Craigslist Flagging

[CC-Hunter]

For a number of months now I have posted a Craigslist ad offering to buy coins. For folks who don't know much about coins, I offer to tell them what they have and give them my view on value (free of charge). I also offer fair prices if I am interested in any coins. I get one or two responses a week on average. Some responders are flakes, but others are genuine. Everyone I have met with has been happy, whether I bought their coins or not.

Anyway, today my ad was flagged and removed without warning. Has this happened to anyone on here? There is no warning or explanation, just a message that your ad has been removed. I guess I just post another ad and move on?

 

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[Diggin-N-Dumps]

it sounds like some A-hole thinks you are competiton....I had a guy do that to me a couple years ago I guess i had it coming...he was offering to pay 1 dollar per dime...etc.....so i made a post offering 1.25 each dime...next thing i know..anytime i made a post, it was flagged, then he sent me an emailing telling me i was a prick and all that...Hell, i was serioulsy ready to pay that!...it was when silver was in the high 30s

 

[huntsman53]

I have had this happen a few times! Twice when I posted an Ad that was Flagged, I found that another person had posted a similar Ad not long after or very close to the same time that my' Ad was Flagged. I sent these Ad Posters a little message that I was almost sure that they were the one's responsible and if my' Ads were Flagged in the future, then their Ads would suffer the same fate. I guess that I was right because my' Ads have been left alone since I sent the messages!


Frank

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Another thing it could be....are you posting on multiple cities? That's a Craigslist no-no, and there are "joe duties" out there that make it their job to flag rulebreakers. Absolutely no offense intended. Just a thought.
Jim

 

[CC-Hunter]

Thanks for the feedback.

I only post in my home city, but I went to a CL forum and got some feedback on my ad. The gist of the feedback is that I should post as a "dealer" since I am not posting a one-off ad looking for one specific type type of coin. I do re-sell some of the coins I buy off CL, but only if they do not fill a hole in my collection or upgrade a coin in my collection.

All that said, there has been an explosion of CL ads by people looking to buy coins, so it could be a "competitor". I have almost given up on CL since my ad is now drowned out by similar ads. Previously it was a fairly unique ad in my city.

 

[NHBandit]

craigslist is not policed by employees of craigslist to any extent. It's mostly run automatically by computer programs. If an ad gets flagged more than 1 or 2 times it is automatically deleted. Nobody looks at it to see if it's violating any rules and you have no recourse other than to renew the ad. Sorry but that's just how it is.

 

[jerseyben]

Craigslist has become borderline "un-usable" for the past 3-4 years. I make it a point to flag posts whenever I browse the ads.

 

[Diggin-N-Dumps]

Craigslist has become borderline "un-usable" for the past 3-4 years. I make it a point to flag posts whenever I browse the ads.

Yea....we have a running joke at my work...its funny to go to teh "Wanted" sections....and type in "Single Mom".....there are TONS of So called Single moms begging for handouts.....ive seen some asking for not only cars..but washer , Dryers, beds for thier kids...clothes ..tvs....all in ONE Post

Craiglist is pretty much just comedy for me anymore....I do come accross a few goodies here and there.....But I just love seeing people asking for Inspection Stickers...UH..Im pretty sure THATS NOT LEGAL

 

[jerseyben]

Yea....we have a running joke at my work...its funny to go to teh "Wanted" sections....and type in "Single Mom".....there are TONS of So called Single moms begging for handouts.....ive seen some asking for not only cars..but washer , Dryers, beds for thier kids...clothes ..tvs....all in ONE Post

Craiglist is pretty much just comedy for me anymore....I do come accross a few goodies here and there.....But I just love seeing people asking for Inspection Stickers...UH..Im pretty sure THATS NOT LEGAL

I have seen people asking for drugs.

I have seen the same ad posted almost daily for an entire year. The ad never chnages. Not the price, not the description. Nothing. Now you tell me you wouldnt flag that ad?

I also love when people post the following in the ITEMS WANTED section: "Wanted: Someone to buy my car". FLAGGED!

 

[niceunrealistic]

try to place here
Antiques and Collectibles for Sale - Claz.org
it is unlikely you will get an explanation from the CL why they did it.

 

[inspectorgadget]

I did the same thing with late 70's & early 80's BMX bikes a few years ago. Offering to pay them a fair price for this stuff & not only are the ads constantly flagged but I get nasty emails from people calling me a scum bag rip off scam artist & so on. Just ridiculous because in reality these are the people who are the ones ripping people off by scanning CL every moment their awake just waiting on that ad to pop up from someone who is clueless offering a bike worth $500-$1000 for $50 or $100.

Cut into other peoples potential business & they can get vicious! Even with the ads getting flagged I still got calls about selling a bike to me tho I just stopped because the trouble of other idiots flagging me & posting ads that say "don't sell your bike to the guy in the ad below he just want's to rip you off, old bikes are worth a whole lot of money". Either this guy got ripped off by someone or else he wanted the deals. I was offering to pay more than others were willing to pay too & that is a problem of its own with ads like that.

 

[jerseyben]

In my experience of using CL since 2004, there are 1-2 good deals to be had via CL per year. EVERYTHING else is just BS and a huge waste of time.

 

[inspectorgadget]

In my experience of using CL since 2004, there are 1-2 good deals to be had via CL per year. EVERYTHING else is just BS and a huge waste of time.

If you know what things to watch for on CL in your particular area I can't see how you could find that few deals. I can still scan the "good" sections of CL & make 2-3 killer buys per week on average. Sometimes 4-5 great buys per week. I'm not at all a CL hound anymore tho so I miss a lot of the best deals. I just look at CL when I have some time to kill & always find things. If I scanned it more often I would find more deals. The best of the good deals only last 15-30 minutes on CL here in my town so if you're not constantly on top of it you miss most of these things! I find $500+ valued (meaning what it could be sold for) old BMX bikes listed for $100 all the time & they sell very very very fast!

I have made money flipping several MacBook Pros where someone has it listed on CL for $300-$400 under what it should be. I go pay $600 for a machine I can turn around & eBay it & get between $900-$1000 out of it.

My buying gold & silver ads actually went way better then the buying old BMX bikes ads went. I actually made several silver buys at good deals for both the seller & myself. Never was flagged for these ads. Had several people trying to pass off fake stuff (especially gold coins). But I would tell them nicely "your coin isn't real". I told em the weight doesn't lie! Never had to go pass weighing them cause again they never even weighed correctly.

Car parts also do very well on CL here, any aftermarket or OEM parts to cars that the 18-25 year old's in your area love to fix up & drive are parts that will sell easy on CL. Rims, tires, headlights, tail lights, seats, door panels, whole interiors (especially if it's black leather). Engine performance parts, exhaust systems & so on.

I've made money flipping several Ninja 250 motorcycles. Buy them on CL in mid to late winter for $1K (sometimes even slightly less). Hold on to them till spring time (2 months) & then put em back on CL & get $2500-$2800 out of them! 2 years ago I had less than $3K in 3 of these bikes & I got my $3K back out of just 1 of them come spring & sold the other 2 as a pair to a couple for $5K. CL is about finding a few good niches for your area & timing is everything with CL.

 

[50cent]

craigslist is crap.

 

[inspectorgadget]

craigslist is crap.

Depends on where your at... I bet in the bigger cities it could very well suck! In smaller cities it isn't so bad.. I love dealing in cash & CL + some garage sale sites on FB are about the only way to make larger local transactions & in cash money at that + without loosing a single % too. I deal with just as many idiots on eBay as I do on CL!

But I'll tell ya what I really really HATE... PayPal! Anyway I can keep PayPal from taking some of my $ I'm all for it! I could rant about stupid PayPal for the rest of my life! They are the crookedest company allowed to somehow operate legally in the whole USA EVER!!

They operate in California but are based out of Delaware for the sole reason of Delawares messed up cooperate laws that favor the cooperation's not the consumers! Same exact reason FB filed in Delaware! When a cooperation like this is in whatever state yet files as a corporation in Delaware then red flags should immediately go up about that business! It's no fluke so many companies file in Delaware yet are actually no where near Delaware!

PayPal on more than 1 occasion has froze my account with well over $3K in it each time they did it (can't just a coincidence?), & I was unable to take payments or get my money out for 6mo's until they figured out what ever problem they claimed to have had & then I got my money & was able to sell again with nothing I could do about them stealing & using my money for 6 months each time! Plus I lost a whole year in selling time over the past 10 years on top of them stealing & using $6000 of my dollars for whatever during that time! If that's not crooked as all hell I dunno what is!

 

[Tejaas]

I had always heard great things about Craigslist, so I finally decided to give it a try as a buyer.

I wanted to find a secondhand 6/8/10 foot stretch of nice, simple and sturdy kitchen cabinetry (no sink cutouts) to use in one of my shops... I was told that they are a common posting in the "free" or "materials" sections of Craigslist.

That was two years ago! Still no luck!

A lot of the asking prices seemed to show i'd be better off buying it brand new during a sale at Lowes, Home Depot, etc!

 

[crhstreetwalker]

I've been doing this for the past year and a half with coins, jewelry, precious metals, and any kind of collection items. This exact same thing has been happening to me too here in California for the past month, I used to have VERY catchy ads with very well put together photoshopped pictures, and now they just get flagged. I can only post a few words in my ads now if I want them to stay live. I've tried multiple IPs/accounts/etc. I'm not sure what to do either.

 

[gunsil]

I have gotten a couple of great deals on detectors on CL. I use a site called "Ad huntr" which allows you to search all of CL in the country for specific items, a great tool if you're looking to buy something.

 

[CC-Hunter]

I have gotten a couple of great deals on detectors on CL. I use a site called "Ad huntr" which allows you to search all of CL in the country for specific items, a great tool if you're looking to buy something.

Thanks for the tip, although I am not sure I would do a long distance deal with someone on CL. Much less likely for an ebay seller to take your money and run, but there's really nothing stopping any anonymous seller on CL from doing that.

BTW, I've reposted my same ad on CL a couple times since being flagged and have not had any more trouble. Keeping my fingers crossed. Today I got a "real" response from someone who wants me to look at their coin collection.

 

[bofusmosby]

CL is like any other place, you have to know what you are looking at. I see an average of 1-2 great deals a year, and a handful of decent deals yearly as well. One thing I have learned though, is that if you see that "great deal", you have to be agressive and jump on it quick, meaning that if you really are unsure about the item, you stand a chance of taking a loss. We've all heard the story about "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is", or "this must be a scam". Here's a true story with me about a year and a half ago.

I was checking out CL, and I saw a listing of an old Grandfather Clock for sale for $350. The photo appeared to be of an early clock, but it just looked too good to be true. So, I called the number, and found that the poster works with running estate sales, and will usually post the higher priced/quality items on CL to get more interest(It was legit). I got off the phone with the woman, gave it a minutes thought, then called her back. I told her that I wanted the clock sight-unseen, and just wanted to know where to meet her to pay her. She informed me that the estate sale started on Friday morning (this was Monday I when I was speaking to her), and that she could not accept my money, because she said "once I take your money, I can't refund it if I wasn't happy". Then she proceeded to tell me that she had an appointment in that general area Thurday evening, and if I wanted to meet her at the house where the sale would be, then I could look at the clock, and then pay her. I would then have until Saturday afternoon to pick it up.I went to the house that Thursday night, and couldn't believe it! I whipped out that $350 so quick, it would have made your head spin!

I picked up the clock the following day, took it home, and it keeps near perfect time, and has been running ever since! I did my research, and found it to be a Period one Grandfather Clock, dated about 1790, English made, and with a value ranging from about $4,000 to $6,000! It was a high-end clock in its day. I am still surprised that this woman that was running the estate sale wasn't more educated on the actual value of things she was selling.

I recently missed another "Great" deal on something else, because I wasn't looking through the CL adds at work. The add was posted about 8 hours before I finally saw it. I have also gotten several other great deals from CL, but again, and I must add that you have to have a knowledge of what you are interested in, and remember, there is a lot of junk offered for sale, and you can easily get taken if you aren't educated on that subject matter you are wanting to buy.

Back to the original subject, I run an add on CL having to do with my business. It too was flagged, and I also believe that it was my competition that did the flagging. No problem, I just re-posted the add. There are a lot of idiots that go through these adds as well, and I have had so wierd people come in about the add. I say, just keep reposted an add that gets flagged.