GOSO

By: Ryan Riley Marketing Strategy Manager for GOSO. Ryan provides analytical data and departmental support for GOSO. Ryan is an experienced writer and blogs for GOSO, BOALT and other sites.

Craigslist is a very popular platform for posting automotive classifieds. The simple reason is that it works. Many dealerships have found relative success on their local Craigslist pages.

The problem is Craigslist wants to make sure that their classifieds are not overrun with marketers and spam. Craigslist readers are also looking for that. So the free-for-all posting glory days of the past are being slowed.

How is Craigslist fighting back?

They have been pretty clear from the onset that Posting Agents are a no, no. So be cautious of any third party company that is in the business of posting on Craigslist. Ask them how they get around the Terms of Use.

Craigslist is pretty clear in their TOU that posting agents are not allowed.

Craigslist defines a posting agent as…

…a third-party agent, service, or intermediary that offers to post Content to the Service on behalf of others. To moderate demands on craigslist’s resources, you may not use a Posting Agent to post Content to the Service without express permission or license from craigslist.  Correspondingly, Posting Agents are not permitted to post Content on behalf of others, to cause Content to be so posted, or otherwise access the Service to facilitate posting Content on behalf of others, except with express permission or license from craigslist.

The TOU lays out the ramifications of using a posting agent:

If you are a Posting Agent that uses the Service in violation of the TOU, in addition to any liquidated damages under clause (d), you agree to pay craigslist one hundred dollars ($100) for each and every Item you post in violation of the TOU. A Posting Agent will also be deemed an agent of the party engaging the Posting Agent to access the Service (the “Principal”), and the Principal (by engaging the Posting Agent in violation of the TOU) agrees to pay craigslist an additional one hundred dollars ($100) for each Item posted by the Posting Agent on behalf of the Principal in violation of the TOU.

In plain English Craigslist is saying that for every ad posted by an agent they will get $200. $100 from the Posting Agent and $100 from the Principal, which is the dealership.

The liability for the ad is placed on both parties. There really is no way to get around it. GOSO has reached out to Craigslist’s legal department to discuss the issue but they’ve declined to talk with us.

It’s important that auto dealers protect themselves. There are many third party companies out there that provide their services as a posting agent but in all actuality all they are doing is opening up your dealership to a lawsuit from Craigslist.

The only thing keeping the practice active is that Craigslist has yet to go after all of the posting agents. Craigslist has filed many lawsuits and more will come.

This is just one of the problems you will encounter.

What else are they doing?

Ghosting has become popular with the classified giant. Essentially once you post your ad no one will be able to see it but you. The idea is that you THINK you posted but you didn’t.

To avoid this make sure your add is as unique as possible.  Don’t use the same keywords or the same titles. Make each ad stand on its own. Many dealers have turned to use multiple email accounts, multiple IP addresses and even multiple phone numbers, just to avoid showing up on Craigslist’s radar.

Competition flags you, a lot. This one is a little tougher to solve. Unfortunately, no one can force a competitor to play fair because, well, all’s fair in business it seems these days. However, the way they flag you is most often with the use of software designed to search keywords or even an IP address. The solution is to again make sure that your ads are as unique as possible.

Another way to avoid flagging and to fly under the radar is to limit your posts. This is also a good way to protect yourself from Craigslist. Auto shoppers can see right through the ads and if there are a million ads from your dealership you might scare them away altogether. So if you’re dealership limits the number of posts to around five quality ads a day you might find more success and less heartache.

What are some other practices you’ve found that have helped your sales on Craigslist or some problems you’ve encountered? If you are a posting agent, explain to us how you get around the terms of service.  This is the burning question right now.