.
Being a Deceptive Slimeball. Huh? Certainly not you!. Well, what are people going to think if you put a price of $1 in the headline of your ad but there isn't a $1 item listed in the body? How about those lists of keywords for unrelated items or brands? Do people looking for those things want to see your ad? Think the white text or microtext games make you look reputable? How about those BS sunset pictures in the personals? Think people want to see the same sunset again and again when they are expecting to see a picture of you? How about those fake purses or other counterfeit goods. They are illegal, against the CL TOU a couple different ways and 100% slimeball. Pure flagbait. One fact of life on craigslist is everyone deals with a lot of flakes, one way or another. People get tired of it and ads that have something deceptive in them (being flaky right up front) are going to draw fire.
Too Commercial.. People get tired of commercial ads in areas of the site not intended for them. If you run little ads for your business in the For Sale categories (maybe a service or repair business, selling firewood or baled hay, etc,) people looking for good deals on something are not going to appreciate it. If people wanted to read commercial ads they would go to the yellow pages for the big guys or some "auction" site for the little guys ---or the Services section of craigslist. People want used stuff, cheap and flea market style. Even if your ad is not commercial but it looks commercial, like with tons of HTML. Bad news.
A whole bunch of ads can make you look like a business too. If readers start recognizing you as the guy with 20 ads up they are going to figure it is an under-the-table junk business. Could be a problem.
Renting something is not selling something. Renting things is a business activity. Hello?
Mary kay, Tupperware parties, etc are also business activities AND they are MLM (multi-level Marketing). MLM is banned in the TOU so you can't complain about getting flagged off---but you could try posting in the Services category anyway and see if it flies. You will be asking for trouble immediately anywhere else.
We don't know why the area intended for commercia posts is called "Services". it just is.
Non-paying job or internship of some kind in the Gigs section. A gig pays something..as in cash. The people reading the Gigs category are looking to make some money. People looking to make some ends meet aren't looking for Investment Opportunities, they don't need contacts or portfolios. They need cash. Now.
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If it doesn't pay money and you are a non-profit organization, think about posting in Volunteers.
Non paying internships often won't fly in Gigs or the regular job categories. And there are some serious legal issues. Read up on the law regarding non-paying internships.
You might believe that every model out there is dying to work all day for a couple pics for her portfolio. They don't see it that way. Really. Portfolio pictures need to be GOOD. You aren't good enough to make some money with your other work and hire a model. If you are a pro and they are a pro, then you pay for a model for pics for your portfolio and the models pay for pics for theirs. You could try a barter deal (for pictures/portfolio, experience, etc) in the Barter category. Often this will not work either--there can be problems offering your Service as a Barter.
Need crew, actors and actresses for your video or play? Hire some. They really aren't interested in working for free, they need to eat like anyone else. They might like to make some industry contacts but if you had any you would have backing for your production. You would be able to offer more than snacks and giggles. Even if you find someone, the moment they find a gig that will put some Hamburger Helper on the table, they're gone. Then what? Working your personal network (all the people you have worked for, free, on their productions) is a better strategy. People with an income looking to fill some spare time are not reading the Gigs section. You might get lucky but if you are reading this, you probably got flagged off. If you are in a union town, expect greater problems on this one---and planning on paying something near scale.
BUT posting non-paying Gigs is not prohibited by craigslist. Check out Jims post here. Still, if enough readers in your city don't like the deal they will flag it off.
Many people ask; why have the pay and no-pay options if no-pay gigs are so disliked? A little history:when many jobs categories went to pay status due to massive abuse the Gigs area was created to allow people with real gigs (need lawn mowed, need help moving, etc) to post without the regular fees for a Jobs ad. Soon there were many non-paying Gigs ads posted. There was great hue and cry in the Feed Back forum about his. People looking to make a little money really objected to wading through the non-paying ads. Craigslist responded by making the Pay/ No-Pay switches so people searching Gigs wouldn't have to see the non-paying opportunities. But remember, the whole thing was set up because so many people were unhappy with non-paying gigs. If you post one, it's an uphill battle.
"My legit ad was flagged by people that have nothing better to do!"
"Sick of STUPID PEOPLE!!!!"
"MALICIOUS FLAGGING is the only plausible explanation"
"These flaggers HAVE NO LIFE!"
"I know that someone is flagging me b/c they have nothing else to do."
"...flagged by a roving band of malcontents."
...and so on and so forth. People are flagging you because your ad annoys them. Being annoyed isn't fun. But hitting a flag button can make someone feel a little better. Everybody actually does have a life. When they flagged your ad they were enjoying their life cruising around craigslist looking for something. Your ad interfered with that. Do that to enough people and your ad isn't there anymore. So grow up, suck it up---and fix your ad. Thanks.
If you really, really believe your ad was one of the 2% craigslist says is wrongly flagged off, go here.
Lots of childrens'/baby clothing?. There can be a number of possible problems selling this stuff:
Clothing should be sanitized and it can wise to state in the ad how they have been sanitized.
Selling bundles of clothing in "lots" can be a problem. If someone just wants one or two items they are forced to buy it all, spend more and then get rid of what they don't want. But then again it doesn't make sense to run an ad just to make a $5 sale. One option is to price items individually but ask for a minimum sale. So: "$20 minimum sale please". This tells people to pick what they want but at least spend $20. Makes it worthwhile for you and helpful for the buyer.
Selling "new" items with tags has the usual problems. Why do people buy new things, never return or use them, and later sell them? People shopping for used clothing are being just as thrifty as you are by selling them. So they are going to wonder. Might leave the "new" part out and let the buyer discover it later. The clothing is still used, even if has never been worn---it cannot be returned to the store. So you really don't have a big selling point.
Be very careful with your prices. If you are not selling for LESS than the local thrift store, the ad may be seen as annoying. Even if you have fancy "designer" items, they have little resale value. It may be more worthwhile to donate the clothing to the local thrift store or charity. There are many people in need and you can go through a lot of hassle for very little money trying to sell it.
Seem like a trustworthy adult. If people are going to dress their children in clothing they got from you, they want to have confidence in you. They have confidence in retail stores and thrift outfits. Using 'phone texting speak' in an ad is unacceptable, you will look like an adolescent.
Too many items in one ad just makes a huge amount for anyone to sort through. Group similar items (by size, gender and age group) together if you have a large amount. Post several ads, each with a logical grouping, spaced at least a week apart, until you have covered the ground. Be very wary of looking like a "pro" seller or a little home business flipping clothing.
Read through the rest of this document for other things can could be bringing grief to your ad. Pay attention to the next item on posting to much or too often. Remember the category has a regular readership and they will be seeing your ad again and again.
Ads posted too many times or too often. Ya gotta remember, every ad category has a regular readership. Some of those people have their own ads up too. When they see some ad being "top posted" a couple of times a day or 5 copies of the same thing they get annoyed. They don't like seeing their ads getting pushed down the page by a selfish advertiser. Nobody likes seeing the same ad again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Posting too frequently (too many times per hour) can also get you blocked.
Flag Rant. If you mention flagging in your ad you will get flagged. Every time. Sometimes it is just juveniles flagging you because it obviously upsets you. Other times it can be people they think you don't get it and need to be taught a lesson. Whatever. Never mention flagging in an ad. (unless it is a Rants&Raves post that you know is going to get flagged off anyway, then have fun)
Asking To Buy or barter for Bad Things. It ya ain't supposed to sell it then you ain't supposed to ask to buy/barter it either. Look over the list of Prohibited items in the TOU. Don't ask to buy/barter things you aren't supposed to sell. The same principles apply as far as what tends to flagged and what doesn't. It's about what annoys people. As far as the TOU goes enforcement by flagging is selective. But you still don't want to be selected.
Scalping anything.. iPhones, TMX Elmo dolls. Playstation games you have on advance purchase, tickets of any kind, the latest hot photo lens, etc. Craigslist readers just get real tired of this stuff. Yeah, it seems like an easy way to make a buck, it's just capitalism, lots of people are doing it on eBay, blah, blah, blah. You are getting flagged off because people don't like being taken advantage of. A craigslist motto is "play nice with others". Scalping ain't playing nice. Take this garbage to eBay.
Anything about guns The TOU says that you are prohibited to post ads selling weapons or anything weapon related. It's mentioned a few other places as well. Craigslist staff has also mentioned they don't want people asking to buy (or barter) things that are prohibited to be sold. But neither staff requests or the TOU can push flag buttons. However readers who don't like this stuff sure can. If you are a gun owner you know all about the anti-gun crowd. Because you are listing a prohibited item you don't have a leg to stand on and if you got flagged off there is nothing you can do. Best to list on a firearms related site.
The same is true of air rifles, pellet guns and the like. Airsoft and paint ball is permitted but if your local readers don't like it, the ad just won't stay. Move to Nevada?
There are many other venues for selling weapons, big scary knives, etc. Consider Armslist.com (free), Auctionarms.com (free to list), gunbroker.com (lotta dealers), airguns.net (air gun anything), www.gatewaytoairguns.org (more airgun anything), etc.
Problems in Free You wouldn't think that giving something away for free would be such a big deal. But the free category has a very loyal, intense and competitive readership. More than a few people use the Free category to acquire items they can sell for a little money. If you need to get rid of something quickly it can be a win-win. But you can hit some problems.
If you post something for free in the Free section it needs to be really free, as in no strings attached free, to anybody that wants it. If there are any conditions attached (other then recipient must pick up and haul off) it will cause you problems. People are following the Free category looking to score something they can turn around on eBay or CL for some cash.. They don't like it if you say "Free to needy only" or something like that. Everyone's needy; people don't want your judgement on what is 'needy enough'..
You can also have some problems in the Free category if you are offering something totally worthless or that is a huge effort to haul off. Offering "Free Antique Fencing, you pull the posts and roll up the wire" may not go over too well. It just looks like you are trying to sucker someone into hauling off your garbage at no cost to you (including the dump fees to get rid of it). If it isn't something that could be sold (if you wanted to go to the trouble) don't post it in Free...or post anyway and don't sweat it if the ad gets flagged off.
A curb call ad is where you post that something is sitting out on the curb and for anybody that wants it to come and get it. Unfortunately, unless someone responding is right on top of the location there is no way to tell if someone else has already gotten it. Even if the post says "deleted when gone" there will still be a race to get there first. VERY annoying waste of time. People consider these "crap ads" and flag them. A similar situation happens if you post first come, first serve and then actually tell people responding ; " whoever gets there first...." Very bad idea. The polite way to handle things is to make appointments with people for them to show up at a set time (usually within a few hours). If they can't make that time scheme move to the next person. If someone agrees to a time and then flakes out, move to the next person. This way anybody responding can be confident the item will be there when they show up as long as they show when they say they will.
On some sites the free section is completely infested with curb calls. people play monkey-see-monkey-do and just figure that is how it's done---never thinking about how rude it is. if this is the situation on your site and your curb call ad got flagged off, you should consider factors other than the curb call to be more important.
Intangible items are VERY iffy in the Free section. If you can't take it home in the trunk... ("Look honey, I got it free off craigslist...!") Promotions are also a bad idea in the Free section. See Jim's posts here and here.
Posting a Wanted ad in Free is a Kiss o' Death. Post it in Wanted, o.k.? But you can have problems asking for a free item in Wanted anyway. See the next item.
Problems in Wanted.. You wouldn't think that asking for something would be such a big deal. But the Wanted category has a regular readership of people looking for an opportunity to sell something. Maybe it is something that they have an ad up on, maybe not. Many people use the Wanted category to make a little money. If you need to get some odd item it can really work. But you can hit some problems.
Cyber-begging. Lemme guess, your ad in Wanted wanting money for the rent, your sick cat, your broken car, etc. etc. didn't last too long. Simple fact is people are tired of these. No matter how pitiful the backstory (do you know just how many single mothers there are out there? Poor ones?) these types of ads annoy readers. They get hit up constantly from everyone; the spare changers on the street, the guy at the door of the supermarket (always the out door, get 'em while they're guilty), the teenagers wanting a quarter...it's non-stop. On top of this the people reading the wanted section are looking to sell something. Your appeal for free money are not what they want to see. They want ads by people looking to buy something. A lot of times ads begging for money are just seen as scams. There is nothing in the craigslist terms of use that says you can't beg. But do you want to keep your ad up?
Don't want to pay. Hey, everybody wants a free computer, a free wheelbarrow, some free car parts, and on and on. Reading an endless list of people wanting free this and free that gets really old. People that want to get rid of stuff for free post in Free. If you want something AND want your ad to stand a better chance of lasting, offer to pay for it, and say how much. But see the next item.
Lowballing. Everybody wants a cheap mower, some cheap tools, some cheap tickets, etc. A lot of times these very items are advertised in other For Sale categories for very reasonable used prices. But you want it still cheaper! You just come across as someone who already lowballed the other advertisers, got nowhere and now you're running your own ad looking to lowball whoever you can find. People take these ads as someone looking for cheap stuff they can flip for a profit. Throw in a pitiful backstory and it will just be seen as a scam. If you want some oddball broken item worth $5 for some art project, then offer $5. If the cheapest working mowers are going for $50, then offer that and maybe say you need one close to you or some other special requirement. Always be reasonable. Good deals will come your way. Imagine somebody who just got a new mower, wants to ditch the old one; they read through the ads and figure it's worth $50. Then they spot your ad and realizes they can sell without the hassle of posting----THAT is who you want. You got the jump on everybody else looking for a cheap mower and it was offering a reasonable price that did it. If you don't mention a price you are offering in your Wanted post people will assume the worst.
The collector. Running ads for things for your collection; baseball cards, old musical instruments, HP calculators, etc. Often these don't fly for long. People figure you are just going to flip the stuff for a profit elsewhere. They see you as someone looking for people to exploit for your own gain. In short, they see through you.
Too commercial/ overposted. Yup, the endless back yard businesses wanting scrap metal, offering to buy gold, looking for old appliances---even the people looking for old motorcycles to fix 'n' flip. The Wanted category is drowning in them. They are miscategorized as commercial posts (Post in Services) and they are just irritating and in the way. Watch for all the people complaining about these in the Feed Back forum. When readers get sick enough of it, and they do, they get aggressive about flagging. You don't need a business license to be a business, you just need to do the same thing on a regular basis. Your ad every single day (or worse), WILL sink you.
Charities. Maybe it's the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Veterans anything---the readers are not going to see your do-good cause as entitled to anything special. Offer to pay something for what you want and keep it reasonable. A lot of times people will give you stuff for free anyway. If it looks like you are teaching kids to beg (like Scouts) you may draw quite a few frowns. Kids can do some chores to make cash or barter for toys they want.
Want this, will trade that. It's a barter ad, post in Barter.
Want money for some item. If you post something like, "want some cash for my skateboard" it's total bullshit and you know it. In a wanted ad you give the money to the person with the thing you want, not the other way around. Do we really need to explain this one? You might think you are pretty cute; The readers have seen it again and again and want you to grow up already.
Price Too High . Some of the self styled experts that regularly haunt various categories can decide your price is out of line (perhaps above retail for a used item). Maybe not out and out scalping of some hot item, but more than they think it's worth. They can take it as a personal affront and feel bound to straiten you out. The heart of the thing is they are worried you are going to get away with something---selling your item for more than they think it is worth. So they flag the ad. They may also send some email commenting on your price. Watch for these---and see this item.
No Price. If you want to seem greedy (and get an ad flagged) leave off the price. Saying things like "make me an offer" or "taking the best offer" without listing a reasonable price is an invitation to trouble. Leave that crap for the auction sites. Listing a price and saying "obo" or "or best offer" seems to be extremely common (search your site for "obo", without the quotes). Extensive reviews of net acronym sites reveals that, as expected, it is universally understood to mean "will sell at stated price or best offer less than that". So long as the price you set is reasonable, it's good. If you set an artificially high price though you will be seen as simply soliciting bids (very bad). You can leave off "obo" in most cases. People are going to make offers anyway.
Keywords. craigslist asks you not to use keywords. You read and agreed to that when you posted. So cool it already. OK, you figure it's sophisticated to put lots of keywords in your ad so anybody searching for something else will see your ad. But..uh...right after they see it they are going to be pissed off because you screwed up their search. They are going to think "gee, what an asshole". Hittin' the [ Prohibited] button makes 'em feel better. If you think the WhiteText games will work think about getting blocked. That stuff really pisses people off and they'll mail it to Abuse@craigslist.org.
Keywords just don't make sense. Do you think for someone looking for a Honda part in Auto Parts is going to be interested in your ad for a Buick part? No. The search function on CL searches the entire headline and body. If you have the words to describe what you got then your ad will show up in the right searches. This is what you want, getting your ad in front of people looking for what you have. Those are the people that will buy your stuff, not people looking for other things.
Ad in the wrong place. Different categories in different cities have regular readerships that are...umm...sensitive about certain things. Put a wanted ad in the Bay Area Free category and it will be flagged off within 145 sec. of hitting the site (I checked ).A lot of times putting a Wanted ad ANYWHERE but in the wanted category will bring your ad to grief. It doesn't matter how much sense it makes to put your motorcycle parts Wanted ad in motorcycles where all the bikers are. The other people posting want to sell stuff and you are getting in the way. for a lot of items you might run a search of all of For Sale and see where other people are posting similar items. Try going with the flow.
In SFO, roommate type ads in the apartments for rent draw a lot of fire.
Ad in the really wrong place. Like the wrong city. NYC apartment hunters get irritated about having to skip over a zillion ads for vacation condos at the south pole. Folks looking for a house in San Francisco don't want to wade through the Generous Offerings of the Reno Real Estate people. Tends to draw [Spam] flags.note
Shipping and PayPal Craigslist is for local transactions. A LOT of people like it that way. Shipping and especially PayPal (an eBay company) make it look like you are running some sort of web biz. Leave it out. If people want something shipped or to pay with PayPal trust them to ask.
'Tude. If you're going to run an attitude in your ad you better be pretty funny. Ha Ha kind of funny. Yeah, we all know the flakes are thicker than dandruff on a snowman but if you go ranting about it in your ad you're going to annoy readers. Some of them (guess which ones?) are likely to flag the ad. Same goes for bigotry, male chauvinist pigotry, Homophobia and the like. How many women do you need to irritate with your charm before your ad gets flagged off? Sure, there is nothing in the TOU that specifically prohibits you from being an adolescent jerk. Do you want your ad to stay up or not?
If you come across as an asshole you are going to have problems (think?). Being too negative, hostile, demanding, threatening, etc.has been the downfall of many ads. People get this a lot in their day to day lives---on craigslist they have a button to push to get back at you. Be nice, even goodie-three-shoes, and even if it doesn't come naturally.
eBay Anything Craigslisters hate eBay. Even those that don't keep their mouths shut. It's part of the craigslist culture (never mind how richly eBay earns it). If you mention in your ad that you have the item on eBay...well...maybe just delete the ad yourself to keep it from suffering. If you talk about how your price compares to eBay prices you are asking for problems. eBay is a bigger market with more buyer competition driving up prices. eBay sellers have to cover eBay fees, PayPal fees, shipping, inflated "handling" charges and all the rest. If people wanted to pay eBay prices, play the eBay game and get screwed the eBay way, they'd go to eBay. 'round craigslist there aren't ratings, there are flags. Mentioning Shipping and PayPal can be very unwise. Leave it out of your ad and trust people to ask if they want these things.
Discussions. Discussions are ads that complain about or
comment on another ad. This includes your considerate warning about the latest scammer (we already read the millionteen warnings on the ad pages and that one in the posting email). Everybody knows already (except you). If you would like congratulations for your astuteness in spotting some scammer then here: "Congratulations!". There, now you don't need to put up that discussion ad. How about those back and forth posts debating somebody's price on a car or the endless begging for people to get it together and post all the right dimensions in their ads in Bicycles? This stuff gets real old and people rightfully flag it. The advertising categories are being read by people looking for good deals on stuff they can turn around for a profit on eBay. Or maybe just for some cheap tires. Or they want to get rid of a mattress. Or something. If they wanted to read discussions they would go to the forums. If you have a beef with somebody's ad, send 'em an email...don't inflict it on everybody.
If you had a bad experience with someone selling something or providing a service, DON'T post about it anywhere on craigslist. There is just no place for this stuff. Contact the BBB or local law enforcement if needed. Remember, on anything you buy the rule is: deal in person and make sure you are satisfied with the item before paying for it. Refunds and exchanges are for retail stores, not for private party used sales.
If a discussion post has some ones personal identifying information in it, consider this.
Spamola. Yes, this one is for you Web master Jr. When you link to your web site in your ad people tend to reach for that spam/overpost button. craigslist is a local trip, your web site isn't.
Ranting and Raving in Rants&Raves. Yes, you got flagged because you posted there. R&R is the open sewer of craigslist. It exists to draw all the garbage posts away from other categories. It's the place to say all those horrible (you hope) things that would irreparably alienate anybody you might tell them to in person. It is a place for cathartic expression of the worst you can dream up. And things get flagged out of there for equally savory reasons. If your post stays up 15 minutes then that's your share of fame. Now shut off the computer and go outside and play.
Posting forms. Things like Postlets, VFlyer, (and worse). These things make an awful, slow loading HTML drenched ad. The ads look Too Commercial which will draw flags in the non-commercial areas. Most of them are hard to read and some contain forbidden tracking images. Simple plain text mom 'n' pop ads work best. Have all the needed info, a decent picture of the actual item that isn't too big, a good price and a complete lack of hype and BS and you will sell your item, rent your property, etc.
Computer Services and Fixit Guys.. There seem to ba a lot of people offering Computer Services and having problems with getting flagged. Some pointers:
Make sure you post in the correct category. If you repair computers as a business orhobby post in Services/Computer.
The Computer Services category has a history of very aggressive posting (and testosterone in general, see any women posting?). People top post constantly to keep their ad "on top". Or they post again and again every day, and don't even bother to delete the old ads. (Both are major dead moves) Many complain of their competitors flagging them---and we wonder where they got that idea? Maybe they have been flagging their competitors themselves? Nobody is 'fessin' up of course. All in all, this stuff tends to really reduce the flag thresholds in a category. It takes less flags for anybody to be removed. It's the fault of all the people posting---ya'll pissed in the soup. Nothing to be done but play it cool until matters improve. If a whole lot of ads seem to be falling, this is an indicator that the category is fragile. Read This Tip
Ads that are just one big picture with no text look like major spam to the automatic systems. They watch for the ratio of images to text and the unsearchable all pic ad is a classic spammer move. This will make your ad more fragile (flaggable)
When you offer "free house calls" you are asking people to trust you enough to invite you into their homes. Are you for real or maybe just casing the place for a future burglary? (Hmmm...nice computer, nice stereo, no dog, might need a helper for the big screen...). Yet many of the Computer services ads are "blind". No company name, often no name of the person doing the work, lots of hype about how wunnerful you are, but no offer of references. No bond, no home address if someone has a problem, etc. If people go to Joes Computer Shoppe on Main street they know with whom they are dealing--and that Joe can be checked out with the BBB and has a city business license and an address if legal action is needed, etc.
When you deal with peoples computers you are dealing with their private data. Another trust issue. You might say "no fix, no pay", but what if you brick their hard drive trying? What if you plant bugs or malware while you're there? What if you help your self to some juicy tidbits of info off their hard drives to do who-knows-what with later? Again, if your ad contains no indication of accountability, it can be scary.
Many people begin an ad with a mini resume detailing how experienced and incredible they are. A lot of these descriptions are completely over the top---and none of it can be verified. It's kind of obvious that anyone with that sort of experience could write their own ticket anywhere---they would NOT be posting on craigslist hollering about how they are the cheapest around. Plenty of kids who replaced a power supply once or put in a sound card pass themselves off as amazing IT gurus. You could be anybody, including the local con artist. So you need to do something real to demonstrate credibility.
It can help to list something about your rates and how they are structured. Fixed rates for particular jobs? Hourly? How much exactly?. Sure, you don't want the competition undercutting you---but any shop will give out their rates. They are competing with experience and the confidence they can inspire that they can be trusted and can get the job done. People get annoyed if they have to play cat and mouse to find out what the job might cost. People may not be able to explain enough for you to get a feeling for the problem ("I dunno, it doesn't turn on"). It is up to you to get enough info on the phone for at least a preliminary diagnosis. ("Did you drop it? Get it wet?" Etc.) Offering free phone diagnosis (and maybe some tutoring) can build your reputation and those ever critical word of mouth referrals.
Looking Like A Scam . Yes, image really is everything. There are a lot of scams on craigslist and if your ad looks like one some of the jumpier scam-spotters are going to flag it. If the price is too low for something pretty nice looking (especially a car or motorcycle) it can look like a scam. Stock pictures taken off the web instead of an actual picture of the item adds a scammy flavor. How about a pic of the one you are selling? Does it exist? See how that works? If your ad is just one big image with little or no text your chances can be poor. This is a time honored spammer/scammer move to beat the filters. If you act like them you will get clobbered like them. Too Good To Be True can really hurt, from a too low price in For Sale to a Too Attractive picture in the personals. Your ad needs to be believable. That means enough description for people to know what it is and to be confident that it is "real".
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HUGE pics. O.K. so you hosted your pics on some pic host. No problem, lots of people do. But those 1268 x 742 shots of your collectors baseball card (3 megs each) are pretty annoying---even on a fast connection (and many people are NOT on fast connections). Pictures sized so they look like the other pics (hosted by craigslist) work best. Good, well cropped pictures (make the good stuff go right to the edge of the frame) get the job done. Pic editing software is free all over the web. Try Irfanview.
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Barter for Services. The barter category is for bartering things for things or things for services. If you are the one posting you need to have the goods. You can ask for other goods or you can ask for services. If you are the person posting and you want to offer your services you will have problems. We know that everybody wants a massage or some photography done, but when you offer to barter services like these for anything (goods OR other services) you are effectively advertising your services. Service posts go in Services (a commercial category). In your services ad (in Services) you might mention you take barter in payment. If this wasn't totally confusing we can keep trying. Just don't post in Barter offering your services for anything.
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Evil Answers . Note the sorts of replies you get to your ad. If you are getting hostile replies you can bet your ad is at least annoying the jerks out there. Perhaps you are getting a lot of lowballers. In any case, never reply to these in any way. Also watch for replies simply commenting on your ad. Sometimes they can be from helpful people pointing out an error (a price above retail) or suggesting a better category. An appropriate reply is: "Thanks!"
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Dangerous Goods . If you post something that has been recalled you may get flagged by people that know it is something hazardous. This can be a big deal in the Baby&Kids category. But people get into a protective trip all over craigslist. If they think you are selling something that can hurt the unwary they may flag your ad. It's kind of an ego trip for them but whatever. Be sure whatever you are selling is safe for use as intended and if there is anything iffy, declare it. Keep an eye out for a possible recall of your item. Helpful links for this are on the craigslist ad pages at the top. This is just good ethics.
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New in the Box . If you say New In Box!!! you might think it's a big selling point but readers wonder; why you don't you just return it? Did you buy it with a hot credit card and are now trying to convert to cash. Is it stolen? Are you some wretched dealer in their beloved category? Why do people sell brand new things? You might need to explain a bit---and make it good. If you have a new in box item that you have had, new in the box, for years, just say that. If you have had it too long to return it, say that. Everybody hates a lame backstory. See the next item.
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Lame Backstory. O.K., so your gerbil got into some rat poison and died a horrible death but before you could bury him the cat found him and now the cat isn't looking too good so you need to sell your grandmas antique dresser to pay for the vet bills and you really hope the cat doesn't die so please buy the dresser. Get the idea? Just describe the dresser, post some excellent pics, set a reasonable price, make sure you have contact info--- and leave your pet woes for your blog. Long descriptions of why you are selling something, how much you paid, "my loss your gain", etc. interest no one. A story is a story but Latinum is for keeps.
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The HypeMaster
!!!!!!IT'S INCREDIBLE!!!!! it truly is a fantastic car.----If it was so great you wouldn't be selling it.
!!!! UNBELIEVABLE CONDITION!!!!---Fair enough, I don't believe
!!!LIKE NEW REALLY!!!----except it isn't, really!!!
Well worth the drive.---To you, if I buy it.
A very affordable price.---good prices speak for themselves.
Pictures don't do justice!---so take some that do?
Come look and you wont leave without it!----is that a threat?
THIS BIKE RIPS!!----and you've been ripping it and now I get the worn out POS?
Don't let the age fool you----I won't, it's shot
This car has been my love for the last two years and has given me nothing but smiles.-----Greeeeeat, sloppy seconds.
This car is truly an amazing shape and I promise you is not like any other----amazing what an engine fire can do.
Great car especially with summer right around the corner!----no heater.
MY LOSS, YOUR GAIN!!---Regular Mother Teresa---you and a million other people using that lame cliche.
Get the idea? People want to make their own call on how something is. The more you hype it the more it looks like you have something to hide. Good stuff speaks for itself, crap needs hype. Annoying people with this garbage may draw some flags of disapproval.
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It Really Is The Competition! Or maybe you have a bunch of enemies? This is unusual but it does happen. The thing is you have to understand your own responsibility and the overall logic. You will never be innocent. Some possible examples:
Perhaps you are the new musician in town so you post in Services looking for gigs and you talk some trash about all the existing bands in the area. Whaddya think is gonna happen?
If you are an unlicensed contractor posting in an area where everyone else is licensed how do you figure the others are going to take it? Do they want a competitor that is possibly willing to work illegally and undercut them?
Perhaps you are starting a new day care and you don't have licenses or certifications, but all the other posters do. Are they likely to tolerate you?
If you can piss off a group of 30 people you can generally arrange your ads demise. Might be more, might be less but 30 can be a good working number.
Your real competition is every other person posting. Everyone shares the list. If you are being a piglet and hogging the list, those other posters are going to get tired of it and flag you. Only post one ad for an item or service at a time, delete the old ad before reposting, don't repost more than once every 48 hours---or more. Being on top of the list is not what matters, having a really good ad is what gets the job done.
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Making Enemies. Maybe you are an employer with a very high turnover. Those disgruntled ex-employees are reading the job ads you posted to find their replacements---and they have your gentle management style fresh in mind. Or maybe you are doing a lot of interviewing and turning a lot of people away---none too tactfully. It is possible to make enough enemies that will see your ad (post interview) to get it flagged off. The Personal ad poster that sends not-too-nice replies to suitors (or maybe no replies) can also build up a personal non-fan club. It will take quite a few. See above.
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Double dealing If a number of people contact you about your ad and you tell them that everybody should meet at your storage unit (or someplace) at such and such a time---you will have problems. It's pretty obvious you intend to run a little auction. This creates a number of motivations for the people involved to flag your ad, not the least being that auctions are seen as greedy. If you are a 'regular' seller and you develop a reputation for this sort of thing you will be noticed, remembered and flagged on sight. Same goes for deceptive ads. Everybody that comes to look at an item and finds out you are trying to rook 'em is going to go home and look up your ad....
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Silence is Golden except when it is in your inbox. You should get some reply to your ad sometime, even if it is from some Nigerian scam outfit. A long stretch of silence and then flagged off could mean people have been trying to contact you but you never answer. Pretty annoying especially when you answer an ad a couple of times, never hear back from the poster, and then they repost the thing. Check your spam folders, maybe people are trying to give you a heads up.
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No Contact Info If you have no way to contact you in an ad you have a problem. Readers have a heads-up-o-gram button they can push to send you a message. But some people miss that and just flag you for a heads up.
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Frustrating the Reader If you leave critical info out of an ad readers get frustrated. Don't make them play email tag to get the basics. If your ad has lots of Lame Backstory and little real meat---who needs it? Cars: make, model, year, status of emissions, title and registration, known mechanical issues, maybe the VIN....like that. Bicycles need quite a bit of sizing info as well. As a rule, give enough info for someone to research the item (for themselves!!) pretty thoroughly on the web. Anything that has to fit somehow (clothing, bicycles, intimate relationship, etc.) should have enough info in the ad for a reader to check the fit.
Do not say "pics coming soon". Wait to post until you have the pics to go with the ad---or say nothing. People will ask via email and you can tell them he pics will be ready later---but that is still frustrating---and not the way to make a sale.
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The Ad That Wouldn't Die If you have run an ad a few times, may be changed the category once or twice if you can, and the job isn't done, give it a rest. An ad seen too often, even if you let it expire every run, can wear out its welcome. This can be a high likelihood item too, as mentioned above, or just something that creeps up over a year.
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Nobody Home If you post a personal ad and people answer but you never write back to them then they may get annoyed. Especially guys. A simple and polite "thanks for replying and best of luck" is always appropriate---and keeps from making enemies (who have flag buttons).
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It ain't Tic Tac Toe Three ads in a row isn't good. It makes it look like you are hogging the list. 6 or 10 ads in a row WILL do you in. Ads need to be spread out if you have several in one category. The slower moving the category is, the longer you have to wait between postings to get them spread out. You never want to look like you are being greedy or taking up too much space. Combine items in ads where you can. ALWAYS delete an old ad when reposting it. Remember, even if the ad is old it will show up in a search with your new ad---maybe right below your new one---and you look like a board hog again.
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Evil Twins It could be that you aren't doing anything bad at all. But somebody else is. And they look like you. If you are selling a common item (many others for sale in the category) people might think you are another seller that is overposting or that several sellers are the same person and REALLY overposting. And everybody gets some flags. If you sell a high abuse potential item, like software, you might be confused with someone else selling stolen software that just got flagged off---people think you are them doing a repost. Rare but not unheard of.
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Evil Flagging Scripts It has happened but it is incredibly rare. Craigslist has some good protections in place against script flagging. But still, you can't rule it out completely---just rule out EVERYTHING else first. Then go looking for all the other people in the same situation. There will be a lot of them all at once. It is pretty easy to detect this when it happens and it tends to get reported to abuse@craigslist.org quickly. They shut the game down just as quickly.
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Night of The Living Dead. If you sell your item you want to delete the ad. Ads that linger on forever after an item is sold are a waste of space and every bodies time. Posting "SOLD!" next to the headline is pretty annoying. You wanna prize or something? Just delete the ad. If you have multiple things in the ad and sell one, edit the ad and remove any reference to the sold item. If you edit the ad and say "Sold" next to the sold item you are leaving the item in the ad where it will turn up in searches---but be unavailable. Annoying. If it isn't available anymore, remove all reference.
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Still, if enough readers in your city don't like the deal they will flag it off.
