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Advice on Craigslist ad posting services

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#81
I have worked for 5 dealerships, 2 franchise and 3 independent. I am familiar with Homenet, Cargigi, Ecarlist, Ebizautos,V12 and PGI's posting tool. While an automated system sounds great, it is the #1 No-No clearly pointed out in the Terms of Use on Craigslist. I do agree, yes, Craigslist does not like symbols and little dashes. But I have had great success with inventory going up daily and with leaving up my old ads. I tried your method. Calls and click-throughs dropped dramatically. So lets talk about tools. If you're looking for the fastest, most effective highest show rate tool, PGI's Posting Platform is by far superior to any tool on the market. 17 seconds to manual post an ad. With text and image based templates, the ads are secure. Well, now you are saying "this guy works for them" ...You're right! I have been using Craigslist since 2003. I can call my self a GURU of CL. That's why I work for PGI. I am not saying that the other tools are ineffective. But I am saying PGI has definitely separated themselves from the rest.
 
#82
mattwatson81 said:
Auto-posting isn't done. We still provide automated postings for hundreds of dealers with a very high degree of success. It is a very complicated system to get around all of the ghosting and flagging, but we have been up to the challenge and continue to make it work. I'm sure other vendors are still having success as well.
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CRAIGSLIST TERMS OF USE CLEARLY STATES:
Additionally, you agree not to:
y) use any form of automated device or computer program that enables the
submission of postings on craigslist without each posting being manually
entered by the author thereof (an "automated posting device"), including
without limitation, the use of any such automated posting device to submit
postings in bulk, or for automatic submission of postings at regular intervals.

So I would agree, Automated systems are done. And if you're not; you will be. Its only a matter of time before all of your postings disappear from Craigslist and your hundreds of dealers will be calling you wondering where their postings are. When they call, you can refer them to me. PGI's tool provides the ability to post manually (which is within CL's terms of use), each posting takes roughly 15-20 seconds to complete (which I do believe is just as fast, if not faster than any automated system anyway) and our clients like knowing they're following the rules.
 
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#83
Jim M. Gillen III said:
CRAIGSLIST TERMS OF USE CLEARLY STATES:
Additionally, you agree not to:
y) use any form of automated device or computer program that enables the
submission of postings on craigslist without each posting being manually
entered by the author thereof (an "automated posting device"), including
without limitation, the use of any such automated posting device to submit
postings in bulk, or for automatic submission of postings at regular intervals.

So I would agree, Automated systems are done. And if you're not; you will be. Its only a matter of time before all of your postings disappear from Craigslist and your hundreds of dealers will be calling you wondering where their postings are. When they call, you can refer them to me. PGI's tool provides the ability to post manually (which is within CL's terms of use), each posting takes roughly 15-20 seconds to complete (which I do believe is just as fast, if not faster than any automated system anyway) and our clients like knowing they're following the rules.
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Great point Jim !! Also keep in mind a computer can't auto adjust to CL changes a human has to do that ;)
 
#85
Brian Podolak said:
Sorry mate, have to disagree with what you are doing.

seattle cars & trucks - all classifieds "harris ford 5271B" - craigslist

Same car posted 1 -2 times a day to spam the area? Haven't you had issue by doing this?

We post for dealers also, but only 1 time, and delete the days before before posting again..Therefore, not spamming.

My 2 cents, and good luck to you.
Click to expand...

This is a very unique dealer; 3 physical store locations with different names yet one inventory system/database/DMS. So things get posted some times crossing the dealers.

If you look close you will see that in this case we have the cars posted 72 hours max. In reality we shoot for 48 hours max and try to keep CL clean. Something must have happened that the guys decided to keep une batch up.

You also must know the area, it is insane. Some dealers post 5 times per day using even multiple companies: seattle cars & trucks - all classifieds "carson" - craigslist=

In Seattle cars.com is dead and Autotrader in the ropes. CL means biz for this state and that is why we have had to learn fast and hard.
 
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#88
Great insights here! Craigslist truly is an invaluable tool for reaching local buyers, but like you said, it needs to be approached strategically to maximize results.

I completely agree with the importance of text-heavy listings. Treating Craigslist like a search engine is spot-on advice. Buyers often search with long-tail keywords, so having detailed descriptions is essential to showing up in those searches. The difference between being found or overlooked often comes down to these details.

Your points about flagging and ghosting are also crucial. Rotating ads, limiting daily posts, and tweaking templates as needed are great tactics. I've noticed that small changes in wording or formatting can make a big difference in avoiding flags—definitely worth experimenting with.

Tracking VDPs is another underrated aspect. Knowing which ads are driving traffic is key to improving your ROI. For anyone managing this in-house, Google Analytics UTM tags can help track traffic to your site from Craigslist, though it’s always easier with a vendor who handles this for you.

I’m also firmly in the "remove sold vehicles" camp. It’s better for compliance and avoids wasting your sales team’s time. Plus, linking directly to your inventory, trade app, or financing tools is a no-brainer—those features help move customers further down the funnel.

Thanks for sharing this and for the transparency about your Craigslist posting service at Press1toTalk.com. It’s clear you’ve got a lot of expertise in this space!
 
#90
While the earlier response looks suspect, Wyoming address with an international number...

I was about to ask the same question. I'm looking to simplify posting to CL and possibly Marketplace. Do you have any opinions on this? I saw a website for Wizposter; it looks like a possibility. Do you have any recommendations for a good product?
 
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